tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post6987070633396714200..comments2024-03-29T09:54:30.978-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Guitarist Kottke / TUE 8-26-14 / Traveler on silk road / 50th state's state bird / Department store founder James Cash / Tuna type on menusRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88910052915936204072014-09-30T17:14:40.176-04:002014-09-30T17:14:40.176-04:00Our MPs (Members of Parliament) are too often AWOL...Our MPs (Members of Parliament) are too often AWOL as well. Need their own MPs to track 'em down.<br /><br />Very easy, even for a Tuesday. Hoped James Cash's surname was NCARRY, but no such luck.<br /><br />Only slowdown was at the AHI/ACRO intersection but what else could it be but an A?<br /><br />HONORÉ is one of those great old French prénoms that are hardly used anymore. In Quebec, the most common boys names are now William, Nathan, Samuel and Olivier - and this among the French-speaking population.<br />Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19246608809789641782014-09-30T16:45:09.931-04:002014-09-30T16:45:09.931-04:00Much like yesterday my first run-through produced ...Much like yesterday my first run-through produced a competed grid, although not completely unblemished as I made the SteamY/SULTRY as did so many others. I always enjoy it when the constructor drops by to provide a little extra insight (and sometimes incite) to the discussion. And now I know that J. C. stands for James Cash in retail circles (seems fitting, somehow).<br /><br />With two naturals already on the table I'm not even going to play - @spacy and DMG can split the (presumably not EELERS')pot.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37830100407297490462014-09-30T12:34:57.437-04:002014-09-30T12:34:57.437-04:00Only write over here was the SteamY/SULTRY change ...Only write over here was the SteamY/SULTRY change experienced by others. Also, I never knew BERTHS related to playoffs, but it came easily enough from the crosses. All in all a fair Tuesday puzzle for novices, with the likes of HONORE thrown in for a little spice.<br /><br />Hey! 4284!DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42742282375846859902014-09-30T11:41:18.621-04:002014-09-30T11:41:18.621-04:00What, no love for Mandy Patinkin? I forgive your c...What, no love for Mandy Patinkin? I forgive your criminal minds. Yeah, this one was a ho-hummer, or a ho-ho-hoer if you count 14a. Crikey, not yet October and already!<br /><br />I blithely started out with PRISM and Paean (!). But that was the only hiccup in a grid that I rate as straight easy. The fill is marred by the unfortunate partial ADARK, as well as the EELERS crutch and YAD (Yet Another Direction). Yadda yadda...<br /><br />Still, the rest of it is OK. For fear of retaliatory martial arts, I will not grade any grid containing MISSPIGGY lower than B.<br /><br />171. Hi-YAH!!spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8767057362286613222014-08-26T23:43:05.531-04:002014-08-26T23:43:05.531-04:00I don't consider myself an expert or an author...I don't consider myself an expert or an authority on crossword clue integrity, but I really took issue with the answer to "In verse, 'His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry'" being "Santa". The "jolly old elf" of Clement C. Moore's "The Night Before Christmas" is never called Santa - when named, he is always St. Nick or St. Nicholas. Yes, he is often (and for all intents and purposes in THIS situation) the same figure as Santa, but if you draw from another text (especially if you use a direct quote) in a crossword clue, I feel the answer should COME FROM THE TEXT. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23596379528670116222014-08-26T22:21:36.674-04:002014-08-26T22:21:36.674-04:00EZ but enjoyable. Snagged at 22 A with Watch your ...EZ but enjoyable. Snagged at 22 A with Watch your STEP. After fixing the that rest was real straightforward.Nene is more CrosswordEASE. Thanks VF.Charles Flasterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16588962898277593533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45230536148292192092014-08-26T22:05:25.435-04:002014-08-26T22:05:25.435-04:00This 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 6:09, 6:02, 1.02, 62%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 6:48, 7:54, 0.86, 13%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:25, 3:57, 1.12, 88%, Challenging<br />Tue 4:32, 5:21, 0.85, 5%, Easy (12th lowest ratio of 245 Tuesdays)sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58221229297959043772014-08-26T22:04:13.088-04:002014-08-26T22:04:13.088-04:00@seastate5
Her words,
[A haiku]
like eels
...er,
...@seastate5<br /><br />Her words,<br />[A haiku]<br />like eels<br />...er,<br />undulate<br />through<br />lines of<br />symbolic<br />waves<br /><br />See it?<br />_________<br /><br />Thank YOU, Judge Vic.<br />Leapfingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14243620614139990887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58727215842029781622014-08-26T21:12:04.737-04:002014-08-26T21:12:04.737-04:00Thanks, Rex, for removing those comments. I can...Thanks, Rex, for removing those comments. I can't imagine how negative they were. :-)<br /><br />The puzzle was made 3-1/2 years ago. It was important to me to have six 9-letter answers: four with 4-5 patterns crossing each other at the P, the other two with 5-4 patterns. It was also important to me to have all true M-sound/P-sound entries: no Ph's, no Pr's, no Pl's. Each theme answer linguistically mirrors "military police" in this respect.<br /><br />If you said something nice about it, thanks. If you enjoyed it, I'm glad you did. <br /><br />VicAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88258807351753875402014-08-26T18:44:42.543-04:002014-08-26T18:44:42.543-04:00I must be a complete dolt! Can someone explain to ...I must be a complete dolt! Can someone explain to me Questinia's post, so that I might also bow down to her>?seastate5https://www.blogger.com/profile/13389022340940867701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60927270497235211212014-08-26T17:41:20.281-04:002014-08-26T17:41:20.281-04:00Midday 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 />Tue 6:52, 7:54, 0.87, 14%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Tue 4:41, 5:21, 0.88, 10%, Easysanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22526066349513296932014-08-26T17:22:44.908-04:002014-08-26T17:22:44.908-04:00Before I FORGET:
