Redd's Roster of Crosswordese: Do not read if you hate DRNO

i don’t do the mini - it’s not in the newspaper

I was about to say, it was in the mini last Saturday.

Does anyone do the Times online-only? I feel foolish for wanting to give myself a Christmas gift of a sub to the crossword, but kind of want it at the same time. Is it worth it?

I'm sure a lot of non-Americans do, myself included. I mean, I could probably find a NYT in print, but I'm not honestly sure where.

larger WH Smiths, Waitrose, newsagents etc - it’s not too hard to find. outside London forget it though.

I get it delivered.

i only subscribe to nyt games and not the paper itself. officially a spelling bee addict too

The print version is ludicrously expensive in comparison to the online version, even if one subscribes to both the paper and games.

I begin each day with Spelling Bee and the Mini in bed, before the coffee. Helps me wake up.

Gotta say that every time I see this thread bumped I think DRNO must be a city in Poland or Slovakia or something

beat my previous record for solving a Friday puzzle today. KAC’s one of the best constructors, always happy to see his name on a puzzle

Does anyone do the Times online-only? I feel foolish for wanting to give myself a Christmas gift of a sub to the crossword, but kind of want it at the same time. Is it worth it?

I do, for puzzles only though. For $20 a year, totally worth it.

^^^

Brno is in the Czech Republic - a lot of my employer's European staff work there.

Oh that’s why!

thought saturday was really hard. it almost defeated me. first time in a long time i’ve had that feeling.

same

(This is just above Blue Saturday in my bookmarks - some confusion)

the Saturday took longer for me to finish than today’s Sunday

Been feeling very annoyed lately by the proliferation of "schoolyard comeback" "schoolyard retort" etc. - AMTOO, ARENOT, CANSO, etc

while I'm reviving the thread, can anyone direct me to a good primer on the common mechanisms, tricks, logic of Cryptics? I am beginning to find regular puzzles a little too straightforward (I do the NYT Sunday every week, and sometimes the Saturday). But I am usually at a total loss to even get started on cryptics. I did complete a Puns and Anagrams in the NYT Mag a month or so ago when it was featured as the second puzzle, which made me feel like Cryptics might be something achievable when in the past they just felt way too far outside my capacity. But I'd need to raise my baseline a little to get started.

this PDF download is a really clear guide to cryptics

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqqbfts95ywzluz/Introduction%20to%20Cryptic%20Crosswords.pdf?dl=1

The NYT Mag cryptic is on the easier side imo, lots of anagrams, and this indie crossword page has some cryptics too: https://www.ariespuzzles.com/2020/08/aries-cryptic-29.html

either the beginning or the end of a cryptic clue are a straightforward definition or synonym of the answer. I couldn't figure out how to do cryptics until I grasped that concept.

awesome, thank you! just DLed that pdf and will read through, but your comment here is illuminating on its own

looking back up at this thread. it's kind of a funny phenomenon how certain celebs get their stature cemented because of how useful they are for crossword constructors. issa rae is mentioned upthread, i imagine that if and when she fades into obscurity in the general zeitgeist, crossword doers will keep having their memories jogged. it's something like having a hit song that can be closely associated with a holiday or other recurring phenomenon - an easy path to canonization.

no problem! I only learned how to do them this last year (productive use of my newly vast amount of free time, yes), and I love them now. The New Yorker site runs old ones from their archives once a week, and the Guardian has tougher ones (with some incomprehensible to me Britishisms), and both sites let you check for mistakes

ooh nice, will try the NYer first

xxp ERMA bombeck will live forever

Apparently 'alit' and 'asea' aren't very common English language words based on usage frequencies on books released since 1980. Wouldn't have guessed that from doing crosswords.

http://app.aspell.net/lookup?dict=en_US-large;words=alee%0D%0Aalit%0D%0Aasea

Been feeling very annoyed lately by the proliferation of "schoolyard comeback" "schoolyard retort" etc. - AMTOO, ARENOT, CANSO, etc

yeah if there was one crossword cliche I could ban it would be this one

with some incomprehensible to me Britishisms)

lol yes, as an American learning cryptics, learning to bung in ER anytime I saw “queen” or AB for “sailor” was the most arcane and incomprehensible stuff when I was starting. My best tip is don’t get too hung up if you don’t complete a puzzle. It just means either you were just not on the setter’s wavelength, or perhaps the clue was just wonky. They’re not all perfect. Just check the answers on fifteensquared or elsewhere, and learn from your mistakes.

There’s a cryptics thread here, but it’s been quiet lately.

asea

This should be easy but I can never distinguish between the clueing for it and "alee"

Cheri OTERI hasn't been a member of SNL since 2000

And it's been quite a while since there was an ALOU in baseball.

Been a while since anyone wrote a significant ODE. Or cooked with OLEO.

The last time someone seriously sought the help of a Muse such as ERATO? Longer still.

Crosswordese is its own dialect and its own cluster of references. It is white and it is eastern and it is boomerish or older. If you were a decently acculturated sports and film fan in 1958 in Manhattan, you will do okay; the rest of us just learn that vocabulary through trial and error.

It sucks but that is where things stand at present. I love and applaud the constructors who push at the boundaries and get more DRDRE into the mix.

Came across an old pre-Shortz piece of crosswordese in a recent cryptic today: CYMA.

cover your motherfucking ass?

don't think that's what it means, lol, although perhaps that's what it says in the urban dictionary, will have to check

cyan, yellow, magenta, and ass

Sung to the tune of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUZvfpVfW0k

RIP, Felix Silla aka Cousin ITT.

beedybeedybeedy

Pre-Shortz word with exactly one appereance in the, um, modern era:
SLUB

CYMA was/is a curvy molding.

https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2012/aug/2/spare-moments-of-litzing/

KRAAL was popular throughout the first three NYT editor eras but disappeared in the Shortz zone, but KRAIT managed to live on for a quite a bit.

My mother gave up crosswords for good over ANOA ("Celebes wild ox") and I think that one has lingered a bit into the Shortz era.

Most of those I'm glad to see aren't in circulation.

They're still using "sea eagle" (ERN/ERNE/ERNES) and the anti-Crosswordese faction hates it. Me, I just shrug and fill it in because it's part of the culture. SNEE and SMEE remain frequent.

Wasn't that the email of Will's assistant, celebe✧✧✧@fu✧✧✧.c✧✧? Let me check.

celebesox

As seen here: https://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/american-crossword-puzzle-tournament-brooklyn-or-stamford-a-special-message-from-will-shortz/

Old school variant spelling: FIORD. Although four uses in the Shortz era.

Now I want to call a trivia team or suchlike
CELEBE SOX. DO U SEE?

I doubt anyone will want to follow me down this rabbit hole, but really enjoying doing these Dawn of the Shortz Era puzzles.

Do you mean like deep 90s stuff? More power to you, JR+tB. I have only dabbled in that area.

Currently I am working my way backwards into the archive, year by year. Currently on 2012, generally doing Wednesday through Saturday. (I usually don't bother with Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday except to keep the streak alive.)

2012 has a couple of decently clever Thursdays and some tough Fridays, but it's all pretty recognizable Shortziana. Looking forward to some baffling stumpers and Celebes Oxyness as the project proceeds. I am getting a graduate-level education in baseball-playing Alous.

At the same time I am trying to nurse a decent streak of current puzzles. Hope to hit a year in March or April.