tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5094859535051608910..comments2024-03-29T07:28:12.459-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Seminomadic Kenyan / WED 4-9-14 / Product of domesticated insect / Mikado accessory / Trivia whiz JenningsRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58235703752210946252014-05-14T22:30:27.767-04:002014-05-14T22:30:27.767-04:00Oh Canada! Go Habs!Oh Canada! Go Habs!Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39004679592933928922014-05-14T16:26:12.566-04:002014-05-14T16:26:12.566-04:00I had the whole grid filled in except the top-cent...I had the whole grid filled in except the top-center section and when I finally managed a couple of crosswirds the GEARbox was very helpful in finishing up.<br /><br />Sammy FAIN was here only last Friday and I still needed all the crosses to produce his name again.<br /><br />@DMG - the ERA stat is a measure of how many "earned runs" a pitcher allows and so lower is better. Glad things are a little better for you today.<br /><br />Two pair - fold.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84693055412429385372014-05-14T14:28:06.557-04:002014-05-14T14:28:06.557-04:00Solved this one, but has to check here for a coupl...Solved this one, but has to check here for a couple of squares, I guessed at, the R in RES (no idea what that means, it just seemed like it might work), and ERA. Think that means "earned run average" which seems like something one would want to be "high", not "low", but then, I know nothing about baseball. As for that Russian emperor, I always fill in the AR and wait to see what version the constructor has selected.<br /><br />Another hot, over 100° day, 2% humidity, and raging winds, but the fire threat seems to be stabilized for the nonce. Expect this to be a long, hot, dry summer with a lot of finger crossing, but for now we are promised more normal May weather by Saturday!!<br /><br />@Diri: thanks for the kind thoughts!<br /><br />Three 5’s.<br />DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23640269343320337932014-05-14T14:03:57.680-04:002014-05-14T14:03:57.680-04:00No fair, @Spacey, posting twice to get a better ha...No fair, @Spacey, posting twice to get a better hand. <br /><br />I liked this easy puzzle, and actually used the theme to get SAND, because I had entered Shea in there.<br /><br />My son teaches in Nairobi, and has sent many photos of *MAASAI* warriors (note the double A) so I was initially reluctant to put MASAI in there. They are a gentle and interesting people, and as my son, a volleyball player, says, great leapers.<br /><br />I think SALTboxes are, or were, real things where salt was kept.<br /><br />The longer non-themers were not a distraction because the theme was clearly the grid-spanner and the six shaded areas.<br /><br />OK, I'm only going to play against @Spacey's first hand, here. Fair's fair.<br /><br />Boat. 8's and 6's. Raise.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45711154066622047982014-05-14T13:41:48.052-04:002014-05-14T13:41:48.052-04:00Didn't we just have Sammy Fain last week?Didn't we just have Sammy Fain last week?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86120300909405899782014-05-14T12:40:56.665-04:002014-05-14T12:40:56.665-04:00P.S.: I guess, re the Morton's, all this time ...P.S.: I guess, re the Morton's, all this time I should have been thinking (no! Don't say it!)...Okay, I won't.<br /><br />Ah, now that's better: four 9's!spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33952333212630083932014-05-14T12:35:45.191-04:002014-05-14T12:35:45.191-04:00I too thought it was going to be super-easy, zippi...I too thought it was going to be super-easy, zipping out of the NW--straight into a natick. I don't know from Microsoft Excel commands or pixel density thingies. Anything goes wrong with my puter I call up my puter guy. He opens windows I never even knew existed--or couldn't understand even if I did. The dude makes house calls, bless him!<br /><br />I did manage to navigate "around by Funston's," as we said where I used to live. MASAI wasn't exactly a gimme, but crosses helped. Not much trouble elsewhere, though I forgot about LEXington. Been a while. Back around to the natick, where I found "R" to make SORT and RES. Seemed reasonable, and, thankfully, was.