NPL cryptics do very wildly in quality. Many of them are insanely difficult.
― Two Spocks Clash (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 29 June 2020 22:58 (three years ago) link
Yes, I've seen Kevin Wald's cryptics! EEK.
― Michael F Gill, Monday, 29 June 2020 23:03 (three years ago) link
Coax troubled cry (3)
― all cats are beautiful (silby), Tuesday, 30 June 2020 00:50 (three years ago) link
Seems simple, but still can’t get that one, sorry.Came to post that I just heard a WBGO DJ talking about the crosswordese word ONER.
― Lipstick O.G. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 12 July 2020 14:37 (three years ago) link
HI DERE.Redd's Roster of Crosswordese: Do not read if you hate DRNO
― Isolde mein Herz zum Junker (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 11:50 (three years ago) link
Letters that cross two name clues can go fuck themselves
― unashamed and trash (Unctious), Wednesday, 12 August 2020 20:01 (three years ago) link
yah, especially when it's olympians and monarchy
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 12 August 2020 21:27 (three years ago) link
blind crossings
https://crosswordfiend.com/2011/09/20/mgwcc-172/
― wasdnous (abanana), Thursday, 13 August 2020 03:58 (three years ago) link
anybody else participate in lollapuzzoola? it's just wrapping up (all online this time). my only goal for these is "don't come in last" and mission accomplished! i'm something like 341st out of about 1200.
― maura, Saturday, 15 August 2020 21:30 (three years ago) link
I'm doing it! it's pretty fun, I'd never be able to participate in person
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Saturday, 15 August 2020 21:33 (three years ago) link
oh yay! yeah, i was bummed i missed the boston-based one boswords (also all virtual) but this has been fun!
― maura, Saturday, 15 August 2020 21:36 (three years ago) link
No, but I paid for the puzzles, it'll be perfect for a camping trip in a few weeks. :)
― change display name (Jordan), Sunday, 16 August 2020 15:54 (three years ago) link
I struggle at best of times with cryptics, but can usually parse the answers in hindsight. However can’t make head nor tail of the single letter clues in yesterday’s Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28218 What am I missing?
― Dan Worsley, Saturday, 22 August 2020 11:46 (three years ago) link
Ooft, way beyond my capabilities. I don't know if maybe someone here can give a pointer rather than jumping to the answers, but fifteensquared.net has explanations, if you do want to go that route.
― brain (krakow), Saturday, 22 August 2020 12:19 (three years ago) link
I can confirm that they're impossible to get by themselves - if you have all the crossers then 23 down might be the easiest to start with?
― Andrew Farrell, Saturday, 22 August 2020 13:45 (three years ago) link
Also 21 Across could be viewed as (3-5)? I mean not really but as you'll see it's important that each answer is in at least two parts.
― Andrew Farrell, Saturday, 22 August 2020 15:56 (three years ago) link
They almost look like the question is the answer and the solution is the clue. As you say can’t see how you could get them without having the other answers to fill in the gaps.
― Dan Worsley, Saturday, 22 August 2020 16:25 (three years ago) link
Dan, it’s funny that you posted that you can’t make “head” or “tail” of those clues :) The G clue is one I’ve seen a couple times (although usually as part of a charade), but I probably would have been tripped up on it if it was the first time I saw it.
― Michael F Gill, Saturday, 22 August 2020 18:28 (three years ago) link
at some point in the not too distant future, i'll need to learn how to do cryptics
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 22 August 2020 18:31 (three years ago) link
That's been on my to do list, too, but the feeling of getting in on the ground floor is really too humbling for me to keep at it.
― Ruth Bae Ginsburg (Leee), Saturday, 22 August 2020 18:33 (three years ago) link
What first got me into cryptics was 1) this introductory post/video by the New Yorker:https://www.newyorker.com/puzzles-and-games-dept/cryptic-crossword/reintroducing-the-new-yorkers-cryptic-crossword
And 2) doing this Crypto Quiz over at Lovatts, which concisely lists all the clue types and presents cryptic clues with multiple choices answers:https://lovattspuzzles.com/online-puzzles-competitions/crypto-quiz/
The daily Lovatts cryptics are also very accessible (although they lean more towards British/Australian English).
― Michael F Gill, Saturday, 22 August 2020 18:39 (three years ago) link
I finally learned how to do them in the past few months (using my free time wisely) but I still need to do a lot of cheating/checking to complete a puzzle. The explanation linked here really made it clear how cryptics work:
https://www.ariespuzzles.com/2018/10/introducing-aries-cryptic.html
and doing those puzzles and then reading the explanation in the answer key also helped a lot.
I could actually do that Lovatts puzzle without cheating, they are nice and simple!
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Saturday, 22 August 2020 19:36 (three years ago) link
Nice theme today.
― Ruth Bae Ginsburg (Leee), Tuesday, 1 September 2020 15:41 (three years ago) link
So a few puzzlers have been playing NYT's Spelling Bee.