Sixty-two years ago today, a fut...Before I FORGET:<br /><br />Sixty-two years ago today, a future Puzzlemeister arrived on the scene in Crawfordsville, Indiana.<br /><br />Happy Birthday, Will!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23305819046480339222014-08-26T16:47:46.739-04:002014-08-26T16:47:46.739-04:00@Bob Kerfuffle: Thanks for the article on contran...@Bob Kerfuffle: Thanks for the article on contranyms, words that mean both one thing and the opposite. Cool that they are also called Janus words. I liked the examples in the article "cleave," "dust," "inflammable," and "sanction." I thought of the slang term "bad."mathguynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41784096237167847282014-08-26T15:34:20.802-04:002014-08-26T15:34:20.802-04:00Easy-Medium. PRISM was my first entry, then MAKEA...Easy-Medium. PRISM was my first entry, then MAKEAPACT for MAKEPEACE. Also had PAEAN before PSALM, so the NW was a mess that I was forced to abandon. No problems with the rest of the puzzle. MILKPUNCH was new as was LEO Kottke.jdvnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72368445909012391652014-08-26T15:08:59.226-04:002014-08-26T15:08:59.226-04:00Victor Fleming's (constructor of today's p...Victor Fleming's (constructor of today's puzzle) is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Fleming" rel="nofollow"> here </a>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41286518683504190802014-08-26T13:57:35.186-04:002014-08-26T13:57:35.186-04:00To @Henebry
I like the new Mini-Puzzle. It's ...To @Henebry<br /><br />I like the new Mini-Puzzle. It's a good warmup for the main event.<br /><br />Also, my times for the Mini-Puzzle are much faster than Rex's times for the regular puzzle. :-)Whirred Whacksnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5192787096011715962014-08-26T13:08:37.588-04:002014-08-26T13:08:37.588-04:00@mathguy - You might be interested in contranyms.@mathguy - You might be interested in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym" rel="nofollow">contranyms.</a>Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60607727203533323152014-08-26T13:04:18.355-04:002014-08-26T13:04:18.355-04:00Rex was dead-on target.
But I did learn somethi...Rex was dead-on target. <br /><br />But I did learn something. I thought that a "moot point" meant that the point was one that had credible arguments on both sides, contradicting the puzzle clue. But the online dictionaries show that it can mean the opposite. Are there other words or phrases which can mean both A and not-A?mathguynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10397418279823014112014-08-26T12:14:59.993-04:002014-08-26T12:14:59.993-04:00Faster than almost all Monday puzzles for me, and ...Faster than almost all Monday puzzles for me, and two minutes faster than yesterday's, so for me, the days ought to have been reversed. Aside from that, this was pretty much what I expect on a Tuesday, and I have no complaints. @Casco - your "Birth" defect reminds me of a Gilbert and Sullivan pun…<br />Ralph - True, I lack birth…<br />Seaman - You've a berth on board this very ship!<br /><br />OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82662924346450188932014-08-26T12:00:42.615-04:002014-08-26T12:00:42.615-04:00@Quilter1 I had the same experience, so I went bac...@Quilter1 I had the same experience, so I went back to Tyler Hinman's AVC from 2 weeks ago, which didn't so much scratch the itch as it flayed me raw. Hard to find a happy medium, huh?<br /><br />Today's puzzle looks good on the page. I suppose we've seen most of these before, but it seems like a fresh bouquet of garden-grown verbage, overall. Or, channeling my inner knuckle-dragging CRO-solver: "TuesPuz! NICEPUZ!"<br /><br />Oh, BiRTHS/ARiA, so not without a haste-makes-waste moment for yours truly. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07107804787389636647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14032328352214655202014-08-26T11:57:54.033-04:002014-08-26T11:57:54.033-04:00@Leapy, SINNERgISM!! Awesome! And so nice to fin...@Leapy, SINNERgISM!! Awesome! And so nice to find a fellow lover of all things Monty Python! I used to frequent a MP Message Board, until it went the way of the dodo! My name there was Twit of the Year! Another excellent skit! Too many exclamation points!<br /><br />RooMonsterRooMonsternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25258831448412739012014-08-26T11:43:43.911-04:002014-08-26T11:43:43.911-04:00Decent Tuesday, seemed medium to me. Funny to find...Decent Tuesday, seemed medium to me. Funny to find Honor(é) in the grid.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83357123739085039462014-08-26T11:38:40.145-04:002014-08-26T11:38:40.145-04:00@A-Z: Pink Malike? Shears, tisza possibility!
@Ro...@A-Z: Pink Malike? Shears, tisza possibility!<br /><br />@RooMie, you earned a bunch of grins with your dream sequence. Lots of SINNERgISM. UH-OH!<br /><br />@Whirred Whacks, thinking of Michael Phelps needed a swimmer's ear. First time I've ever laughed at that!<br /><br />And here tis: Not only <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6D1YI-41ao" rel="nofollow">one of my favourite Monty Pythons, but also a hovercraft full of EELERS, plus a dirty Hungarian phrasebook</a><br /><br />Who's been feeding mushrooms to the manatees?Leapfingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14243620614139990887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68098697519309459772014-08-26T11:14:39.301-04:002014-08-26T11:14:39.301-04:00I'm curious to hear what you think of the new ...I'm curious to hear what you think of the new mini puzzle, newly added to the latest version of the nytimes puzzle iphone app. Henebryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02205242801216185129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70213588827208429702014-08-26T10:43:32.970-04:002014-08-26T10:43:32.970-04:00ACROphobia
Some Vedic sky dragons had that but it...ACROphobia<br /><br />Some Vedic sky dragons had that but it rarely is a problem for tuna.r.alphbunkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00657275501845781384noreply@blogger.com