<br /><br />So, not "easy," but the unease occurred in a couple of spots. Most of it was pretty simple. I give thumbs up for theme cleverness and execution; SALTBOX notwithstanding. In my 73+ years, I never heard of this till looking it up today, so SALT is hardly mainstream BOX fill. To me a SALTBOX is cylindrical, and has a picture of a little girl with an umbrella. But I never called it a "BOX." Boxes are supposed to have, like, sides and corners and stuff.<br /><br />Today I could only EKE out three deuces.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28641388387583894922014-05-14T12:08:08.237-04:002014-05-14T12:08:08.237-04:00A very nice Wed. puzzle thanks to Mr. Bennett. Th...A very nice Wed. puzzle thanks to Mr. Bennett. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with it, in my humble opinion.....Cute, clever, different and snappy. I truly believe some commenters go to extremes when dissecting each and every square.<br /><br />Ron Diego 9:05 AM PST 5/14 Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61960728975071276182014-04-10T13:13:02.658-04:002014-04-10T13:13:02.658-04:00The ruler of Russia was a TSar, not a CZar. There...The ruler of Russia was a TSar, not a CZar. There is actually a letter in the Cyrillic alphabet (Russian),that is "ts". Both Tsar and Czar are derived from Caesar, as is Kaiser. We use Czar when referring to someone in charge of a large field of activity, usually government appointed. Incidentally, Kaiser is how Caesar would have pronounced it.Fred Romagnolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11994837736408182418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79051294852025805132014-04-09T22:52:32.776-04:002014-04-09T22:52:32.776-04:00I guess now we live in the PayPal states... OK, so...I guess now we live in the PayPal states... OK, sorry, on to Thursday!Jisvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09195053073057452069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29056209714617440332014-04-09T22:07:42.215-04:002014-04-09T22:07:42.215-04:00Today, Hubster discussed the PAPAL states, saying ...Today, Hubster discussed the PAPAL states, saying that in those states, <br />people were treated poorly, the Pope being not unlike a dictator, and the people, as a result, became the most anti-clerical.Sfingihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06903616949048940858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30988103904624589962014-04-09T22:02:18.226-04:002014-04-09T22:02:18.226-04:00This 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 5:45, 6:12, 0.93, 16%, Easy<br />Tue 7:19, 8:32, 0.86, 11%, Easy<br />Wed 8:21, 10:13, 0.82, 11%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:46, 3:58, 0.95, 21%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 4:39, 5:11, 0.90, 14%, Easy<br />Wed 5:22, 6:14, 0.86, 12%, Easysanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9210231632797852342014-04-09T17:46:18.774-04:002014-04-09T17:46:18.774-04:00Rex writes "There's no chance for the the...Rex writes "There's no chance for the theme to help you, or to play any role at all, when the puzzle is this easy" — but who is "you"? Rex is consistently in the top 100 solvers in the country, which means almost all solvers find crosswords harder than he does. The theme must have been a welcome help to numerous solvers. I certainly appreciated using the theme to fill in a few shaded squares, even if as a C-level solver (I was around 250th in the one ACPT where I competed) I didn't actually need it.<br /><br />NDENoam D. Elkiesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11432725601909129452014-04-09T17:07:37.986-04:002014-04-09T17:07:37.986-04:00By far my fastest Wednesday ever. I breezed throug...By far my fastest Wednesday ever. I breezed through this puzzle and I pretty much never breeze through anything past Monday. I, too, finished and then thought, hmmm, I wonder what all those circles were about? Puzzle Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16111638177160042286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52716177369752616852014-04-09T16:31:26.733-04:002014-04-09T16:31:26.733-04:00The box this puzzle needed....
