tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3541125697358431722..comments2024-03-28T04:40:27.172-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Prince Valiants love / THU 4-11-13 / 1974 Peace Nobelist / Sprat relative / Neighbor of Perseus night sky / Thuringen thoroughfareRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1485745458906612772013-05-16T17:17:58.377-04:002013-05-16T17:17:58.377-04:00I am hanging my head in shame due to a total fail ...I am hanging my head in shame due to a total fail on this puzzle - I had WRAPAROUND SUNdreSSES (you know, like the ladies wear to cover their bathingsuits when they leave the beach) and never, ever considered it was wrong. I even convinced myself that the nonsensical words it created might somehow be right. Even my laptop thinks I'm a total moron because as I started to type this post it unexpectedly shut down and restarted for no apparent reason.<br /><br />Oh well, I wouldn't have found the shades anyway. But still...Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24292231580266359212013-05-16T16:25:14.757-04:002013-05-16T16:25:14.757-04:00This one tickled me. High points; clues for 31-A ...This one tickled me. High points; clues for 31-A and 42-A, passing remarks, judges ---, and form. That last one bit me, just couldn't decode it, wanted something out of 'Word'. So, another DNF GRRRRR. And, it really is Tuesday/Wednesday easy.<br /><br />Good to hear from Doug, miss Rex. Hope he's having some much earned time off, and not fighting some bug.Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64859685559231594822013-05-16T15:04:39.400-04:002013-05-16T15:04:39.400-04:00@Spacecraft: I agree that ADES is a non-word but w...@Spacecraft: I agree that ADES is a non-word but we will continue to see it. It was the first answer I entered though. <br /><br />I found this puzzle to be easy. I finished a Thursday which I do not do OFTEN. <br /><br />I know being in syndiland the previous commenters will not read this but....<br /><br />@Nigel: I had vane before SAIL also. <br /><br />@retired-chemist: I already had the S from TEASERS so it had to PSIS which looks really weird.<br /><br />Since we have a GMC SIERRA truck and had an ALERO both were a piece of cake, ETC.<br /><br />I try to read all the comments but definitely read our syndi bloggers.<br /><br />Good puzzle Mr. Hilger.<br /><br /><br />NM Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14920756034993068695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79309843233657371052013-05-16T14:59:43.093-04:002013-05-16T14:59:43.093-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.NM Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14920756034993068695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89050902594697458022013-05-16T14:55:15.011-04:002013-05-16T14:55:15.011-04:00@IdahoConnie, I'm on the same wavelength with ...@IdahoConnie, I'm on the same wavelength with you. I read OFL's post, then I look for ED, Loren and ACME comments. (Hopefully I won't be accused of stalking.) Then I read my fellow Syndie posts. To read all ~100 daily comments takes too much time.<br /><br />My mom made my sister and I read EMILYPOST when we were kids.<br /><br />Kinda wish Jim Hilger would've had Boris in the puzzle to keep NATASHA company.<br />Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72707003465362888952013-05-16T14:54:20.983-04:002013-05-16T14:54:20.983-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.NM Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14920756034993068695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28501961456764287332013-05-16T14:17:59.480-04:002013-05-16T14:17:59.480-04:00Echoing @Spacecraft, @Olgun, please be gone with t...Echoing @Spacecraft, @Olgun, please be gone with these inane posts.<br /><br />Shared the SETO/SATO problem; must say the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize really came in under the radar vis-à-vis 1973 when Henry Kissinger & Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam were jointly awarded the prize for allegedly negotiating an end to the Vietnam War.<br /><br />And in reference to that other Asian conflict, first thought the relationship between the two Koreas (52A) would be ATWAR, since the 1953 armistice is technically just a ceasefire.<br /><br /> <br /> Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63521797965236817912013-05-16T14:14:24.002-04:002013-05-16T14:14:24.002-04:00The world tells me I missed on the ROMe/SeTO thing...The world tells me I missed on the ROMe/SeTO thing. Otherwise i would never have known it was wrong. Beyond that this puzzle presented a lot less challenge than the usual Thuesday. The only ???? was ALULA which fortunately filled from the crosses. Other than that, cross wording experience helped fill a lot of the spaces, even ADES which, as @Spacecraft notes, again, is not a word.<br />Got the theme, found one example, and said enough, but it was cleverly done.