this is the thread where we complain about the new york times crossword puzzle

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and also where we name people whose retain a curious celebrity on the crossword page, by dint of having a slightly strange name.

example of the former:

1. "some burger toppings" are not "slaws," at least at any cookout i've been to. i would be shocked if handed a burger outfitted with "slaws."

example of latter:

1. susan dey
2. lori petty

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:08 (8 years ago) Permalink

i had slaw on a burger, it is more common on a dog though.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

oh tracer.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

complaining on the easiest day of the week? but maybe you're talking about yesterday's one, i hope.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

The only slaws I know of are carrot & cole, and they're not toppings. Is relish considered a slaw? Because it's not.

― andy --, Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

slaws was in last thursday's, the otherwise very cool internet-themed one

lori petty was in yesterday's i think

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:30 (8 years ago) Permalink

cole slaw is too a topping. you haven't lived if you haven't had it on a hot dog.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:30 (8 years ago) Permalink

i coulda just opened your magazine and looked, tracer, but i'm lazy.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

rye (new york ville) is far more famous than it deserves

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

to be

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

hey i've got a cousin in rye! be nice!

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

is rye slang for rikers?

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

RYE PLAYLAND

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

hey blount be nice!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

xpost cutty exactly

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

they never say "home of playland"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

Am I right in thinking the American papers don't do cryptic crosswords? In which case, what's the point?

― Ferlin Husky (noodle vague), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

will shortz is a cryptic motherfucker!

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:41 (8 years ago) Permalink

they're cryptic.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:42 (8 years ago) Permalink

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:42 (8 years ago) Permalink

Okay. Soz. I've seen lots of non-cryptic US crossword compilations.

― Ferlin Husky (noodle vague), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

noodle, the ny times x-word is known for being difficult on monday to impossible on sunday.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

shortz looks like a badass on that daily show screencap

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

How does it compare to the UK Times? Cos for all its rep, I don't think that's a particularly tough crossword.

― Ferlin Husky (noodle vague), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:48 (8 years ago) Permalink

Mom (before leaving on week-long vacation): "Please keep the magazine section of the Times so I can do the crossword."
Me: "Well, I might want to do it. But I'll probably have trouble and wind up leaving most of it for you."
Mom: "Yeah, I bet you will."
Me: "What's that supposed to mean?"

Of course, I never got around to it.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

I can never do the Fridays, and only 60% do the Thursdays.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

But seriously though, so much of it is practice and all those stupid words that people like my mom know because they've done them for decades. My grandfather could blow through the NYT crossword in minutes sometimes. He didn't know any of the pop culture answers but got everything else. The exact opposite of me.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:57 (8 years ago) Permalink

saturday is the hardest puzzle, not sunday. sunday is supposedly somewhere close to thursday edging towards friday in average difficulty.

― andrew s (andrew s), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

THAT'S what Will Shortz looks like???

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

Roy Blount used to do a cryptic corssword in SPY.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:04 (8 years ago) Permalink

I actually don't find the Mondays very hard, but there's a precipitous increase in difficulty so that by Wednesday I'm already less than 50% likely to finish.

― Hurting (Hurting), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

yeah saturday's way harder.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

I've finished Saturday like five times in the past year. It's embarrassing, actually.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Rocker Brian" to thread.

― Curious George Finds the Ether Bottle (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

what gets me are when they want you to solve the puzzles rebus style. So, "Heartache" becomes a five letter answer 'cuz you draw a little heart in the first square.

BASTARDS!

― Austin S (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

yeah the internet one was like that, you had to fit "edu" into one square, ditto "net" and "com" and "org", it was like a handwriting challenge just to cram all the letters in!

the new york times crossword is NOT "cryptic" in the way that UK ones are, it's a synonym puzzle, and it's very strictly constructed, essentially each clue could replace its answer in a sentence and still be grammatically correct

one could draw inferences about cultural differences represented by these respective x-word hegemonies and possibly parlay it into a tiresome article for the nyt magazine, or an actually interesting one for the guardian

the nation used to run a cryptic crossword on its back page, i suspect it still does.

we could also talk about what kind of person the nytimes crossword imagines its solvers to be, and complain about that, which would delight me

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 02:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

with respect to the second part of my question, a respect i'm not sure it deserves, i think a key consideration for any prospective member of the screen actor's guild should be to reflect on a snappy three- or four-letter last name with at least two vowels in it, which apellation will ensure crossword slebdom for years to come, and keep that name slumbering in some remote and bespectacled national consciousness in order that it might one day reawaken

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 02:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

cutty, monday's is no sweat, don't put it about that it's hard, because believe me it's not.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 02:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I can generally kill it in 10 or so. I rarely finish friday's, and haven't seen a saturday in years (I get the NYT puzzle from a student paper that only publishes weekdays.)

― Austin Swinburn (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 02:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

Monday very easy. Thursday, Friday a little challenging but fun for experienced solver. Wednesday is sort of a swing vote- sometimes easier, sometimes harder. Saturday difficult, as pointed out up thread. Sunday time-consuming.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 02:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

I like the diagramless puzzles every few Sundays. Like yesterday. The clues aren't hard at all, it's just figuring out where to put the words.

