tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post4697564161840334784..comments2024-03-28T20:49:13.267-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Seinfeld holiday that begins with airing of grievances / SAT 9-22-12 / Short-billed marsh bird / One caught on grainy film / Show set in outer-outer borough of New York / Dodgers manager before Mattingly / Defendant in much-publicized 1920s trialRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22416696138938243902021-12-28T14:20:52.057-05:002021-12-28T14:20:52.057-05:00Well, I got my vocabulary education today: "I...Well, I got my vocabulary education today: "IT GIRL" is now (for over 30 years, apparently) shifted to refer to socialites, rather than as a socially-acceptable end-run to "sex symbol" -- from when you couldn't say "sex" in the broadcast media. PDA is well within my ambit, albeit more from reading than personal experience -- my rural school was 5-10 years behind popular parlance.<br /><br />I also stalled with UNGODLY, as the word's meaning is quite general; it's application to time, without the "HOUR" part of the phrase, is simply poor clueing, in my opinion. However, the rest of the puzzle was a "Yogi" -- my term, meaning "a bear, but fun".Prunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224476641730508311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43675900329434664262012-10-29T13:04:29.684-04:002012-10-29T13:04:29.684-04:00Add me to the Iggy Pop complaints. It could have ...Add me to the Iggy Pop complaints. It could have been clued as Iggy inspiring punk rock or being the father of punk rock (or even the godfather, though that honor is usually reserved for Lou Reed), but as clued, it just isn't right. You wouldn't clue RAPMUSIC with "Genre for Bob Dylan", would you, even though he wrote and performed Subterranean Homesick Blues?<br /><br />I actually wanted COCKROCK as the answer to that clue, even though that isn't really correct either, but something told me it wouldn't be in the grid :-)Bananfishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35250810457245361582012-10-27T17:52:43.623-04:002012-10-27T17:52:43.623-04:00I see from the ratings that this puzzle is "e...I see from the ratings that this puzzle is "easy", which wasn't my experience, though I found it extremely entertaining. The SW was very tricky; I put Iggy in the Glam rock genre; in Canada, paper bags are "bags", not sacks. A sack is a canvas or hemp thing. Amazingly I did the NW without ever seeing TRAVE, which is good, because I wouldn't know a trave if it goosed me. I so wanted 49A to be "teat", but also, no joy there. Tough, but fair, and enjoyable.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56701876135377360452012-10-27T16:39:34.288-04:002012-10-27T16:39:34.288-04:00Another "almost" for me. Don't watc...Another "almost" for me. Don't watch Seinfeld, so T in TRAVE was an unknown. Also didn't come up with SGT, had "den", so my turkey ever got BASTED. To me, ITGIRL has more to do with sex than celebrity. Glad someone explained PDA. I got it,but had no idea what it meant. My high school days are about 65 years in the past. We called it "making out", and I suspect it was a tamer activity than today. Got to go carve the pumpkin!DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64013602111092506312012-10-27T14:28:06.633-04:002012-10-27T14:28:06.633-04:00Good puzzle, thank you Mr. House. One little compl...Good puzzle, thank you Mr. House. One little complaint: The word "Trave" is quite a stretch. I suppose in the building industry it is short for "Traverse" which is the preferred description. You, sir, were naughty.<br />Ron Diego Sat,10/27 11:26 AM PDTAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31729817280832452392012-09-25T14:42:04.770-04:002012-09-25T14:42:04.770-04:00I apologise, but I just watched the video of P R O...I apologise, but I just watched the video of P R O T O P U N K pioneer Iggy Pop in Manchester, '77, and the lyrics themselves made me post them (my favorite passage). It wasn't me, I swear:<br /><br />Get into the car<br />We'll be the passenger<br />We'll ride through the city tonight<br />We'll see the city's ripped backsides<br />We'll see the bright and hollow sky<br />We'll see the stars that shine so bright<br />Stars made for us tonightBlogSpotRemover (!) or (?)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02223208453641127129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51356369656059988992012-09-25T14:10:00.117-04:002012-09-25T14:10:00.117-04:00If you are like me, that is, not Japanese, but a f...If you are like me, that is, not Japanese, but a fan of the food on a somewhat more than passing familiarity, then I submit a 3 letter word for Japanese food that starts w/ a U would bring about the same answer I had: U M I. That's the not-sweet pickled plum that I know from having inside a sushi roll. It caused my across to come out O V E R T I M E, which didn't raise the "your cross is wrong, you nit!" flag (makes sense for the clue, if a fuction is thought of as a meeting, party, etc" I agree with RP/RP designated proxy: Easy in some parts (SE), impossible in others (consider the plum-sodden NW) Oh, yeah: P U N K R O C K is sooooNOT the right Iggy genre (if you're into genres, which i am not. To wit, every song on my iPod has been ripped of its meta-data and labelled "music", just the way i likes it". Anyway, pardon the prosylatizing, it's sooo NOT punk rock. it should be: P R O T O P U N K, as the erased ghost letters on my grid will attest to.BlogSpotRemover (!) or (?)