tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3984220593709516223..comments2024-03-29T07:26:10.918-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Niece's counterpart in French / TUE 6-28-16 / Mathematician whose name sounds like ship / Antarctic volcano named for place in underworld / Moniker for GErman chancellor Konrad Adenauer / Spider's web-producing organ / Decidedly non-feminist woman's groupRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger140125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89767845260732023252022-02-19T00:08:20.892-05:002022-02-19T00:08:20.892-05:00Thank you for sharing such a nice article. I love ...Thank you for sharing such a nice article. I love it.Check <a href="https://www.corporateofficeint.com/" rel="nofollow">Office Cubicle Miami</a>firoz mahmudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01343530801426686530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89767178111963673932016-10-16T10:27:51.043-04:002016-10-16T10:27:51.043-04:00Custom Spider Feet Stand Only Printing - Spider Fe...<b><a href="http://www.print247365.com/products/spider-feet-stand-only" rel="nofollow">Custom Spider Feet Stand Only Printing</a></b> - Spider Feet Stand only are the stands that use for display and holding signs. They are portable and static. We provide high quality custom spider feet stand only at affordable price all over the USA. Contact us for your next short-run poster, sign and banner printing needs.Print247365https://www.blogger.com/profile/05041053021656281350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14807956156913272072016-08-02T19:14:33.958-04:002016-08-02T19:14:33.958-04:00I don't know if anyone mentioned this - the th...I don't know if anyone mentioned this - the themes cross to form the spider's body. That was totally cool. I did find the legs at the head and bottom a bit funny though, had to allow artistic licence for that. <br /><br />DNF for me too, on the naticks others mentioned, and just now understood the limo clue. That was cute, wish I'd got that. Not living in the US, can never remember which parties are red and blue. It's not like we don't get US news in our paper every day in Canada. wcutlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08615799228069705972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74205018827458756682016-08-02T16:55:38.158-04:002016-08-02T16:55:38.158-04:00I am not a great puzzle solver. I usually am only ...I am not a great puzzle solver. I usually am only able to complete M - W. I found this puzzle to be rather easy. I knew most of the scientific guys. I prefer them to the pop-culture we had yesterday.<br /><br />I agree that BITEMARKS is arbitrary and had to get that from all the crosses.<br /><br />I don't care for ICELESS and agree it should be ICEfree. <br /><br />I have not been to MN, WI or MI much but I knew USTEN.<br /><br />I thought it was a fine Tuesday puzzle.NM Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14920756034993068695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47189207031985455132016-08-02T16:53:23.711-04:002016-08-02T16:53:23.711-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.NM Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14920756034993068695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56824490570845238572016-08-02T16:05:24.335-04:002016-08-02T16:05:24.335-04:00I enjoyed this puzzle so much I didn't notice ...I enjoyed this puzzle so much I didn't notice that there were a lot of 3's. The theme is cute, and the spider references and the way they interlaced, was ICE(LESS)ing on the cake. How's that for a mixed metaphor?<br /><br />Clearly, the clue for HAREM was misinterpreted by the knee-jerk POC mavens. No problem here. Furthermore, and I know that some of the solve depended on age/personal experience, I am somewhat mystified that so many found GALEN to be a WOE. He is a giant in medical history. I didn't know the Latin phrase "Casus BELLI", BUT I do know the word "BELLIcose", an adjective applied to the USA and Russia frequently, and that's how I got that one. <br /><br />More to the point though, I recognize that some solvers may have found this challenging, but so what? There have been complaints lately that the puzzles have been too "easy", so if a puzzle has crunch, why the complaint? Not every puzzle is a Goldilocks, you know. Sometimes I just don't understand the perspective of the blog. <br /><br />This was a very good puzzle in every sense.