I've never gotten even half of a Saturday puzzle.

Is it also true that the puzzles increase in difficulty as the month progresses?

― mte22 (mte22), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 03:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

Shortz isn't cryptic! He's kinda a hybrid between cryptics and normal clues... They are hard and great, I wanna do them again.

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 03:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

mte22 i'd never thought about that! maybe they do. eight days ago i did the entire sunday one solely on the subway! (L to 8th ave, then A train to washington heights, and all the way back down to clinton/washington, G to lorimer) this sunday though i was agitated and then my magazine got wet and i ended up throwing it, with the rest of the paper, into one of those big construction dumpsters. my jeans are still drying on the stairs.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 04:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

desi arnaz

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 04:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

The new Chicago Reader crossword a few weeks ago had as a clue: "Kings of Convenience singer Erlend"!

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 04:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

Tracer, your complaints about the NYTimes puzzle ring suspiciously pre-Shortz.

The Atlantic Monthly (right? not Harper's?) runs cryptics by Ravathon and Cox, who are hands-down the best cruciverbalists in this country.

I've never heard anyone talk about them getting harder as a month progresses, though. What do you do when the end of a month is on a Tuesday? Seems like madness.

I can do Saturdays about 33% of the time but it takes a few hours and usually a breather in between solving attempts. I am bringing some for my x-country train trip tomorrow.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 07:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

The new Chicago Reader crossword a few weeks ago had as a clue: "Kings of Convenience singer Erlend"!

Did they want the correct letter Ø in the answer?

― OleM (OleM), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 09:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

Maybe. The clue that crossed it was "______ Kierkegaard"

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 11:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

The Atlantic Monthly (right? not Harper's?) runs cryptics by Ravathon and Cox, who are hands-down the best cruciverbalists in this country
Right. Rathvon and Cox in the Atlantic, Richard Maltby, Jr in Harpers. Rathvon and Cox are the best-after all, they wrote the book- but these days I like Maltby a little better. He works in musical theater as his day job, like the man who brought the cryptic puzzle to the US, Stephen Sondheim.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 11:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

Rathvon (at some point I noticed that I had misread it for all these years, but now I can't remember whether I misread it by adding the "a" or forgetting it) and Cox are responsible for the greatest crossword puzzle ever, though, which was c. 1996 and which I still have around somewhere. Its gimmick made me squeal with outrage and delight, and I really don't want to say anything more about it in case you come across it someday -- it should come at you unawares. Didn't they also do the infamous Election Day 1996 puzzle where the center read either "CLINTON WINS ELECTION" or "BOB DOLE WINS ELECTION" depending on how you chose to fill in the first 7 squares? They are gods, you cannot touch them.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 12:01 (8 years ago) Permalink

Does anybody know if there are any books on how to construct crosswords?

― Curious George Finds the Ether Bottle (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 12:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

I may have just made that up about them getting harder through the month. I don't know now.

― mte22 (mte22), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 14:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

Curious G. I just searched but the sites seem to be blocked to me!

You know, last I checked the NY Sun had a really good puzzle. Lots of well-known constructors. I've bought some of the collections.

OK, here's something.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 14:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

there is not enough complaining going on in this thread

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 15:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

Eat my Will Shortz!

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 15:58 (8 years ago) Permalink

I want Saturday puzzles for free, too!

WAAAAAAH!

― Austin S (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 17:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

Curious Geo.: There are, although I haven't read any. The difficulty is not in the grid, it's in the clues.

Tracer: I'll complain that the Sundays are surprisingly boring and tedious considering their fame.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 18:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

I became a trial subscriber to the NYTimes puzzle service for a month and downloaded an entire year of puzzles (2002, I think?) and continue to work on them. It is the economical way to do it, I think. If I had the "speed download" download-a-bunch-of-links-on-a-page-at-once software then that I have now, well, then I'd have a few years of puzzles for like $5 plus printing costs.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 18:51 (8 years ago) Permalink

The Sunday puzzle I prefer to do as part of a team or tag team to minimize the fatigue of filling in the damn thing.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 18:52 (8 years ago) Permalink

slaw is served on hamburgers, at least in my part of Tennessee. And of course, on barbecue sandwiches.

Saturday's NYT puzzle is really the hardest for me, because the answers are longer words. I can do it maybe 50% of the time. Monday-Thursday I can almost always solve, Friday about 70%. Sunday takes longer, but I can usually do it easier than Saturday's.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 20:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

What part of Tennessee are you from edd? I'm from Knoxville and seriously, the thought of putting slaw, or slaws even, on a.. burger? I can see how it might be good, especially the no-carrot cabbagey vinegary kind. I'm perfectly willing to admit that there are facets to the New York Times Crossword Solver's personality that remain obscure to me. What's a little frightening is how FEW of them there are!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 06:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

For "personality" read "experience", if there is any difference, which I'm not sure there is

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 06:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

for your possible use here's a .zip file with pretty much all the nyt sunday puzzles from the last seven years (388 files/850kb). you'll need the across lite software to open 'em.

