tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post8891514746688646837..comments2024-03-29T07:17:55.045-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Tec group in old France / THU 1-31-13 / Trumpet blares / Turkey chicken dish served cold / Threaded across down / Trademarked Intel chip / Toon/live action film of 1996 / Titan boosterRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43998614609475293322013-03-07T18:45:43.642-05:002013-03-07T18:45:43.642-05:00@DMG - I put RECOURSE in without understanding the...@DMG - I put RECOURSE in without understanding the clue. My post-solve google unearthed a definition of "alternative" so I guess if the first two ways don't work the third way might be your last RECOURSE? Anytime I see a "maybe" in the clue I figure it might be a stretch.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29757143670827400242013-03-07T18:26:32.990-05:002013-03-07T18:26:32.990-05:00Well I liked it, even though it took me an embarra...Well I liked it, even though it took me an embarrassingly long time to see the black T shapes in the grid. When I finally had the theme answer in place the center of the grid opened up and I was able to ditch some wrong answers that I had stuck with for way too long. Having toad for NEWT, dweeb for TEASE and INASweat for INASTATE made that section much more difficult that it had to be (but that's how I roll most of the time). Of course I missed the rest of the theme until I came here. Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35086816225269043272013-03-07T17:21:05.870-05:002013-03-07T17:21:05.870-05:00Did this one without ever noticing all the T's...Did this one without ever noticing all the T's, figuring TSHAPE referred to the grid. Glad to learn others were similarly blind. Slowed down a bit in the SW, because I could remember that turkey thing, but thought it had two LL's. Eventually MONARCHS broke through where I was thinking dictators. In the end my mess-up was SPACEJet, thinking the unknown Maxim could be aimed at ten year olds. In retrospect, I should have remembered AZO from previous solves. All in all, I enjoyed the appearance of so many new words, excepting WAHR, which doesn't even look like a word to me. Anyone else question the cluing for RECOURSE?DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72183180697388006182013-03-07T14:59:27.999-05:002013-03-07T14:59:27.999-05:00Though I never noticed that all the clues started ...Though I never noticed that all the clues started with T, I now think that some of the awkwardness resulted from the constructor's choice. TRIMNESS bothers me, but I guess it 'works'. Some answers that were ? to many, I just knew: Eg CELERON, SURETE, TANTARAS, Terri GIBBS, thus proving that there are horses for courses. rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13818534062155272382013-03-07T13:31:06.537-05:002013-03-07T13:31:06.537-05:00The posTmorTem on this puzzle is almost epic, rang...The posTmorTem on this puzzle is almost epic, ranging from fawning awe to Terrible panning. I just wish Evil Doug would quit mincing words and Tell us whaT he really Thinks.<br /><br />ACK is awful. No excuses. There are better clues Mike could have used, but They wouldn't have started with a "T," e.g., ___ nak, as in radio radio protocols.<br /><br />To me, This puzzle had multiple layers of cool, so I side with the Thumbs arriba folks. Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27197039807420869162013-03-07T10:38:25.136-05:002013-03-07T10:38:25.136-05:00Have to disagree with Mr Parker's entire comme...Have to disagree with Mr Parker's entire commentary. I found this easy and enjoyable, with only one google. I think age makes the difference. Agena? Easy, Anton? Of course. Scootered? Heard it many times. Celeron? Check various PC specs. Considering the three Ts in the middle, The Tshapes in the grid and the starts of all the cluing, this certainly in a THEME puzzle. Acme, I love ya. ED, get a blue pill.<br />Ron Diego 3/7/13Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46711747590682427602013-03-07T10:25:34.024-05:002013-03-07T10:25:34.024-05:00@Melodiusfunk: We are agreed: in fact, my dad used...@Melodiusfunk: We are agreed: in fact, my dad used to say that Latin phrase all the time. I'm not exactly sure what makes OFL happy in a crossword puzzle; I know there is plenty that doesn't. Maybe somewhere there exists--as yet unconstructed--the "perfect" grid: one containing great, "normal" real words all throughout, like ORGANIZER and TOLERATE and TINDERBOX and EQUITABLE, all beautifully crossing with other nice regular words. Keep dreamin' Rexie; it ain't gonna happen. Down here in the trenches of the real world we have to pay for stacked nines and such. Take a pill.<br /><br />I swept through the NW like Sherman to the sea, then sailed off toward the NE with the "gimme" Intel chip pEntium! Oops! Bermuda triangle time! From then on the puzzle was a struggle. Finally got the SW after correcting iCK to the Guisewitean ACK, then worked over to the SE (oh no, he didn't do EXED, did he? Yep. Ugh.)<br /><br />Now to the NE. I have my pentium inked in, so sure was I, I had to mentally erase that line and work around, starting with the corner of KENNEDYS DESK. Only then was I able to get RECOURSE and the rest of the center. CELERON, eh? Never heard of it. Ah, I'm so 20th-century.<br /><br />I liked it. Though I found it medium-challenging, my Intel mistake cost me dearly; without it I may have called it medium. Never realized that all the clues began with T till I came here. That to me makes a good puzzle awesome! Should have guessed it, though, with that non-NCIS Gibbs clue. Last letter was the near-natick at HS?