Ha, I definitely did both those puzzles, guess I didn't notice/remember these classic answers. That site is pretty useful, thanks for the link. I see that ASTA is still going strong in the Will Shortz era and that ATTU hung around for a while, but died out in 2006.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 10 April 2009 05:34 (fifteen years ago) link
My pal Ben did a write-up of the first Chicago amateur crossword tournament. Out of the 25 competitors, I was 6th on the Monday puzzle, 9th on the Tuesday (though I had one dumb error, so I would've been disqualified even if I'd finished 1st), and abysmal on the Wednesday, due to one corner that just wouldn't fall into place. Pretty fun afternoon, though.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 23:05 (fifteen years ago) link
i liked todays nyt theme even if the rest of the puzzle was boring
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 23:08 (fifteen years ago) link
I might've done a little better at the tournament if I'd realized from the get-go that the Cubs players were going to be given in order. I knew who they were, I just held off on filling them in until I could confirm how they were going to appear.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 23:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Kind of cool that they're perfect 15-letter fills, though.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 23:13 (fifteen years ago) link
i had never heard of the players so that didn't help me at all. at the end i had the rest of the puzzle filled in except for those names.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 23:25 (fifteen years ago) link
That was maybe a tribute to old school Maleska-style crosswords, where those three guys appeared regularly.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 00:06 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah--one of those puzzles thats really easy if youre familiar with the rhyme and probably a big pain in the ass if youre not
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 00:14 (fifteen years ago) link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball's_Sad_Lexicon
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 01:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Was there one extraneous circle today?
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 12:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Yes, as far as I know.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 13:02 (fifteen years ago) link
Thanks for the confirmation. It was the last in the sequence but didn't really figure into the special clues or the bigger picture.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 13:42 (fifteen years ago) link
OK, I guess you kind of need that last circle for the big picture.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 15:30 (fifteen years ago) link
lol, was going to say, its a weird boat with the "i"
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 15:42 (fifteen years ago) link
i mean, WITHOUT the i
Oh, I didn't even think about connecting the dots A to B, B to C, etc. I was drawing the lines in the patterns that the clues dictated, and after doing 49-Across ("E-F-G-H-E"), the "I" seemed superfluous.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 15:49 (fifteen years ago) link
ditto
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 15:58 (fifteen years ago) link
ah, see, the way i was working i realized it was a sailboat before i had filled in those clues, so i had basically drawn the whole thing already
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 16:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Or maybe I should have said "dotto"(xp)
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 17:32 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, I'm embarrassed to say that I was the one of the people who got 1-Across wrong, because I didn't bother checking 2-Down. (I was too busy tearing my hair out over the bottom-left, since I'd never heard of YEGGS before. I originally had YOGIS.)
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 17:41 (fifteen years ago) link
yeggs annoyed the shit out of me
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 17:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeggs is old school xwordese too. See also "Pete". Often clued by "Second story man."
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 17:44 (fifteen years ago) link
http://www.google.com/search?q=yegg+pete+second-story&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 17:45 (fifteen years ago) link
Haha, me too -- it seemed uncharitably un-Tuesday-like to cross baseball names with a college athletic conference, a Biblical location, and a boating term, cause I had no chance on those.
― nabisco, Wednesday, 22 April 2009 21:20 (fifteen years ago) link
i connected on today's puzzle pretty well but didn't get the drawing until i looked it up online after finishing it. maybe if i had done it on paper instead of in across lite i would have been more apt to draw a big ol' boat on it.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 22:07 (fifteen years ago) link
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/97/257848457_24bcb4bcec.jpg
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 22:08 (fifteen years ago) link
I was scared going in after reading jaymc's friend's blog, but today's wasn't so bad.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 23 April 2009 15:12 (fifteen years ago) link
But today's I could not finish.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2009 01:06 (fifteen years ago) link
By which I mean I got nowhere on the SE and next to nowhere on the NW.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2009 01:28 (fifteen years ago) link
But Saturday's was a lot better.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 May 2009 15:52 (fifteen years ago) link
Constructed a pretty solid grid yesterday with one exception that I can't seem to get out of: OHER.
Here's hoping that Michael Oher becomes a huge NFL star and/or The Blind Side becomes a buzzed-about box-office hit. I might just have to wait a few months to find out.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 6 May 2009 19:54 (fourteen years ago) link
uh, something about an Ohio emergency room?
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Wednesday, 6 May 2009 19:57 (fourteen years ago) link
i dunno if "Subject of Michael Lewis's 'The Blind Side'" is a terrible clue so long as its not crossed w/ anything else as obscure
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, 6 May 2009 19:58 (fourteen years ago) link
I kinda wish we could all see that corner and try to do something with it
― nabisco, Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:00 (fourteen years ago) link
I'll e-mail the .puz file if anyone wants to see it.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Wait, I've got it:
66. Response you might make after someone spends ten minutes going "oh c'mon, you know, that one show, it was really popular, on Thursday, like a drama, you know that one guy was on it, that guy that was in those Las Vegas movies, and for a while there was that one woman ..."
― nabisco, Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:02 (fourteen years ago) link
^^ haha actually you'd have to remove the "oh" from the beginning of that clue
― nabisco, Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:03 (fourteen years ago) link
max OTM--referencing the Michael Lewis dude doesn't seem that obscure or tough
― Mr. Que, Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:03 (fourteen years ago) link
Chicago airport changes from a rabbit to a woman
― nabisco, Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:06 (fourteen years ago) link
haha "rapper Nelly's favorite Chicago airport"
wouldnt that be oherr
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:07 (fourteen years ago) link
xxp No? OK. I read the excerpt of the book that was in the NYT Magazine in 2006, but I couldn't tell how well-known he was. He might end up being a boon to crossword constructors.
I know some constructors got excited when this movie came out:http://sachem.suffolk.lib.ny.us/Reel_Rebels/images/post_iousa_crop.png
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:08 (fourteen years ago) link
In fairness, though, I think it would be Midway, because he can get a good deal on Southwest coming from St. Louis.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 6 May 2009 20:10 (fourteen years ago) link
ben tausig is killin' it these week with the funny clues (in the inkwell and av club puzzles).
3. ybaB eman taht yltnecer emaceb yrev ralupop, yllaicepse htiw lacilegnave snaitsirhC
50. Runs around naked covered in feathers, or whatever, for the privilege of living in a house that smells like Busch light
23. Norwegian king who...oh, as if you know anything about Norwegian kings
43. Country that recently certified its election results, thus forever ending any doubt about the legitimacy thereof, totally
also the av club puzzle gets points for using "SABIAN" as an answer, finally
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Wednesday, 15 July 2009 18:22 (fourteen years ago) link
these = this
those are like cryptic clues!
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, 15 July 2009 18:23 (fourteen years ago) link
3. ybaB eman
― juice did \㋡/↽⌙㋡ (am0n), Wednesday, 15 July 2009 18:32 (fourteen years ago) link
Ha, I especially appreciate #3 (although I was reading that as "eBay name" at first and was confused).
― jaymc, Wednesday, 15 July 2009 18:36 (fourteen years ago) link
(Although tbf, the AV Club puzzle this week was constructed by Francis Heaney. I don't know to what extent Tausig changes the clues, but I'd guess it's less so than Shortz does.)
― jaymc, Wednesday, 15 July 2009 18:38 (fourteen years ago) link
NEVAEH, RUSHES, IRAN, and is other one just kinda "fill in the Norwegian king name that winds up fitting?"
― nabisco, Wednesday, 15 July 2009 18:39 (fourteen years ago) link