1,4,7,10,13,16
― Dan S, Saturday, 2 April 2022 02:31 (two years ago) link
I'm not an avid crossworder nor even an especially committed one, but it gets my goat when the clue indicates the solution is a slang term, but when I finally arrive at the correct word or phrase it is some sort of made-up pretended "slang" that no one has ever seen used or heard spoken by anyone ever. A recent example was "netman" for a tennis player. Fuck off, you failure of a crossword-devising person!
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Saturday, 2 April 2022 02:35 (two years ago) link
Xp
Both seemed like good gimmicks to me. Thursday's trickery was allowable (because I expect trickery on Thursday). So was today's trickery (because I expect trickery on April 1).
One of my spare-time pursuits is going backward into the archive, and I recently did a puzzle from a previous April 1 (2011 maybe?) that had similar shenanigans, and reader, I lolled.
― So's your imam (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 2 April 2022 02:38 (two years ago) link
Today’s puzzle quite challenging. Couldn’t quite finish the Lower West Side but still enjoyed.In other news, the tournament is on and you can watch some of it on the YouTube channel if you are not there in person if that grabs you.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 10:38 (two years ago) link
Wordle guy is there along with Spelling Bee guy. My friend told me he hung out with the latter and presumably gave him his list of wrongly rejected vocab.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 11:33 (two years ago) link
Or maybe my friend got me with an April Fools.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 11:52 (two years ago) link
No, not an April Fools.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 12:38 (two years ago) link
Looking at the list of competitors. Interesting that Erik Agard is not there.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 15:44 (two years ago) link
Finally cracked the SW in today's puzzle by realizing one of the answers was sillier than expected
― Josefa, Saturday, 2 April 2022 15:55 (two years ago) link
Still don’t totally grok the way 40D works. I sort of see it but still.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 16:14 (two years ago) link
Me neither
― Josefa, Saturday, 2 April 2022 16:19 (two years ago) link
Searching for it seems like there are about a half dozen sites that merely echo the answers and the clues every day with no commentary.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 16:23 (two years ago) link
gtfo with 56A
― mookieproof, Saturday, 2 April 2022 16:58 (two years ago) link
Never heard of that either
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 17:00 (two years ago) link
No Jon Delfin at the contest either.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 17:03 (two years ago) link
re 56A Sometimes it seems as if constructors are poring through lifestyle magazines trying to find cutesy terms that will be recognizable only to an extremely limited in-group and will be used by no one whatsover in a year's time. It's all a big cuddle puddle.
― Josefa, Saturday, 2 April 2022 18:00 (two years ago) link
Stuck in SW, very possibly a DNF as I sit on 999 puzzles solved.
― Ace of Base Are Belong To Us (Leee), Saturday, 2 April 2022 18:46 (two years ago) link
wait so you are on the cusp of a 1,000 day streak?
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 19:13 (two years ago) link
Also:
Best of luck, all ye who dare to enter the Marriott of Stamford!Seriously, I miss you all already, but please have a blast and remember: "No sleep till Puzzle 5" ❤#acpt #acpt2022 @StamfordMarriot pic.twitter.com/VdfGEBmmyA— Deb Amlen (@DebAmlen) April 1, 2022
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 April 2022 19:17 (two years ago) link
999 is the total number of puzzles I've solved once I started playing in the app, and my current streak is only at 316.
― Ace of Base Are Belong To Us (Leee), Saturday, 2 April 2022 23:43 (two years ago) link
I found NYT Sat very hard, I had to use the "check puzzle" several times and I know that means I am dead to everyone ITT
― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 3 April 2022 00:32 (two years ago) link
No worries.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 April 2022 00:53 (two years ago) link
I caved and just looked up 23D, and 51A. IMO awful clues and awful answers, but at least my streak is intact.
― Ace of Base Are Belong To Us (Leee), Sunday, 3 April 2022 00:57 (two years ago) link
Those two I could figure out.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 April 2022 01:18 (two years ago) link
But not the one mookie mentioned
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 April 2022 01:25 (two years ago) link
are you all figuring these puzzles out without doing some internet searches? I would like to, but I don't give a shit about sports stars, sports stats, sports in general including team initials, the Simpsons, US TV networks, government agencies, comics, brand names, etc and I will never learn them, so unless it's a Monday or Tuesday puzzle I won't be able to solve them without help.
