tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post6075915193724831525..comments2024-03-29T01:22:33.864-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Memorable 10/1/75 event / FRI 10-1-10 / Brewer Bernhard / Henry Fielding title heroine / Statesman of old Athens / 164-foot-tall movie starRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68294946668282360192010-11-06T18:55:59.966-04:002010-11-06T18:55:59.966-04:00Captcha: demenses. Latin fer my condition? Ebonics...Captcha: demenses. Latin fer my condition? Ebonics term fer smartypantses?<br /><br />Couldn't have been too hard if I finished it without help.<br /><br />I'll take my LEMONTART with , uh, uh, uh . . .<br /><br />Milk. Thank you.NotalwaysrightBillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65806992541058198572010-11-05T19:09:17.299-04:002010-11-05T19:09:17.299-04:00Late word from 5 weeks back: Saw Louiville LIP, k...Late word from 5 weeks back: Saw Louiville LIP, knew it was ALI and the theme answers filled themselves in from there. Then it was just a matter completing the short fill and letting the crosses solve the unknowns (NEHEMIAH and IRONHEAD, to name two) for me. <br /><br />I thought this puzzle might be hard for those unfamiliar with ALI but apparently it wasn't hard for anyone!<br /><br />Loved the history lesson re Cassius Clay - thank you @ArtLvr.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81069648021483574902010-11-05T17:38:14.580-04:002010-11-05T17:38:14.580-04:00@NotalwaysrightBill, SPF is the sun protection fac...@NotalwaysrightBill, SPF is the sun protection factor (i.e., BLOCK) in suntan lotions.<br /><br />My WTF was OPALINE. Eventually got it from the crosses but never heard of the word before. TKO'ed me.Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35320015595759684732010-11-05T16:53:29.568-04:002010-11-05T16:53:29.568-04:00Syndicated puzzler. Got most of the puzzle pretty ...Syndicated puzzler. Got most of the puzzle pretty easily.<br /><br />Except. Exercising my AGITATOR "March alternatives":SITINS option, I'm floatin' like a butterfly in me NAPPY with my head stuck inextricably in my PAJAMA ARMHOLE (nice IMAGE, eh?), hopin' SMOKIN' Joe or Da LIP (or some other TITAN) don't wanna knock my block off to add to the indecipherable "Block Letters" [SPF]. Wikipedia says SPF has something to do with spamming: didn't understand a lick of it.<br /><br />Wasn't thrilled with "Balm" as the clue for SOOTHER (some healing balms are actually irritants, like the beeswax, olive oil and cayenne pepper muscle heaterupper I make is).<br /><br />Fav word of the day: LARGESSE.NotalwaysrightBillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71858245541093884812010-11-05T10:59:13.910-04:002010-11-05T10:59:13.910-04:00You bet I bested my Friday attempts: I actually co...You bet I bested my Friday attempts: I actually completed it! Thought at first there was a baseball theme but got it once I figured 16A. The fact that I finished, in one sitting, made me enjoy it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43428607432998499512010-10-02T03:56:21.733-04:002010-10-02T03:56:21.733-04:00@Sir Kerfuffle: thanks very much. I have seen ONER...@Sir Kerfuffle: thanks very much. I have seen ONER before and couldn't find it in my dictionaries. How dense am I for not looking it up in online dictionaries? Thanks, too, for giving me the thrill of a two-way conversation in this learned spot. Very fun.JaxInL.A.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71604332671492455442010-10-01T23:23:24.710-04:002010-10-01T23:23:24.710-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 7/30/2009 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 7:23, 6:58, 1.06, 76%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 10:16, 8:55, 1.15, 87%, Challenging<br />Wed 9:45, 11:39, 0.84, 17%, Easy<br />Thu 17:57, 19:07, 0.94, 44%, Medium<br />Fri 12:47, 26:17, 0.49, 1%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:59, 3:43, 1.07, 83%, Challenging<br />Tue 5:08, 4:36, 1.12, 85%, Challenging<br />Wed 4:54, 5:45, 0.85, 11%, Easy<br />Thu 8:41, 9:10, 0.95, 49%, Medium<br />Fri 6:36, 12:48, 0.52, 1%, Easysanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48887072408218868312010-10-01T22:41:36.121-04:002010-10-01T22:41:36.121-04:00@Yes; I like potatoes; don't know what a Kerfu...@Yes; I like potatoes; don't know what a Kerfuffle is. Just a joke.Sfingihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06903616949048940858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47827373483074481592010-10-01T22:18:27.201-04:002010-10-01T22:18:27.201-04:00@Ulrich - Not for the first time, @Sfingi is refer...@Ulrich - Not for the first time, @Sfingi is referring to me (Bob Kerfuffle) as Kartoffel. Just a little joke, I hope.