tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post5589331413306814057..comments2024-03-19T00:21:49.519-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Intelligence researcher Alfred / THU 5-1-14 / Polynesian term for island hopper / Tolkien's Prancing Pony / Chemical restricted by Stockholm Convention / Goods stolen by Knave of Hearts / Integral can compute itRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2550418611867015602014-06-06T13:57:03.635-04:002014-06-06T13:57:03.635-04:00Thank you, Jim Lane. It's nice to know there i...Thank you, Jim Lane. It's nice to know there is at least one latecomer who reads my wise and profound comments. ha,ha<br /><br /><br />Ron DiegoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77308390957146870372014-06-05T20:56:05.765-04:002014-06-05T20:56:05.765-04:00No 13 down clue ?No 13 down clue ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57917784842994690512014-06-05T19:31:10.620-04:002014-06-05T19:31:10.620-04:00The COW had already been abducted by the time I go...The COW had already been abducted by the time I got to the puzzle so I didn't see it either. The hangings in the CLOSET and the Guillotine lopping off TETES gave the puzzle a somewhat macabre tone, no? I loved it anyway - clever and inventive: ITSOK!<br /><br />It's nice to see @Red Valerian stop by, and a couple of new syndic-commenters dropped in - now I'm lovin' it!<br /><br />Goleopi escaped - I'm glad to hear it, but that's a strange name for a COW, don't you think?Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74592241082251990442014-06-05T16:54:49.206-04:002014-06-05T16:54:49.206-04:00I'm with Ron Diego on this one. Got everything...I'm with Ron Diego on this one. Got everything but COW, so DNF. Never heard any such rural legend. Otherwise a fun puzzle. COW, though, struck me as (hewing to the "rural" theme) redolent of the excrement of certain barnyard fowl.Jim Lanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00981196894914646656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18470844295843855212014-06-05T15:51:26.448-04:002014-06-05T15:51:26.448-04:00Had fun finding all the little green men in this o...Had fun finding all the little green men in this one and got it down to that one blank square. Had to leave for an appointment, so plugged in COW which clearly worked and left. Came home to consult with all of you to discover what that square should have been. Surprise I DF a Thursday! Mustn't preen,Friday and Saturday loom! <br /><br />No hand here, just a dull address.DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5846550492410659212014-06-05T15:07:37.190-04:002014-06-05T15:07:37.190-04:00Loved this!!!
For those who question the (?) afte...Loved this!!!<br /><br />For those who question the (?) after 18 Across clue (Far south?): I think it is because it's much more common to see "Far East" or "Far North" or even "Far West."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18208355403393785104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34359374667549963582014-06-05T15:03:07.817-04:002014-06-05T15:03:07.817-04:00I'm proclaiming unfair because of the "co...I'm proclaiming unfair because of the "cow" thing. I figured out all the ets but just couldn't crack or understand the final nasty insult. So....a big ole DNF for me. Actually, the rest was interesting and not difficult.<br /><br />Ron Diego Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68963308448119871102014-06-05T13:49:04.542-04:002014-06-05T13:49:04.542-04:00I see if you filled in the bottom first, and got C...I see if you filled in the bottom first, and got COW, the rest could be challenging. As it was for me, though, first answers were LIE, ION, INN, NEE. Was sure of Alfred BINET, and so suspected ET was the rebus, confirmed by NAILSET, and CLOSET.<br /><br />After getting the top, and all the ETs, the bottom went smoothly and there was THAT square (55), which could only be COW, and like @Spacey, understood the tie-in with "rural". QED.<br /><br />Briefly considered *farting* for "raising a stink", but in the NYT? No way. Liked this one a lot.<br /><br />Well, I have a 4-number address, with two aces.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16204771614595367142014-06-05T12:02:29.789-04:002014-06-05T12:02:29.789-04:00Loved it! I started down in St John's (okay, ...Loved it! I started down in St John's (okay, Florida for much of this crowd) with REM. (Was "Shiny Happy People" really 23 years ago???) As a result, I, like a couple of people above, got COW first. And was trying very hard to find eight more of them! It eventually all fell into place. Great fun.