tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post7668316145813123772..comments2024-03-28T07:35:42.427-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Rescuer of Princess Peach / SAT 3-22-14 / One of Leakey's Trimates / High rollers in casino lingo / Three Stooges creator Healy / Did entrechatRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48990419467412748602014-04-26T19:15:59.350-04:002014-04-26T19:15:59.350-04:00@DMG, similar difficulty with the SW, especially A...@DMG, similar difficulty with the SW, especially AQUI and ESAI. And with FRIEZE & ALTERANT up north. Swallowed the GRAPEJUICE too. Otherwise a not too challenging Saturday puzzle, maybe on a par with this week's Tuesday. <br /><br />Non-numeric captcha. Can't compete. Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46389826235117267442014-04-26T16:31:52.810-04:002014-04-26T16:31:52.810-04:00Enjoyed this one, but found it a real test of my v...Enjoyed this one, but found it a real test of my vocabulary. How often does one use words like GESTATES and ALTERANT? At any rate, my vocabulary stretched so far and then quit. Got the right half, and sputtered around in the NW. Toyed for a moment with the idea that somehow tIBET was behind bars! Even guessing LENNON left me with spaces in that corner. BORAX-really?<br /><br />Then there was the OPAQUE SW. Don't know French, haven't seen The View or La Bamba, thought Enterprise was the name of some science fiction vehicle, and would never use HERALDS as signs of something. Thus, with nothing but GREBES and TRILLS in place, I didn't have enough to hang any guesses on. so it goes somedays! (Most Saturdays.)<br /><br />Wonder what's happened to @Ginger. Hope she's well.<br /><br />Had a good hand but it just switched to a loosing three 3's. Pot seems to belong to @SIS.<br /><br />DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91714231606192137272014-04-26T14:58:53.186-04:002014-04-26T14:58:53.186-04:00Just stopped by to ante up and try my luck at the ...Just stopped by to ante up and try my luck at the poker table but I should have just stayed away - 3 eights.<br /><br />I do want to add an Amen to Ron Diego's "Hey, it's a fun exercise not an obligation of any kind."<br />Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81302156061278763232014-04-26T14:39:23.364-04:002014-04-26T14:39:23.364-04:00spEdBY before FLEW. WHALES corrected that mistake....spEdBY before FLEW. WHALES corrected that mistake. AfLAmE before ABLAZE. JUMBO corrected that error. pEtALS before SEPALS. SYDNEY was a gift from Greg and helped with the SE.<br />TRALLS and GREBE both totally on crosses. Natickville for me. With the exception of 16A, the NE section was elegant. EPISODEI was almost impossible for me to parse.<br />I don't watch The View, but I really wouldn't have watched it if Rosy ODONNELL was on it.<br />I enjoyed solving this satpuz.<br /><br />Four twos. Sorry Spacy.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67837336272047607392014-04-26T12:33:18.295-04:002014-04-26T12:33:18.295-04:00Nifty puzz for a Saturday. I was giving myself kud...Nifty puzz for a Saturday. I was giving myself kudos (only googled once Esai) until I noticed I had Kegs instead of Megs. Boo Hoo I will atone by skipping the Sunday puzzle, which I never do anyway.<br /><br />As far as "completion time" is concerned, I couldn't care less. With me, it's too many interruptions, like making coffee, feeding cats, answering phone, bathroom, etc. Sometimes I finish the puzzle late in the day when all is calm. Hey, it's a fun exercise not an obligation of any kind.<br /><br />I sure enjoy most of the comments from the regulars, even Evil D.<br /><br />Ron Diego 9:30 AM PST 4/26Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7574799179044239992014-04-26T12:28:07.921-04:002014-04-26T12:28:07.921-04:00How could OFL be confused by GRAPEJuice? Wasn'...How could OFL be confused by GRAPEJuice? Wasn't the #1 gimme SYDNEY? Mine was, but I didn't see much farther there, so I RANALONG to the NW, where WHALES came right away (I live in Vegas). Done with that corner, I had BORA_ and ZOOE______. Nothing.<br /><br />Back to SE. The J crossing then hit me, and that corner was gone. From there I slowly wormed my way around to the SW. ObtusE almost scuttled me. My extremely thin knowledge of the Romance languages left me in the dark as to PRES and AQUI, but I finally parsed EPISODEI and OPAQUE became, uh, transparent.<br /><br />Perilously close to a DNF, but I pulled through. Nothing medium about this one, though: challenging all the way. I agree with OFL on the ODOR of 16- and 52a, but the rest of it was clean and satisfying. Mr Johnson has constructing chops, for sure.<br /><br />9's full today. Any good?spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34460953988003680442014-03-23T12:52:21.102-04:002014-03-23T12:52:21.102-04:00Easy until I got blown up by SE - HOMEPORT and OPA...Easy until I got blown up by SE - HOMEPORT and OPAQUE killed me, and really bad because I'm bilingual in Spanish, to miss AQUI...to coin a kids phrase these days...My Bad! otherwise great stuff on Saturday, 2 in a row w/ STPAT, and very much liked OMAHANkmsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54695079573150293132014-03-23T12:24:17.868-04:002014-03-23T12:24:17.868-04:00@Gill, @Diri - wonderful!!@Gill, @Diri - wonderful!!Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68788267405384645292014-03-23T12:14:36.131-04:002014-03-23T12:14:36.131-04:00This was by far the easiest Saturday I've ever...This was by far the easiest Saturday I've ever solved. And the only Saturdays I've ever completed with no mistakes (as per the little smiling guy who popped up on my Across Lite screen). Jackiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00061062649010323549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14390564827079147952014-03-22T23:31:51.462-04:002014-03-22T23:31:51.462-04:00@Bob K... Sorry. Too hard for human consumption.