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02223208453641127129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31327899428384607172012-09-24T02:26:32.169-04:002012-09-24T02:26:32.169-04:00Only difficult section is where you could put &quo...Only difficult section is where you could put "deke" out instead of "fake" out, reeds instead of reefs and en lei as an alternate spelling of en lai and make the puzzle work. Had to change this once it said I was wrong, but plausible argument could be made that it is alternately correct. Citizen Zeushttp://citizenzeus.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19150399339998243572012-09-23T15:49:38.237-04:002012-09-23T15:49:38.237-04:00Rex, I'd love to see the reading list for your...Rex, I'd love to see the reading list for your Crime Fiction course. Is it online somewhere?Carole Shmurakhttp://www.carole-books.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77038507794495078972012-09-23T14:49:37.832-04:002012-09-23T14:49:37.832-04:00oops! i gotta learn to read those tiny clues bett...oops! i gotta learn to read those tiny clues better! matt and will were right, i was wrong! eli is the correct answer!! Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16277130949307105930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18339456937204645552012-09-23T13:10:32.843-04:002012-09-23T13:10:32.843-04:00For the record - that "Ask Me Another" e...For the record - that "Ask Me Another" episode originally aired back in March, and I was plugging it all over Facebook! Interestingly, on a different episode, current Jeopardy! champion Roger Craig (who beat even Joon in the Tournament of Champions) also lost in the first round...<br />-Dan FDanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11209543514266918480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7108243047209166542012-09-23T12:11:58.594-04:002012-09-23T12:11:58.594-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 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 6:30, 6:48, 0.96, 32%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 8:26, 8:56, 0.94, 40%, Easy-Medium<br />Wed 14:52, 11:49, 1.26, 95%, Challenging (10th highest median solve time of 166 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 15:33, 18:48, 0.83, 20%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 14:43, 24:29, 0.60, 2%, Easy (4th lowest median solve time of 168 Fridays)<br />Sat 22:19, 29:17, 0.76, 9%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:49, 3:41, 1.04, 71%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 4:47, 4:39, 1.03, 61%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 7:34, 5:56, 1.27, 94%, Challenging<br />Thu 8:25, 9:20, 0.90, 34%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 7:36, 12:10, 0.62, 4%, Easy (6th lowest median solve time of 167 Fridays)<br />Sat 11:31, 16:35, 0.69, 4%, Easy (7th lowest median solve time of 157 Saturdays)sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23921064211187120612012-09-23T02:51:18.834-04:002012-09-23T02:51:18.834-04:00@BobKerfuffle
THANKS for the Dan Feyer transcript!...@BobKerfuffle<br />THANKS for the Dan Feyer transcript!!!! Hilarious!<br />Plus he's too modest to ever post anything about himself EVER, so that is great!<br /><br />@Tita<br />Did you ever straighten that guy out that you are a gal?<br /><br />now to check out @dk's photo.acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21169207412926449982012-09-22T22:30:13.187-04:002012-09-22T22:30:13.187-04:00Bob Kerfuffle and jazzmanchgo,
In Massachusetts,...Bob Kerfuffle and jazzmanchgo, <br /><br />In Massachusetts, burs were/are called "huckle buckles" by many natives and when two burs are pushed together they lock up exactly as a piece of Velcro does. jackjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02699305265544975575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71894353952686140552012-09-22T20:36:18.524-04:002012-09-22T20:36:18.524-04:00@jazzmanchgo - I had the same puzzlement regarding...@jazzmanchgo - I had the same puzzlement regarding BURS.<br /><br />On one page my dictionary says simply "bur <i>var of</i> burr". But on the facing page it says, "burr [. . .] 