<br />@Spacecraft--boring three number address, too.Red Valerianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04638265039015470938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37627352081537060482014-06-05T09:50:33.801-04:002014-06-05T09:50:33.801-04:00Challenging, really? NAH. Medium. I had a bit of a...Challenging, really? NAH. Medium. I had a bit of a bad start because I HOMEdIN on RBI for the batter's stat. Unable to get untracked with that, I scanned the clue bank for a gimme--and stumbled across 28d, which gave away the 1d store: AVG. [On the way I stuck in the gimme in the middle, BLIGH.] Back to work in the NW, I wanted ALIEN ABDUCTION right away for the top line, but hesitated because of the word "rural" in the clue. (COW was to come along later.) But then 7d had to be BINET, didn't it--except there were only four squares. Light bulb!! Of course! The top line was right, and our nine squares "identically filled" had to be ET. That opened the floodgates.<br /><br />Then came that troubling square in the south (not quite ANTARCTIC) that would be satisfied with the COW rebus--and suddenly I understood the POINT of "rural!"<br /><br />I liked this one. Cute as all-get-out, and not horribly filled. There certainly was a plethora of E's and T's, especially in the east: TEETOTAL TEETHES TENET, but that's about the worst I can say. Though not a fan of connect-the-squares crossword art, this one was irresistible ("Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated...")<br /><br />Beam me up, Scotty, there's no poker hand down here. Just a 3-digit address.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1748531372912583782014-05-05T12:12:29.560-04:002014-05-05T12:12:29.560-04:00The target of a guillotine is not the head (tete),...The target of a guillotine is not the head (tete), it's the neck (cou).Edac2dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05406242564285237476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86634768182756343222014-05-02T19:17:05.108-04:002014-05-02T19:17:05.108-04:00This 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 5:47, 6:04, 0.95, 29%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 9:20, 8:32, 1.09, 72%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 8:41, 9:54, 0.88, 23%, Easy-Medium<br />Thu 22:19, 18:08, 1.23, 85%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:41, 3:55, 0.94, 18%, Easy<br />Tue 5:52, 5:11, 1.13, 82%, Challenging<br />Wed 5:35, 6:11, 0.90, 25%, Easy-Medium<br />Thu 16:41, 10:44, 1.58, 95%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12259039530044954182014-05-02T16:44:12.723-04:002014-05-02T16:44:12.723-04:00Instead of "obese" in the middle I put &...Instead of "obese" in the middle I put "im-men-se" which put "men" as rebus right above "cow" which implied the men had been brought into the space ship and the cow left on the ground. i was pretty proud of that --but doing it required me not knowing stuff like the Polynesian term (i had "omoi" which seemd plausible) and didn't know Bligh and of course simply never figured out the Int Trade group that would have to have been MEN ..C -- i knew something was wrong but i'm still prouder of my answer than if i'd done it right!marvinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20779714654783975852014-05-02T14:44:22.914-04:002014-05-02T14:44:22.914-04:00Don't need nailsets when using today's pow...Don't need nailsets when using today's power nailing machines -- they tend to drive the kinds of nails one would set well below the surface when the nail is fired.DigitalDanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11620300502981292088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23409850949540287262014-05-01T22:49:53.040-04:002014-05-01T22:49:53.040-04:00Missed the cow also. Otherwise, very challenging ...Missed the cow also. Otherwise, very challenging and rewarding. I might have gotten the "cow" but I didn't have "eticket, just ticket. (even though TNA instead of ETNA made no sense - never went back and fixed it.) So I was still looking for the ninth ET. Had I had all nine, I would have been looking for something ELSE in the "cow" box. Good puzzle, but it beat me. <br /><br />OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9281991761795453252014-05-01T22:15:00.135-04:002014-05-01T22:15:00.135-04:00K & Z,