:...@Bob K... Sorry. Too hard for human consumption.<br />:(<br />o<br />o <-- tears of remorse.<br />o<br /><br />M&AOutlaw M and Anoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24122751238407568382014-03-22T21:31:32.039-04:002014-03-22T21:31:32.039-04:00@Gil I.P. - If he had a sailboat what else would y...@Gil I.P. - If he had a sailboat what else would you need?Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17725728531259526502014-03-22T20:12:36.146-04:002014-03-22T20:12:36.146-04:00@Tita @Dirigonzo. I don't know about a left/r...@Tita @Dirigonzo. I don't know about a left/right mnemonic but a boyfriend of long ago who had a sailboat (and nothing else) taught me "star light, star bright, starboard is to the right." Tres intellectual don't you think?<br />@syndy....You're back!! I missed you and your Ipad.<br />GILL I.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05605766053820226324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4933793599339073502014-03-22T19:57:21.737-04:002014-03-22T19:57:21.737-04:00@M&A - Gave it my best, tried what I could for...@M&A - Gave it my best, tried what I could for 15 minutes, actually filled in a few correct answers, then started revealing short words, shocked to find a few were correct, made more guesses, some correct, "finished" in 25 min 38 sec.<br /><br />Thanks again!Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43016551079918007372014-03-22T19:20:14.823-04:002014-03-22T19:20:14.823-04:00@Tita - Right and left are inherently confusing - ...@Tita - Right and left are inherently confusing - your right or mine, whose left do you mean? - but port and starboard are always relative to the bow of the boat. This is why time spent on the water is always less confusing, and more enjoyable, than time spent on the hard. See you on the water (if winter ever ends)!Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47542825725983125432014-03-22T19:19:01.731-04:002014-03-22T19:19:01.731-04:00@muse: nice site!
"Remote Fart Machine #2&quo...@muse: nice site!<br />"Remote Fart Machine #2" -- admired the "#2" part. I want me one of those. "Be the hit of yer next blogsite".<br /><br />Here is a puz that, in theory, should "attract"...<br />www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=19&id2=879<br /><br />M&A<br />Three burps and out.Masked and Unanimousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52949116785609392102014-03-22T19:04:28.790-04:002014-03-22T19:04:28.790-04:00I bLEWBY this fairly easy saturday PLUS or MINUS a...I bLEWBY this fairly easy saturday PLUS or MINUS an OPAQUE HERALD or two! HERALD being definitely a noun-very important medival personage and the Angels were being Heralds!heralding being to do a Heralds job! the King is coming make a hole!syndyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16814698406887041710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27728201239865034062014-03-22T18:46:49.951-04:002014-03-22T18:46:49.951-04:00@AliasZ - tried to comment below your link - don&#...@AliasZ - tried to comment below your link - don't think it let me.<br />Anyhow - so clear and simple - thanks for helping me ENVISION that.<br /><br />To all the PORT mnemonics pushers out there - can you explain why I almost always mix up right and left, but never, ever, mix up port and starboard?<br /><br />Thanks @Doris - another fun thing I learned via the puzzle.<br />Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79330306225189003992014-03-22T18:42:17.134-04:002014-03-22T18:42:17.134-04:00I was zooming along thinking this was easy for a S...I was zooming along thinking this was easy for a Saturday. But then I couldn't crack the northwest and had to google twice before finishing. And looking back, I don't think "I should have known 'Ed Wood' and "Lennon." Just didn't know them and didn't get the crosses until I did the googling.<br /><br /> But overall a nice smooth puzzle.michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41084220732644663212014-03-22T18:19:23.175-04:002014-03-22T18:19:23.175-04:00Oof...a train platfORm is a regular embarkation lo...Oof...a train platfORm is a regular embarkation location for commuters. THat and more caused a train wreck for me.<br />We often drink Life to the LEES around here. Well, we drink our wine to them, anyway. Though we rarely by wine of high enough quality to even have any.<br /><br />THe word in Portuguese is pé, which means foot. If I ever gave that word any thought, I would just think it referred to the fact that the sediment is at the bottom of the bottle.<br />In thinking about it some more, I fear that it might have to do with grapes being crushed by foot...<br /><br />They don't do that any more, right?<br /><br />Never heard "Trimates" before - glad to have learned it now. It was inferable, and one of my few toeholds.<br /><br />Didn't we just have TEXAS and GAZEBO?<br /><br />Anyhow, liked the puzzle. though I shoulda done more walking away for a bit before giving up and googling.