tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post8966114517419738131..comments2024-03-29T11:11:22.167-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SUNDAY, Jun. 21 2009 — Invader of Europe in 1241 / Scottish hillsides / Pot grabber / McCain residence for 5 1/2 yearsRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64068921369716393322019-08-23T09:45:34.687-04:002019-08-23T09:45:34.687-04:00This puzzle is not aging well... Neither people no...This puzzle is not aging well... Neither people nor pot are illegal!Tyler James Younghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03024488370553690685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72868612491914448882009-06-27T14:58:28.596-04:002009-06-27T14:58:28.596-04:00I read it!I read it!slypetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537129206516720012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25082376354331176822009-06-27T14:57:45.513-04:002009-06-27T14:57:45.513-04:00I read it!I read it!slypetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537129206516720012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71814239950289490502009-06-27T09:22:14.221-04:002009-06-27T09:22:14.221-04:00It is Saturday morning. I doubt anyone will ever r...It is Saturday morning. I doubt anyone will ever read this. But, for the record: the theme answers where they actually relate to the person (Dali: clock....Hilton: Shower Curtain....Dylan Thomas: drinking...) were great fun. The other theme answers,less so, but still good. Great puzzle.PIXnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55231352597524785252009-06-23T22:46:41.750-04:002009-06-23T22:46:41.750-04:00jae: "struggled to remember my Canadian provi...jae: "struggled to remember my Canadian provinces"<br /><br />The Northwest Territories (NWT) is not a Canadian province. Neither are the Yukon (formerly, until 2003, Yukon Territory) nor Nunavut (officially separated from the NWT in 1999).<br /><br />They are, all three, federal territories of Canada.nurturinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02035395856164817422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80326943776158624352009-06-23T17:21:57.950-04:002009-06-23T17:21:57.950-04:00@wte--if you're checking: That was a lovely po...@wte--if you're checking: That was a lovely post. Thank you.slypetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537129206516720012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14847050548646732722009-06-23T15:02:46.097-04:002009-06-23T15:02:46.097-04:00Sorry for this late comment, it may help someone a...Sorry for this late comment, it may help someone anyway. I just printed the <a href="http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/acrostic-15/" rel="nofollow">Cox/Rathvon acrostic</a>. I am not a subscriber, I just fished around on the NYT puzzle page and found it, along with Will Shortz' explanation. I assume the rest of the comments on that page are spoilers, but I didn't look. And even though I am currently in a library with a subscription to the NYT, the Sunday/Daily puzzles are unavailable to me on-line.<br /><br />I do some part time math teaching at a Yeshiva (Orthodox secondary/post-secondary) and we just finished a unit on calculating solar noon, sunrise, sunset and the like from scratch, using spherical trigonometry. To keep things simple I stuck to the four continental US time zones. To show what odd things happen as you get closer to the poles, I had them do Whitehorse and Yellowknife. So NWT was a complete gimme.<br /><br />I'm quite certain I would have gotten it anyway. I was really really into maps as a kid. I suppose as a word freak I ought to welcome the name Iqaluit, capital of Nunavut, but I still prefer the old name Frobisher Bay. It reminds me of Don Martin, probably for all the wrong reasons.william e embanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49585545938177189472009-06-22T11:30:23.374-04:002009-06-22T11:30:23.374-04:00Andrea,thanks.I didn't know that the editor ha...Andrea,thanks.I didn't know that the editor had a financial stake in KenKen.The Wordplay blog didn't provide that info..<br /><br />Why are acrostics important?<br /><br />One day I'll open up the acrostic to find a quote from a book written by Amy or Rex.<br /><br />(..wrote to the address provided on Wordplay, still waiting for an answer...)Susannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86417999458931283312009-06-22T09:38:10.361-04:002009-06-22T09:38:10.361-04:00I have to believe the "Eva is leaving" c...I have to believe the "Eva is leaving" clue is an error. If it isn't, then one of the cardinal rules of crossword solving (i.e., the answer cannot contain any word found in the clue), has no meaning. I feel like a child who suffers from PTSD as the result of an earthquake; if I can't depend on a Sunday NYT crossword puzzle, then like the child who now feels that she can no longer depend on the very ground she walks on, is there NOTHING that I can count on?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61578673767474882902009-06-22T03:38:52.164-04:002009-06-22T03:38:52.164-04:00@ulrich
Just checking in now...Thanks for the Ital...@ulrich<br />Just checking in now...Thanks for the Italian heads up, but I don't have cable, wouldn't watch sports if I did and I don't even DO the Sunday puzzle...<br />ironically I live for the acrostic once a month!<br />This is baaaaaaad news. <br />(esp bec I'm not an online subscriber)<br />But folks are right, Will loves Ken Ken and has a stake in it. And, as true to this puzzle's theme, has the last word on it...so to speak.<br /><br />I imagine Will more likely to read complaints if on the Wordplay blog than this one.a crostic michaelsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53913179506159661812009-06-22T01:28:12.137-04:002009-06-22T01:28:12.137-04:00@treedweller...this is Rex's living room and I...@treedweller...this is Rex's living room and I am his guest. I respect that.It's his call, his decision.robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4994198726422503032009-06-22T00:51:11.673-04:002009-06-22T00:51:11.673-04:00@treedweller
You are exactly right: the comments s...@treedweller<br />You are exactly right: the comments start at a baseline that closely adheres to the puzzle itself.<br />Later, topics tend to veer off. To me, that's the best aspect of the blog. After a while, I really don't need to read another solver's step-by-step account of their "solving experience." Almost always, Rex's concise and frothy exegesis takes care of that. So I enjoy the clue/answer controversies, the anecdotes, the odd remembrances evoked, the twisted logic, the insanely PC objections, the picayune dictionary disputes. IMO, the changes in the Sunday Times puzzle page strike to the heart of what we care about on this blog. Apart from the loathsome inclusion of the Can-Can, or whatever they call this graphically horrendous infestation of the nation's premier puzzle venue, the exile of the acrostic and other oddball sidebar enigmas (which, to be honest, I rarely engage) is a subject worthy of discussion. If not here, where?George NYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11844466463123158982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48334519011712853432009-06-22T00:28:57.198-04:002009-06-22T00:28:57.198-04:00@William