Well, well,the two crossword geniuses a...K & Z,<br />Well, well,the two crossword geniuses are DNF's. This puzzle was simple. Cow is the only rebus that makes sense. Since "rural legend" is part of the challenge, it must be about a cow being abducted. I do vaguely remember something about this from the 1950's.<br /><br />"RANDD"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41450472798951207402014-05-01T20:17:05.512-04:002014-05-01T20:17:05.512-04:00I got cow before I got any of the ets. But I had n...I got cow before I got any of the ets. But I had no idea what cow was doing there until I came here.michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72100607714812410972014-05-01T20:10:26.604-04:002014-05-01T20:10:26.604-04:00@ R McGeddon:
Don't you mean Close Encownters ...@ R McGeddon:<br />Don't you mean Close Encownters of the Turd Kind?Questiniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06225633428852696530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79468649470673997412014-05-01T17:45:57.660-04:002014-05-01T17:45:57.660-04:00Today I learned that COWARD and COWER have differe...Today I learned that COWARD and COWER have different roots. I would have thought they shared a common etymology, something about being scared, and was ready to be critical of a crossing with what I thought was pretty much the same word twice. But I went and looked it up (a rarity for me) and I withdraw that objection. (COWARD is from Latin via old French, and COWER is from a German word meaning "to lie in wait." The more you know.)Mr. Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12507031178939980974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85652612381205810232014-05-01T17:38:25.988-04:002014-05-01T17:38:25.988-04:00@Matthew A. Harmer, you should just expect some ki...@Matthew A. Harmer, you should just expect some kind of twist on Thursdays in general. Maybe it's a rebus like this one, maybe some words will be backwards, maybe there will be blanks for clues and you're supposed to figure out the theme, or something... just some kind of weirdness. Keep your eyes open for it and it will be easier to suss out.<br /><br />Specifically, if you find yourself thinking "I really want this answer to be (...) but there aren't enough spaces," and it's a Thursday, immediately consider the rebus possibility. Think where else in the grid you might have been stuck with something that didn't fit. I think you'll learn to enjoy it and get some satisfaction from figuring it out.<br /><br />They occasionally do this on Sunday too, but usually mix in enough gimmes to make it somewhat easier.Mr. Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12507031178939980974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54207060664596550262014-05-01T17:37:21.317-04:002014-05-01T17:37:21.317-04:00Eta for Viscosity? Have use mu and nu as both ki...Eta for Viscosity? Have use mu and nu as both kinematic and dynamic viscosities, but eta was new to me.<br /><br />Fill was clunky but not difficult on this end.Davenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40309451146518881542014-05-01T17:33:15.744-04:002014-05-01T17:33:15.744-04:00I loved the rogue rebus square -- something to kee...I loved the rogue rebus square -- something to keep solvers honest. And I liked the cluing, while not particularly clever or playful in general, it was slippery. A good challenge today.Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26146328453528180472014-05-01T17:31:29.837-04:002014-05-01T17:31:29.837-04:00I didn't like this puzzle. I found the top 4 l...I didn't like this puzzle. I found the top 4 lines and bottom four lines easy -- but the weird cluing and weird answers in the middle made it impossible to finish even tho I had the COW box and one of the ETs. I even understood what it was going to look like -- just couldn't figure out some of the odd bits like WROTETO, ETICKET (yuck!), TIETO, and so forth. Definitely a big disappointment for me.voiceofsocietymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11212997934962744466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27056066760832259402014-05-01T16:35:57.348-04:002014-05-01T16:35:57.348-04:00I learned about this type of abduction from watchi...I learned about this type of abduction from watching Close Encownters of the Third Kind.R. McGeddonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79106910569009801992014-05-01T16:08:13.305-04:002014-05-01T16:08:13.305-04:00Oy, oy, oy. Hated it, much like @MatthewAH. Don&...Oy, oy, oy. Hated it, much like @MatthewAH. Don't dislike all rebuses, but this one made me beg to be abducted by aliens to escape its clutches! Felt like an excrutiating unsolvable Sat., not a Thurs. Obviously, the first DNF of the week for me. Next...Ludyjynnnoreply@blogger.com