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 07:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

this week's Sunday puzzle falls on the 1st (hah at first I wrote "this week's Sunday puzzle falls on a Monday") so in light of this thread I considered whether that meant it would be the easiest Sunday puzzle one could have. I have decided that it's not. Casuistry has got it with the boring and tedious thing, but I'm usually able to race through them quicker than this, although I still haven't sussed out the theme, which is weird, too. sometimes I wonder whether it's the puzzle that's hard, or whether I'm just not with it. It's a very particular angle you have to jut yourself out at to do these things and sometimes there's something deep within me that refuses to even get into it. my theory, which is predicated on me being just as sharp as ever, is that the crossword people at the NY Times consider this the LAST Sunday of the month.. cause they work in weeks, right? They wouldn't zip straight from a Last Saturday type puzzle (which this last one was) to a real easy Sunday puzzle wouldn't they? Anyhow.

My complaints for this week are: "dais" twice in a row, with practically the same clue, what's next, "microphone's environs"?

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 2 May 2005 05:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 2 May 2005 05:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

I hate it when they repeat like that. I was working in some (NYTimes) book and they had the same clue in three of the first four puzzles. Seriously, pay a little more care, people! Crossword puzzles are supposed to be transcendent!

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 2 May 2005 05:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

I'm telling you, you want to get residuals for a long time, change your name to "Euai"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 2 May 2005 05:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

or "Euai Kapaui"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 2 May 2005 06:01 (8 years ago) Permalink

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/magazine/chi-0505010521may01,1,3023795.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 2 May 2005 14:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

Oh, I'm too lazy for bugmenot.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

10 months pass...

yesterday's quite enjoyable, but "hit sign" = "sro" ... ? am i missing something here?

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 17 March 2006 15:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

yeah the internet one was like that, you had to fit "edu" into one square, ditto "net" and "com" and "org", it was like a handwriting challenge just to cram all the letters in!

I catch this thread a year after the fact, and wowee: I totally remember this one! I really enjoyed it! One of those dramatic Thursdays where figuring out the theme opens up a whole new world. It's like the moment in action movies where the hero's getting his ass kicked by an unstoppable creature and then suddenly the geek calls in and says "it's fire, he's only vulnerable to fire," and then the hero turns around all refreshed and lays his smack down.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 17 March 2006 16:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

Standing Room Only.

― The Yellow Kid, Friday, 17 March 2006 18:26 (7 years ago) Permalink

wow! that's cool. yesterday's was really good.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 17 March 2006 18:37 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

"cross shape" = "tae" ??

plus did the circled spaces actually spell anything? i feel like there was something i was missing

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 12:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

should be "tee". file that one away, it's standard.

the circles were "crossings", as in down-clue crossing the across-clue (or vice versa, I forget).

― patita (patita), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 16:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

replace the first letter with a Q?!? I mean c'mon Will Shortz.

― jergins (jergins), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 17:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

yes i get the crossings bit, but one doesn't need a circle to see that the clues cross.

"columbus" was the first of those that i got, and i was all like "aha! columbus circle!" but no. i liked that. but then the circles proved to mean 0. i even took the circled letters and tried to anagramatize them, but they make nothing.

i obv thought "tee" at first, but then that makes the clue that goes through it "Big Eest" .. "Big East", surely?

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 17:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

"Boomers' kids" = GENX ???

WTF, Shortz?

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 16:14 (6 years ago) Permalink

"Boomers' kids" = GENX

Am I the only one who's a bit skeptical about this?

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 16:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

I dunno, but the apostrophe placement puts it on the level.

― jim wentworth (wench), Thursday, 27 July 2006 00:04 (6 years ago) Permalink

it's cheeky not to abbreviate that clue, or put "(abbrev.)" there, it's kind of breaking the rules - it's TOTALLY breaking the rules, actually

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 27 July 2006 00:14 (6 years ago) Permalink

by the way, my name is now Euai Kapaui

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Thursday, 27 July 2006 00:15 (6 years ago) Permalink

pronounced "yowee ka-powie"

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Thursday, 27 July 2006 00:15 (6 years ago) Permalink

No, "Gen X" is short for "Generation X" the same way "Boomers" is short for "Baby Boomers". It's not an abbreviation, it's more like a nickname.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 27 July 2006 00:24 (6 years ago) Permalink

Whoa, my post from a few hours ago doesn't seem to have shown up. In it I pasted Wiki's definitions of Boomer (1946-61ish?) and Gen X (1964-82ish?) and pointed out how for many people (including myself -- my parents are both Boomers, and I am Gen X) it seems valid. Plus, what else could it be?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 27 July 2006 00:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

Argh - SHORTZED agane.

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Thursday, 27 July 2006 00:27 (6 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I heard it was pretty interesting today.

