tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post4511915544611544051..comments2024-03-28T17:08:03.319-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Villain in Indiana Jones Kingdom of Crystal Skull / THU 9-25-14 / Rapper who co-starred in 2002's half past dead / Russian composer Arensky / Literally northern capital / Series of watering troughs / Czech playwright who coined word robot Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55579865108826875382014-10-30T22:25:08.493-04:002014-10-30T22:25:08.493-04:00Still have a few puzzles left in Syndiland. Soon I...Still have a few puzzles left in Syndiland. Soon I will catch up to "real time" but meanwhile will post my favorite mistake which no one else seems to have made - put in RIzOSOMES which gave me the zImA stadium. Why not name it after everyone's favorite grapefruit flavored alcoholic drink?<br /><br />Congrats Rex on 8 years. Maybe more guest fillers can help you stretch it past two more!Teedmnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12832353448839187816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5453850730214825872014-10-30T19:58:42.052-04:002014-10-30T19:58:42.052-04:00Get off Rex's back. He's just throwing ou...Get off Rex's back. He's just throwing out his view for us to take it or leave it. No one is obliged to agree, we are obliged to put in our two cents worth if we feel we have something useful to put in. It's called a blog, not a homicide unit. There are no guilty parties. As for the puzzle Satajewa and Drt was my natick. Down with rap artists in crossword puzzles or rap in any world. LongBeachLeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20632362773858947822014-10-30T17:53:43.994-04:002014-10-30T17:53:43.994-04:00This was one ornery puzzle, not as weak as OFL say...This was one ornery puzzle, not as weak as OFL says, at least by my exceptional ability to evaluate, but a little off-centre (Canadian spelling). Speaking of that, as a Canuck, I would never in AEONS have got SACAJAWEA if I hadn't read a historical account of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and it has stuck with me. <br /><br />Like @Diri I relied heavily on crosses for many of the unknowns, and at least a couple of them will remain unknowns, alas. <br /><br />Odd as the puzzle seemed while solving, it held my attention, and I was pleased to wind up with a correct solution, despite 5 write-overs (thanks, crosses).<br /><br />Let me add my congrats to Rex for a fine blog that he somehow manages to keep going despite his dissatisfaction with a certain editor and with some of the offerings. If he does give it up, I'll keep solving and enjoying.<br /><br />4651 My streak has ended, or is that a tie with Ron Diego? rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6020227184579792722014-10-30T17:06:03.708-04:002014-10-30T17:06:03.708-04:00Happy 8th Anniversary, Rex! I've read your bl...Happy 8th Anniversary, Rex! I've read your blog since it started and have become a better puzzle solver because of it! Please ignore the Anonymouses and haters--just continue writing the blog as long as you enjoy it.<br /><br />From Mary in Oregon, Syndicated posterMary in Oregonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66960131858702680572014-10-30T16:37:00.009-04:002014-10-30T16:37:00.009-04:00My paper had the note INRE the body parts but they...My paper had the note INRE the body parts but they weren't much help, except the JAW that helped me sort out the SACAJAWEA/JARULE smash-up. I had Eminem as my rapper so I had to tear that out and replace it one letter at a time, but all the crosswords were fair enough (well, maybe not C-PEK but I guessed right). I happen to like a grid that I can eventually fill in despite lots of things I don't know - to me that's the joy of puzzling and it's a lot more fun than just writing in familiar words. And if the clue can even remotely be interpreted to produce the answer then I'm ok with it so yes, the Enterprise is a starship, but isn't that just a specific type of SPACESHIP? AEIOU made me laugh!<br /><br />Thanks, Rex, for 8 years and 5 weeks of this blog. It's entertaining, educational, and generates great conversation among the commentariat - what could be better than that?!<br /><br />137 - I'm still getting numbers albeit pretty worthless ones.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60845493073037606842014-10-30T16:08:18.450-04:002014-10-30T16:08:18.450-04:00A big Thank You to Rex and all the posters who mak... A big Thank You to Rex and all the posters who make this such a great part of my day. (Find it even more enjoyable since I stopped reading all Anonymous posts, and womder why people respond to stuff they seemingly hate? That's just feeding the kitty,and makes me also skip the rest of their comments).<br /><br />I struggled with this one. So much I don't know; a protein generator, a rapper, capital,of Albania, and more. But, somehow, they all came, mostly by using the "what letter seems best" theory. Solving RAMOS that way led me to AEIOU, which came as a surprise. But I tripped on a simple word! Read "nickname" as a noun, and said tag. BEIJING changed it to taB , and there it stayed, supported by RaSH and "something" called SAtiSM!! The mentioned book is not my choice of reading material. Didn't look for the body parts until later, and join those who suggest this would have been more fun with circles and no note.