tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5520373457518068832..comments2024-03-28T22:09:11.213-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Mischievous character in West African folklore / SAT 7-10-21 / David who took 15 years to write History of England / Julius Caesar's first wife / Capital city near Kangaroo IslandRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3622663724427815132021-08-14T17:05:03.047-04:002021-08-14T17:05:03.047-04:00ISWEAR when I read 42A. "Will can change it&q...ISWEAR when I read 42A. "Will can change it", my first thought was that this was an inside joke among X-word constructors referencing the power of editor Will Shortz with possible answers to include ACLUE and TITLE. Otherwise, enjoyed the Brit-leaning mini-theme of paraffin oil, two in a row, HUME and CHESHIRE and also the way the solution to the puzzle gradually emerged - PROPs to Trenton Charlson! Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62936528462464787982021-08-14T16:38:25.299-04:002021-08-14T16:38:25.299-04:00ANANSI(?) THE SPIDER was a CARELESS MISTAKE at th...ANANSI(?) THE SPIDER was a CARELESS MISTAKE at the start. And there were a couple of others:<br /><br />Wanted CORdELIA instead of CORNELIA, and then the more likely “slice” instead of ERODE for “Cut into”. The ERS at the end letters of the top three-stacks were pretty limp as “Starts of hedges" . Got “Two in a row, say?” were not the double Fs in TIFF but like a couple of guys in a knock-down, drag-out fight.<br /><br />So "Will [Shortz?] can change it”, I.e., the TENSE in a puzzle, whenever he likes maybe? Well, okay, he’s the boss. (Though I’m not quite sure if i’m just kidding about that.)<br /><br />Overall, got the bulk of this together after a slow start.<br /><br />leftcoasternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19365135348090040282021-08-14T13:25:43.066-04:002021-08-14T13:25:43.066-04:00Except for LSU EINE and ERODE, worked this one fro...Except for LSU EINE and ERODE, worked this one from the bottom up. I suppose in large part due to the SPIDER. A CARELESSMISTAKE having LAckey before LAPDOG. Shouldn't 'mayo' in the clue be capitalized? Or not in Spanish?<br /><br />FEASTONESEYESON Robin GIVENS, yeah baby.<br /><br />Good enough workout for a SATYR day.rondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7772679866787065822021-08-14T13:24:58.152-04:002021-08-14T13:24:58.152-04:00Not fun. Seems constructed with malice aforethough...Not fun. Seems constructed with malice aforethought - needlessly difficult.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54675006118888084542021-08-14T13:14:39.070-04:002021-08-14T13:14:39.070-04:00LOSTTO SATYR
CORNELIA and HER friend, for a CAREL...LOSTTO SATYR<br /><br />CORNELIA and HER friend, for a CARELESSMISTAKE paid,<br />CACHE for ARREAR ROOM spent, TO TRY TO get ADELAIDE.<br /><br />--- ODAMAE CHESHIREBurma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50467103574453750822021-08-14T12:20:32.506-04:002021-08-14T12:20:32.506-04:00Guess where I had trouble today. Give you a hint: ...Guess where I had trouble today. Give you a hint: it's in a Hitchcock title. Got it? Yeah, that 16a was brutal. That was fifteen down answers, that's what that was. But I prevailed in the end, when ...UN....FERS suddenly became COMMUNIONWAFERS, AKA "the host." That breakthrough felled the north. A pretty mean misdirect on 1-down: not "store" but storage. And of course, I think of holdem poker when I think of ANOUT.<br /><br />"ADELAIDE, ADELAIDE, ever lovin' ADELAIDE is takin' a chance on me!" The song from "Guys and Dolls" reminds me fondly of my college days, when Vivian Blaine--ADELAIDE on stage and film in G&D--did summer stock with us, and I got to play opposite her. A wonderful lady, and my personal DOD.<br /><br />I mostly agree that those 15 stacks relegate the fill to a bunch of short stuff, with a lot of strain sometimes, but this one pulls it off fairly well. That darn SPIDER is going to give headaches to "hosts" of people, though.<br /><br />@M&A, let me add my voice to the chorus: welcome back, U dude, we missed ya.