<br /><br />My two comments addressed to @JaxinL.A. were only intended to be helpful to someone who may not be familiar with some crosswordese (dele and oner, specificallyBob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90315229657523792232010-10-01T22:03:28.645-04:002010-10-01T22:03:28.645-04:00@Sfingi: Who ("whom" for the fuzzbudgets...@Sfingi: Who ("whom" for the fuzzbudgets--not that I know how to spell them) are you calling "Kartoffel" (potato)? Having been a programmer myself, I tried to "Find" said person in today's comments--to no avail...Ulrichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02086202853174403008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3470612819228684152010-10-01T21:47:20.655-04:002010-10-01T21:47:20.655-04:00This was the easiest Friday OF ALL TIME [/Ali impr...This was the easiest Friday OF ALL TIME [/Ali impression]. I've never even finished a Friday before, and my time was under 19:00. Thanks for the confidence booster.ileennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34841770851182615442010-10-01T21:12:35.463-04:002010-10-01T21:12:35.463-04:00Solving this was very strange. I wasn't anywhe...Solving this was very strange. I wasn't anywhere near a computer today, so I did it w/o Googling. And it was all sports.<br />Bit by bit I got the info by crosses.<br />FIGHT, BOXING, thought it might be a Rocky movie, especially with PHIL. Reoplaced Hugh with EPPS and saw PHILIPINES. Then a nickname, then THRILLAINMANILA which I vaguely remembered. Then ALI. At the point that I had 2 nicknames and was really confused since they wanted a third, I asked another nursing home visitor, who said Frazier was called SMOKIN JOE and ALI had many nicknames, before and after his Clay days. Done!<br />I'm a sports retard. <br />Got IRONHEAD from crosses, too. <br /><br />I remember someone who owned a MOOG synthesizer - pronounced Mohgh. I assume it's a Dutch name. It was weird. <br /><br />@Andrea - Thanx - I'll skip the movie which I was seriously thinking of seeing. I was a programmer at 7 companies in the '60s and '80s. When I became a prison teacher, I had to take courses in How to Deal with Difficult People, which were generally B--LS--T, but one time they asked if anyone had to deal with people who had poor hygiene. I was the only one who had that experience - male engineers and programmers. Everyone was flabbergasted. Engineers on crack have got to be the worst. Half of them are autistic, anyway.<br /><br />@Kartoffel - those (annoying) words are crosswordese.Sfingihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06903616949048940858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6932938952538096172010-10-01T21:08:16.632-04:002010-10-01T21:08:16.632-04:00@expobill
Actually, Godzilla's height was spe...@expobill<br /><br />Actually, Godzilla's height was specified in each movie's orders to the "Special Effects" department.<br /><br />Godzilla's height had to be proportional to the (known) height of the buildings (and other things) he was destroying, as per the screenplay.<br /><br />As buildings got taller over the years, so did Godzilla san.Lookup Guynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32050742226867164102010-10-01T20:51:44.759-04:002010-10-01T20:51:44.759-04:00ArtLvr - Thank you for the clarification. It'...ArtLvr - Thank you for the clarification. It's still a good story, even (especially?) if unburdened by truth! I hadn't known how strongly the historical Clays had fought slavery. I wonder whether Ali knew it, given the fervor with which he abandoned his "slave name" of Cassius Clay. Maybe he, too, liked a story unburdened by truth. It's also interesting that Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed only the slaves in the states then in rebellion, over which he had no de facto control at the time. Slaves in states that hadn't seceded weren't included in the Proclamation.OldCarFuddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66623659634606348592010-10-01T20:44:45.412-04:002010-10-01T20:44:45.412-04:00when did they measure godzilla?when did they measure godzilla?expobillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9976932748365538982010-10-01T20:10:53.299-04:002010-10-01T20:10:53.299-04:00Just met Bonnie and Brett who lurk here. Maybe the...Just met Bonnie and Brett who lurk here. Maybe they will join us!!!chefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40273562903239191922010-10-01T20:06:44.708-04:002010-10-01T20:06:44.708-04:00Was a stunningly easy Friday everywhere but in the...Was a stunningly easy Friday everywhere but in the NW. I have never heard of LENI Riefenstahl (though after looking her up I recall learning about there being such director linked with Hitler, just not her name) or NEHEMIAH, and just couldn't remember the spelling of AMANA despite pounding my head trying to think of every refrigerator I've ever seen.