<br /><br />@Ron Diego: I do read your Anonymous headed posts because you're in Syndiland, and, so far at least, all the folks here are nice. But don't like losing my 3523 or 4 to your 7! DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43140361377600313192014-10-30T14:28:26.373-04:002014-10-30T14:28:26.373-04:00For me this was challenging with at least 4 look-u...For me this was challenging with at least 4 look-ups on Wiki, and quite a few guesses. I have removed myself as the Sage of La Mesa. I completely disregarded the body part thing. But I did complete the grid before coming here, and everything fits. There have been better days with better puzzles.<br />Ron Diego 1312<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54628094610662570922014-10-30T12:19:22.596-04:002014-10-30T12:19:22.596-04:00BTW - thanks to (8 years of) this blog I have met ...BTW - thanks to (8 years of) this blog I have met @dk and had a couple beers with him, can practically see his house from mine across the MN/WI border. Maybe meet some of you others for same?<br /><br />Now words like @spacey getsrondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54642794661170584952014-10-30T12:11:01.752-04:002014-10-30T12:11:01.752-04:00Jesus saves, and ESPOSITO puts in the rebound! Sor...Jesus saves, and ESPOSITO puts in the rebound! Sorry, oldie but goodie IMHO. If I retired at ONEAM I wouldn't have half a brain to complete an xword. When one of the easiest clues is the capital of ARMENIA things are difficult. Hate rapper clues, but fair game I suppose. Misspell on RIBOzOMES didn't help, nor RidER for RACER, though maybe the horse is the RACER?? Thought SPOCK belonged on a starship didn't fit, and rentalcar was way wrong. Lots of writeover ink in my grid today! SADISM.<br /><br />510 - I 44D rondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80448183327669097632014-10-30T12:00:31.273-04:002014-10-30T12:00:31.273-04:00Not so fast, @DrDeb, the ENTERPRISE is a Galaxy Cl...Not so fast, @DrDeb, the ENTERPRISE is a Galaxy Class starship--but I agree wholeheartedly that it should be STAR- and not SPACE-.<br /><br />We poor Syndicats must hobble along without any special instructions or notes, when such are supposed to appear. So today's offering was a themeless to me--and a damn tough one! Why was it not simply presented as such? The body parts thing is just...silly. You can probably find, purely by accident, four or five of those in any grid picked at random. Why, in yesterday's for example, we have EYE, EAR (two of them!), DELT and, well, BOX.<br /><br />This one fought me at every stage. Took me way too long to remember GUMP (duh!). All the nickname clues gave me fits. Richie always called his dad POP; I forgot about the Fonz's pet name for him. Isn't Angel Stadium called "The HALO??" And, c'mon, man: DUB?? Clued only as "Nickname?" I've heard DUBya, for you-know-who, but DUB by itself is a new one on me.<br /><br />And of course, I had to deal with Yet Another Unknown Rapper--and please save your protests that any particular one "can't be unknown;" they're ALL unknown to me--lessee, that'd be YAUR...doesn't work. How about ARRGH: Another Rapper? Really, Guys--HELP!<br /><br />Yet with all these difficulties I managed, without help, to complete this grid correctly--catching a mistake at the last minute. I had misspelled the robot author KAPEK, and only a down-check let me see that PEAKEOUT was wrong. Accordingly, since if I finish a really difficult puzzle I can't issue less than a B (for the triumphant feeling), B it is.<br /><br />I had to go through more than twenty captchas--all of them containing one totally illegible word--before coming up with one I could make out. *sigh* For me, the numbers are gone. spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89623751606196880532014-09-28T07:39:36.835-04:002014-09-28T07:39:36.835-04:00Wow. Never realized that the NYT was supposed to k...Wow. Never realized that the NYT was supposed to know that it was rp's anniversary, and that they were supposed to print a puzzle that would serve as an entertaining anniversary present. What a slip up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16925477550642998942014-09-27T17:09:34.714-04:002014-09-27T17:09:34.714-04:00While I chuckled about the Enterprise and Spock cl...While I chuckled about the Enterprise and Spock clues being in the same puzzle, I was thrown off by the Spaceship answer. The Enterprise was a STARSHIP, actually named the Starship Enterprise, ultimately a universe-class starship, I believe.dr.debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67091232035754774932014-09-26T14:29:45.663-04:002014-09-26T14:29:45.663-04:00Greets from Nairobi. Mrs. Kid & I have been in...Greets from Nairobi. Mrs. Kid & I have been in Madagascar and outta range for a while. Bring on the ZEBU, BAOBAB, LEMUR, FOSSA clues. <br /><br />Hap. Ann., Rex. You are my favorite anti-vacant center. