boswords week 3 was tough, got in under 12 minutes clean
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Tuesday, 20 October 2020 17:03 (three years ago) link
Tricky Thursday!
― I want to luhbahguh babum gum (Leee), Thursday, 22 October 2020 21:37 (three years ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/crosswords/spellingbee-puzzles.html
― I want to luhbahguh babum gum (Leee), Tuesday, 27 October 2020 22:19 (three years ago) link
i finally went back to that thursday y'all were tripping on... it's a pain!
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 27 October 2020 22:24 (three years ago) link
if you want a thursday trip, try 15 september 2016
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 27 October 2020 22:48 (three years ago) link
will peek
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 27 October 2020 22:51 (three years ago) link
just looked at that one again, brutal. probably my worst thursday time ever
― donna rouge, Wednesday, 28 October 2020 00:53 (three years ago) link
Oh yeah i remember that one too
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 28 October 2020 13:09 (three years ago) link
odd wednesday
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 28 October 2020 23:50 (three years ago) link
I had to cheat today. :\
― I want to luhbahguh babum gum (Leee), Thursday, 29 October 2020 00:18 (three years ago) link
yeah this was real tough for a Wednesday, also I think I said this upthread but I really hate running quote puzzles - they’re never really worth it
― donna rouge, Thursday, 29 October 2020 01:44 (three years ago) link
I forgot who carrie bradshaw was but somehow didn’t have any trouble today. am incredibly close to Queen Bee as well today (I think) but feel like I’m at the limit of my vocabulary.
― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Thursday, 29 October 2020 02:20 (three years ago) link
man i got SO close on spelling bee today
― donna rouge, Thursday, 29 October 2020 03:03 (three years ago) link
i realize that rex parker only actually likes about one puzzle per week, but sometimes it's funny to do one you know he's gonna absolutely loathe
― mookieproof, Thursday, 29 October 2020 03:06 (three years ago) link
I think writing a crossword review every day for however many years has driven him mad
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Thursday, 29 October 2020 03:20 (three years ago) link
I never remember to check how many clues I've gotten wrong when I submit in Boswords, does anyone know of any way to check after I've completed (besides waiting for the final standings to post)?
― I want to luhbahguh babum gum (Leee), Friday, 30 October 2020 22:09 (three years ago) link
it shows you when you submit your answers, but if you miss that you might have to just wait for the results or for the solution to post
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Friday, 30 October 2020 23:02 (three years ago) link
Oof, Boswords this week is tough, needed almost 20 minutes to solve, though it came out clean at least.
― I want to luhbahguh babum gum (Leee), Tuesday, 10 November 2020 22:45 (three years ago) link
yeah killed me too
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Tuesday, 10 November 2020 22:50 (three years ago) link
Dammit I forgot to do Boswords this week before the cutoff and so I'm saddled with a 0.
― I want to luhbahguh babum gum (Leee), Friday, 20 November 2020 22:27 (three years ago) link
https://www.twitch.tv/nytgames
― wasdnuos (abanana), Thursday, 26 November 2020 10:53 (three years ago) link
I need to forget I saw that.
― Andrew Farrell, Thursday, 26 November 2020 14:33 (three years ago) link
Same probably
― sound of scampo talk to me (El Tomboto), Thursday, 26 November 2020 16:55 (three years ago) link
Do any of you guys do the Stumper? Can't remember if I asked.
― Robert Gotopieces (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 28 November 2020 23:19 (three years ago) link
I do it, but check answers a lot
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Sunday, 29 November 2020 00:40 (three years ago) link
Finished 137 in Boswords, that's about as high as I could have expected
the newsday stumper? haven’t done one in awhile. i love a challenging xword but the stumpers are such a slog
― donna rouge, Sunday, 29 November 2020 01:24 (three years ago) link
came across ‘org. that tracks baby name popularity’ but JAYMC didn’t fit
― mookieproof, Sunday, 27 December 2020 11:45 (three years ago) link
Naticked today.