http://thecolbertr...The box this puzzle needed....<br /><br />http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/8suoui/sign-off---cardboard-boxThavasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66762683974321002232014-04-09T16:21:17.055-04:002014-04-09T16:21:17.055-04:00@jberg - thanks for the laugh, and point well take...@jberg - thanks for the laugh, and point well taken. Maybe for the next eleven months we can get "I'll Remember April" clues with answers like Parker or Sinatra or Julie London (swoon). If Will's gotta go for earworms, he should make a little effort and go with the best.Mohair Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502840715719161565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13826406138294589882014-04-09T15:59:51.042-04:002014-04-09T15:59:51.042-04:00Midday 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 />Wed 8:27, 10:13, 0.83, 11%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Wed 5:37, 6:14, 0.90, 24%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68975109786071230242014-04-09T14:42:40.279-04:002014-04-09T14:42:40.279-04:00@dk 1:13 You"re right. Czar also was used for...@dk 1:13 You"re right. Czar also was used for royalty and derived from Caesar.<br />And the three spaces starting at 55A could have been circled for those of us who remember what kind of boxes were used before electric (and even gas) refrigerators became ubiquitous.ksquarehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06181873595483296089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86072575152775041852014-04-09T14:39:42.936-04:002014-04-09T14:39:42.936-04:00Hearing cheers of "WE'RE #1" in thes...Hearing cheers of "WE'RE #1" in these parts. Even non-sports fans like me can't help but get caught up. <br /><br />Syncronicity - inexplicably, "Put another nickel in..." was the test pattern of my mind a few days ago. I paused to consider the word, and realized that nickelODEON means "nickel theatre". Thank you, crosswords!<br /><br />I encountered a nest of WATERSNAKEs at the confluence of the Ten Mile Rive and the Housatonic. They were about a foot from my hand as I grabbed some bushes to steady myself. Eek! I was more impressed then they were.<br /><br />My mother's elementary school outside Lisbon had domesticated SILKworms that the girls would tend. They also grew flax, and other textile-related things, in teaching them some of the science and business behind the "domestic sciences".<br /><br />A fine puzzle, Mr. Bennett. Thanks.Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21224160535226016982014-04-09T14:13:37.509-04:002014-04-09T14:13:37.509-04:00@anoa bob: Same experience growing up in rural No...@anoa bob: Same experience growing up in rural North Carolina. Though I see more cottonmouths down here in Florida.Benkonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41312202518674183232014-04-09T13:29:11.212-04:002014-04-09T13:29:11.212-04:00Growing up in rural Tennessee meant always being a...Growing up in rural Tennessee meant always being alert for snakes. The two that were at the top of our list were the Copperhead, which made a recent NYT grid appearance, and the Cottonmouth, which clues today's WATER SNAKE. We also called it the Water Moccasin and debated whether or not it could bite you under water. <br /><br />FIRST LIGHT is always a welcome and at times sublime experience when at sea in a small sailboat.<br /><br />In my never ending quest to improve the POCometer, I've added a new feature. It now gives a readout of the frequency of the letter "S" in the grid, converted to percent. The benchmark for the appearance of "S" in <a href="http://www.math.cornell.edu/~mec/2003-2004/cryptography/subs/frequencies.html" rel="nofollow">English</a> is 6.3%. "S" makes up a full 14% of today's grid, so, yeah, a bit on the heavy side. <br /><br />For comparison, out of the 100 tiles in Scrabble, 4 (%) of them are esses.Anoa Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185183023273883700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19798014531361066772014-04-09T13:14:33.649-04:002014-04-09T13:14:33.649-04:00beganbegandkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21453699938936024002014-04-09T13:13:49.419-04:002014-04-09T13:13:49.419-04:00🌕🌕 (2 Moons)
Yawn. I had to keep telling mysel...🌕🌕 (2 Moons)<br /><br />Yawn. I had to keep telling myself this was Wednesday and not Tuesday. As Rex stated the idea is a good one just a little simple.<br /><br />I would have loved to have seen JACK in a box…. and I thought the TSAR derivation from Caesar begin with, well…. a C.<br /><br />And lastly, RINDS are a garnish not an ingredient. The oil from the rind may be an ingredient but not the rind itself. Splitting hairs I know but as a member of the American Cocktail…..dkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22294159138023769332014-04-09T13:13:08.159-04:002014-04-09T13:13:08.159-04:00🌕🌕 (2 Moons)
Yawn. I had to keep telling mysel...🌕🌕 (2 Moons)<br /><br />Yawn. I had to keep telling myself this was Wednesday and not Tuesday. As Rex stated the idea is a good one just a little simple.<br /><br />I would have loved to have seen JACK in a box…. and I thought the TSAR derivation from Caesar begin with, well…. a C.<br /><br />And lastly, RINDS are a garnish not an ingredient. The oil from the rind may be an ingredient but not the rind itself. Splitting hairs I know but as a member of the American Cocktail…..dkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73829112540590441692014-04-09T13:08:17.355-04:002014-04-09T13:08:17.355-04:00I'm a little embarrassed to say that I needed ...I'm a little embarrassed to say that I needed GEAR in the box to get the section with PAPAL. Embarrassed because the fill was so easy : I count 35 entries which are straight definitions or close to it.<br /><br />But somehow I liked it. Never knew that "tsar" came as a corruption of "Caesar."mathguynoreply@blogger.com