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07107804787389636647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82164678112031358422014-09-26T12:12:20.382-04:002014-09-26T12:12:20.382-04:00As for the "cum", "bosom", and...As for the "cum", "bosom", and "anus" people: the first isn't a part, and the others aren't 3 letters. So, there!Fred Romagnolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11994837736408182418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5811579818529997622014-09-26T12:02:35.260-04:002014-09-26T12:02:35.260-04:00Would both you @anons stop it! @crabsofsteel: if y...Would both you @anons stop it! @crabsofsteel: if you were thinking of the Imperial Palace, you were correct. @charley: both words were capitalized (capitolized?) a term popular at the time. @Geezer: me too for weirs. @Jared I blush to guess that your first guess was sodomy! You start dealing with body parts and you can get pretty racey. I learned to spell SACAJAWEA in the 1930's, waan't aware there was an interim when it's J was G'd, never use a G for that sound before an a or o or u. Fred Romagnolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11994837736408182418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30212789173543293912014-09-26T09:37:02.162-04:002014-09-26T09:37:02.162-04:00Rex couldn't have put it better, 100% correct ...Rex couldn't have put it better, 100% correct every comment he made. Dull dull dull, obvious ("a word search for morons"), no interest in the cluing, basically a Monday or Tuesday puzzle. How on earth did this get put in the NYT for Thursday? Editor, what were you thinking? The whole puzzle would have been gimmees if not for the three pop culture questions that I was eventually forced to Google -- a rapper, a Hollywood movie, and some TV show I never watch, no doubt all 3 were gimmees for Rex.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45660783183147784762014-09-26T01:09:13.949-04:002014-09-26T01:09:13.949-04:00There was this one time I was on the subway, sitti...There was this one time I was on the subway, sitting on one of the length-wise seats; it was pretty crowded, and this one guy was strap-hanging in front of me, kind of leaning in. His trenchcoat was hanging open, and inside it, he was exposing himself. I guess you'd call him a flasher, except he wasn't a flasher as much as a dangler. After a brief period of this, I got tired of the close-up view and I said to him, "Mister, do you think if you give that poor little thing some fresh air, it might grow?"<br /><br />Seems we have us another dangler.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54180880544781405272014-09-26T00:27:01.515-04:002014-09-26T00:27:01.515-04:00If it is eight years, then I have been following y...If it is eight years, then I have been following you for that long. I lurk, read, sneer, shrug, sigh, and never post..Only once, a quibble around a yew berry.<br />Thank you. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77425190302937239782014-09-25T23:44:53.019-04:002014-09-25T23:44:53.019-04:00misogynist aliasz says "but we all have two l...misogynist aliasz says "but we all have two lips, don't we?"<br /><br />No, half of us have four.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45787040658528620652014-09-25T22:39:56.793-04:002014-09-25T22:39:56.793-04:00I am a better crossword solver thanks to your blog...I am a better crossword solver thanks to your blog Mr Rex. I look forward to AliasZ and Leapie's witty comments. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91940137243138152912014-09-25T22:07:09.488-04:002014-09-25T22:07:09.488-04:00This 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 5:57, 6:03, 0.98, 42%, Medium<br />Tue 9:29, 7:50, 1.21, 90%, Challenging<br />Wed 12:32, 9:30, 1.32, 96%, Challenging (12th highest ratio of 247 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 19:34, 16:57, 1.15, 79%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:56, 3:57, 1.00, 43%, Medium<br />Tue 6:25, 5:21, 1.20, 92%, Challenging<br />Wed 7:30, 6:12, 1.21, 90%, Challenging<br />Thu 12:36, 10:29, 1.20, 77%, Medium-Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71302231781986723552014-09-25T21:32:27.244-04:002014-09-25T21:32:27.244-04:00AEIOU was stupid. CAPEK should be known because yo...AEIOU was stupid. CAPEK should be known because you should have read the play...not just learned the name from older crosswords. It's interesting and the themes still matter. <br /><br />There is no rock called TALCUM. It is TALC. Not the first time the puzzles have gotten geology wrong recently.<br /><br />Gog & Magog also turn up in Revelation, btw. <br /><br />The Enterprise was a STARSHIP...not a SPACESHIP. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G4pKq0sEjuA<br /><br />"And if it wasn't for the money, cars and movie stars,<br />And jewels and all the things I've got,<br />I wonder, Hey!<br />Would you still want me?<br />Would you still be calling me?<br />Would you still be loving me?"<br />--JA RULE<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9909339863502614662014-09-25T21:17:15.424-04:002014-09-25T21:17:15.424-04:00I have never commented before, but I cannot refrai...I have never commented before, but I cannot refrain today. Rex is so right! Super cruddy puzzle today. Makes one wonder about the state of the editor's mental faculties. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46760601214426382642014-09-25T21:04:01.549-04:002014-09-25T21:04:01.549-04:00Hey, Leap
Don't abandon me now!
George<br />Hey, Leap <br /><br />Don't abandon me now!<br /><br />George George Baranynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8591468938061120322014-09-25T20:41:05.435-04:002014-09-25T20:41:05.435-04:00@JFC
1. Remember, ever pair of slacks has two, ie...@JFC<br /><br />1. Remember, ever pair of slacks has two, ie, one pair OLEGs.<br /><br />2. "Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long"<br /><br />Happy Natal Subversary 2 UAnonyMommanoreply@blogger.com