― Sammy Agar-Agar (Leee), Saturday, 16 January 2021 18:56 (three years ago) link
50A / 43D?
― Andrew Farrell, Saturday, 16 January 2021 19:44 (three years ago) link
That and 34D.
― Sammy Agar-Agar (Leee), Saturday, 16 January 2021 19:57 (three years ago) link
OK I solved it after looking up 56A -- as I was deciding between CORNISH PASTA and CORNISH PASTE. (I wish I weren't so beholden to maintaining THE STREAK.)
― Sammy Agar-Agar (Leee), Sunday, 17 January 2021 02:32 (three years ago) link
The last Evan Birnholtz wapo crossword of 2020, "5x5", is a meta around three layers deep, something you don't see very often.
― wasdnuos (abanana), Monday, 18 January 2021 06:11 (three years ago) link
Here's the solution if you don't like doing metas: https://crosswordfiend.com/2020/12/26/sunday-december-27-2020/#wp
― wasdnuos (abanana), Monday, 18 January 2021 06:17 (three years ago) link
Big fan of the WSJ's monthly cryptic, but it seems to have ceased - nothing since October: https://blogs.wsj.com/puzzle/category/cryptic/
― mahb, Monday, 18 January 2021 09:51 (three years ago) link
It’s still there, WSJ is just bad at labeling. You can find all the links here: http://chall.us/hex/hex_all_wsj.html
― Michael F Gill, Monday, 18 January 2021 15:20 (three years ago) link
Thanks. I often can’t find that as well.
― Next Time Might Be Hammer Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 18 January 2021 15:26 (three years ago) link
i really liked last saturday’s nyt. extremely tricky and non-obvious
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Monday, 18 January 2021 15:30 (three years ago) link
https://studyhall.xyz/how-the-new-york-times-crossword-became-too-big-to-fail/
― Next Time Might Be Hammer Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 29 January 2021 16:03 (three years ago) link
yesspeaking of recent out-of-touch missteps, “HASHTAG” is not the same thing as the pound/hash symbol 🙄
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 29 January 2021 16:38 (three years ago) link
While I am in broad agreement with the tenor of that piece, I gotta say that this sentence
Born to Arabian horse farmers in Indiana in 1952, crosswords were Shortz’ lifelong passion.
Threw me for a minute until I realized that it was the horses who were Arabian, and the crosswords were the passion.
― Copybara / pasteybara (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 29 January 2021 16:45 (three years ago) link
Does one “farm” horses?
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 29 January 2021 16:47 (three years ago) link
same
― mookieproof, Friday, 29 January 2021 16:47 (three years ago) link
speaking of recent out-of-touch missteps, “HASHTAG” is not the same thing as the pound/hash symbol 🙄
This was my first thought too, but I guess people do call the symbol itself a hashtag at this point: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hashtag
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Friday, 29 January 2021 17:28 (three years ago) link
No, one raises them, and those who did are IIRC called ranchers instead. I had a similar stumble reading that, on top of which I thought it was saying that Shortz was Arab.
― RandPaul's Drag Race (Leee), Friday, 29 January 2021 18:21 (three years ago) link
Wow, KAC not pulling ANY punches in his constructor notes for today's puzzle (filled grid spoilers on that page of course):
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=2/6/2021
― Mike Mignola Electric Co. (Leee), Saturday, 6 February 2021 18:06 (three years ago) link
And an excellent, smooth solve for the puzzle itself. I'm a little astonished that he's only been in the NYT 15 times, since he's one of my favorite constructors.
― Mike Mignola Electric Co. (Leee), Saturday, 6 February 2021 18:08 (three years ago) link
A great puzzle with a bunch of surprising answers.
― baelien (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 6 February 2021 18:17 (three years ago) link
Wow that’s a seriously great essay from Collins
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 6 February 2021 18:31 (three years ago) link
Loved yesterday’s too