I originally messed up the little three square El where it was supposed to add up to 7. I had a block on one of the ways to do it.
But it is definitely an enjoyable puzzle. Exercises a fun part of the brain, doesn't feel like just cranking through an algorithm.
― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:43 (fifteen years ago) link
Wait, I totally did the one with the "Bush not much seen today," but I can't seem to remember what the answer turned out to be!
― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 19:45 (fifteen years ago) link
it was AFRO i think
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:47 (fifteen years ago) link
Yup.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:47 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh right! Yeah, that was annoying, mostly because ... by the logic of clues, "bush" should be a clear substitute for "hairstyle," and I don't think I've ever heard it used that way. I mean, a descriptive noun just doesn't fit clue-logic there.
― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 19:50 (fifteen years ago) link
Right. Have rarely if ever heard it used that way. Much more familiar with the terms "wig" or "rug," particularly this last as used in the phrases "rug rethink" and "the old concern of Rug & Gut & Gum" in Martin Amis's Money.
Are you guys familiar with the fact that in Webster's Tenth Collegiate Dictionary under "Afro" there was a picture of a man with an afro, but in the Eleventh it became just a picture of disembodied hair?
― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:54 (fifteen years ago) link
To avoid confusion with "Afro-" as in the Afro-Websterian person beneath the hair?
― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 19:58 (fifteen years ago) link
maybe the clue was referring to afro-styled pubic hair
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Friday, 13 February 2009 19:58 (fifteen years ago) link
In my copy of the 11th, there's still a face attached, but it's a woman rather than a man.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 13 February 2009 20:07 (fifteen years ago) link
Mine too.
― nabisco, Friday, 13 February 2009 20:14 (fifteen years ago) link
I mean, obviously
OK, my bad. I have the Tenth in front of me but not the Eleventh. I just spoke to mr finewine, who first pointed this out to me, and he reminded me that there was another change between the Ninth and the Tenth, that between nine and ten the guy's afro was trimmed down and his skin color was blanched.
― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 February 2009 20:55 (fifteen years ago) link
I just e-mailed my brother to see if he could send me a copy of the interview he conducted a few years ago with Jeffrey Middleton, the Webster's illustrator.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Friday, 13 February 2009 20:58 (fifteen years ago) link
Your family sounds awesome.
― i'm shy (Abbott), Friday, 13 February 2009 21:03 (fifteen years ago) link
if i recall correctly, the guy with the afro in 9th or 10th edition also had an incredibly wide "negroid" nose.
― robotsinlove, Friday, 13 February 2009 21:08 (fifteen years ago) link
this was the picture for the 8th ed.:
http://tirado.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/on-the-corner.jpg
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Friday, 13 February 2009 21:11 (fifteen years ago) link
i spent a lot of time looking at that clue thinking "Jeb? GHWB?"
― My new tackling, kidney punching, helmet slapping celebration (forksclovetofu), Friday, 13 February 2009 21:11 (fifteen years ago) link
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 Permalinkor 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
― 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 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
So much wanted "Hits with bug spray" to be "Offs"
― lemmy tristano (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 19 February 2009 00:09 (fifteen years ago) link
hey maybe start a new thread for kenken
― Mr. Que, Thursday, 19 February 2009 01:50 (fifteen years ago) link
fucked up the 6x6 today somehow, in pen...
― max, Thursday, 19 February 2009 02:53 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
new thread Les Aventures de Kenken
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 03:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Just watched the documentary Wordplay. Very entertaining.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 05:12 (fifteen years ago) link
And Tyler Hinman just won for the 5th straight year this past weekend.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 06:31 (fifteen years ago) link
When are you going to enter, jaymc?
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 March 2009 14:46 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh yeah, today's theme is pretty fun.
But today's is crazy hard.
― moe greene dolphin street (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 5 March 2009 15:18 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (thirteen years ago) link
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 (twelve years ago) link
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 (eleven years ago) link
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 (eleven years ago) link
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 (eleven years ago) link
They are rillllly hard
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 24 September 2012 16:57 (eleven years ago) link
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 (eleven years ago) link
"blown out?" = error
???????!
that, i am not buying
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 30 December 2013 10:14 (ten years ago) link
baseball term, I think?
― zanarkand bozo (abanana), Monday, 30 December 2013 14:31 (ten years ago) link
nope
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 30 December 2013 23:16 (ten years ago) link
sure it is - the fielder was supposed to make the play but he blew it, and instead of an out it's an error. a "blown out"
― Panaïs Pnin (The Yellow Kid), Monday, 30 December 2013 23:32 (ten years ago) link
ARRRRRRRGH
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 30 December 2013 23:38 (ten years ago) link
(hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 30 December 2013 23:39 (ten years ago) link
i fuckin
fuck
today's suggestion that daytime tv is called a "Soaper" for short was kinda...
― Strangers look on with a discernible, barely contained ‘wow’. (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 31 December 2013 04:20 (ten years ago) link
"pulling a prank outside a house" = TPING
really dog?
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 12 January 2017 15:46 (seven years ago) link
i started doing these again, after abt > 10 years
have they gotten a lot dumber? they seem dumber
― j., Saturday, 14 January 2017 02:57 (seven years ago) link
That's pretty standard crossword-ese tbh.
I stick to the American Values Club though, they minimize cliches as much as possible. Best crossword going.
― change display name (Jordan), Saturday, 14 January 2017 03:02 (seven years ago) link