<br /><br />Oh yeah. for the triumph points, birdie.spacecrafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09125304293611865503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60833037643158929852021-08-14T10:57:08.128-04:002021-08-14T10:57:08.128-04:00Tricky, especially the top part. Rex correctly ide...Tricky, especially the top part. Rex correctly identified quite a few shortcomings, but I enjoyed it anyways.thefogmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870509029973778266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63982298424283950642021-07-11T19:27:04.833-04:002021-07-11T19:27:04.833-04:00Thank you for Sexy Saxophone Man. I don't know...Thank you for Sexy Saxophone Man. I don't know where you found him, but it made that excruciatingly hard puzzle worth it. <br />siehommenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53538243215720112142021-07-10T23:37:16.477-04:002021-07-10T23:37:16.477-04:00TTrimble @8:48 PM, that illustrates the central po...TTrimble @8:48 PM, that illustrates the central point I've been trying to make. With a "living" language things are in constant change and evolution so a word like "ring" might take on a totally new meaning in some specialty area and it's up to us to know that change happens and to keep up to speed on such matters. But that is not the case with a "dead' language like Latin or Ancient Greek, <i>id est</i>, one that is no longer the daily tongue or vernacular of any cultures or peoples. <br /><br />So if you want to use a term or phrase that you can be relatively sure will not change or evolve into a totally different meaning, go with Latin or Greek. That's why many disciplines and organizations like science, religion, linguistics, law, governments, <i>et cetera</i>. use them. You can take advantage of that "set in stone" quality to know that your <i>sine qua non, id est, de gustibus non est disputandum, ad hoc, bona fide, carpe diem, exempli gratia, rebus, et cetera, e pluribus unum</i>---I could go on for days---will mean the same thing today that it meant 2,000 years ago and, crossword puzzlers notwithstanding, will mean the same thing 2,000 years from now.<br /><br />That's the great value of Latin and Ancient Greek (and other "dead" languages); their timelessness. That's a precious commodity in a world in constant linguistic flux. <br /><br /><i>Exempli gratia</i>, if in 1853 the founders of Beaver College had chosen to name their fledgling institution Castorea (Latin for "beaver") College, then maybe it would not have been necessary to change its name to Arcadia University in 2001 because "beaver" had taken on an urban dictionary type meaning of female pubes. <br /><br />When it comes to how <i>rebus</i> is used, I say go with its original Latin meaning and <i>stare decisis</i>.Anoa Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185183023273883700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3660898857471418172021-07-10T23:13:02.468-04:002021-07-10T23:13:02.468-04:00Did this in the paper and made a complete mess of ...Did this in the paper and made a complete mess of it. Looking back hard to see exactly why, but there's the evidence right in front of me, full of increasingly darker writeovers. Not only left my wrong answer for "play a critical role" (yelp) in far too long, also left it in the wrong place, coming off the y in satyr. In my defense, I was doing it in the backyard in fading evening light while squinting at the numbers. Thought whale watchers might watch the sea as well, so I was pretty dim for a long time over there. Rex's writeup is mostly fair-I now really like the answer for "two in a row" , but filled it in with crosses and never got to enjoy it while I was doing the puzzle. Not sure about Rex's objection to "Feast one's eyes on"-sounds perfectly familiar to me. Loved to see Anansi make an appearance.Dave Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12186065163092602289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3083559334071051212021-07-10T21:59:21.780-04:002021-07-10T21:59:21.780-04:00oops, thought I'd hit 'publish a couple of...oops, thought I'd hit 'publish a couple of hours ago....<br /><br />@Z, I appreciated the instruction on how to get @Lewis’ puzzle. Only problem was I had to avert my EYES because it was filled in. 🙈 I found how to reset, having only seen 1A, and started elsewhere so as not to cheat.<br /><br />@Frantic, I thought so too, although it was your comment “Is that pronounced like "A Nancy" that prompted me to copy that Aunt Nancy group. 😁<br /><br />Great to have you and your nanoseconds back, @M&A. <br /><br />SB folks, I prefer to play in a hall with some reverb, not in a BOOMY ROOM. <br /><br />Forgot to say I doff my chapeau for the clue for 19A. Now off to ERODE the lasagne.Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08237000067564152763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44274030717210865962021-07-10T20:48:43.088-04:002021-07-10T20:48:43.088-04:00@A
