tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post4377101543562353393..comments2024-03-29T05:08:37.783-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Puppeteer with 12 Emmys / THU 9-16-10 / Famous Olde Tyme brand / Sports legend with autobiography Open / Former sports org with teams Hitmen RageRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88674597700374895912011-01-17T06:09:52.402-05:002011-01-17T06:09:52.402-05:00Managed to finish in about 35 mins. But I see that...Managed to finish in about 35 mins. But I see that there are people much faster than me :)SEO Bookhttp://www.road2seo.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76139627835630624402010-10-21T18:50:35.215-04:002010-10-21T18:50:35.215-04:00Loved this puzzle. Only took about 20 minutes, but...Loved this puzzle. Only took about 20 minutes, but was nicely tricky. Didn't have to look anything up.<br />I've got some Barqs in the fridge, so that was pretty easy. Had Azerbaijan and then Rostropovich before the other theme clues. The only one I got wrong was awry instead of away.EZPickinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02059419734091195525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25408578607493487272010-09-17T06:41:46.611-04:002010-09-17T06:41:46.611-04:00Oh, a bow!
Pretty weak.Oh, a bow!<br /><br />Pretty weak.Belindanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66555538072557469652010-09-16T22:32:45.930-04:002010-09-16T22:32:45.930-04:00Learned a lot from the puzzle -- was not familiar ...Learned a lot from the puzzle -- was not familiar with ROSTROPOVICH but have a very vague recollection of someone playing an instrument as the Berlin Wall came down. <br /><br />Finished with no errors or googles but it took me a long time. Had SLEEPY first; also had THOU before THEE. I remembered (incorrectly) the root beer as BARG'S but pulled out BANQUO from some deep recess, fixing that plus giving me the N for TANA.<br /><br />Joey, this was an amazing puzzle - bravo!shrub5https://www.blogger.com/profile/09466867716773759568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38201095367440711662010-09-16T22:00:48.326-04:002010-09-16T22:00:48.326-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 7/30/2009 post for an explanation. 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 6:04, 6:57, 0.87, 6%, Easy<br />Tue 8:38, 8:53, 0.97, 49%, Medium<br />Wed 11:15, 11:41, 0.96, 43%, Medium<br />Thu 17:03, 19:13, 0.89, 35%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:22, 3:42, 0.91, 11%, Easy<br />Tue 4:37, 4:35, 1.01, 60%, Medium<br />Wed 6:06, 5:46, 1.06, 75%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 7:43, 9:13, 0.84, 30%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46864387559962540612010-09-16T21:21:53.680-04:002010-09-16T21:21:53.680-04:00preamble: I have a special distaste for themes tha...preamble: I have a special distaste for themes that you don't get until you finish the puzzle and then have to ponder what it means.<br /><br />Today: I was having a tough time getting going. Had 5 words in and a few guesses here and there. Finally I asked myself what happened in 1989, and bingo! For some wacko reason I knew that guy ___OVICH had played his CELLO at the BERLINWALL, guessed it musta been a STRADIVARIUS and suddenly my day blew open! Yay for themes that actually help out!<br /><br />Got nailed by AWRY (had AWAY). Don't know RKO. Couldn't fathom STRIKE; haven't bowled in 40 years.<br /><br />Several good teasy clues. Don't like obscure acronyms.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911901473993027184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61070014402766991702010-09-16T21:19:05.316-04:002010-09-16T21:19:05.316-04:00Wonderful relief from the LA - smooth and easy, no...Wonderful relief from the LA - smooth and easy, no Googles, even for the few sports. Did not know ZAX (what a word!), LOI, XFL, TANA, or this AGEE but got from crosses. <br /><br />@Van55 - even though there were scads of proper nouns. I needed to be proud of myself after this morning's washout. And, dammit, I was!<br /><br />Had wAiL before BAWL.<br /><br />Mstislav ROSTROPOVICH bought Gelston Castle, a stone Scottish-style castle in Herkimer County, the next county to the East. My late brother-in-law was somehow involved in the real estate deal. The CELList wanted a place unobliterated by transmission lines. This was near the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Monastery in Jordanville. It is now a "green" event center.<br /><br />@DK - Leave Lamb Chop alone!<br /><br />@HowardB - go for it!<br /><br />@Evgeny - double thanx.