tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post8097881952726928601..comments2024-03-28T05:58:13.330-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Animator Klasky who co-created "Rugrats" / FRI 3-26-21 / Phil Silvers character of 1950s TV / Amazon comedy drama set in a New Jersey country club in the 1980s / Group with a member-centric acronym / River through the Carolinas Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3852283160842565142021-04-30T16:27:37.034-04:002021-04-30T16:27:37.034-04:00Once again, all those Nancy Drew books from my chi...Once again, all those Nancy Drew books from my childhood come in handy. <br /><br />Lady DiDiana, LIWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69296336040177814422021-04-30T16:15:02.362-04:002021-04-30T16:15:02.362-04:00Found this easy-medium (for a Friday) -- except fo...Found this easy-medium (for a Friday) -- except for the Deep South, featured by the PEEDEE River summoned from the depths of memory.<br /><br />The long acrosses in the N and S, and the THESIS STATEMENT down the middle, helped a lot in piecing it all together. TAKE A DEEP BREATH helped, too, and was glad to see the bumptious SERGEANT BILKO from the old days. <br /><br />Good cluing and answers all around. Nice work, Daniel Larsen.leftcoasternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48004154490552907732021-04-30T12:31:56.068-04:002021-04-30T12:31:56.068-04:00Oh DEERE! DNF because of 40D, 41D and 51A. That SE...Oh DEERE! DNF because of 40D, 41D and 51A. That SE corner was a BAD SPOT. :-( (SADFACE)... WHATSTHEBIGIDEA? Does Will Shortz keep SECRETFILES of puzzles that TEE you off while they put you ASLEEP? SACRE bleu! WHYS EDITS are badly needed in many AREAS. I RATE this ONE a 5 out of 10. Over and OUT.thefogmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870509029973778266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41140089033930626602021-04-30T11:57:36.908-04:002021-04-30T11:57:36.908-04:00COP OUT
THE STAYATHOMEDAD had a SECRET,
he GOTFAR...COP OUT<br /><br />THE STAYATHOMEDAD had a SECRET,<br />he GOTFAR with ARLENE since they talked,<br />and he’ll fall ASLEEP with not ONE regret,<br />‘tho that HEDONIST went off half CAULKED.<br /><br />--- RICH TENUTO<br />Burma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89585305142623332722021-04-30T10:29:14.227-04:002021-04-30T10:29:14.227-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.thefogmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870509029973778266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73105840724002270282021-04-30T10:06:41.775-04:002021-04-30T10:06:41.775-04:00Had to start at the bottom with BILKO and work up,...Had to start at the bottom with BILKO and work up, so I had ______STATEMENT and couldn't for the life of me figure out what to stick in front of that. The whole thing seemed to get harder the farther north I went--except for EVENTENOR. Is that a thing? Could be one word, a sort of superhero for concerts: EVENTENOR! He'd have a headset to cover that EAR, though.<br /><br />After rejecting ACNE, I wanted CYST, but STAY...didn't sound right. When I worked up the NE and saw ...DAD at the end, the whole schmear came into focus. Typical Friday toughness, so I guess medium is a fair RATE. I liked it. Birdie.spacecrafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09125304293611865503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43744215111001102962021-03-28T15:25:18.536-04:002021-03-28T15:25:18.536-04:00I guess I draw the line at "has a Wikipedia b...I guess I draw the line at "has a Wikipedia blurb" when it comes to proper nouns. Your mileage, or perhaps your fiancées, may vary. jonkotacohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00655700947050851426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11589497042176334812021-03-27T15:01:07.863-04:002021-03-27T15:01:07.863-04:00@oceanjeremy - Your car needs a new (or rebuilt) f...@oceanjeremy - Your car needs a new (or rebuilt) flux capacitor.Joaquinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03744952152768979913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32050357139705422562021-03-27T09:59:50.520-04:002021-03-27T09:59:50.520-04:00Very late to this party, but I wanted to add a Yea...Very late to this party, but I wanted to add a Yea vote for this puzzle. It played difficult but enjoyable for me. The tough cluing made almost nothing a gimme. I'm too young to know Sergeant Bilko off the top of my head but certainly have heard of him. Anyhow, one or two grampa answers are fine.