tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post7260171046550796251..comments2024-03-28T06:19:05.812-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Hearts minds military maneuver briefly / MON 11-21-16 / Alley shopping area for Harry Potter / Pop with no fizz / Amusement park with Nitro roller coaster / Qs Hostess brand Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75145217368178079222016-12-26T18:15:25.355-05:002016-12-26T18:15:25.355-05:00Okay, so after all that, here's an outcome on ...Okay, so after all that, here's an outcome on the ZERO controversy: Zero is the concept we end up with if we add, subtract, multiply or divide 1 and -1. Zero is either or neither odd or even depending on your preference. leftcoastTAMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44735469117262198442016-12-26T16:13:30.037-05:002016-12-26T16:13:30.037-05:00I had tried to comment earlier, but right near the...I had tried to comment earlier, but right near the end, the comment box slid over to the left and only half of it was showing. As a result, I couldn't do the robot thing and send. But anyway, I came back, two hours later. Hi.<br /><br />I had ZERO concerns about this puzzle, and thought it was an appropriate Monday effort. Contemplating ZERO approaches philosophy it seems, but in the controversy at hand, I think it is a number, but I think it is odd, er, unusual. Consider the following:<br /><br />even number + even number = even number<br />even number + odd number = odd number<br />odd number + odd number = even number<br />ZERO + odd number = odd number<br />ZERO + even number = even number<br /><br />The same is true of subtraction, which is just addition with a negative sign. So here, ZERO acts like an even number. However with multiplication and especially division, ZERO is an oddball. I'm probably oversimplifying things, and my brain hurts, but that's what I came up with. I think @Spzcey hit the hail on the head about ZERO being like a tree falling in the forest.<br /><br />Aside from that the puzzle was almost completely across-only doable, but was a competently constructed diversion today.<br /><br />Oh yeah, I must Google to see what the song Elton wrote about Marilyn Monroe. I thought it was Candle in the Wind.<br />rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79960866914050622172016-12-26T15:13:40.271-05:002016-12-26T15:13:40.271-05:00A SEGO, or saga, of the paper. Prior to Thanksgiv...A SEGO, or saga, of the paper. Prior to Thanksgiving we received a hand-written note (Happy t-day) from our paper carrier with her name and address. hint, hint Then, pre-X-mas, we get a card with a note and a SASE.. HINT, HINT!! Thought I might send her this tip - "please don't throw the paper into the garden where it gets wet and I can't reach it. And while you're at it, please close the plastic bag when it rains so it doesn't become a water holder." Good tips, methinks.<br /><br />Yesterday, X-mas, no paper - the message at the circ. desk said production problems killed the paper, and we would get Sunday along with Monday. Santa did manage to get the puzzle to me yesterday, but I started it late, so I wrapped it up this morning. (Get it? X-mas? Wrapped it up? Ho, ho, ho)<br /><br />Today - no paper. Called. On hold 1/2 hour. Yes, paper is coming - late - by 11. Seems the carrier quit, and Sunday was to be her last day. Wonder if other customers had sent a "tip" like the one I thought of. (No, I'd never actually send such a tip.) <br /><br />Yesterday's puzzle was quite odd - but not against all of them. Enjoyed the mirror images. Amusing, but not scintillatingly so. BTW 0 my cats both enjoy mirrors - "How do you get into THAT room?" <br /><br />Today was typical Monday - but did think OAS/PSYOP was a potential Natick for a Monday. <br /><br />What will Tuesday hold? Hope I'm not SOL again.<br /><br />DIANA, Lady Tired of WaitingDiana,LIWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63724832900762497072016-12-26T14:28:35.386-05:002016-12-26T14:28:35.386-05:00Fake news rears its ugly head on the RexBlog:
&...Fake news rears its ugly head on the RexBlog: <br /><br />"ZERO an even number? Dumb! Obviously a construct. So sad!"<br /><br />As someone has said, we are entitled to our opinions, but not entitled to make up our own facts. <i>All</i> numbers are constructs, mental concepts that we use to bring order our experience of the world. To note that I have zero coins in my pocket (which is true) is just as important and valid a piece of information as to say, on another day, that I have three. And if zero is a number, it must be odd or even: the rules of mathematics are clear that it is even. This is so regardless (irregardless?) of whether that seems intuitively obvious to me.Sailorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05185068601066087185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10234346893949073882016-12-26T14:16:24.951-05:002016-12-26T14:16:24.951-05:00Controversy of the day: Is zero a number? Is it OD...Controversy of the day: Is zero a number? Is it ODD or even? Maybe addressed by the Math guy way above.<br /><br />Neat theme and revealer. The numbering did look ODD at first, then made sense.<br /><br />AMUSED by this one.leftcoastTAMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60871668584290678522016-12-26T13:10:07.126-05:002016-12-26T13:10:07.126-05:00PRO'S PROS