/TA?TARAS. Um, Home Shopping...was it Channel or Network? Tactaras or tantaras? At last I remembered seeing HSN somewhere: solved!Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4647267662465573952013-02-05T12:28:28.060-05:002013-02-05T12:28:28.060-05:00@andrea: my aunt is the incredible 100 year old wh...@andrea: my aunt is the incredible 100 year old who had her birthday on Feb 2. you asked me to contact you but i have no idea how to do so. please advise. thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20088528372084463772013-02-01T14:08:08.213-05:002013-02-01T14:08:08.213-05:00You'll find TANTARA as a direction in Shakespe...You'll find TANTARA as a direction in Shakespearean playsBobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56325092506832380672013-02-01T01:58:59.889-05:002013-02-01T01:58:59.889-05:00A twit is not a tease, but to twit is to tease.A twit is not a tease, but to twit is to tease.Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08351164734748713573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57878175416915250352013-02-01T01:09:18.635-05:002013-02-01T01:09:18.635-05:00Just a brief next morning note to say I enjoyed th...Just a brief next morning note to say I enjoyed this puzzle, finishing it without ever noticing that all of the clues began with the same letter, ( clueless of me!) and that the grid has T shaped black squares. Why the objections to the "Wahr" when another puzzle this week had TWO Spanish words? Nothing wrong with an occasional simple foreign word. Verdad, vrai,.. fine with me. Never heard of Faron, nor Agena, but the down clues made it doable..<br />Thanks, Mike Buckley.OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3995801075063639002013-01-31T23:23:29.379-05:002013-01-31T23:23:29.379-05:00DNF. The whole center empty. Got SURETE. Tec ma...DNF. The whole center empty. Got SURETE. Tec made me think of mystery stories and Maigret surfaced. Memory is amazing. Missed the theme completely till I came here. Sparkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149915526159432838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24021523334534726932013-01-31T22:27:02.687-05:002013-01-31T22:27:02.687-05:00This 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 8:03, 6:12, 1.30, 99%, Challenging (2nd highest ratio of 163 Mondays)<br />Tue 8:44, 8:37, 1.01, 56%, Medium<br />Wed 9:24, 11:33, 0.81, 9%, Easy<br />Thu 19:38, 17:05, 1.15, 76%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:32, 3:39, 1.24, 99%, Challenging (3rd highest ratio of 163 Mondays)<br />Tue 5:00, 5:01, 1.00, 47%, Medium<br />Wed 5:40, 6:29, 0.87, 17%, Easy<br />Thu 11:52, 9:37, 1.23, 83%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87084987200211897182013-01-31T20:54:56.046-05:002013-01-31T20:54:56.046-05:00Just in case anyone's counting, "This Lit...Just in case anyone's counting, "This Little Girl of Mine" topped out at #5 on the Country charts, never made it to the overall charts, in 1972. You know what else made it to 5 in 1972? Me. <br /><br />No wonder no one knew.No one knows me eithernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55361111894115434122013-01-31T20:49:18.143-05:002013-01-31T20:49:18.143-05:00We need like-buttons on the blog. I agree with And...We need like-buttons on the blog. I agree with Andrea.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1060134820128005812013-01-31T20:31:15.881-05:002013-01-31T20:31:15.881-05:00@Long(er) suffering- Ahab had his white whale, Kha...@Long(er) suffering- Ahab had his white whale, Khan had his Jame T. Kirk, Evil has his ACME. <br /><br />I forgot to mention that this puzzle exposed that I am as ignorant in the area of country singers as I am in arias. Please - no country music/classical music combo themes.Znoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8458421292876106822013-01-31T19:54:38.915-05:002013-01-31T19:54:38.915-05:00I should have remembered AGENA from my childhood, ...I should have remembered AGENA from my childhood, but didn't. Crossing that with FARON was atrocious. I'd say ACK all around for this one.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06485410374923842372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28750085103608934082013-01-31T19:43:44.224-05:002013-01-31T19:43:44.224-05:00I agree with the majority that this was not an enj...I agree with the majority that this was not an enjoyable puzzle, but I'll say that this was probably because of so much I didn't know, like on Fridays and Saturdays: GALANTINE, TANTARAS, and FARON.<br /><br />That's not to say there wasn't some good fill: WOEBEGONE, ENTRANCED, and SEENOEVIL. But more evident was the bad fill: INASTATE, SCOOTERED, NETLIKE, and telegraphESE.<br /><br />Thanks @Evan for remimding me of FARON Woods in "The Legend of Zelda". Once I got all the crosses, the name was vaguely familiar, but from where would not come. I spent many hours with the kids playing this game. Finished it too, on a ski trip to Tahoe as I remember. Fond memories from 25+ years ago.Rubehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773241241484881566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11541425456476462102013-01-31T19:41:19.584-05:002013-01-31T19:41:19.584-05:00I agree with the majority that this was an enjoyab...I agree with the majority that this was an enjoyable puzzle, but I'll say that this was probably because of so much I didn't know, like on Fridays and Saturdays: GALANTINE, TANTARAS, and FARON.<br /><br />That's not to say there wasn't some good fill: WOEBEGONE, ENTRANCED, and SEENOEVIL. But more evident was the bad fill: INASTATE, SCOOTERED, NETLIKE, and telegraphESE.