<br /><br />Shout out to Red Oaks. I really enjoyed this even though the New Jersey country club setting is so foreign to me (suburban Texas kid). It's got great performances, universal coming-of-age themes, some truly hilarious moments, and a lot of heart.<br /><br />Sadly, another libationless puzzle, but I can live with HEDONIST at least.Sixthstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381916881914971288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27944086007400609692021-03-27T09:58:04.522-04:002021-03-27T09:58:04.522-04:00At least this time, the misdirects were reasonable...At least this time, the misdirects were reasonable. Finished it in less than an hour.Bob Millsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36480736704692936252021-03-27T08:56:53.839-04:002021-03-27T08:56:53.839-04:00I consider LEGO misclued. They are bricks, not blo...I consider LEGO misclued. They are bricks, not blocks.Chris Wendellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06419103189878299918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63198766557499568552021-03-27T00:55:22.643-04:002021-03-27T00:55:22.643-04:00Just a very typical 'for older white guys'...Just a very typical 'for older white guys' puzzle today. Two golf clues. Whiffenpoofs? So utterly unimportant and culturally irrelevant. The SADFACE clue poses zero challenge, like it was lifted from a Highlights Magazine crossword if such a thing exists. SITH is a better Star Wars clue than average, but it's no NOLTE.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47112442950602460122021-03-27T00:39:45.918-04:002021-03-27T00:39:45.918-04:00Norrin2 at 9:38 AM
In the early days it was Kirby,...Norrin2 at 9:38 AM<br />In the early days it was Kirby, Ditko and the often overlooked Don Heck. Gene Colan, John Romita and John Buscema came a few years later.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78399664629964433652021-03-27T00:20:56.476-04:002021-03-27T00:20:56.476-04:00Dear @pablo, sorry If I falsely accused you, but i...Dear @pablo, sorry If I falsely accused you, but if you are a tenor who isn't odd, you are rare! One might even say odd? Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08237000067564152763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39581911813636436502021-03-26T23:12:07.639-04:002021-03-26T23:12:07.639-04:00@Julie 8:34 PM
Here. Dermatologists remove sebac...@Julie 8:34 PM <br /><br /><a href="https://www.epiphanydermatology.com/blog/what-to-expect-from-a-cyst-removal/" rel="nofollow">Here.</a> Dermatologists remove sebaceous and pilar cysts. TTrimblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3082063051902550062021-03-26T22:57:03.261-04:002021-03-26T22:57:03.261-04:00@Julie 8:34p - just prior to the Covid shutdown my...@Julie 8:34p - just prior to the Covid shutdown my dermatologist removed a sebaceous cyst from my neck. There was a pretty good cut and some digging so it wasn’t a surface related thing. Son Volthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04322446657870644953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88405421040161356952021-03-26T22:24:36.347-04:002021-03-26T22:24:36.347-04:00@pabloinnh - I then wasted more precious nanosecon...@pabloinnh - <i>I then wasted more precious nanoseconds wondering if there is ever an odd TENOR?</i> -@Z9:05<br /><br />Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44364292989229387032021-03-26T22:21:38.553-04:002021-03-26T22:21:38.553-04:00@Nancy: I grew up reading Kipling, but no poet of ...@Nancy: I grew up reading Kipling, but no poet of the English language has had — or ever will have — an ear quite like Gerard Manley Hopkins. True story: once, in my lecherous bartending days, a girl I had just met made out with me on the spot because I could recite “Pied Beauty” from memory.<br /><br />My favorite poet is the relatively obscure Dino Campana, though I confess I can’t read him in his original Italian.<br /><br />The car isn’t jealous! My fiancée and I own it jointly. We picked it out together! And chose the new apartment partly because it offers safer NYC parking. Bought the car seven months ago, so whatever its problem it had better be insignificant and inexpensive (or covered by warranty).oceanjeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11021556433258685225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17877219786652590442021-03-26T22:11:18.856-04:002021-03-26T22:11:18.856-04:00@oceanjeremy -- You say there's nothing wrong ...