tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post689894734973764270..comments2024-03-28T11:09:59.073-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: New York City suburb near Yonkers / MON 11-19-12 / 1980 Kool Gang Hit / Like bialys lyonnaise sauce / Pharmaceutical giant that makes Tamiflu / Spanish doubloon material / Janis's spouse in comicsRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50392228968142608152012-12-25T07:05:30.789-05:002012-12-25T07:05:30.789-05:00@ Carola 5:00 PM - I know BITER from my days as a ...@ Carola 5:00 PM - I know BITER from my days as a single guy.<br />Happy Chanukah to all ...Anonyratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70306794374213437582012-12-24T18:11:26.752-05:002012-12-24T18:11:26.752-05:00another P.S. - I'm still getting used to the n...another P.S. - I'm still getting used to the new keyboard so please excuse all the typos. I gave up on "Preview" a long time ago.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15614438041381918882012-12-24T18:09:04.058-05:002012-12-24T18:09:04.058-05:00@DMG - I recently "upgraded" TO a laptop...@DMG - I recently "upgraded" TO a laptop (which was on clearance because it's esentially obbolete) and I think all of the complaints, including yours, about difficulties accessing the puzzle and/or the blog with the latest tecnology have pretty much convinced me that there is not a notebook or smart phone in my future. But good luck with yours - I wouldn't want you to give up on coming here!Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9706998811908754432012-12-24T17:56:39.346-05:002012-12-24T17:56:39.346-05:00I think computers hate me! This one just scrapped...I think computers hate me! This one just scrapped a w long comment I wrote thanking @Bob K and @Diri for trying to solve my problem with getting Rex's full blog. Unfortunately, they provided the address I've always used and it yields a very user un-friendly site. Tthe best I can do on the iPad is Google Rex and a unique word from the puzzle where I can at least get the blog and answers part of his page.<br /><br />However, I just discovered the old address still works on my semi-antique iBook which is connected to the same internet source. Stumps me! DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59405602277963458782012-12-24T17:37:14.436-05:002012-12-24T17:37:14.436-05:00P.S. - @Spacecraft and @CES: my take on the ? in t...P.S. - @Spacecraft and @CES: my take on the ? in the Mensa clue was that "Intelligence group" usually refers to a spy group (but maybe that's because many, many years ago I was assigned to a (warning: oxymoron alert)Military Intelligence Group in the Army. Nobody would have confused us with MENSA members.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51830853303622222272012-12-24T17:35:03.122-05:002012-12-24T17:35:03.122-05:00Fine puzzle to lead into the Christmas holidays, f...Fine puzzle to lead into the Christmas holidays, for which I wish all syndi-people (and others who may have strayed here) a very joyous time with family and loved ones.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60469292186423068762012-12-24T17:29:14.873-05:002012-12-24T17:29:14.873-05:00PP likes to try early week puzzles on her own but ...PP likes to try early week puzzles on her own but I knew something was up when she asked me how to spell COCKAMAMIE and LACKADAISICAL. I was proud of her for finishing without any more help and I was even more impressed when I came here and saw that even seasoned solvers had fits with the grid. Oh, she also asked how to spell I/ENURE - I told her to use whichever one made the most sense with the cross; she chose correctly.<br /><br />ACADIA (which is a K short of being a theme answer) Park is a magical place where you can go to the top of Mt. Desert and be the first to view the sunrise on the US (although folks from Eastport have been known to dispute that claim).<br /><br />Speaking of magical, it's Christmas Eve - have a very merry holiday everyone! Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71795411062910518322012-12-24T15:14:22.283-05:002012-12-24T15:14:22.283-05:00@SPACECRAFT, if you'd ever been a member of Me...@SPACECRAFT, if you'd ever been a member of Mensa, you'd know why the ? was present. Not the sharpest tacks in the box, many of them.Cogito Ergo Sumthin'noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83238548884186067712012-12-24T12:07:10.271-05:002012-12-24T12:07:10.271-05:00This was a COCKAMAMIE puzzle for me, very uneven. ...This was a COCKAMAMIE puzzle for me, very uneven. Looked at the NW and thought: today is MONDAY?? So I went to north central, where I found yet another written-out abbr.: ONELB. This stuff grates against me because it doesn't make sense. You can't write out a number--or the word "AND"--in the middle of an acronym or abbreviation. Sheesh, you either want to save space or you don't!<br /><br />Rant over. This kept happening; little pockets of gimme Monday-level solving alongside a HUH? like TUCKAHOE or HUCKABEES (clue for the latter, in my paper, read "'I D ___'" [2004 film].") I guess they didn't know how to print a heart--though that wouldn't have removed the HUH? for me. Never heard of it.<br /><br />I'm so inured to the INURE spelling that I finished with a wrong square. To me, TUCKAHOi was every bit as (un-)believable as TUCKAHOE. Yes, I know abour ENURE, it just doesn't register. We oughta get rid of one or the other of those; one word is enough for that idea.<br /><br />One question: why was MENSA clued as "Intelligence group?" with a "?" ?<br /><br />Some liked the crossing of OHOH and HEHHEH; to me it seemed LACKADAISICAL.<br /><br />The evolutionary model of a tree seems more to the point than a ladder. Life grows out in all directions; most peter out. I strongly suspect we'll be one of those. Sentience isn't everything.<br /><br />All the above notwithstanding, I still liked it. It certainly had a bunch of fun words.<br /><br />Captchas were absolutely brutal today. First 8: totally illegible.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87395239632272321352012-11-20T23:29:59.702-05:002012-11-20T23:29:59.702-05:00Oops, I've been schooled by @EllenS...Robert i...Oops, I've been schooled by @EllenS...Robert is indeed Nathaniel's dad who then begat Peter.Acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85735325521076289902012-11-19T23:46:13.385-05:002012-11-19T23:46:13.385-05:00This 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 7:08, 6:46, 1.05, 76%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:09, 3:41, 1.13, 91%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81509275204255550222012-11-19T21:52:36.561-05:002012-11-19T21:52:36.561-05:00And Yet we all got it that APE was the answer-no?M...And Yet we all got it that APE was the answer-no?Maybe crossword clues don't need to be as technically accurate as evocative.I know that language is a living thing but at what point does Misuse become standard? and whom do we pickett? I just LOVED this cockamamie puzzle-theme smeme!syndyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16814698406887041710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67574542377464861482012-11-19T21:23:10.436-05:002012-11-19T21:23:10.436-05:00Clem Kadiddlehopper said...