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Friday, 22 September 2006 00:47 (6 years ago) Permalink

srsly, wtf?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 22 September 2006 01:05 (6 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

SLAWS may be the funniest word.

― Abbott, Friday, 4 April 2008 02:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

The Nintendo DS NTY Xword game is pretty sweet bcz you can have a friend (w/no cartridge even!) share a game & you solve the crossword together, each collaborating on yr own DS's screen. So much better than trying to arm in over each others' arms and omelettes and coffee while mutually solving.

― Abbott, Friday, 4 April 2008 02:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

Some of my favorite times have been tackling the xword with friends at a diner.

― Abbott, Friday, 4 April 2008 02:15 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

that "slaws" clue STILL has the power to bother me. more than three years later

i finally had coleslaw on a burger, yesterday - it was great - but no matter how many bowls of different peoples' coleslaw was out there, it would all just be "slaw"

the plural of "slaw", in other words, is "slaw"

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 27 May 2008 21:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

Not if you had multiple kinds of slaw.

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 02:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

Hurting otm

― Rock Hardy, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 02:51 (4 years ago) Permalink

No, different kinds of slaw results in "slaw", you can trust me on this

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

slawz

― jhøshea, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:15 (4 years ago) Permalink

slols

― Abbott, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

slaws are made 2 be broken

― deeznuts, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

fwiw tracer i have been trying to figure out what they mustve actually meant myself for like 5 minutes now

― deeznuts, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:19 (4 years ago) Permalink

If you were at a slaw tasting, you would be asked "Which of the slaws do you like best?" not "Which of the SLAW do you like best?"

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:20 (4 years ago) Permalink

"which slaw do you like the best"

he is correct imo

― deeznuts, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:20 (4 years ago) Permalink

BTW, did you know that "coleslaw" literally means "curly slave" in German?

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

if i was at a slaw tasting i'd look out over the long rows of tables, all laden with heaped platters of vinegary cabbage, and say softly to myself in awe, "that's a lot of slaw"

xpost: no, that is fantastic

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:23 (4 years ago) Permalink

no, I made that up

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:24 (4 years ago) Permalink

'Ah done reckon I'm hanckerin' for a slaw somrgasbord yee haw rootin' tootin' frick frackin' slinga-ling-dongin' hogwarshed guldurned rabbit!"

― Abbott, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

*shoots air; ground*

― Abbott, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:26 (4 years ago) Permalink

Hurting 2 why you braek hart

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

"If ain't ate all them type'a slaw, I'ma bury myself alive in a goldigger's grave, by great saint scott peter's ghost I tell ya all my ratta-tattin-fracka-lackin'-grabba-grubbin' cowlicked brown-eyed days!"

― Abbott, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

"Rabbit!"

― Abbott, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

alan braxe should be in more crosswords

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

It does kind of sound like it should mean that. But it derives from a word for cabbage, apparently.

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

diamanda galas

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

haha the wire needs to start a crossword puzzle on the back page!!

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

"Rocker Galas"

― Abbott, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:30 (4 years ago) Permalink

Eno, Bowie and Cale all seem like good crossword names

― Hurting 2, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:30 (4 years ago) Permalink

the wire crossword puzzle hints and answers

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 28 May 2008 04:32 (4 years ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

This goes COMPLETELY against the spirit of this thread, but ...

... am I the only person here who both did the NYT crossword and watched the Simpsons yesterday??? That seriously tripped me out!

― nabisco, Monday, 17 November 2008 19:32 (4 years ago) Permalink

wha happen???

― ice cr?m, Monday, 17 November 2008 19:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

I'm really glad I didn't see any news of this before it happened, because I was actually sitting on the couch doing the Sunday crossword while watching the Simpsons:

Lisa gets into crossword puzzles and enters a competition. Homer makes a bundle betting on her but then bets against her in the final competition, which she loses to Gil. Lisa finds out Homer bet against her and is outraged.

But then in the end Homer apologizes through the NYT crossword puzzle, the one I'm sitting there working on, which turns out to have not only a diagonal message (something like "DADDY SORRY FOR DUMB BET") but also the first letters of all the clues spell out a long message from Homer to Lisa!

― nabisco, Monday, 17 November 2008 19:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

Will Shortz was on the Simpsons

― gabbneb, Monday, 17 November 2008 19:42 (4 years ago) Permalink

and Burns and Smithers "appeared" on the puzzle segment on Sunday Weekend Edition on NPR

― gabbneb, Monday, 17 November 2008 19:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

ha! :)

― ice cr?m, Monday, 17 November 2008 19:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

I'm not in the habit of doing the Sunday NYT, since I only sporadically buy the paper, but there was buzz about this week's on the Cruciverb listserv because of the Simpsons tie-in, so I subscribed online last night. I watched the show first, though, so I had some freebie fills.

― jaymc, Monday, 17 November 2008 19:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

I had zero idea it was going to happen. It was a little bit scary, actually. Like "did I eat mushrooms and forget about it" scary.