@oceanjeremy -- You say there's nothing wrong with your car and yet it refused to start for absolutely no discernible reason? Obviously your car is *acting out* because it's jealous. And who can blame it? First you get yourself a fiancee and then you get yourself a "dream apartment." Have you ever told the car that it's your "dream car"? Have you ever gotten down on one knee and given it a ring? Your car needs some extra personal attention right now. Hop to it!Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16737377749030219974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26485827857178882092021-03-26T21:45:48.607-04:002021-03-26T21:45:48.607-04:00@alicat -- Thanks for the invite. Love to come! ...@alicat -- Thanks for the invite. Love to come! Yes, I do hum and will hum at the tea if asked to. Why, I might even agree to sing -- that is if you and Pooh are <i>really</i> lucky :)<br /><br />@A -- I knew the song was based on Kipling's "Gentlemen Rankers". Thanks for the interesting link. And, yes, the poem does explain the sadness that underpins the Whiffenpoof Song. Here are some lines from it that I especially like:<br /><br /><i>We have done with Hope and Honour, we are lost to Love and Truth,<br /> We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung,<br />And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth.<br /> God help us, for we knew the worst too young!</i><br /><br />What an ear Kipling had! And btw, Kipling is one of my three favorite poets, the other two being Tennyson and Blake.Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16737377749030219974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48954641956559358822021-03-26T21:32:24.206-04:002021-03-26T21:32:24.206-04:00Footnote! My replies to the commentariat et al:
@...Footnote! My replies to the commentariat et al:<br /><br />@Rex: Congrats on the vaccination! My first dose appointment is April 11th.<br /><br />@Texas Momma: Congrats on the Friday Finish!! My first no-cheat / no-error Friday was about six months ago. I got this one in just over 15 minutes. It gets easier! :)<br /><br />@Nancy: Love your poem.<br /><br />@Frantic Sloth: <b>TAKE A DEEP BREATH</b> <i>did</i> appear in a Friday puzzle this millennium, but it was 647 weeks ago. Friday October 31st of 2008. Clued as "Easy does it!" Perhaps your memory is so fantastic that 12 years ago seems recent?<br /><br />@jonkotaco: My fiancée assures me that <b>ELI</b> Zabar is a household name, and one I should know (as an aforementioned bon vivant, as well as a former bartender in semi-fine and fine dining establishments — some of which went on to be awarded Michelin Stars, though only after my tenure had ended). I think after this puzzle it will probably stick in my brain.oceanjeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11021556433258685225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39251652437247338782021-03-26T21:29:39.310-04:002021-03-26T21:29:39.310-04:00Ahh, finally finding the time to comment on Rex...Ahh, finally finding the time to comment on Rex's blog! I knew I'd have to when I turned the radio on this morning and WFMU was playing <b>ABBA</b>.<br /><br />It's been a heck of a week. Preparing to move (into the dream apartment!) and then Wednesday the car decided not to start anymore. Battery's fine, fully charged, lights and stereo and power windows all work and nothing dims when I try to start. Doesn't click or try to turn over — just stops. Behaves just like when I try to start in drive or reverse — just does nothing. I digress.<br /><br />Believe me I've been dutifully completing each crossword as per usual, maintaining my (checks notes) current 71-day streak. OK there have been three cheats in those 71 days. But today wasn't one of them!<br /><br />I solved today's puzzle more than ten minutes faster than my Friday average, only a few minutes slower than my record for a Friday. I also finished with zero errors — and even zero typos! But boy, was I frustrated when I finished.<br /><br />I was <i>almost</i> done in by the PPP cluster£#¢₭ in the southeast. I raced through everything else and my feelings about the puzzle flitted back and forth somewhere between "This is not bad" and "This is enjoyable" until I got to the intersections of <b>BILKO</b>, <b>ELI</b>, <b>RED OAKS</b> and <b>EDNA</b>. I was familiar with exactly zero of these answers (though I confess <b>SERGEANT BILKO</b> rang some primordial bell of recognition once it began to come into view, and I still do not know where or how I've ever come across this name). Luckily (for me), I was a competitive classical singer as a kid so <b>TENUTO</b> was a gimme. Even with that I only scraped by errorlessly because of lucky guesses. And that's not a good feeling to come away from a puzzle with. And since that was how the puzzle left me, that is how the puzzle has been framed in my mind all day long.