The New York Times Crossword Puzzle thread
DaveSchmidt, if I hadn't already done the puzzle, well, probably I wouldn't have opened this thread. But spoilers! Hilarious spoilers, though. Without those things the puzzle would have been much easier, and I wouldn't have learned anything.
zucca said:
DaveSchmidt, if I hadn't already done the puzzle, well, probably I wouldn't have opened this thread. But spoilers!
Whoops. Good point. Fixed, I think.
jimmurphy said:
How often is a puzzle other than Easy or Easy-Medium??
If a midcentury major league baseball player's name prevents Rex from solving the puzzle in less time than it takes his toast to pop up, he'll label it medium-challenging and then grouse about how unfair it was.
Thursdays usually have some trick to them. Fridays are hard, with no theme (usually). Saturdays are hard, with a theme. Sundays are large, and usually about as difficult as Wednesdays.
Echt Rex today: "Do people really remember Peter Fonda's *character's* name from 'Easy Rider'?"
I didn't, and "Easy Rider" was a pop culture artifact from before my time. But being reminded of the name (if I even caught it in the first place) was very groovy.
yup, that's about it.
lizziecat said:
Thursdays usually have some trick to them. Fridays are hard, with no theme (usually). Saturdays are hard, with a theme. Sundays are large, and usually about as difficult as Wednesdays.
I've dropped out from doing the puzzle every day, but so what's the date of this puzzle ?
zucca said:
DaveSchmidt, if I hadn't already done the puzzle, well, probably I wouldn't have opened this thread. But spoilers! Hilarious spoilers, though. Without those things the puzzle would have been much easier, and I wouldn't have learned anything.
Christie and Giuliani are clued on Saturday -- and the answer is incorrect.
Didn't care for today's (Oct-12) puzzle at all. It's a Thursday so they have to do something clever but I didn't like it.
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ETA: Rex Parker hated it, too. I seldom consult Mr Parker but did today, to see what he thought:
"Wow. That was ... not fun. Printout of my puzzle looks kind of cool, since all the Acrosses are just one word (and whatever "Re" is), but this is one of those puzzles that makes you shake your head and go, "Why?"—a stunt puzzle that is probably interesting-sounding in your head, but on paper is laborious to solve. The grid is so unpleasant. On its own terms, it's nowhere near NYT-quality (even recent NYT-quality). It's like one of them grids you'd see in some Giant Book Of Supermarket Checkout Line Puzzles compendium. Nothing holding it together. Fill all mediocre and weird. Multiple MIROS, pffft, fine, OK, but multiple DRYROTS!? Nay. Nay. Neigh. And what on god's green earth is BISTRE!? Apparently that's not even the preferred spelling (?). We get a word that hasn't been seen in the NYT crossword in almost *30* years, and then we get the, what, British spelling? I spent more time than I should just checking and rechecking every BISTRE cross because, well ... look at it! It's hardly a word. I'd've bought BISTRO as a color before BISTRE.":
That's hilarious. I didn't even notice "bistre." Must have filled in the other direction.
OK. I'm trying to do Thursday's puzzle, and I can't quite figure it out. Sometimes I think I've figured out the trick, but then I just get stuck again.
I made better progress when I stopped trying to figure out what the “Answer found elsewhere” clues meant and worked around them. Also, it helped to be confident in certain words that I knew should be answers and then figure out a way to make them fit.
Yeah, I pretty much ignored the "Answer found elsewhere" clues.
hmm, went back to the puzzle just now and all of a sudden I get it. I guess I just had to let it ferment in my head a bit.
drummerboy said:
I wonder if today's puzzle is a political commentary?
SPOILER ALERT! I was able to finish it without to much struggle but had no idea what the clue mean. I mean I got the long one across - obstruction of justice - but didn't get how it appeared in the rows mentioned. Any thoughts?
Yeah, I don't see it either.
The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
drummerboy said:
I wonder if today's puzzle is a political commentary?
SPOILER ALERT! I was able to finish it without to much struggle but had no idea what the clue mean. I mean I got the long one across - obstruction of justice - but didn't get how it appeared in the rows mentioned. Any thoughts?
The Justice names are intersected by the black boxes, hence "obstruction"
bub said:
The Justice names are intersected by the black boxes, hence "obstruction"
Aha! (I've already recycled it so can't go back and look.)
good work. I didn't even see the justice names.
bub said:
The Justice names are intersected by the black boxes, hence "obstruction"
Can someone explain the theme of yesterday's (I mean Thursday 3/8) puzzle?
I finished the puzzle. I see the pattern in the long clues. But I don't get it.
drummerboy said:
Can someone explain the theme of yesterday's (I mean Thursday 3/8) puzzle?
I finished the puzzle. I see the pattern in the long clues. But I don't get it.
Puns, is all. Zero-G spoilers below.
Line dancer, moon walker, plain folk, bean counter.
It took a while to get a single answer but I've gotten most of it. It's a hard one.
drummerboy said:
are you kidding me with today's puzzle?
yeah, I finally figured out the thing, more or less, but I'm only half way through so far.
Just finished. So frustrating initially, but fun once I got the theme. Had the theme clue, but it didn't sink in for a while.
I just got done too. Crazy puzzle. I'm so impressed by the designers of these things. Some of them, like this one, are just brilliant.
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How often is a puzzle other than Easy or Easy-Medium??