<br /><br />Thanks @Evan for remimding me of FARON Woods in "The Legend of Zelda". Once I got all the crosses, the name was vaguely familiar, but from where would not come. I spent many hours with the kids playing this game. Finished it too, on a ski trip to Tahoe as I remember. Fond memories from 25+ years ago.Rubehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773241241484881566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88146608950232898412013-01-31T19:28:57.378-05:002013-01-31T19:28:57.378-05:00As one who groused about this being a terrible puz...As one who groused about this being a terrible puzzle, HEY! these things are supposed to be fun. If my finishing that was fun, I'll cut back on fun or re-define it.xyzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08287781952915413013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87724769063054790322013-01-31T18:55:00.723-05:002013-01-31T18:55:00.723-05:00Well, after my shock at finding last Saturday easy...Well, after my shock at finding last Saturday easy, I didn't have to wait till Friday to be humbled...TKOd by a Thursday?<br />Googled Thrice! Wasn't wild about it - I always hope for a funner trick.<br /><br />Tã-tã-rã-TÃ…the ã being a nasalish ‘an'.<br />So TANTARAS made perfect sense – well, once I had TAN_ARAS it did.<br />Really hard, kept expecting more of a Theme.<br /><br />I did love writing in the word SCOOTERED – I’ve always wanted a shiny red Vespa…<br /> @Lewis – I envy you!<br />Never noticed the clues. That would probably have confused me even more.<br /><br />@Acme – duly noted – you’re now in the Hall of Fame<br />Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27579013425640358542013-01-31T18:52:21.565-05:002013-01-31T18:52:21.565-05:00So the FIll Felt Forced, but comparing this to a d...So the FIll Felt Forced, but comparing this to a dog that needs drowning is very depressing.<br /><br />Obviously you try something new, put it out there and hope for the best.<br /><br />Of course the constructor tries to please him/herself as we don't know who will be doing the puzzle and it's such a vast audience, you do what pleases you as a creative soul and hope to find that it strikes a chord.<br /><br />The face that I didn't notice the clues were all T's means I didn't feel it was tortured. In retrospect, having looked up SURETE, I now get the "tec" part.<br /><br />I noticed the two country songs (why not hedge your bets and clue the GIBBS as something to do with the BeeGees?) but I thought at the time, Michael Buckley must love country music and this is akin to my sticking in a Beatles reference next to a reggae one.<br /><br />In other words, Puzzles SHOULD reflect the constructors taste...otherwise it's pandering or guessing or not real. You put it out there and hope to attract kindred souls....<br />You follow the guidelines so it's audience appropriate, and you read blogs like this for feedback and to see where improvement might take place...<br />But knocking this for trying to do something with the grid black squares, the clues and the three teEs/TEASE/TEAS seems a Tad over the Top.<br /><br />Obviously this many people unhappy means he failed on some levels, if people didn't like, they didn't like...<br />but to suggest constructors not follow their own hearts, quirkiness, individual tastes, attempts at something knew, fun (to them and Will) gimmicks in hopes to bring joy is not fully understanding the creative process.<br />Ideally you do your own thing AND the majority of folks cotton to it...or you bring people up to your level or you experiment and risk being called a genius or an utter failure...<br />You do what pleases you and hope by extension it pleases others.<br />But the level some have dragged this discussion down to is distressing.<br /><br />By the way, loved the @rex graphic of the ref making the T sign!acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23317773004535121842013-01-31T18:52:09.682-05:002013-01-31T18:52:09.682-05:00My only question is why, with all the things right...My only question is why, with all the things rightly to complain about the puzzle today, did @ED have to get in another shot at ACME?Long(er) suffering Jets fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79405251680346770562013-01-31T18:34:32.944-05:002013-01-31T18:34:32.944-05:00Ugh Not even worthy of lining my bird cageUgh Not even worthy of lining my bird cagelong suffering mets fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28776054051651080802013-01-31T18:07:36.989-05:002013-01-31T18:07:36.989-05:00@Fire WS:
You got me -- there is absolutely no re...@Fire WS:<br /><br />You got me -- there is absolutely no reason to construct a crappy puzzle other than masturbatory selfishness.<br /><br />But of course, the truth is that all constructors are trying to construct puzzles that will sell, which means that they're trying to please the audience. Duh.<br /><br />Mike Buckley (and Will, let's not forget that! Most of the clues were probably his) may have failed to produce a very entertaining puzzle, but I HIGHLY doubt that it's because of his inflated ego or something of the sort. Sometimes, you just don't hit a home run. That's it.<br /><br />This is just a freakin' puzzle, and you're just a semi-anonymous blog creeper, just like me. <br /><br />Like I said before, I thought this was a bad puzzle -- I don't think anyone's denying that today. But thanks, Mike Buckley, and others like you, for putting it all out there for us to judge, like the vultures we are. <br /><br />Honestly, I still had a great time today.<br /><br />Mitzienoreply@blogger.com