Thanks for that clip! "Massive" is i...@A <br />Thanks for that clip! "Massive" is indeed the operative word. This is of course the most famous passage from the Carmina Burana, quite deservedly as it packs a mighty wallop. <br /><br />The massive sing-along of Ode to Joy from Beethoven's Ninth* is apparently an annual celebration in Japan, and moves me for reasons hard to explain. I'd so love to be part of such a thing some day. That enormous <br /><br />Und der Cherub steht vor Gott <br />Vor Gott! <br />Vor Gott! <br />VOR GOTT!!!!!!!!!!! <br /><br />Holy COMMUNION WAFER, that is big! <br /><br />@Anoa Bob 7:07PM <br />Well, I sympathize to some degree, but I told myself in that recent convo that various subpopulations (e.g. mathematicians) will shamelessly repurpose a simple word like "ring" to suit their internal jargon-y purpose, and there's not much you can do about that process. And so it goes with "rebus" -- them's the breaks. My own watch-phrase here will be: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Meanwhile, you and I rest content knowing that we know the proper meaning, goddammit! :-) <br /><br />I've always internally semi-freely translated "sine qua non" as "without which there is no [i.e., can't be any]". Like an idiot, I sometimes trot out that phrase even though the small smarter kernel deep inside me knows I'll likely have to spend time explaining to my audience what it means. Not a very economical use of time, is it, TTrimble? <br /><br />@bocamp <br />Currently pg -6. Haven't looked at it for some hours though. <br /><br />*Why do I here imagine an internet troll insulting me en route to informing me that the ode was originally penned by Schiller? I can't imagine why I imagine that! <br />TTrimblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20706785521712103052021-07-10T19:52:48.416-04:002021-07-10T19:52:48.416-04:00I can't wait until an answer is BOBS FOR APPLE...I can't wait until an answer is BOBS FOR APPLES. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34415036189863190532021-07-10T19:07:30.078-04:002021-07-10T19:07:30.078-04:00I remember the clue for 29D "Sine qua non&quo...I remember the clue for 29D "Sine qua non" from H.S. Latin but given the recent rather cavalier treatment of the Latin <i>rebus</i> "by way of things" (ablative plural of <i>res</i> "thing") in crossword world, wasn't sure if the "without which not" translation was still being honored. I thought maybe it now means a crossword puzzle with one or more letters completely missing from the grid or some such. I was relieved when MUST showed up.<br /><br />Glad to see the connection between COMMUNION WAFERS and the Latin roots of its clue "Hosts" explained in the comments. Maybe there's hope that the original Latin meaning of <i>rebus</i> will be reinstated in crossword world and no longer misused to mean a puzzle with more than one letter in a square.<br /><br />And I always think it's a significant demerit for a puzzle when one of its marquee entries needs a convenient S letter-count boost to fill its slot as happened today with COMMUNION WAFER.Anoa Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185183023273883700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53693583589613925402021-07-10T18:43:04.326-04:002021-07-10T18:43:04.326-04:00Everyone should ignore the pope.Everyone should ignore the pope.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72429076037824501582021-07-10T18:34:15.853-04:002021-07-10T18:34:15.853-04:00Certainly not easy from our perspective, but fair ...Certainly not easy from our perspective, but fair crossing and cluing with a smirk made it just gettable with a smidgen of patience. Trenton is becoming a name I look forward to seeing at the top of a page since he always presents a challenging solve. Today’s was a bouncy ping pong game of isolated entries that took a while to knit together. CINCO has always been a second favorite in mayo, closely following the 8th (dare I say “Hurrah, Hurrah!). And I was able to accept HUME after resisting for far too long as others have whined today. We used the Ashanti myth as a core non-western text in Hum-101 trying to expand frosh awareness, so that was a gimme. Most other spots were like @Gill’s flickering lights—“Holy light bulbs” indeed!<br /><br />If anyone is hanging around late in the day, <a href="https://youtu.be/pQM0Q2eNoOg" rel="nofollow"> this dated film</a> might amuse.Newboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03435490871212357035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4691461974911881862021-07-10T18:18:41.689-04:002021-07-10T18:18:41.689-04:00@A 210pm Thanks for the aliases. They'll like...@A 210pm Thanks for the aliases. They'll likely find their way into a grid someday! <br /><br />Welcome back @ M&A! We missed you!<br /><br />@Rita 359pm No apostrophe needed in the grid. Are you sure there's no typo a-lurking?