<br /><br />rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41120973901070689262016-08-02T14:54:19.092-04:002016-08-02T14:54:19.092-04:00Pretty easy for me until the giant Natick in the S...Pretty easy for me until the giant Natick in the SE. I remember KRESGE's and Woolworth's - who knew that K-Mart was KRESGE's SweePea child? Not I. EREGUS, DERALTE, GALEN, and BELLI did me in as well.<br /><br />And ha, ha, ha on me (HEHHEH). Yes, I too was wondering what all the GELs were doing - no revealer to explain them. <br /><br />@Kathy from yesterday. Thanks. I'm glad to finally have a day without another Medicare Part X letter coming my way. Mr. W has excellent gov't health ins, so we didn't need to wade thru that alphabet soup. <br /><br />Good puzzle. Learned new stuff. Hot summer, but at least it's ICELESS.<br /><br />Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for CrosswordsDiana,LIWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3650788826253877432016-08-02T14:50:55.254-04:002016-08-02T14:50:55.254-04:00Never mind.
Now see that US TEN and I-Ten are di...Never mind. <br /><br />Now see that US TEN and I-Ten are distinct routes.leftcoastTAMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57108817728358493882016-08-02T14:40:09.286-04:002016-08-02T14:40:09.286-04:00Easy-Very Challenging. The symmetrical LEGs and GE...Easy-Very Challenging. The symmetrical LEGs and GELs were the small, easy part. The spider left a lot of BITEMARKS.<br /><br />It spun a big resilient web across a substantial area of the puzzle, which was especially resistant to breaking through at the intersections of BALEEN/EPICENE/ARACHNIDA/SPINNERET/EREBUS. <br /><br />The latter, EREBUS required what I would consider a misnaming of a major Interstate Highway, which is almost always, if not exclusively, called I-Ten, not USTEN.<br /><br />IS- (Interstate) TEN, may be as rarely used as USTEN, but I stuck with it. AIKIDO and NEVEU weren't easy either, but they could be sussed out.<br /><br />May be the most misplaced Tuesday puzzle ever, but I liked the challenge and wouldn't object to seeing one like this again, but maybe on a Wednesday instead.<br />leftcoastTAMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28561973420126343812016-08-02T14:31:25.471-04:002016-08-02T14:31:25.471-04:00Wowser. Lotsa people reacted to this puzzle just ...Wowser. Lotsa people reacted to this puzzle just the way I did to this past Saturday’s. 8-) <br /><br />I really liked this one, in spite of the high PPP. I think KLEE, EULER, GELL, SOLTI, GALEN et.al. are historically prominent representatives of their respective disciplines, and therefore absolutely fair game. <br /><br />I’ll agree that this might have been better suited to a Wednesday. But I still liked it, and was glad to have a Tuesday puzzle that was a little crunchier than usual.Sailorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05185068601066087185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66989853976785483962016-08-02T14:00:14.065-04:002016-08-02T14:00:14.065-04:00GEE, the only thing I agree on with OFL is ICEfree...GEE, the only thing I agree on with OFL is ICEfree (my one w/o) as clued. For ICELESS to be more correct the clue coulda been “neat, as a drink”. ADLER is a gimme for anyone who took Psych 101 and paid attention, and he actually made some sense as compared to Freud and Jung and some of the other kooks spouting their nonsense as “science”. Especially his stuff about choices and consequences. Mostly though, all those guys spewed a boatload of BS, IMHO. DERALTE also a gimme and no prob with GALEN nor KRESGE. OK, maybe I also agree that it’s tougher than what we usually see on Tuesday. But I liked it more than a usual Tues-puz which is too-staid. So there.<br /><br />As a youth I had a book on the martial art of AIKIDO. Hard to learn on your own.<br /><br />Sophia LOREN is smack dab in the middle, she could lure me into a web. So could Angel BASSETT for that matter. Yeah babies.<br /><br />I drive a part of U.S.TEN every day. U.S. Eight, which I also drive every day, also goes through parts of MN, WI, and MI.<br /><br />Gotta be at least 18 three letter answers in there, which should really reduce the “challenging” factor. Too much HAREM talk, and agree with @anon346 and @spacey re: that. I didn’t mind this puz too much except for all those 3s.<br />rondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68848263064153465992016-08-02T13:36:27.543-04:002016-08-02T13:36:27.543-04:00LEI DEM (EGO AGO AGO)
