Margaret
NY
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NY
A first for me to solve both Friday and Saturday puzzles with no lookups. I plan to ignore all the comments that said they were too easy. In my opinion, they were perfect.
I had a streak, and I just let it go. What a relief.
I loved seeing JACKIE ROBINSON. I grew up as a Brooklyn Dodger fan. I think I still am although they deserted me.
Deb - I am adding my thanks to all the others here and wishing you the best in the future. You gave me the courage to venture into the Friday and Saturday puzzles. I am following in the footsteps of my grandfather and mother in doing the NY Times crossword. THANK YOU, DEB!!!
I don't worry about my solving speed. I don't even mind if it takes me a long time to solve (or if I forget to close the puzzle and it stays open all night). That makes it easier for me to beat MY average solve time. Like the Rhino, I just PLOD along.
I'm glad to see that I was not the only one to find this tough going. I kept looking at all the empty white spaces and thinking I should be able to find something somewhere that I could fill in. I got bits and pieces and slowly, but surely filled it in. I was surprised (but pleased) when I got the gold star after I filled in the last letter. I too enjoyed the clue for TOMB.
@Times Rita Thank you for posting again. We are repeating the history of the 1930s - 1940s, and again our Viet Nam and Civil Rights years. To quote another song - "when will we ever learn?"
It turns out that today was my day. I finished the puzzle with no help from Google and then turned to the Word Play column expecting to see all the comments about how easy this puzzle was. That is usually the case when I finish Friday or Saturday with no lookups. I was in NYC last weekend with my sister and we drove by CENTRAL PARK and a sign for the RFK (formerly Triboro) Bridge. A couple of years ago I had gone to a lecture by DOERR (and pulled his name from somewhere). My daughter had lent me the book by ZINN (whose name was also buried in deep storage). I guessed NINE for Olivier because I thought that laxity had to end with NESS. Others I got from crosses that looked possible. The Northwest corner fell last. I have taken to heart Deb's advice to try the hard puzzles, and I have definitely improved.
I majored in chemistry. I had the two T's for the yellow dye and the answer blew me away. I'm glad that they did not ask me to make a yellow dye in the lab.
I really enjoyed this puzzle. I managed to complete it with no lookups (and quite a few changes to my original guess). I expected to come to Word Play and see all the comments about how easy it was but instead found comments about how enjoyable it was. A lovely puzzle with nice Word Play comments.
I agree with Caitlin that one of the paintings moves me to tears. I first saw it when it was at the MOMA in NYC. My understanding was that Picasso did not want it to hang in a museum in Spain until Franco and his regime were gone.
@Dave My mother used to send me down to the local bakery in the morning for a loaf of Rye sliced with seeds. The ENDS never made it home.
Every now and then I am on the same wavelength as the constructor. Today I got my personal best and it was about 1/3 of my average. I had a good night's sleep and a clear brain. I didn't try to rush, but everything just fell into place. I'm nowhere near single digit time.
@Jill from Brooklyn I have spent years explaining this transformation to people. I was called Peggy through my college years. Friends from back then still call me Peggy. I transitioned to Margaret in my early 30's. My mother told me that the great thing about my name was that I could be Peggy when I was little, Peg when I was a bit older and Margaret when I was a grownup. She died when I was 72 and she always called me Peggy
Thank you, Deb. Your columns gave me the courage to move through the week and try the harder puzzles at the end of the week. I will miss you and hope to see you commenting in this thread. Best wishes for your future plans.
@Min That song from Kiss Me Kate has been running around in my head since I typed in the solver.
@Shrike I had watched Kiss Me Kate the other day. I have had the line "I'll even give up coffee for Sanka, even Sanka Bianca for you" running around in my head for a few days now.
Whenever I see Otto Hahn and fission, I think of Lise Meitner. The book, Nobel Prize Women in Science by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, devotes a chapter to her.
My grandfather who was born in 1876 was a physician. He used to talk about how doctors would complain about how mold would ruin their bacterial cultures. It was Fleming's genius that he recognized the potential of mold.
@Bill in Yokohama I once attended a talk where the speaker misspelled multiple words on the flip chart. His comment was that anyone who can't spell a word more than one way lacks imagination.
@Dru I confidently typed in Britishism until I ran out of room. Got it from the crosses.