(Although I had been thinking earlier in the episode that there were a whole lot of puzzles appearing, and obviously the artists weren't going to construct puzzles for background art, so surely they had some kind of partnership going with someone to use their puzzles...)

― nabisco, Monday, 17 November 2008 20:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

There were a couple of times in the episode where there were quick shots of puzzles that appeared to violate crossword rules -- e.g., two-letter words, letters that only went in one direction, etc. Whenever a whole puzzle was on display for more than a couple of seconds, it was usually fine, but I was surprised that the others existed at all, considering Merl Reagle was credited as a consultant.

― jaymc, Monday, 17 November 2008 20:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

Merl Reagle explains how the episode came about (not sure why it's a PDF):
http://www.sundaycrosswords.com/TheSimpsonsBehindtheScenes.pdf

― jaymc, Monday, 17 November 2008 20:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

That is mindblowing!

― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Monday, 17 November 2008 23:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

20-across otm lolololololol

― the dan glickman from the hilarious motion picture association of america (max), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 12:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

How come the NY Times Crossword doesn't have an iPhone app yet :/

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 14:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

(...he said, pretending he's smart enough to do the NY Times crossword)

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 14:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

Jaymc, do a brother a favor and send me the .puz file, unless it's floating about the internets.

― Casuistry, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 14:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

there are plenty of crossword apps that allow you to download times puzzles, you just need a subscription

― the dan glickman from the hilarious motion picture association of america (max), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 14:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

i have a pretty lame crossword app right now

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 15:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

its all numbers and there's no clues.

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 15:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

thats called "sudoku"

― the dan glickman from the hilarious motion picture association of america (max), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 15:02 (4 years ago) Permalink

E-mailed you, Casuistry.

― jaymc, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 16:51 (4 years ago) Permalink

When Yma Sumac died I felt that the NYT should have run just a blank square in place of the puzzle as a lifetime tribute.

As for "slaws," it's a long-standing NYT policy to reserve the right to pluralize anything & everything. Even personal names might get pluralized, like "OBAMAS." Foreign words sometimes get pluralized in a way that doesn't correspond to how they get pluralized in their own language, as in "RAVIOLIS," for example.

And yes, Brian ENO gets clued all the damn time in the NYT puzzle. So does ELO.

― Josefa, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:09 (4 years ago) Permalink

ENOS

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:38 (4 years ago) Permalink

thanks for that info josefa, i never knew that

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:38 (4 years ago) Permalink

When Yma Sumac died I felt that the NYT should have run just a blank square in place of the puzzle as a lifetime tribute.

Ha, my first thought when she died (after "Yma Sumac was still alive?") was "I bet the crossword community will be all over this news" -- and they were.

Even personal names might get pluralized, like "OBAMAS."

This makes sense, because it can be clued as "Barack and Michelle." If you pluralize personal names, it's preferable that there are at least two recognizable people that share that name. But if that's not the case, you can still sometimes get away with a clue like "Pres. Barack and others" or "Barack's family."

And yes, Brian ENO gets clued all the damn time in the NYT puzzle.

Sometimes his brother Roger gets clued instead (or alongside: "Ambient composers Brian and Roger"). I'm waiting for a reference to Spoon drummer Jim Eno, however.

― jaymc, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 17:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

the slaws of yesterday

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:26 (4 years ago) Permalink

why is no one loling at my joke

― :) Mrs Edward Cullen XD (max), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:30 (4 years ago) Permalink

20-across otm lolololololol

― the dan glickman from the hilarious motion picture association of america (max), Tuesday, November 18, 2008 7:47 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

― :) Mrs Edward Cullen XD (max), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:30 (4 years ago) Permalink

just looking for a satisfied chuckle as a subtle way of indicating u did the nyt xword today

― :) Mrs Edward Cullen XD (max), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:31 (4 years ago) Permalink

Jaymc, do a brother a favor and send me the .puz file, unless it's floating about the internets.

me too?

― some know what you dude last summer (Jordan), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

just looking for a satisfied chuckle as a subtle way of indicating u did the nyt xword today

Oh, I thought you were referring to Sunday, and I was like, I don't get it.

― jaymc, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

Haha, I get it now.

― jaymc, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

Where can I see this solved Simpsons puzzle?

― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 18:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

I believe my 'simp' status precludes me from soling it.

(I tried to solve Friday's before therapy and my therapist and I had like an seven-minute talk about crosswords. Yes I have useful therapy.)

― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 19:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Abbott, here is the solved puzzle. (No clues, though, just the completed grid.)

― jaymc, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 19:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

Discussion of same:
http://crosswordfiend.blogspot.com/2008/11/sunday-1116.html

― jaymc, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 19:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

More discussion:
http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2008/11/sunday-nov-16-2008-merl-reagle-meshed.html

― jaymc, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 19:08 (4 years ago) Permalink

thx duder :D!

― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 19:10 (4 years ago) Permalink

so what's the second hidden message in the sunday puzzle?