SON, the FOURTOPS are gods, like E...PRO'S PROS<br /><br />SON, the FOURTOPS are gods, like EIGHTMENOUT on stage<br />IWISH AGAINSTALLODDS those CATSUP there won't age.<br /><br />--- FLORA MOBIUSBurma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52107554651516035142016-12-26T12:24:56.381-05:002016-12-26T12:24:56.381-05:00Let's not forget a shout out to @DIANA fofr ma...Let's not forget a shout out to @DIANA fofr making the puz.rondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48187399930370946402016-12-26T11:59:57.725-05:002016-12-26T11:59:57.725-05:00What others have said - ZERO is not odd, so it wor...What others have said - ZERO is not odd, so it works, and Heinz makes ketchup, Hunts makes CATSUP. Finished this one quickly.<br /><br />TWOTHUMBSUP for yeah baby TANYA Tucker. Saw her live at the Cabooze music club in Mpls when she was still a teen and was promoted as the "female Elvis". Still remember the sparkly tube top and leather pants. Yeah baby. May EVEN still have her album from that time, "TNT".<br /><br />Lightning fast Mon-puz. GDAY. rondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77407577638951486532016-12-26T11:28:21.330-05:002016-12-26T11:28:21.330-05:00I don't see a post from @M&A yet--I hope e...I don't see a post from @M&A yet--I hope everything's all right; you'd be greatly missed--but I'm sure this 7-U offering would get TWOTHUMBSUP from him. Had to finish the whole thing and look back over it to notice the (four) long across themers--only to come here and find that ZERO was included! But that would make, er, five. Hmmm. Is ZERO even? The question seems to fascinate nearly everyone on this page. Well, it ain't odd, so there you go. Zero is the tree that falls in the forest that no one hears. That's as far as I'm gonna go with it.<br /><br />First look at the first square...huh? Where's 1? Hey, they're ALL even! When I get thrown out of my comfort zone, I go looking for a special clue that might shed some light, and I found it at 120-across. Well, there it is: AGAINSTtheODDS! Thus did such an easy puzzle generate a writeover.<br /><br />I share OFL's frustration with NON-word ADES; also no one says UPENN; it's just Penn. The rest of the fill is pretty clean, IMO. I liked it. No doubt about DOD TANYA Tucker. Birdie.<br /><br />P.S. With the censor off, now we're getting ads from call girls!! Whose English is fractured, to say the least. Spellcasters, anyone?spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71088047998380789612016-11-23T17:37:06.279-05:002016-11-23T17:37:06.279-05:00Man, those of you who are questioning whether zero...Man, those of you who are questioning whether zero is a number are going to have your minds blown when you hear about irrational numbers. Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15336260911834780345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51707316186005329572016-11-22T07:33:36.252-05:002016-11-22T07:33:36.252-05:00Another way to think of it is: when there are ZERO...Another way to think of it is: when there are ZERO seats left in a Broadway production, it has been Sold Right Out.Tim Piercehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08186514375951991677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87905559397644089022016-11-22T06:29:37.895-05:002016-11-22T06:29:37.895-05:00Never, in all the years I've done crosswords, ...Never, in all the years I've done crosswords, has ZERO VISIBILITY garnered as it has done on these boards today. Just fascinating. I'd always heard that we owe the ZERO to Arabic invention, but learned today [after delving further] that's based on the published mathematical codifications of <i>Al-Khwarizmi</i> (the source of the word "Algorithm"). Apparently, with that incentive, the Middle Ages were ready to think about the nature of nothing, though India had already been codifying nothing for a few centuries, and China had been counting on nothing even longer. It seems that making something out of nothing began almost two millennia BCE in Egypt and Babylonia, and even the ancient Olmecs in the New World had a use for nothing. So<br />nothing is left to chance. After poring over all that, I just a little number myself.