CHARLOTTE HADDIDBS on a nic...LEI DEM (EGO AGO AGO)<br /><br />CHARLOTTE HADDIDBS on a nice CABOOSE, GEE, her BELLI didn’t sag,<br />I gave her BEDSIDE AERIE ERE a goose, ILLGO GETON and will not BRAGG.<br /><br />--- GALEN E.KING<br />Burma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29226373133030262032016-08-02T12:28:59.183-04:002016-08-02T12:28:59.183-04:00The EREBUS is what picked you up in days of yore.The EREBUS is what picked you up in days of yore.centralscrewtinizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03404913280254786506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87274799713510020952016-08-02T11:18:02.971-04:002016-08-02T11:18:02.971-04:00I agree with @anon. 3:46. There are loads of offen...I agree with @anon. 3:46. There are loads of offenses out there to take, if one is so inclined. Not that any of them were GIVEN. We get the point of the clue; let's move on.<br /><br />Today's theme was uber-ambitious. The intersecting 9's would have been fine, but trying to include all those LEGs made for eight pretty rough cubicles. At least I learned something new: I had mistakenly thought that the class was "arachnidae," and was all ready to throw the flag. Just to make sure, I checked--and it seems it IS just ARACHNIDA, sans the E, after all. Strange, though. Clearly, most of those go by the Latin plural, -AE.<br /><br />Had _ITE_A_KS and still couldn't see BITEMARKS. With all but the B, I wondered what HADDI_S was. That B was truly an aha! moment, in both directions. Let's see, "Don't come near this gold mine: I've got DIBS!" Very weird.<br /><br />I must give the DOD nod to an EVA; though Ms. Longoria seems an obvious choice (certainly beating the clued one), I'm going with the heroine of my very favorite movie: North by Northwest. EVA Marie Saint is enough to "lure men to their doom on the 20th-Century Limited."<br /><br />Great drive, but the approach shot was overclubbed and our guy had to settle for EKING out (very disappointing resurgence of this old clunker lately) a bogey.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76801378117544418802016-07-01T15:46:42.698-04:002016-07-01T15:46:42.698-04:00The clue doesn't mention the individual women ...The clue doesn't mention the individual women in the group, it references the group. Clue is fine - folks are looking for reasons to be offended and feel righteous. Usually you don't have to look any farther than your own backyard. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69433250026239671682016-06-29T21:55:43.272-04:002016-06-29T21:55:43.272-04:00@Gerry Kahle, sorry, you're only entitled to a...@Gerry Kahle, sorry, you're only entitled to ask for 1/366th of your money back.<br /><br />As @Anony-7:11pm suggests, seems too many are running about with wadded-up panties. If y'all can't un-wad 'em, then (just for comfort's sake) try going commando. <br /><br />@Larry Gilstrap, I know, I know., baleen is keratin plates with sieving bristles (har), but the baleen that was used in corsets was called 'whalebone'.<br /><br />Loved having a sciency, classics-riddled puzzle, and sure liked seeing Sofia Sciccolone front and center, but given the ARACHNIDA theme, Sonia Braga should've had star billing. Kiss of the Spider Woman, right?<br /><br />Great construction, Alex V; wouldn't change a thing, and loved your WEBinar.<br /><br />PS: I agree with GEL>LEG, if only because the pattern fits a spider web more than it does a spider body. Arachnids have 4 legs on each side, not 8 legs radially arranged. Foo.HAREM Abdul Jabbarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72789119404236573932016-06-29T14:43:44.124-04:002016-06-29T14:43:44.124-04:00BALEEN clued as being synonynous with whalebone? T...BALEEN clued as being synonynous with whalebone? That's enough to make this Moby Dick scholar bristle.Larry Gilstraphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15493069947477383208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52271818878293567032016-06-29T10:57:44.631-04:002016-06-29T10:57:44.631-04:00Hard for a Tuesday, sure! I guess I don't min...Hard for a Tuesday, sure! I guess I don't mind proper nouns so much when they are mainly familiar to me - Solti, Euler, Der Alte, these are all fine! Frontman for Smashing Pumpkins? ( not that I have ever seen that...) Not so much. I finished it in slower than usual time, but for me, there were no Naticks!<br /><br />Nice puzzle! Wrong day of the week...