<br /><br />@Aleman - is it possible to go to Rex Parker Does if everything is out of service? The mysteries of the internet.Sfingihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06903616949048940858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89359020178443581572010-09-16T20:46:26.374-04:002010-09-16T20:46:26.374-04:00This was the first NYT Thursday I've tried in ...This was the first NYT Thursday I've tried in a while and I actually finished. Kind of tough in the SE since I had Cutlas(s) before COUGAR. BARQS was a gimme. I had a serious root beer float habit for a while. I switched around between Hires, Dad's and BARQS. BANQUO was also a known. I played the part of BANQUO when my sixth grade class did a production of MacBeth. And that was in public school. Those were the good old days. Misspelled STRADIVARIUS (STRAT) and had BERLIN Hall before WALL. AZERBAIJAN was just cruel.<br />All in all a fun puzzle and an accomplishment for me.CrazyCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00245025301434920905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17709814945847610252010-09-16T20:34:11.140-04:002010-09-16T20:34:11.140-04:00Cable out. No internet. No phone. High winds
Torna...Cable out. No internet. No phone. High winds<br />Tornado-like conditions. Hope I can download the puzzle later.<br /><br />AlemanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53243652714952033942010-09-16T19:43:35.985-04:002010-09-16T19:43:35.985-04:00Not my best Thursday, but there was a lot to learn...Not my best Thursday, but there was a lot to learn here. Both from the puzzle, and from Rex and fellow posters. Four errors, all mentioned by others except my embarrassment at forgetting the ghost - BAsQUO. Looked over the puzzle when I was done, knew something was wrong, but didn't realize how much.<br /><br />I would like to have a pint of ALE in a JOINT, where musicians play SAXES.CoffeeLvrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16473192190412844538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66842914877219463902010-09-16T19:26:06.807-04:002010-09-16T19:26:06.807-04:00I really liked this one. As some have mentioned, ...I really liked this one. As some have mentioned, some clues were, it seemed, a bit off - like <b>41A: Isn't alert</b> for SLEEPS rather than SLEEPy - but given the theme, certainly pardonable for a few clunker clues.<br /><br />And nice to have @Evgeny put things in perspective, and among the many reasons Rostropovich is not "some cello player" as some have peevishly commented, and the reason that impromptu performance was "memorable." (Also nice to see Willy Brandt in that clip for additional memorability - thanks @RP.)<br /><br />I liked the international flavor of the clues too: Azerbaijani, Italian (2x), Spanish (3x), French, Danish?, Greek? -AGNEW, Ethiopian? - TANA, Chinese? - ANGLEE and Shanghai's EXPO. Music as the international language?<br /><br />Was stumped for a long time after too hurriedly reading <b>33A Director of "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman"</b> as "Director of 'Eat, Pray, Love' " <br /><br />Was tickled to wonder if SEAL really is Anne HECHE's HERO.<br /><br />Liked AGEE clued to the 69 Mets' Tommie rather than James (though I like James' work far better!) That said, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men:<br /><i>Agee batted .357 with two home runs and four RBIs in the Mets' three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves in the 1969 National League Championship Series. The Mets were heavy underdogs heading into the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. <b> In Game 3, with the series tied 1-1, Agee had what Sports Illustrated called the greatest single performance by a center fielder in World Series history.[10]</b> In the first inning, Agee hit a leadoff home run off Jim Palmer for what would eventually be the game winning hit and RBI, as the Mets shut out the Orioles, 5-0 (Interestingly, two other Mets would also hit Game 3 lead-off home runs in subsequent World Series: Wayne Garrett in the 1973 World Series and Lenny Dykstra in the 1986 World Series).[11] In the same game, Agee also made two incredible catches that potentially saved five runs. The first was on a two-out line drive to left center field by Elrod Hendricks with two runners on base. Agee sprinted across the outfield and caught the ball in the webbing of his glove just before crashing into the wall. The second catch was on a fly ball hit by Paul Blair with the bases loaded in the seventh inning off Nolan Ryan (the only time Ryan appeared in a World Series game in his 27-year Hall of Fame career). Agee sprinted towards the right center field warning track. When the wind blew the ball down and away from him he lunged into a headfirst dive for the catch. He rolled on the warning track but held on to the ball. With Blair rounding second base, Agee may have saved an inside the park grand slam home run.