<br /><br />Re the puzzle theme, it's obvious (isn't it?) that you can't have EVENs without ODDs. Since you can't [by definition] eliminate them, the only thing to do is, AGAIN and AGAIN, STALL ODDS.<br /><br />See, that's what happens: U PENN, then I PENN.<br /><br />@Numinous, there's an Anne Huyser bush in my garden. Have to thank you it's been a while since a fella sent me a poem.<br /><br />btw, I always enjoyed the name "DIAGON Alley". I just learned a couple of weeks ago that the Grandboy [on whose account I read those dang Harry Potters a decade ago] had never noticed it can be read "diagonally". InGENEious we skip a generation.<br /><br />Double MWAHs to all.<br /><br /><i>MOBIUS Dickensia</i>Leapfingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14243620614139990887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62300746654447638912016-11-22T03:54:18.506-05:002016-11-22T03:54:18.506-05:00xHiya !!! ... I am Sonam Raees A Hot, adorable and...xHiya !!! ... I am Sonam Raees A Hot, adorable and hot young lady, as individuals depict me in their fantasies. Conceived and raised in an exceptionally pleasant family where you wont discover individuals other than specialists and architects from a north town of India. I have dependably been an extremely unusual in all viewpoints where my everything relatives have been exceptionally bashful and sensible individuals. 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Be that as it may, even now I needed to reevaluate on my choice so I asked my companion that I should buzz you back.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sonam-raees.in" rel="nofollow">Goa Call Girls</a><br /><br /><a href="http:/www.sonam-raees.in" rel="nofollow">Goa Escorts</a><br />Aalia Sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11184472400165860704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49091683343786058172016-11-21T23:30:03.936-05:002016-11-21T23:30:03.936-05:00I started out a little annoyed at the puzzle, now ...I started out a little annoyed at the puzzle, now I'm just aghast at all the people who think zero isn't an even number. I mean, English is a fluid language, so, sure, you can use whatever definition you want, but arguing that zero isn't an even number is like arguing that Yemen isn't an Asian country. By the commonly accepted definition it is, by every definition accepted by any expert in the field it is, and if your definition is different, you'll have difficulty communicating with the rest of us English speakers.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00722401405603446790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65780725473184028562016-11-21T23:02:26.230-05:002016-11-21T23:02:26.230-05:00@Z - She was Chinese by birth, and well over 50 at...@Z - She was Chinese by birth, and well over 50 at the time - not your picture of good old Karen Allen.<br /><br />@pdevlinmath268 - (Assuming your 8:04 was in reply to me) - I'm getting a kick out of folks ruminating on the meaning of zero I may have kicked off here. I went into that course hoping to find a way to calculate the effect of variable wind speed on fuel consumption in jet aircraft and trucks. She was quite the theoretician, I came out pondering Descartes and Spinoza. Its been nearly half a century and the course has stuck with me, speaks well for her.Mohair Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502840715719161565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39183729703352135462016-11-21T21:44:22.524-05:002016-11-21T21:44:22.524-05:00@pdevlinmath268 - First, The "reply" fun...@pdevlinmath268 - First, The "reply" function you're using only works on phones. Anyone reading your comments on a tablet or computer has no idea of the exact context of most of your comments. If you want anyone not reading on a phone to know what the heck you're talking about the blog standard here is to use @ followed by the nom de blog of the person to whom you're replying. Second, there's a loose general rule limiting comments to three. It's not a huge deal if you go over (this is #5 for me today) but you'll notice that many will combine replies into one comment. Again, not a huge deal that you made 5 comments in 10 minutes, but when I first saw all your comments in my email I thought you might be a spellcaster (don't know about spellcasters? stick around and get email follow-ups. You will).<br /><br />Also, sorry again if I seemed to suggest that the division by 2 definition is wrong. Although we could arm wrestle at length and to everyone else's great annoyance about your "literally the same thing" assertion. <br /><br />@Mohair Sam - For some reason I have in my mind an image of your math prof that is remarkably similar to Karen Allen in <i>Animal House</i>. Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44813542030787772602016-11-21T21:18:05.412-05:002016-11-21T21:18:05.412-05:00@pdev et alia...