Here are some of the observations I've assembled:
1. You'll get at most 3 vowels (not counting Y, though I'm not sure if I've seen a set of letter with 3 vowels and also Y).2. The only letters or combination of letters that I've yet to see appear are S (obviously) and ER. (Until recently, I hadn't seen ING or ED.)3. If you're going for the Queen Bee, I've found that the genius level threshold is 70-75% of the total possible point value.4. Humans are fallible, and almost certainly decide what is and is not accepted as words. COPE wasn't accepted yesterday, and one of METONYMY/METONYM wasn't accepted while the other was. I'm also pretty sure that ANNAL wasn't accepted at one point.5. So much for words that aren't obscure: PENTANE and HEPTANE have both been accepted answers, as has PHILHELLENE.5a. DILDO, ANAL, and PORN are all accepted.6. A set of letters can have multiple pangrams.
― Ruth Bae Ginsburg (Leee), Saturday, 5 September 2020 23:39 (three years ago) link
that cope thing was driving me nuts yesterday
― Lily Dale, Saturday, 5 September 2020 23:43 (three years ago) link
I settle for Genius, and accept the feeling of shame that comes with discovering the obvious words I missed when I hit “Yesterday”
― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Saturday, 5 September 2020 23:54 (three years ago) link
I do enjoy the red herrings that come about whenever ING or ITY or ED or DOM etc. are presented as options. It turns into a fun little sci-fi/fantasy word generator.
― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Sunday, 6 September 2020 00:01 (three years ago) link
I heard points for Queen Bee was 2X points for Amazing level.
― Quit It And Hit It Sideways (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 6 September 2020 00:52 (three years ago) link
I feel like a dunce when I get stuck on Amazing.
― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Sunday, 6 September 2020 00:53 (three years ago) link
I do the Spelling Bee most Sundays - tbh I didn't realize there's one on every other day too - and it's good to hear that their judges are fallible. I think it was the Sunday before last when I found at least five legit words in it that weren't accepted by the website. I was expecting to be classed some kind of mega genius, but the rejections humbled me back down to a more average level.
― Josefa, Sunday, 6 September 2020 01:42 (three years ago) link
I only play the Bee occasionally, partly because all I ever hear about it is ckmplaints about what it will and won't accept.
I mean, I empathize on COPE (or whatever) but the continual lawyering about the word list is (a) boring and (b) a disincentive to play the game.
― the hardline according to shrimp on the b'arby (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 6 September 2020 01:56 (three years ago) link
* complaints
― the hardline according to shrimp on the b'arby (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 6 September 2020 01:57 (three years ago) link
I agree, everything I hear about Spelling Bee is complaints about the word list
― Michael F Gill, Sunday, 6 September 2020 02:14 (three years ago) link
I play it every day and enjoy it, shortcomings and all. Even if I chafe against its word list (AARGH and YECCH and YECH are all accepted), it's broadened my vocabulary (tomtit, lanai).
― Ruth Bae Ginsburg (Leee), Sunday, 6 September 2020 03:20 (three years ago) link
I’m past bitching about the spelling bee word list; all games have arbitrary rules or else they wouldn’t be games. I don’t have enough time in the day or brains in my head to ever reach “queen bee” but as long as I hit Genius and get a pangram I’m happy. I do wish they let you play through past spelling bees like the regular puzzle and track stats. I’ll assume that’s coming if enough people keep playing it.
― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Thursday, 10 September 2020 03:29 (three years ago) link
Today's Spelling Bee is brutal.
― Ruth Bae Ginsburg (Leee), Saturday, 12 September 2020 00:17 (three years ago) link
I just barely managed genius. I hate that E sitting in the middle ruining all the easy -ing options
― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Saturday, 12 September 2020 00:18 (three years ago) link
Exactly!
― Ruth Bae Ginsburg (Leee), Saturday, 12 September 2020 15:02 (three years ago) link
weekly themeless tournament starting in October, looks cool:
https://www.boswords.org/
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Thursday, 17 September 2020 18:23 (three years ago) link
Additional rules here which definitely answered some questions I had: https://www.boswords.org/nuts-and-bolts
― Out, vile jelleee (Leee), Sunday, 20 September 2020 18:06 (three years ago) link
Can someone explain 117 Across from today's puzzle?
― Kaliningrad Oberst (Leee), Sunday, 27 September 2020 17:05 (three years ago) link
like "reputation"
― Piven After Midnight (The Yellow Kid), Sunday, 27 September 2020 17:36 (three years ago) link
hey will shortz “panini” is plural you donut
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Sunday, 27 September 2020 19:01 (three years ago) link
Ah thanks, Yellow!
― Kaliningrad Oberst (Leee), Sunday, 27 September 2020 21:12 (three years ago) link
Boswords pre-season starts this Wednesday!
― Kaliningrad Oberst (Leee), Monday, 28 September 2020 18:27 (three years ago) link
preseason puzzle was tough! took me over 13 minutes, but no wrong squares
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Thursday, 1 October 2020 04:56 (three years ago) link
typing out and retyping out today's goddam rebuses on a tablet fucked up my time something fierce
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 1 October 2020 19:08 (three years ago) link
first sub-six minute Wednesday tho
i don't entirely know how to go much faster than that? I can often get to 5 on mondays but doing any quicker than that on any difficult level seems impossible because of the time spent reading and inputting clues. do people faster than that just immediately know all the answers?
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 1 October 2020 19:10 (three years ago) link
yes
― Erdős-szám 69 (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 1 October 2020 20:20 (three years ago) link