</i><br /><br />ZAX was my WOTD. Got it from the crosses, but couldn't find it in my Oxford American or my MW 11th. Finally tracked it down in my ancient high school Concise Oxford 4th (1950) and in my MW Scabble. I'd like to see a photo of one, though. According to my Concise Oxford, it has a spike on one end that is used to punch the nail holes. Handy piece a gear for a slater. Alternative spelling is "sax". Wondering if that prompted the Getz clue?<br /><br />(sappech: "Understand?" from a Sicilian, just back from the dentist, whose Novocain hasn't worn off?)Nighthawkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11898505137434147165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24586558615558746432010-09-16T19:16:08.739-04:002010-09-16T19:16:08.739-04:00@Evgeny: I appreciate all of your explanations. I ...@Evgeny: I appreciate all of your explanations. I must confess, though, that all through the puzzle, I expected, with trepidation, his first name to be called for somewhere, which I remembered as unusual, to put it mildly:-). But the constructor took mercy on us...Ulrichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02086202853174403008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38339794439979270512010-09-16T18:46:40.896-04:002010-09-16T18:46:40.896-04:00I love classical music but the theme was boring an...I love classical music but the theme was boring and seemed more like a spelling test. None of the crazy creativity that some of us look forward to on a Thursday.PIXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4192999366543177952010-09-16T17:19:33.227-04:002010-09-16T17:19:33.227-04:00I sense a palindrome coming from Oklahoma.I sense a palindrome coming from Oklahoma.fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13794500522892470572010-09-16T17:14:56.406-04:002010-09-16T17:14:56.406-04:00@ Moonchild: if it's a surname like Rostropovi...@ Moonchild: if it's a surname like Rostropovich the ending doesn't mean anything (anymore). In the "obligatory" father's name every Russian has - I believe the correct English word would by patronym - the ending -ovich signifies "son of", without containing the actual word. The surnames such as the puzzle's theme do come from there though.<br /><br />@Mr. Parker, it was certainly not a coincidence that Rostropovich played on the Berlin wall. He was one of the prominent dissidents in the Soviet Union, advocating human rights and democracy as early as in the late 40s, at stalinist times, when the phrase "human rights" could be a death sentence. Rostropovich was forced to do a lengthy "exile-tour" in Siberia at some point and had to leave the country in the 70s. To some Russians he's as known for his activism as he is for his musical genius. Reportedly, during his last years, Rostropovich was bitterly disappointed in the backward-directed course of Russia in the recent past.<br /><br />Very cool to see an American puzzle being dedicated to Rostropovich, and even more so to have all these gimmes related to him to help start off the solving.Evgenynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69201312944479575702010-09-16T17:11:11.619-04:002010-09-16T17:11:11.619-04:00Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/...Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/2009 post for an explanation of my method):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Thu 16:59, 19:13, 0.88, 35%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Thu 7:48, 9:14, 0.85, 32%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28644043923740472022010-09-16T16:39:05.396-04:002010-09-16T16:39:05.396-04:00@ Fergus -- There are so many proper names that be...@ Fergus -- There are so many proper names that begin with A that TULSA is an offset, unless you read it backwards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4295686066341415842010-09-16T16:35:07.866-04:002010-09-16T16:35:07.866-04:00First time posting here, been reading for a couple...First time posting here, been reading for a couple years now. For some odd reason I've been finding these Brown puzzle pretty easy. Monday's and Tuesday's were my fastest finish times for those days ever actually (around 5 and 8 minutes respectively) and moved through Wednesday's at a nice clip too. This one slowed me down a little though. I knew AJAX from the start. The Iliad has always been a favorite of mine so it was a gimme. That made 59A a gimme too. What other country has such a long name with a J near the end? Knowing the spelling didn't hurt I guess. Other really easy ones: CHASESCENE, ENT, BRUTE, BANQUO, LASS, SAXES, NEL, TWITTER, AMO, LASS. AGNEW and IMAX came quickly as well. <br /><br />Some that gave me particular trouble: DANE (I had "king" for a while, confusing him with claudius stupidly enough), MY_HERO (I had "up_here" for a long time. Thinking of Rapunzel I guess?), and I really wanted CRAZE (65A) to be "dance" and couldn't figure out why it wasn't. I also had "sleepy" instead of SLEEPS, the former still seeming more appropriate given the wording of the clue. I also had "away" instead of AWRY almost the whole time.