<br /><br />Going back over it now, let's see:<br /><br />• <b>STAY AT HOME DAD</b> was a gimme. Why? The cluing "Pop around a lot?" was every bit as familiar to me as the aforementioned PPP was not. Because exactly five weeks ago, on Friday February 5th, we had NEW DAD clued as "Pop up a lot, perhaps?" Different constructors, but five weeks is not a long time between clues <i>this</i> specifically similar. I liked it, but is it maybe a bit... too soon?<br />• <b>HEDONIST</b>: I solved last night after my fiancée fell asleep, and she solved this morning while I was summoning the willpower to exit the bed. "Oh, you're in the puzzle!" she said. I guessed, "Voluptuary?" And she said "Voluptuary!" I replied that I prefer the term <i>bon vivant</i>.<br />• <b>SACRE</b>: This was eery. Just Wednesday I was in a weird mood and decided I'd listen to every recording I could find online of the short-lived-but-seminal DC post-hardcore band Rites of Spring. Then to encounter <i>Le</i> <b>SACRE</b> <i>du Printemps</i> in the puzzle... and then to turn on the radio this morning to hear <b>ABBA</b>... Something's going on.<br />• I imagine if one were crossing the desert and found a date palm at a <b>DESERT OASIS</b>, then plucked the fruit of said palm, it would indeed be a hot date.<br />• As a dues-paying anarchosyndicalist, I was happy to see <b>PROLE</b> in the puzzle. The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. Solidarity.<br /><br />Overall I found the puzzle very straightforward and almost like a Slightly Hard Wednesday (until the PPP morass). I think I'm mostly disappointed that the only resistance I encountered came not from clever cluing and mental effort but from boring old PPP. The marquee answers lacked <i>oomph</i> as far as I'm concerned, but I've only been a Serious Solver for about ten months or so. So what the hell do I know?<br />¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oceanjeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11021556433258685225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1312876581047743612021-03-26T21:06:41.457-04:002021-03-26T21:06:41.457-04:00So there's this sax player practicing "Ov...So there's this sax player practicing "Over The Rainbow" and he gets through the first 16 bars, but he can't remember the bridge. "Damn, how does the next part go?!" he wails. So he starts the song over and everything goes smoothly but once again he gets stuck after the first 16. He slams his horn against the wall in total frustration. "This is ridiculous, I know I know this! I've heard it and played it a zillion times! How the hell does it go?" So he starts from the beginning <i>again</i>, and– wouldn't know?–after the first 16 bars...nothing. He screams in frustration and starts throwing furniture around the room, when suddenly he trips on the rug and falls headlong out the window, eight stories to the street below.<br /><br />As he's he laying there, limbs broken and in excruciating pain, he hears the sound of the ambulance coming. "Na-nuh-na-nuh-na-nuh-na-nuh-na-nuh..."<br /><br />(Works better if you tell it live.)Joe Dipintohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07922691457886440325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71544007751041985732021-03-26T20:34:34.596-04:002021-03-26T20:34:34.596-04:00I agree with Anoa Bob that dermatologists do not t...I agree with Anoa Bob that dermatologists do not treat cysts, unless maybe it's cystic acne, but even then they don't operate on the cyst or anything. That clue/answer has always bothered me.<br />Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07099502586588208658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44790066384364584182021-03-26T19:55:37.674-04:002021-03-26T19:55:37.674-04:00@Eniale 6:31 PM 👍
___
Peace ~ Empathy ~ Amity ...@Eniale 6:31 PM 👍<br />___<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_DxNpW1kHQ" rel="nofollow">Peace ~</a> Empathy ~ Amity ~ Kindness to all 🕊bocamphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02524629632075020985noreply@blogger.com