<br /><br />(as to the "harem" clue...it never crossed my mind that anyone with even a hint of a sense of humor would object to it. I'm just an insensitive old geezer, I guess) OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19722394431121484292016-06-29T10:50:07.408-04:002016-06-29T10:50:07.408-04:00I liked it too. One of my easier Tuesday solves.I liked it too. One of my easier Tuesday solves.NYERnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59190111631373813732016-06-29T09:39:17.428-04:002016-06-29T09:39:17.428-04:00I genuinely don't understand the problem with ...I genuinely don't understand the problem with the HAREM clue. It seems like a factually accurate bit of wordplay.<br /><br />Isn't a harem an inherently oppressive social structure based on gender inequality? Isn't that pretty much the antithesis of feminism, thus making "decidedly non-feminist" a more or less apt description of such a structure?<br /><br />Is the issue that it could be interpreted as applying the label to the individual women IN the harem, and thus insulting or blaming the victims of that system? Or is it that it it seems to be referencing such a serious subject in such a casual, offhand way?<br /><br />I'm clearly missing something here; please help out.<br /><br />Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381473011583593043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80071438718193114602016-06-29T06:53:44.128-04:002016-06-29T06:53:44.128-04:00I liked the puzzle and didn't think it was esp...I liked the puzzle and didn't think it was especially hard. But honestly, I thought the eight "gels" we're thread emitted by the spinnerets. Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607149800179219478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15169354700419069612016-06-29T00:54:53.947-04:002016-06-29T00:54:53.947-04:00@Wm. C, everyone who has read the children's n...@Wm. C, everyone who has read the children's novel "CHARLOTTE's Web" (which I imagine includes a significant proportion of NYT puzzle solvers, given that the book was already considered a classic eons ago when I was a kid and is still read in public elementary schools) has seen or heard the word SPINNERET at least once. It took me a minute to remember it, but once I got a few crossing letters it came back to me. You could legitimately argue that it's not a Tuesday word, but I think banning it altogether would be a bit excessive.<br /><br />I'm another who loved this puzzle, because (a) I like spiders, a result of having read the aforementioned novel at an impressionable age, and (b) I found the theme both clever and cleverly executed. It helped that I knew many of the proper nouns (BRAGG, DELTA, GELL [although I initially wrote "GELB"], LOREN, OLEG, BASSETT, GALEN, and the wonderfully prolific EDA LeShan), so I didn't have too much trouble filling in the answers that were more obscure to me (NEVEU, SOLTI, EULER, and DER ALTE). EREBUS popped up in my brain from I know not where -- I wasn't sure it was right, but it fit so I went with it. EPICENE was the last to fall -- I've seen the word used to mean pallid, weak, or overly refined, but had no idea that it had anything to do with gender or linguistics. In any case, it was incredibly refreshing to do a whole puzzle without a single reference to an obscure sports figure. (Nothing obscure about ALI.) I could have done without the BITE MARKS, but you can't have everything.<br /><br />I agree that the clue for HAREM was ugly, and am glad to learn from @George Barany that it was not the puzzle creator's doing. The clue I'd argue with on technical grounds is "Scraping (by)" for EKING; I've never seen or heard that word used with "by" -- it's always EKING out.Virginiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05571731739380076700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33328575448528895112016-06-29T00:42:24.622-04:002016-06-29T00:42:24.622-04:00A total proper-name, Naticky s***-storm. 'Nuff...A total proper-name, Naticky s***-storm. 'Nuff said.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18080027831092093115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41267061933874070342016-06-28T23:12:17.150-04:002016-06-28T23:12:17.150-04:00Felt like a Doomsday to me. Among the very worst p...Felt like a Doomsday to me. Among the very worst puzzles in the NYT in yearsweingolbhttp://www.facebook.com/weingolbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35182200894563745702016-06-28T22:36:50.575-04:002016-06-28T22:36:50.575-04:00I finished this without much difficulty. I guess I...I finished this without much difficulty. I guess I vaguely thought it was hard for a Tuesday -- maybe Thursday level for me -- but that isn't much of a consideration for me whether or not I like a puzzle.<br /><br />And I am in the (sizable) minority who liked this puzzle.michaelnoreply@blogger.com