<br /><br />Once I got CELLO through the circles STRADIVARIUS was fairly obvious and BERLIN_WALL fell into place with 4d, 5d, 6d, 7d all coming quickly as crosses.<br /><br />Didn't particularly like the puzzle overall. The theme seemed fairly random. Facts about some cellist doesn't seem like a strong theme to me. Some clues - "Sam Getz's instrument," "Live" - were ugly. <br /><br />I'm just happy I managed to finish though. Still at that point in my crossword career where Thursday completion is common but not a given. Looking forward to Friday and hopefully something a little more coherent.Dashiellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80366160380841508622010-09-16T16:09:35.510-04:002010-09-16T16:09:35.510-04:00seemed like a super smart puzzle. wow. smart boy. ...seemed like a super smart puzzle. wow. smart boy. <br /> I had TWO mistakes...AWAY (AKO? just shrugged but thought it was some obscure cable network) and since I didn't know from OTERO, I had BY HERA! I thought it was like saying BY ZEUS but for a gal! I changed it to MY HERA, close but no cigar! <br />Oh, and I loved the pangram, it helped me get ZAX and BANQUO...I didn't know SbA, TAnA nor BARqS...that NE corner was brutal...but magically BANQUO came to me, bec I needed a Q!<br /><br />I've heard of ROSTROPOVICH (Maury's Jetson-like dog?) but didn't know what he played and felt like this puzzle schooled me, literally. Congrats, Joey.andrea cella michaelsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28050744768894795502010-09-16T15:51:56.222-04:002010-09-16T15:51:56.222-04:00Crazy Day. Did the puzzle at lunch and enjoyed it....Crazy Day. Did the puzzle at lunch and enjoyed it. The writeup and comments are excellent. And yes, @ Tobias, 32D provided no friction whatsoever. They're right next door!<br /><br />Melannit! (What's that critter on your cantaloupe, Madam?) -- jesserjesserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13303862935098945757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39930243256402201622010-09-16T15:29:29.684-04:002010-09-16T15:29:29.684-04:00Found this hard and a good challenge. Wanted Jim ...Found this hard and a good challenge. Wanted Jim Henson or Burr Tilstrom but settled for that woman with the awful lamb. Missed on Zax and XFL, the latter due to not proofreading. Grateful for so called highbrow entries. I felt this puzzle had some personality and Tuesday and Wednesday felt as if composed with a computer. I am probably all wrong but that's how I felt this week. Congrats to all the college students. I'll never be clever enough to compose so I apologize in advance. Tomorrow is Friday; we are in the home stretch.Sparkynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48055349349011021342010-09-16T15:09:18.929-04:002010-09-16T15:09:18.929-04:00Good puzzle but DNF Too busy today and not much t...Good puzzle but DNF Too busy today and not much time for puzzling.<br /><br />Hopefully tomorrow I can devote more time.chefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78682013406783041252010-09-16T14:54:23.210-04:002010-09-16T14:54:23.210-04:00I also thought the circles represented the bow.
C...I also thought the circles represented the bow.<br /><br />Cringing at thought of dk eating Lamp Chops ... <br /><br />TULSA is the new home base of the NYT puzzle.fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66317747312325444672010-09-16T14:38:59.953-04:002010-09-16T14:38:59.953-04:00Brown was founded by Baptists. The only Brown stu...Brown was founded by Baptists. The only Brown student I ever met was an unhappy rich drunk in a downtown Providence bar who hated the thought that after graduation he was returning to his Pennsylvania home town in some desolate area to go into his family’s business. If Will has any egalitarian sense of fairness next week’s puzzles will be done by URI students/alumni/faculty. There is mucho unemployment in RI and they could use the extra buck….Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89659202182216878952010-09-16T14:32:25.235-04:002010-09-16T14:32:25.235-04:00This felt challenging in the doing but ended up a ...This felt challenging in the doing but ended up a medium for me for a Thursday by the end. Some usual gimmes weren't gotten immediately, so more time got eaten up. Misreading clues didn't help. I thought the damsel was in distress not in joy!<br /><br />In the end, I spelled STRADIVARIUS wrong. :-(<br /><br />But any puzzle with my name in it makes me smile. SHARILEWIS was no problem. And no. My name isn't Lewis.Shamikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11635283729322415150noreply@blogger.com