― some know what you dude last summer (Jordan), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 19:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

― jaymc, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 20:02 (4 years ago) Permalink

oh right

― some know what you dude last summer (Jordan), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 20:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

i got your joke max

67 Across fucked me up today

― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 18 November 2008 21:08 (4 years ago) Permalink

whatd you put, fdr?

― :) Mrs Edward Cullen XD (max), Tuesday, 18 November 2008 21:24 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, "OBAMAS" was not a good example of what I mean. If I could try to explain it better, the NYT loves to indulge in creating what one might call metaplurals. This amounts to sticking an s on the end of any word and thus making a plural of the word itself rather than the thing the word represents. For example, take the following questions:

a. How many words are in my post?
b. How many coulds are in my post?

In question (a) "words" is a normal plural. In question (b) "coulds" is a metaplural; it refers to nothing except the word "could" & is a plural that would almost never be used in common discourse. The NYT puzzle constructors use (in fact, often invent) these metaplurals all the time, which admittedly gets annoying.

― Josefa, Wednesday, 19 November 2008 00:14 (4 years ago) Permalink

whatd you put, fdr?

yah--i wasn't thinking too clearly this a.m.

― Mr. Que, Wednesday, 19 November 2008 00:19 (4 years ago) Permalink

Josefa, what are you even talking about? I'm not going to say they never do that, but I don't think they're all that frequent, at least not under Shortz's editorship.

― Casuistry, Wednesday, 19 November 2008 01:57 (4 years ago) Permalink

with such a tightly regimented puzzle any frequency at all adds a new variable to consider

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 19 November 2008 02:00 (4 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

new puzzle!

― max, Monday, 9 February 2009 17:09 (4 years ago) Permalink

"kenken"

― max, Monday, 9 February 2009 17:10 (4 years ago) Permalink

semi-hilarious article from will shortz explaining the new puzzle where he seems barely able to hide his disdain for sudoku--or looked at from another direction where he seems to be desperately trying to justify why the ny times never introduced sudoku

― max, Monday, 9 February 2009 17:11 (4 years ago) Permalink

"unlike sudoku, kenken requires arithmetic, you see, which makes it far superior, and more appropriate for the new york times reader"

― max, Monday, 9 February 2009 17:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

lol. i havent done it but it looks like that puzzle where you have to get each row and column as well as the diagonals to add a given sum i.e. like boring math work

― it amuses and intrigues throughout (Lamp), Monday, 9 February 2009 17:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

hasnt will shortz made serious $$$ out of sudoku? or am i thinking of someone else

― t_g, Monday, 9 February 2009 17:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

Never got into sudoku, but did the new example puzzles today and enjoyed them.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 9 February 2009 17:26 (4 years ago) Permalink

yeah he has made dough off sudoku--really im just writing shortz fanfic in my head

― max, Monday, 9 February 2009 17:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

i think the new puzzle is more interesting than sudoku but i guess its just geared a little more toward the way i think & process logic puzzles. still doesnt touch a good crossword.

― max, Monday, 9 February 2009 17:31 (4 years ago) Permalink

Nope. That reminds me, new Atlantic puzzle finally came out.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 9 February 2009 17:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

i still like sudoku but yah crossword is best

― it amuses and intrigues throughout (Lamp), Monday, 9 February 2009 17:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

Looks like WS put out some Kenken books last year.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 9 February 2009 17:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

I just did the first KenKen puzzle, 4x4. Pretty fun!

― I shall always respect my elders (Z S), Monday, 9 February 2009 18:27 (4 years ago) Permalink

The word puzzle goes in the Arts section; I think any numerical puzzles should really go in Science Times or Business Day

― nabisco, Monday, 9 February 2009 18:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

By the way, if anyone did the Thursday puzzle a few weeks back where certain squares were filled with the letters HEAD, what did you mark into those squares while working? Because I enjoyed drawing tiny little heads in there.

― nabisco, Monday, 9 February 2009 18:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

GEDDIT?

― i'm shy (Abbott), Monday, 9 February 2009 18:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

Its creator is kind of sexy:

― i'm shy (Abbott), Monday, 9 February 2009 18:50 (4 years ago) Permalink

ok in the spirit of the thread here is a complaint about kenken: it prevents me from folding my paper into a perfect rectangle a quarter of the original page size.

― max, Tuesday, 10 February 2009 15:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

My complaint is that I never until today heard the phrase "play hob with."

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 10 February 2009 16:10 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, some of the phrases are pretty outmoded. The other day the clue "wolves" yielded the answer "mashers." Has anyone been called a masher since 1930-something?

One that really pissed me off recently: clue = vacations, answer = RANDRS. Plural acronym!!! Rest and relaxations???

― Dan Peterson, Tuesday, 10 February 2009 16:33 (4 years ago) Permalink

holy shit -

http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 10 February 2009 16:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

Both "masher" and "RandR" I learned in my youth from extensive watching of Bugs Bunny cartoons.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 10 February 2009 16:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

One that really pissed me off recently: clue = vacations, answer = RANDRS. Plural acronym!!! Rest and relaxations???

this is really common ny times style!