How about me!
"...Clem Kadiddlehopper said...<br /><br />How about me!<br /><br />"My goodness, things have sunk lower than a snake's belly."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17670797412953117312012-11-19T17:21:42.267-05:002012-11-19T17:21:42.267-05:00And me.And me.Charles Krauthammernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7121640015973151622012-11-19T17:20:50.597-05:002012-11-19T17:20:50.597-05:00And me?!And me?!Charles Keatingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90801396889538573082012-11-19T17:20:31.181-05:002012-11-19T17:20:31.181-05:00Hey! What about me?Hey! What about me?Charles Kuraltnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2745726003503861342012-11-19T17:05:50.317-05:002012-11-19T17:05:50.317-05:00I go up and down my ladder. I even occasionally f...I go up and down my ladder. I even occasionally fall off my ladder.<br /><br />Protozoa are still mutating, creating the same variants they produced 1 Billion years ago. Are these newly created variants of protozoa newer on the timeline than the old ones?<br /><br />The "evolutionary timeline" is as inapt a description of the process of evolution as is an evolutionary ladder. If you're tracking the evoloution of a given species to the one we know of now, they're equally apt. You're simply using a horizontal vs vertical metaphor. <br /><br />Evolution is an uholy mess, with more mistakes than successes. The only metaphor I can come up with to mirror that is Congress. Humanity is the Simpson-Bowles of the Congressional Model of Evolution.Jes Wondrin'noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5271673383683031072012-11-19T17:00:43.367-05:002012-11-19T17:00:43.367-05:00@Bird - I know BITER not from the canine realm but...@Bird - I know BITER not from the canine realm but from the years when my kids were in preschool. Occasionally there was a child in the class who bit others and became notorious among parents as a BITER.<br /><br />4:59 PMCarolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15971759975067250908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70201783029711343972012-11-19T16:59:02.528-05:002012-11-19T16:59:02.528-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Carolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15971759975067250908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49327955590460112432012-11-19T16:28:36.384-05:002012-11-19T16:28:36.384-05:00@johnv -- No. No one does. No one.
A thoughtful...@johnv -- No. No one does. No one.<br /><br />A thoughtful day here in Rexville, philosophizing about evolution. Lots of food for thought; thank you contributors.<br /><br />Sure would like an answer to the CK question. Paul! Let us know!<br /><br />Sigh, with the new puzzle page, I can't bitch about last year's metapuzzle (by PB) results still being posted, more than a year later. It sounds like there is plenty of bitching, however, about the new page. What are people complaining about?Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45204395704055611562012-11-19T16:03:43.368-05:002012-11-19T16:03:43.368-05:00@Acmemamie - Of course. Each Benchley was a talent...@Acmemamie - Of course. Each Benchley was a talented author in their own right, but I have my reasons for defending Peter.<br /><br />dadu. dadum. dadum, dadum, dadum . . .Quintnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75120458333012191892012-11-19T15:40:16.915-05:002012-11-19T15:40:16.915-05:00This 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 7:03, 6:46, 1.04, 73%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:19, 3:41, 1.17, 96%, Challenging<br /><br />Definitely on the challenging side for a Monday.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48496165346671333342012-11-19T15:31:11.974-05:002012-11-19T15:31:11.974-05:00@ellens
Just for the record, Robert Benchley (my f... @ellens<br />Just for the record, Robert Benchley (my fave author) was brothers with Nathaniel, who is Peter's dad. <br />It's not a grandpa, son, grandson...<br />(Tho i know you were joking)<br /><br />@quint, <br />Take it in the spirit it was prob meant, esp if you compare changing the course of American humor writing and the Algonquin Table vs Jaws!<br />(cue Jaws music here for joho!)<br /><br />@joho<br />I popped over to Wordplay to see if the constructor had been interviewed or popped in there with an explanation about the theme...<br />But Deb just thought it was an -a- theme...and all the comments seem to be about how horrible the new puzzle page design is, so no light she'd on the mystery as yet...<br />But if you are right, that is phenomenal!!!!!<br />:)Acmemamienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66351776843603430482012-11-19T15:19:23.047-05:002012-11-19T15:19:23.047-05:00The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th D...<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086856/" rel="nofollow">The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)</a>IMDbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8193009465676301782012-11-19T15:15:39.710-05:002012-11-19T15:15:39.710-05:00@Ellen S - "Robert->Nathaniel->Peter Be...@Ellen S - "Robert->Nathaniel->Peter Benchley. Devolution" Shame on you. Peter was a great author.Quintnoreply@blogger.com