My guess is that the rule is the same, b...@William<br /><br />My guess is that the rule is the same, but this was an exception. If the theme is to clue people's names by their last words, and one of them happens to include her name in her last words, what is a puzzle editor to do? I was frankly glad for that one, as it was my first theme answer and helped me to solidify what I was looking for in the others. But, I admit, I had a second where I wondered if it could be true, based on the rule.treedwellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12634227778469664442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21118959108208427342009-06-22T00:16:25.065-04:002009-06-22T00:16:25.065-04:00@George NYC
My concern was less over whether the ...@George NYC<br /><br />My concern was less over whether the NYT hears the complaints than over whether the rest of us have to hear them. I believe Rex set this site up as a venue to talk about the crossword puzzle. With all due respect to previous commenters, I really don't care to hear your opinions about the Magazine. I acknowledge that the comments here tend to range away from the puzzle, but they usually start from that baseline.treedwellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12634227778469664442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53616459964586427502009-06-22T00:06:14.494-04:002009-06-22T00:06:14.494-04:00@treedweller
Sure everyone can email the Times to ...@treedweller<br />Sure everyone can email the Times to who knows what effect. But I can attest that in this shaky economic environment, people at the Times and elsewhere pay very much attention to Internet buzz in all forms. For one thing, it's cheap research. For another, as the Iran situation shows, you can learn a lot more by following blogs etc than reading your mail. I totally think the complaints here will be heard by the Times with more impact thyan a few, probably misdirected emails.George NYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11844466463123158982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25091899324758452932009-06-21T23:55:59.475-04:002009-06-21T23:55:59.475-04:00Has this site been co opted by the Times? I thoug...Has this site been co opted by the Times? I thought it was an individual's blog, said individual being independent from and powerless over the newspaper. I'd be willing to bet there's ready access online to email addresses (or, dare I sat it, physical addresses) for complaints about the newspaper.treedwellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12634227778469664442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17924116944483319902009-06-21T23:40:47.251-04:002009-06-21T23:40:47.251-04:00If anyone from the Times reads this...please, lose...If anyone from the Times reads this...please, lose the KenKen. These arithmetic puzzles may have applications for 6th graders, to make math fun. The KenKen in today's magazine is better suited for "Boy's Life" <br /><br />The acrostic is for literate adults who love to read. I'm 41 years old, with another 50 years of purchasing power. Don't lose me as a customer.robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64240221918797173392009-06-21T22:31:50.483-04:002009-06-21T22:31:50.483-04:00I agree with negative comments about KenKen. The ...I agree with negative comments about KenKen. The creator has confused 'difficult' with 'tedious'.Joe in Montrealnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59246099846262189742009-06-21T22:30:18.372-04:002009-06-21T22:30:18.372-04:00I took the McCain clue as a misdirect (I wrote in ...I took the McCain clue as a misdirect (I wrote in TEMPE). Given that McCain himself, whom I respect, used his "residency" in Hanoi as a campaign line, (using that same language for humor) I didn't take offense. He opened the door, as it were.George NYChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11844466463123158982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39968258294964092382009-06-21T22:13:41.774-04:002009-06-21T22:13:41.774-04:00Count me among those offended by the HANOI clue. ...Count me among those offended by the HANOI clue. I tried to interpret it as a recognition of what Senator McCain endured in the service of his country, but the word "residence" just doesn't work in that manner.HudsonHawkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16119485923243014649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24608357534671628602009-06-21T20:34:18.968-04:002009-06-21T20:34:18.968-04:00Just finished the puzzle a minute ago (very late s...Just finished the puzzle a minute ago (very late start) and haven't had time to read everyone else's remarks but I had to jump in with my immediate reaction to the answer to 10D. I'm absolutely offended at the idea that John McCain's "residence" was Hanoi. He was a prisoner and horribly tortured. It was his hell and couldn't possibly be described with a benign word such as residence. That's my screed for the day and I had to get it off my chest. Alice in S.F.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79174142957082318932009-06-21T20:06:34.224-04:002009-06-21T20:06:34.224-04:00I wrote an angry letter to the Times about the acr...I wrote an angry letter to the Times about the acrostic (and diagramless, pun/anagram, etc.) puzzle disappearing except at a cost. If they want to save money, let them fire that gasbag Tom Friedman.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54008767589758328292009-06-21T19:25:25.514-04:002009-06-21T19:25:25.514-04:00I have had any number of Gant shirts. Probably pur...I have had any number of Gant shirts. Probably purchased at Hathaway Outlet stores. Remember those, @dk?Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02681342234536407419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3167437189001419952009-06-21T19:19:35.235-04:002009-06-21T19:19:35.235-04:00I thought it was cute that DESPOT and DEPOTS cross...I thought it was cute that DESPOT and DEPOTS crossed ;-)Ameliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15377159639018028534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23095224999865138212009-06-21T19:11:29.090-04:002009-06-21T19:11:29.090-04:00Re twittering - I thought the comment about the to...Re twittering - I thought the comment about the town crier crying the crossword was really funny. <br /><br />And I've been following the twittering out of Iran - it's really sobering and I'm so glad this technology is available for them.Annenoreply@blogger.com