Seems to me that some folks are s...@pdev et alia...<br />Seems to me that some folks are saying 0 is not a number - not that 0 does not exist.<br /><br />From a common sense perspective, numbers count things. You can't count no things. It's not a counting number.<br /><br />As long as you are measuring real stuff, you can almost kind of get by without it. <br />You really don't need to say 5 apples plus zero apples = 5 apples.<br /><br />Think of zero as a Number of Convenience - it makes arithmetic a whole lot easier. Zero, and negative numbers too, turn out to be very convenient once you've run out of fingers and toes.<br /><br />(Have I mentioned lately how much I love this blog?)<br /><br /><br />Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40875961059963510142016-11-21T20:20:33.015-05:002016-11-21T20:20:33.015-05:00@pdevlinmath268, how can nothing exist? The notion...@pdevlinmath268, how can nothing exist? The notion of nothing as a thing is a construct. <br /><br />If even numbers are separated by one, as are odd numbers, 0 holds a place, otherwise either -1 or 1 would be even. I guess that would make -2 an odd notion.Numinoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01263999193499725814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40825508568439397982016-11-21T20:04:35.575-05:002016-11-21T20:04:35.575-05:00I've never heard of this "zero does not e...I've never heard of this "zero does not exist" notion, but it's really fascinating.pdevlinmath268https://www.blogger.com/profile/08159664853499631752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63539643934498135062016-11-21T20:02:21.277-05:002016-11-21T20:02:21.277-05:00That's the majesty of it. 0 is a mulitple of ...That's the majesty of it. 0 is a mulitple of everything, and it can be divided by everything.pdevlinmath268https://www.blogger.com/profile/08159664853499631752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3195286584490132182016-11-21T20:01:30.275-05:002016-11-21T20:01:30.275-05:00Do you believe in numbers that are close to 0? Li...Do you believe in numbers that are close to 0? Like 1/1000?pdevlinmath268https://www.blogger.com/profile/08159664853499631752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6527828223830416362016-11-21T19:57:56.168-05:002016-11-21T19:57:56.168-05:00Zero is divisible by 2, and that's a perfectly...Zero is divisible by 2, and that's a perfectly good argument. In fact, saying "n is divisble by 2" is literally the exact same thing as saying "n =2k [for some integer k]"pdevlinmath268https://www.blogger.com/profile/08159664853499631752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40139625986452549952016-11-21T19:54:50.660-05:002016-11-21T19:54:50.660-05:00True. ---Mathematics professorTrue. ---Mathematics professorpdevlinmath268https://www.blogger.com/profile/08159664853499631752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49883753852054375942016-11-21T18:22:46.773-05:002016-11-21T18:22:46.773-05:00@Z - Very good! Interestingly, she got us lost in...@Z - Very good! Interestingly, she got us lost in philosophy when she discussed the meaning (or meaninglessness) of zero. She would have loved the Magritte.Mohair Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502840715719161565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78549443018711437232016-11-21T18:19:51.346-05:002016-11-21T18:19:51.346-05:00Easy and ZERO of the options I tried on the NYT si...Easy and ZERO of the options I tried on the NYT site had the double number clueing. Had to go to Xwordinfo to see what was going on. Frustrating! <br /><br />Kind of an odd puzzle, mostly liked it. jaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03385568014046336373noreply@blogger.com