<br /><br />With those three crossing, I sadly finished with two incorrect squares (where the consonants in AmAnA are).<br /><br />Oh well. Can't win em all.Matthew G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07957320012395569238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45902394088107306022010-10-01T19:45:02.928-04:002010-10-01T19:45:02.928-04:00What a freak show! The seventies, I mean. Ferdin...What a freak show! The seventies, I mean. Ferdinand Marcos climbing into the boxing ring to congratulate Ali, Mailer and Plimpton and CBGB's and Max's Kansas City and the "malaise speech" where the word malaise was never actually said and the Meathead, and who could forget "the Fonz"? Meanwhile, a young Joe Piscopo was teaching the world to laugh. The Philippines has really been hit hard with the new paperless society--all those artisan folder-makers out of work.Ellipses Man . . . .noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76631548335344081292010-10-01T19:44:32.680-04:002010-10-01T19:44:32.680-04:00@dk
You get the line of the day: "Please GO...@dk <br /><br />You get the line of the day: "Please GODZILLA, come back and eat ABBA."<br /><br />I'd kill to have thought of that. (But I felt it, deeply, in my soul.)mmorganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18375430572178263265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43090050663047879152010-10-01T19:30:23.059-04:002010-10-01T19:30:23.059-04:00While he was still Cassius Clay and before he won ...While he was still Cassius Clay and before he won the championship, he was known as the Louisville Lip because of his penchant for making comments to the press that were, well, provacative.<br /><br />This was in the pre-Howard Cosell days.edith bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12048817959846956992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73512805478186685022010-10-01T19:24:51.599-04:002010-10-01T19:24:51.599-04:00@OldCarfudd -- Cute story, but actually Ali claime...@OldCarfudd -- Cute story, but actually Ali claimed exemption from the draft on religious grounds... the claim was challenged but upheld.<br /><br />What's more interesting to the history-minded is that he was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. and his father (Sr.) was said to be descended from the slaves of the famous Clay family of Kentucky. <br /><br />These included Henry Clay, 1777-1852, three times Speaker of the House, US Senator (deemed one of the five greatest by JFK), and Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams. He became a slave-holder when he inherited two slaves at the age of four, but in adult public life worked to curb the spread of slavery. He was one of the major figures in negotiating the Compromise of 1850, staving off the Civil War for more than a decade,<br /><br />His second cousin, the original Cassius Marcellus Clay, 1810-1903, was even more of a fighter for emancipation. He was a friend and supporter of Lincoln and served him as Minister to Russia, where he witnessed the Tsar's emancipation edict. Recalled to the US to accept a commission as a major general from Lincoln, Clay publicly refused to accept it unless Lincoln would sign a similar emancipation proclamation. Lincoln sent Clay to Kentucky to assess the mood for emancipation there and in the other border states. Following Clay's return, Lincoln issued the Proclamation.<br /><br />In a way, it's too bad Ali gave up his illustrious birth name in 1963, though it was understandable at the time!<br /><br />∑;)ArtLvrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03869528391374878601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44045025418598966112010-10-01T17:48:48.162-04:002010-10-01T17:48:48.162-04:00There's a story, possibly apocryphal, that whe...There's a story, possibly apocryphal, that when Ali was called up for his draft pre-induction exam, he flunked the written part. When accused of malingering, his response was: "I never said I was the smartest. I just said I was the greatest!" I use that line often, with attribution, when I do something particularly stupid.OldCarFuddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11017529393408337822010-10-01T17:34:03.302-04:002010-10-01T17:34:03.302-04:00Wow, you're contributing a lot to our discussi...Wow, you're contributing a lot to our discussion lately.Another Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34820937403701963672010-10-01T17:21:38.604-04:002010-10-01T17:21:38.604-04:00Wow, you're awfully cranky lately.Wow, you're awfully cranky lately.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29094190461831771802010-10-01T17:02:39.011-04:002010-10-01T17:02:39.011-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.your average blankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06362703669092144957noreply@blogger.com