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

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

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

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

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

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 (7 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