― max, Tuesday, 10 February 2009 16:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabbit_Twouble

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 10 February 2009 17:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

I've seen RANDR before, but don't recall RANDRS. As noted above, NYT often invents plurals. I'll leave it to any former military (or Bugs Bunny) as to whether they've ever used "we went on three r-and-r's last year" in a sentence.

― Dan Peterson, Tuesday, 10 February 2009 17:11 (4 years ago) Permalink

holy shit -

http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/

What are you holy-shitting about? That it exists? If you like Rex's blog, check out Diary of a Crossword Fiend, whose author does not only the NY Times every day, but also a half-dozen other papers and even more puzzles syndicated online or in nontraditional venues.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 10 February 2009 17:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

i check rex's blog every sunday--if he says the sunday puzzle is easy or medium, i'll do it. otherwise, i won't bother

― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 10 February 2009 17:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

Ha, a couple times I've felt awesome about having solved a Wednesday fairly quickly and then found that Rex rated it uncommonly easy.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 10 February 2009 17:16 (4 years ago) Permalink

i still can't really get through a thursday puzzle :/

― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 10 February 2009 17:16 (4 years ago) Permalink

the answer for "bush not seen much today" is pretty o_O

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Tuesday, 10 February 2009 17:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

That's one of those clues that cleverly exploits the convention that all clues start with capital letters (thus misdirecting the solver into thinking it's a member of the Bush dynasty), but I agree that "bush" is sort of a weird word to use in that context.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 10 February 2009 17:23 (4 years ago) Permalink

Today didn't know what a "dabbler" was until I looked it up.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

I'm really liking Ken Ken. The six square one is requiring me to xerox it to figure out the possible permutations.

― My new tackling, kidney punching, helmet slapping celebration (forksclovetofu), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:33 (4 years ago) Permalink

or rather today's friday one is. I was gold until today.

― My new tackling, kidney punching, helmet slapping celebration (forksclovetofu), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

Ha. I usually do them on line. Today at lunch I took the restaurant newspaper and did the regular crossword and the 4x4 and had to get back so I didn't too much of the 6x6. But I screwed up the 4x4 and had to redo it and felt like an idiot because of the all the inky scribbles.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:38 (4 years ago) Permalink

I originally messed up the little three square El where it was supposed to add up to 7. I had a block on one of the ways to do it.

But it is definitely an enjoyable puzzle. Exercises a fun part of the brain, doesn't feel like just cranking through an algorithm.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

Wait, I totally did the one with the "Bush not much seen today," but I can't seem to remember what the answer turned out to be!

― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 19:45 (4 years ago) Permalink

it was AFRO i think

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yup.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

Oh right! Yeah, that was annoying, mostly because ... by the logic of clues, "bush" should be a clear substitute for "hairstyle," and I don't think I've ever heard it used that way. I mean, a descriptive noun just doesn't fit clue-logic there.

― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 19:50 (4 years ago) Permalink

Right. Have rarely if ever heard it used that way. Much more familiar with the terms "wig" or "rug," particularly this last as used in the phrases "rug rethink" and "the old concern of Rug & Gut & Gum" in Martin Amis's Money.

Are you guys familiar with the fact that in Webster's Tenth Collegiate Dictionary under "Afro" there was a picture of a man with an afro, but in the Eleventh it became just a picture of disembodied hair?

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:54 (4 years ago) Permalink

To avoid confusion with "Afro-" as in the Afro-Websterian person beneath the hair?

― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 19:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

maybe the clue was referring to afro-styled pubic hair

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

In my copy of the 11th, there's still a face attached, but it's a woman rather than a man.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 13 February 2009 20:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

Mine too.

― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 20:14 (4 years ago) Permalink

I mean, obviously

― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 20:14 (4 years ago) Permalink

OK, my bad. I have the Tenth in front of me but not the Eleventh. I just spoke to mr finewine, who first pointed this out to me, and he reminded me that there was another change between the Ninth and the Tenth, that between nine and ten the guy's afro was trimmed down and his skin color was blanched.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 February 2009 20:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

I just e-mailed my brother to see if he could send me a copy of the interview he conducted a few years ago with Jeffrey Middleton, the Webster's illustrator.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 13 February 2009 20:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

Your family sounds awesome.

― i'm shy (Abbott), Friday, 13 February 2009 21:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

if i recall correctly, the guy with the afro in 9th or 10th edition also had an incredibly wide "negroid" nose.

― robotsinlove, Friday, 13 February 2009 21:08 (4 years ago) Permalink

this was the picture for the 8th ed.:

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Friday, 13 February 2009 21:11 (4 years ago) Permalink

i spent a lot of time looking at that clue thinking "Jeb? GHWB?"

― My new tackling, kidney punching, helmet slapping celebration (forksclovetofu), Friday, 13 February 2009 21:11 (4 years ago) Permalink

Another Afro-Websterian not often seen today is the "backhand"-ing Arthur Ashe figure who disappeared after the Ninth.