<br /><br />Than you Mr. Johnson.<br />Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81119937200027748192014-03-22T18:05:50.787-04:002014-03-22T18:05:50.787-04:00@jae, Steve J, Gill I.P., et al – glad to hear it ...@jae, Steve J, Gill I.P., et al – glad to hear it wasn't just me (@Bob K – er, wasn't just <i>I</i>) on spelling ELIXIR.<br /><br />Speaking of problematic words, how do you spell that egg white stuff on top of a lemon pie? Quick! And you can't look it up first!<br /><br />@M&A – I've had the student you were in many manifestations over the years. Moving a digesting disruption is effective, even if it means moving his/her desk to the corner facing the wall. I recently had this conversation:<br /><br />Me: "That's it, Tyler. Move over here now."<br />Tyler: "What? I didn't do anything!"<br />Me: "You burped. For the third time. I have a Three Burps and You Move policy."<br /><br />I had him again yesterday and he good-naturedly reminded me of this. Hey, but he behaved.<br /><br />My inner 12-year-old made me check out your site. Cool! You may like this site – I used to buy stuff all the time from this place<br /><br /><a href="http://soimmature.com/" rel="nofollow">good stuff</a><br /><br />@jae – My kids had teachers like that, too. Sheesh it made me mad!Loren Muse Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05308030011870397977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80811029422960584472014-03-22T18:01:53.800-04:002014-03-22T18:01:53.800-04:00This 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 6:01, 6:15, 0.96, 30%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 12:39, 8:20, 1.52, 100%, Challenging (2nd highest ratio of 223 Tuesdays)<br />Wed 10:17, 10:13, 1.01, 55%, Medium<br />Thu 16:47, 18:41, 0.90, 29%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 21:23, 21:24, 1.00, 49%, Medium<br />Sat 24:55, 27:52, 0.89, 27%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:55, 3:59, 0.99, 36%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 7:56, 5:11, 1.53, 100%, über-Challenging (highest ratio of 223 Tuesdays)<br />Wed 6:26, 6:14, 1.03, 59%, Medium<br />Thu 10:31, 10:44, 0.98, 44%, Medium<br />Fri 13:50, 12:39, 1.09, 67%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sat 16:23, 17:32, 0.93, 36%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40431408230142711442014-03-22T17:20:49.356-04:002014-03-22T17:20:49.356-04:00@AliasZ - Okay, now I get it. I had neglected to ...@AliasZ - Okay, now I get it. I had neglected to "see" the problem. Thanks again.Lucynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22074656063071749312014-03-22T17:02:08.736-04:002014-03-22T17:02:08.736-04:00@lms, Steve J., Gill I.P., &? After reading L...@lms, Steve J., Gill I.P., &? After reading Loren's comment I realized I too do not know how to spell ELIXeR and had failed to check/correct EXHIBeT which I sorta do know how to spell. So, DNF here also.<br /><br />More pedagogical discussion:<br />I never ceases to amaze me how a small percentage of teachers fail to grasp the basics of what they are supposed to be doing. My granddaughter's physics teacher believes the he is not doing his job if he gives too many As and as a result constructs tests that go beyond the material being taught. It's not nice to fool students!jaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03385568014046336373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41723136752867531332014-03-22T16:21:29.353-04:002014-03-22T16:21:29.353-04:00DNF today. This puzzle made me feel really stupid ...DNF today. This puzzle made me feel really stupid in a couple of spots. Had _OOE_HIBITS at 22-A and figured this could not possibly be a word or combination of words. Something had to be wrong with the crosses, but I was pretty confident in them. Sure enough, I come here and find out you have to Scrabble-f*** that sucker to finish it.<br /><br />Had TI_ _TEST at 54-A and couldn't divine the the GH because I convinced myself there was some host on The View named ODaoNEaL.<br /><br />Had tyPeAS at 40-D so that screwed me for a few minutes. I hated this puzzle until I came here to see the solution. I realized that hatred stemmed more from my own obliviousness than the puzzle itself.Erasures Inevitablenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56376868468295154842014-03-22T16:18:23.895-04:002014-03-22T16:18:23.895-04:00@AliasZ Thank you for your lengthy explanation. I...@AliasZ Thank you for your lengthy explanation. I had no idea that there were such extensive rules for puzzle construction. I knew about the symmetry requirements, but that's about it. Personally, I didn't notice the mini puzzles, nor did they prevent me from solving. One can still refer to across and down clues to complete the other squares within the mini puzzles, so I am sorry to say that I don't fully comprehend the issue with them. However, I thank you for your time and effort in responding to my question.Lucynoreply@blogger.com