1 <i> usu</i> bur a : a rough or prickly envelope of a fruit [. . .] "Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79324333921961710082012-09-22T19:03:11.000-04:002012-09-22T19:03:11.000-04:00p.s. Also had (and have) no idea what "burs&q...p.s. Also had (and have) no idea what "burs" are. Did they mean "burrs"?jazzmanchgohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02568707898871466512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53021590462536229232012-09-22T18:59:36.328-04:002012-09-22T18:59:36.328-04:00"DISDENDOW" is an entirely new word for ..."DISDENDOW" is an entirely new word for me. <br /><br />No idea about "PDA" or "ATV"; and since I'm woefully television-impaired (as well as abbreviation-impaired), the Seinfeld answer was (and is) a mystery to me. (I didn't get "AVENUEQ" either; it pretty much filled itself in as I did the ones around it.)<br /><br />I always thought that "The 'IT' GIRL" was SILENT ERA actress Clara Bow; never knew it was a modern-day generic term for a celebrity-starlet.jazzmanchgohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02568707898871466512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8711205851857122012012-09-22T18:55:25.901-04:002012-09-22T18:55:25.901-04:00My initial run through of all the clues gave me a ...My initial run through of all the clues gave me a partially completed grid more like a Wednesday than Saturday, and I was able to complete the rest of the puzzle moving from top to bottom with no real hold ups. This is not my usual Saturday solving experience. I tried achEy for "Sore" at 50d, but the crosses straightened that out in due time. Only other write-over was TRuss for TRAVE at 4d, also easily fixed. All in all, my neatest Saturday grid ever - maybe my fastest too, but I don't really care about that.<br /><br />Happy first day of Autumn (or Spring, if you are in the southern hemisphere).<br /><br />I thought VELCRO was one of the technologies that the government gleaned from the UFOs being studied in Area 51 - the reality (if the puzzle is to be believed) is much more mundane.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41865398172396983772012-09-22T18:28:19.105-04:002012-09-22T18:28:19.105-04:00Liked this one. Almost finished. (That's bett...Liked this one. Almost finished. (That's better than DNF, no?) Had CRAnE, did not know PDA in either of its meanings. <br /><br />Zilch in the SW; DDS not SGT. In all fairness, you baste almost anything you are roasting in the oven. Do people use the term ITGIRL now? I thought the IT re Clara Bow was code for sex. This clue sounded current to me. <br /><br />It's all right, it's okay, it really doesn't matter when you're old and gray. <br /><br />When all else fails, read the whole set of comments.Sparkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149915526159432838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8256024074260224302012-09-22T16:04:15.535-04:002012-09-22T16:04:15.535-04:00"here" being here"here" being <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/05/11/152463788/its-the-end-of-the-world" rel="nofollow">here</a>Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8710076497393315702012-09-22T16:00:58.649-04:002012-09-22T16:00:58.649-04:00(Off-topic, again - please forgive me.) (And posti...(Off-topic, again - please forgive me.) (And posting this late on a Saturday afternoon is about equivalent to releasing your tax return on a Friday afternoon - the feeling is that no one will see it.)<br /><br />Anyhoo . . . Heard a new (to me) Game show on NPR today, Ask Me Another. One contestant was two-time ACPT winner Dan Feyer. Unlike Joon Pahk, who had a good run on Jeopardy!, Dan loses in the first round, though quite graciously. You can hear it here.Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31706478089828170752012-09-22T15:58:57.823-04:002012-09-22T15:58:57.823-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86769717047871015542012-09-22T15:45:05.671-04:002012-09-22T15:45:05.671-04:00@Edna - I, too, am a bit surprised by the complain...@Edna - I, too, am a bit surprised by the complaints about PDA. I'm a mid-60s, non-Seinfeld watching half-Brit, and I know it. I do think I learned PDA=gizmo before I learned PDA=yuck.thursdaysdhttp://mytimetotravel.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59301950850770695572012-09-22T15:31:46.675-04:002012-09-22T15:31:46.675-04:00Is PDA really that obscure? I graduated more than ...Is PDA really that obscure? I graduated more than 30 years ago, and both high schools I attended had strict rules about PDAs on campus. Kids could get suspended for macking on each other during lunchtime.<br /><br />Personal Data Assistant didn't come into the lexicon until the early '90s, I think it was one of the Apple Newton gizmos that adopted that moniker.Edna Krabappelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34785793809077326432012-09-22T15:01:35.626-04:002012-09-22T15:01:35.626-04:00@joho: isn't the last name mentioned first in ...@joho: isn't the last name mentioned first in China?<br />machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.com