<br /><br />Time for the Sundee....fingers crossed!Frantic Slothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02614296873700797321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36312233327054467122021-07-10T17:49:31.979-04:002021-07-10T17:49:31.979-04:00@bocamp, @TTrimble, so glad you posted the multitu...@bocamp, @TTrimble, so glad you posted the multitudes. Curious how so many of the ABBA folks are singing the alto part. Doesn’t seem likely they’d have paid $100 to rehearse, like the Beethoven singers did. Very interesting comments in the Beethoven video. Loved the one asking if B would have predicted 10,000 people singing this on the other side of the world 250 years later. And @Rex calls classical music “bygone.”<br /><br />I resisted linking <a href="https://youtu.be/OQhBsovPwHs" rel="nofollow">Carmina Burana</a> for the Orff tribute earlier, but after your videos it started calling my name. Not quite 2000 but still massive.Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08237000067564152763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81271379011978047432021-07-10T17:27:15.411-04:002021-07-10T17:27:15.411-04:00@Georgia/10:13
Go marry an Episcopalian instead. ...@Georgia/10:13<br /><br />Go marry an Episcopalian instead. We call it 'host', and we get wine as the 'blood'. And Communion every Sunday. I suspect some show up just for the hooch. Not enough to get cocky, though. Used to be: Episcopals were derided, within Protestantism, as just RCs in English. Nowadays, most RC churches do it in English. We still ignore the Pope, though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12858131938380464252021-07-10T16:53:35.629-04:002021-07-10T16:53:35.629-04:00Well, two ways make a Saturday difficult - clever ...Well, two ways make a Saturday difficult - clever and obscure. This one used both. Ok but prefer the former.What?https://www.blogger.com/profile/15386323706336872298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81641345543743566332021-07-10T16:45:57.196-04:002021-07-10T16:45:57.196-04:00@DoesItinInk
Hedge, see definition #3.
@M&A...@DoesItinInk<br /><br />Hedge, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hedge" rel="nofollow">see definition #3.</a> <br /><br />@M&A<br /><br />Welcome back. You we're missed.JC66https://www.blogger.com/profile/05324615675333287919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45670770015828421632021-07-10T16:16:37.437-04:002021-07-10T16:16:37.437-04:00@anon 11:49--I knew MOIL from "The Cremation ...@anon 11:49--I knew MOIL from "The Cremation of Sam McGee" (the men who MOIL for gold), but I have never, and will never hear even gold rush times described as BOOMY. I suspect that no one else has or will either. I mean, really.<br />pabloinnhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04967477079504866917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67682078502449434062021-07-10T15:59:49.923-04:002021-07-10T15:59:49.923-04:00I have all answers correct but app says something ...I have all answers correct but app says something is off. Is there a rebus somewhere or do I need an apostrophe for “feast one’s eyes on”?Ritahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01754983079664943397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39741720221527240052021-07-10T15:36:18.916-04:002021-07-10T15:36:18.916-04:00I probably picked the wrong puz to restart xword s...I probably picked the wrong puz to restart xword solvin with, after a month or so hiatus. NYTSatPuzs don't pull many punches. This puppy ate my nanoseconds lunch, is what I'm a-sayin.<br />Kinda good to be back in the saddle, tho.<br /><br />staff weeject pick: ERS. Admired its {Starts of hedges} clue.<br /><br />fave no-way-moo-cow clue: {Part of mayo that's most popular?} = CINCO. The Shortzmeister actually did a pretty good job of keepin the ?-marker clues in the holster, until he got to the bottom third of the puzgrid.<br /><br />Thanx for remindin m&e how soft I've gotten at solvin in these rodeos, Mr. Charlson. Good job. And cute squished Jaws of Themelessness blocs, btw.<br /><br />Masked & Anonymo3Us<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://puzzlecrowd.com:8080/UploadRunt/FetchPage?id=NDMzOTc3NTg5MTYzMTczNw&title=M_1_and_1_A_1_Returns_1_-_1_by_1_M_1_and_1_A" rel="nofollow">**gruntz**</a><br /> Masked and Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16346263641338670679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21920995645016229732021-07-10T15:27:32.728-04:002021-07-10T15:27:32.728-04:00Could someone please explain 15D “Starts oh hedges...Could someone please explain 15D “Starts oh hedges” answer ERS. DoesItinInkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12704832430972690533noreply@blogger.com