<br /><br />Now for the Captchas which are longer and weirder than ever and yet, obviously, unable to deflect Spammers. So what's the point?DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3172049202405312262013-05-16T14:05:46.510-04:002013-05-16T14:05:46.510-04:00I liked this puzzle mostly because after I had it ...I liked this puzzle mostly because after I had it filled in I still had to stare at it for a second to find the theme. I kept looking for things that turned corners (e.g., the lower right has a SHADE that turns the corner). Then I finally got what was meant by WRAP AROUND. Yeah, makes a lot more sense! Duh. :-)<br /><br />This was one time when theme did not help with the solve for me. But that's okay because I was able to solve without it and enjoyed the surprise when I found it.<br /><br />Favorite clue - "It may come off the shelf" (BERG). I fell into the Book trap on that one.<br /><br />My least favorite fill has to be ALEROS. The crosses help me get it so it was not a barrier to solving. But I agree with others that this was probably a tough grid to fill. <br /><br />Kudos to Jim Hilger!<br /><br />@Spacecraft, I think it's a losing battle to rail against ADE and ADES in crosswords. <br /><br />For me it's like trying to explain to people that "the internet" was not invented in the mid 1990s. I think what they mean is "the world wide web, HTML, etc." But that's not what they say. Trying to explain to folks that the internet (USENET, PLATO, gopher, TCP/IP, ...) has been around much longer than the 1990s is simply not worth the effort. :-)Syndi Solvernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63247130234756619232013-05-16T13:44:33.373-04:002013-05-16T13:44:33.373-04:00Well, I finished it, but certainly with no love fo...Well, I finished it, but certainly with no love for the task after seeing the leadoff entry: the NON-word ADES (I won't bother to repeat previous rants on the subject). I looked AROUND for the "five" examples; suspected something with the word SHADE, but never put the rest of it together till I saw the pink-outlined grid here. Truth be known, I just didn't care that deeply about it from the get-go.<br /><br />And just to solidify my mood, now we apparently have Greek letters in our captchas. I'm getting increasingly annoyed with the whole concept of captchas, if they can't stop entries like the one at 4:33 PM. There seems to be at least one of these non-invitees every day any more. The captcha program should either address this issue--or just dissove altogether. I really don't care which.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1660395821531282992013-04-12T03:30:40.715-04:002013-04-12T03:30:40.715-04:00Idahoconnie: Hey, thanks! I went back and looked...Idahoconnie: Hey, thanks! I went back and looked at that Hot Corners discussion---fun day! And Loren's about the Most Valuable Poster here, so you have supremely good taste.<br /><br />Evilevil doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17593231055589228837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9313883448772789712013-04-11T23:05:40.999-04:002013-04-11T23:05:40.999-04:00I do the syndicated puzzle so I am a month or so b...I do the syndicated puzzle so I am a month or so behind. I just finished reading the comments from Evan and Evil Doug on the Hot Corners puzzle. I just want to say that I read Evil's comments first before anyone else's so keep on truckin' Evil. I also always look for Loren Muse Smith's commenting. You can call me a groupie.Idahoconnienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9365086672712051422013-04-11T22:14:15.243-04:002013-04-11T22:14:15.243-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak I've made to my method. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.<br /><br />All solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Mon 5:33, 6:10, 0.90, 10%, Easy<br />Tue 7:16, 8:15, 0.88, 15%, Easy<br />Wed 9:50, 10:16, 0.96, 40%, Medium<br />Thu 13:57, 16:58, 0.82, 18%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:22, 3:42, 0.91, 9%, Easy<br />Tue 4:25, 4:49, 0.92, 15%, Easy<br />Wed 5:12, 6:04, 0.86, 12%, Easy<br />Thu 8:37, 9:56, 0.87, 22%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79660648522737876952013-04-11T21:56:03.533-04:002013-04-11T21:56:03.533-04:00I started watching Xena on Netflix about a week ag...I started watching Xena on Netflix about a week ago. Thank you for that plug. A lot of the younger generation don't know who Xena is and they all look at me weird when I mention her. Sounds pretty Xenaphobic to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84658768395304903332013-04-11T20:38:11.078-04:002013-04-11T20:38:11.078-04:00@ Two Ponies - Prince Valiant is not going away, b...@ Two Ponies - Prince Valiant is not going away, because ALETA and ARN are too useful as fill to give up. Offer a non-Valiant clue and Crossworld will grovel at your feet.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3091256147599087212013-04-11T18:37:43.750-04:002013-04-11T18:37:43.750-04:00@Bob K 10:31: LOL
Meh for me; didn't get the...@Bob K 10:31: LOL<br /><br />Meh for me; didn't get the theme either.<br /><br />Great write-up!<br /><br />What's going on with OFL?JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70649944201404369792013-04-11T18:36:31.326-04:002013-04-11T18:36:31.326-04:00Stunning! Could not find the wraparounds!