I wish there were more clues about stuff I like but there aren't
― Dan S, Sunday, 3 April 2022 01:46 (two years ago) link
I just get them on random recollections of headlines, and otherwise from the crosses. But yeah I never search for answers, it feels like a slippery slope. On the plus side I now know about five baseball stars' names. But I curse the designer who clues something like "batter stat." and it turns out to be FJL or some other useless chunk of initials.I allow myself "check puzzle" if I've run the list of unsolved clues twice without cracking anything, but that's only once or twice a week except for this one, where I had to use it about 4 or 5 times - like climbing a difficult pitch using a safety rope.
― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 3 April 2022 01:58 (two years ago) link
You could try some British crosswords, not necessarily cryptics, but some of their general knowledge puzzles, which are often called “quick” crosswords. The grids are only half-checked, so you don’t end up with any of the crosswordese glue you need in US puzzles.
― Michael F Gill, Sunday, 3 April 2022 02:03 (two years ago) link
I do occasionally rely on the internet for some harder puzzles where I can't brute force certain clues (still happens 5-10 times a year), but that's because I'm way too attached to keeping my streak alive and so never use the check puzzle function. Otherwise the years of solving have honed my instincts to typical crosswordese that are now nearly reflexive fills.
― Ace of Base Are Belong To Us (Leee), Sunday, 3 April 2022 03:56 (two years ago) link
Ah - I've only been doing it routinely for about 8 months - realised it was a good way to break the 3am mental-race if I am under stress, so I bought the app subscription and got into it more than I expected.
― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 3 April 2022 05:29 (two years ago) link
Is there actually a stigma associated with the check function? Since I started solving daily again this year after an eight year layoff I have used it when needed and tried not to be uptight about it.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 April 2022 12:13 (two years ago) link
Of course I also have been trying to do a better job of checking visually before hitting that button, and a lot of times that works but I don’t want to agonize over it.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 April 2022 12:14 (two years ago) link
Yeah same. I think of it as a counterfoil to the inevitable typos caused by using a screen keyboard without autocorrect available. But sometimes I will use it a few times mid puzzle to consolidate and that feels a little cheat-y.
― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 3 April 2022 18:25 (two years ago) link
Think the A final may be on now or just finished and their might be a brand new champ.
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 April 2022 18:44 (two years ago) link
There even
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 April 2022 18:45 (two years ago) link
No, he finished third.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA8htPG0oHE
― Never Mind the ILX, Here's the Blecch Pistols (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 April 2022 21:25 (two years ago) link
Really tough Friday today -- could've been a Saturday puzzle -- though I think it's reasonably solvable and fair.
― Pomelo Anthony (Leee), Friday, 8 April 2022 17:17 (two years ago) link
I liked it, and I think I liked this constructor's previous puzzle as well.
― Mr. Uncut Risin’ (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 8 April 2022 17:23 (two years ago) link
Yes, she co-wrote a Saturday puzzle on January 29th with Andrew Ries and then another Saturday back on October 16th with Erik Agard.
― Mr. Uncut Risin’ (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 8 April 2022 18:03 (two years ago) link
today's nyt crossword was clever, with 4 answers relying on understanding that, in the clues, "m" often replaces "rn" for those of us visually impaired
― Dan S, Thursday, 14 April 2022 23:40 (two years ago) link
I just did before reading that. Yeah, very well done.
― Anita Quatloos (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 15 April 2022 00:06 (two years ago) link
Quite; my vision sucks so much that I solved most of the puzzle correctly, before realizing that I was missing the joke.
― Fifty Centaur (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 15 April 2022 01:12 (two years ago) link
I cleaned my glasses before solving but did have to blink a few times, so same.
― Anita Quatloos (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 15 April 2022 01:25 (two years ago) link
Okay, Friday’s puzzle is ace.
― Ramones Leave the Capitol (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 15 April 2022 03:08 (two years ago) link
And this week’s as well.
― Wile E. Kinbote (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 22 April 2022 11:29 (two years ago) link
Tomorrow’s good too.
― Granny Takes a Tripos (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 April 2022 02:16 (two years ago) link
Sunday on the other hand…
― H.R. MacGufnstuf (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 April 2022 22:30 (two years ago) link
By our favorite guy from the other thread.
― H.R. MacGufnstuf (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 April 2022 22:37 (two years ago) link
fckn terrible
― assert (matttkkkk), Sunday, 24 April 2022 22:04 (two years ago) link