I'm really liking Ken Ken. The six square one is requiring me to xerox it to figure out the possible permutations.
― My new tackling, kidney punching, helmet slapping celebration (forksclovetofu), Friday, February 13, 2009 2:33 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
or rather today's friday one is. I was gold until today.
― My new tackling, kidney punching, helmet slapping celebration (forksclovetofu), Friday, February 13, 2009 2:36 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

Tonight when I got home made mad rush to find print copy of the NYT only to find out Mrs. Redd had recycled it, made rush to basement to find out the super had recycled it and furthermore the truck had come two hours before. Luckily it turned out today's paper had in fact been spared and was still in apartment. Took up gauntlet thrown down by above quote and spent a long time trying to find logical way into today's 6x6. Here's how I finally got started:

KENKEN SPOILER ALERT*****
Ended up concentrating on right edge. Notice that top had a 20x and bottom had a 4x, neither which was divisible by 3, so the 3 had to be in the 2÷ in the middle. Then I... now that I look at it, I think my next piece of logic was more of guess, but I looked at the bottom 4x l-shape and went with 2-1-2 instead of 1-4-1. Also there was some "forcing" between the bottom right l-shape and the top l-shape, which I used but turned out I had the 5 in the top el in the wrong place until the very end.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 14 February 2009 01:28 (4 years ago) Permalink

OK, now I remember.

***ANOTHER KENKEN SPOILER***
The left edge 15+ had to be 4-5-6 in some order, which meant the 1- at the top of the left side had to have a 2 in it. Which meant the 20x at the top of the right side couldn't be 2-5-2 so it had to be 5-4-1 (in some order) which meant the bottom right couldn't be 1-4-1 so it had to be 2-1-2.

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 14 February 2009 03:52 (4 years ago) Permalink

So much wanted "Hits with bug spray" to be "Offs"

― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 19 February 2009 00:09 (4 years ago) Permalink

hey maybe start a new thread for kenken

― Mr. Que, Thursday, 19 February 2009 01:50 (4 years ago) Permalink

fucked up the 6x6 today somehow, in pen...

― max, Thursday, 19 February 2009 02:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

Huh. Just a couple weeks ago I constructed a puzzle with the exact same theme as Wednesday's. Guess I'll pitch it elsewhere.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Sunday, 22 February 2009 19:52 (4 years ago) Permalink

new thread Les Aventures de Kenken

― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 03:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

Just watched the documentary Wordplay. Very entertaining.

― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 05:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

And Tyler Hinman just won for the 5th straight year this past weekend.

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 06:31 (4 years ago) Permalink

When are you going to enter, jaymc?

― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 14:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

Oh yeah, today's theme is pretty fun.

― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 14:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

But today's is crazy hard.

― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 5 March 2009 15:18 (4 years ago) Permalink

10 months pass...

It's been a while for me & the NYT puzzles. Typically, I'll binge on them for a while & then get bored. A year or two will pass & then I will resume the cycle. Tonight, insomnia has led me re-embrace this vice. Or maybe not. I'm going come in swinging w/ an attempt at the Sat. puzzle & go from there..

― no hongro dialect (Pillbox), Sunday, 17 January 2010 06:19 (3 years ago) Permalink

OK, one down (w/ two errors). I had to walk away from it & come back, tho. Does anyone else subscribe to the premium service w/ the Across Lite app? I signed up for it several years ago & then ended up switching banks, but somehow my membership was never canceled. glitch in the system = free online nyt xwords 4 LYFE (hopefully).

― hukqs not drukqs (Pillbox), Sunday, 17 January 2010 08:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

9 months pass...

i've been binging on a book of nyt puzzles lately -- but it's way too tempting to check the answer key when i get stumped.

― I’m not the English Philip Roth, I’m the Jewish Jane Austen (get bent), Tuesday, 19 October 2010 09:34 (2 years ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

not a complaint but a good friend of mine regularly babysat the constructor of friday's puzzle. (he's 15 and going to harvard next year.)

― the charo and the pity (donna rouge), Friday, 24 June 2011 05:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Christ, the lower right corner of today's is driving me batty. I have all but three spaces & am totally stumped & frustrated. Guess it's time to walk away for a moment.

― Broney, Pt. 1 (Pillbox), Saturday, 22 September 2012 00:58 (8 months ago) Permalink

Is that Friday's or Saturday's? This morning it was the left and lower left that were giving me trouble for the longest time.

― a shark with a rippling six pack (Phil D.), Saturday, 22 September 2012 12:16 (8 months ago) Permalink

Friday's. If I have time tomorrow, though, I'll do Saturday's. Saturday Times puzzles are the best - far prefer them to Sundays tbh.

― Broney, Pt. 1 (Pillbox), Sunday, 23 September 2012 10:17 (8 months ago) Permalink

They are rillllly hard

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 24 September 2012 16:57 (8 months ago) Permalink

imo this past weekend's puzzles were a rare instance of Friday being more challenging than Saturday.

― Broney, Pt. 1 (Pillbox), Tuesday, 25 September 2012 02:44 (7 months ago) Permalink

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