ROME mi...Stunning! Could not find the wraparounds! <br />ROME mistake made. Trouble in the SE.Elle54noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57776673631679881292013-04-11T17:23:16.131-04:002013-04-11T17:23:16.131-04:00@Nigel - agreed, hence "naticky." Actual...@Nigel - agreed, hence "naticky." Actually, ESTE/ALETA is closer to a Paul Rean. ESTE and ESNE are both common enough crosswordese and ALEnE certainly <b>could</b> be a a name. <br /><br />@Ellen S - a political leader acting political? "I am shocked, shocked to discover gambling going on here." At least he did get the non-proliferation treaty approved.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90746467605462657502013-04-11T16:49:51.224-04:002013-04-11T16:49:51.224-04:00Guess I'm in the evil doug camp today :-/Guess I'm in the evil doug camp today :-/Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04551716499829677518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12222291799045614492013-04-11T16:19:19.004-04:002013-04-11T16:19:19.004-04:00Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 8/1/2...Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation of my method and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak to my method):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Thu 14:03, 16:58, 0.83, 18%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Thu 9:04, 9:56, 0.91, 29%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15613656324210595692013-04-11T16:05:02.673-04:002013-04-11T16:05:02.673-04:00Don't forget the "well over-40" demo...Don't forget the "well over-40" demographic!Stevlb1https://www.blogger.com/profile/03814855846710624128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85274380949136685962013-04-11T16:02:02.404-04:002013-04-11T16:02:02.404-04:00Surprisingly easy for a Thursday. No tricks. Did...Surprisingly easy for a Thursday. No tricks. Didn't kn ow ALURA or ARI in the top half. Otherwise, a grinder but ultimately avoided a DNF.LaneBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46443084157464013632013-04-11T15:52:44.944-04:002013-04-11T15:52:44.944-04:00@Ellen S - See from your blog profile that you are...@Ellen S - See from your blog profile that you are a Californian, so we can excuse you for not being familiar with the NY State Lottery line, "You've got to be <b>in it</b> to win it." (Though we might suspect others have used that same line.)New York State Lotterynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-322040751307062822013-04-11T15:48:04.258-04:002013-04-11T15:48:04.258-04:00i got "ROMA" but was left with SA_O, bec...i got "ROMA" but was left with SA_O, because I just couldn't believe "IN IT" as "Not yet out of the running." I think of the "it" as what you didn't want to step in, or, "You're in big trouble now!"<br /><br />And never heard of SATO; I'm ashamed of my ignorance of Nobel Laureates, but he's apparently another flawed one. The Wikipedia article starts out with his Nobel-winning accomplishments: <br />"Satō introduced the Three Non-Nuclear Principles on 11 December 1967, which means non-production, non-possession, and non-introduction of nuclear weapons. He later suggested the "Four-Pillars Nuclear Policy".[clarification needed] During the prime ministership of Satō, Japan entered the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Diet passed a resolution formally adopting the principles in 1971. For this he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974."<br /><br />And then continues<br /><br />"However, recent inquiries show that behind the scenes, Satō was more accommodating towards US plans of stationing nuclear weapons on Japanese soil. In December 2008, the Japanese government declassified a document showing that during a visit to the US in January 1965, he was discussing with US officials the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the People's Republic of China.[4] In December 2009, his son reported that his father agreed in a November 1969 conversation with US President Nixon to allow the stationing of nuclear warheads in Okinawa once it was restored to Japanese sovereignty.[5]"<br /><br />Dang.Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14691902691802808632013-04-11T14:38:26.343-04:002013-04-11T14:38:26.343-04:00Also, waiting for the wraparound BOA CONSTRICTOR p...Also, waiting for the wraparound BOA CONSTRICTOR puzzle...Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.com