There are some very serious GSC sellers in Vail, Colorado. At the right time of year, the route from the slopes to the garage and bus terminal has several girls along the way with wagons full of cookies ready to sell to tired and hungry skiers and snowboarders.
@Rich in Atlanta I found the Vietnam War Memorial very moving when I saw it. Seeing notes there, flowers placed there, veterans touching it, people holding up children to read names, made it a moving experience. I may have been opposed to the war but not the people who had to go. As a country, we treated you badly when you returned.
@Heidi I always try to get a window seat, and I keep to myself. I like looking out the window and I avoid people climbing over me. There are advantages to being short and small these days.
The timing of this puzzle was perfect for me. I'm heading to Vail for a month of skiing on Tuesday. Will warm up on greens and blue. Will get to the blacks later in the month.
Deb - Thank you for your beautiful tribute to your dad. It made me think of my grandfather and my mother who both did the NY Times crossword puzzles on paper in ink. I learned from them but do them online now. It is not as messy to correct my errors.
@dutchiris Thank you for your simple explanation of what "merit" used to be - not just skin color, but gender too.
@SIJ I knew it was wrong, but I kept wanting to put in ROMCOM BOOM. Eventually my brain found the right one. I thought of Einstein as I filled in TEMPTSFATE.
I knew 24A because my daughter is married to a former Steeler whose father was a Right Tackle for Cleveland and the Steelers in the last century. (I also saw the movie.)
@dutchiris I was at Berkely at the time when Reagan closed the campus and a bunch of us spent the night on the campus so that we could go from there the next morning to picket the draft board and the induction center. I also remember the People's Park protest when two protesters were killed, one with bird shot and another with buck shot. The University needed to protect its property rights. Like Mean Old Lady, I hope to live long enough to get through this.
@Jim @John Sutton Years ago I went to a seminar where we were asked how many of us had ever driven in Boston. The speaker then went on to explain that the traffic signals in Boston were hooked up to a supercomputer at MIT and were actually accident indicators. If the light was RED, you were most likely to be hit from behind. If the light was GREEN, you were most likely to hit from the side. If the light was YELLOW, it was too close to call.
This puzzle was right up my alley. My younger brother got an ERECTORSET for Christmas one year. He didn't play with it but I took it and played with it all the time. The next year, I got a bigger set for Christmas. I also skied in Vermont and skied at PICO. That was my first foothold in today's puzzle.
@Mike I spent Thanksgiving with my daughter and son-in -law on their couch petting their two (almost) black cats curled up next to me. This has nothing to do with the puzzle, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I had a wonderfully relaxing Thanksgiving
I am planning to keep coming back to this finished puzzle whenever I need something to smile about. Thank you.
@Striker I went to Junior High in Queens and had to take two buses home. One of the stops where I had to change buses was at a Carvel store. If I timed it right, I could have a Carvel soft cone between buses.
@Cat Lady Margaret I was sure that I was wrong when I had SET crossing SET. Then I realized that I already had a few SETs and I realized that a crossword rule was being broken. Fun!!
@Joanne I am also doing the NY Times puzzle to stay alert. I am 80 and finished in 1 hour 5 minutes and 36 seconds. A smidgen slower than you due to age. Over the last few years, I have braved the Friday and Saturday puzzles. I am following in the footsteps of my grandfather who did the Sunday puzzle into his 80's.
@Lin Me too. I saw the clue and thought they would never put KREBS CYCLE in the puzzle. Then it fit.
@Andrzej Fascinating article - Thank you for sharing
@Mike Thank you for always being here for us. On a daily basis, I make sure to read the reader picks until I at least get to your entry (and frequently further). I appreciate how nice everyone (with very rare exceptions) is on this site
@dutchiris I'm glad she won. I knew someone when I was in graduate school at Berkeley (in the late '60s) with a similar situation. She was turned down for something because of a similar concern. She ended up running her own project.
@Teresa My parents voted for Adlai twice. I have followed in their footsteps, sometimes with success, and unfortunately, sometimes not.
@john ezra I moved to Pittsburgh from the New York area and love living here. I never bothered to change my location but really enjoy reading your comments
@Steve L Maybe if we use a little ALGEBRA on all these comments, we could determine the unknown solving times of all the responders.
@john ezra Per Deb, I was on the right wavelength except for the area around 17A. I stared at 5D and 6D until the lightbulb went off on 6D. Then I ran the alphabet on 5D. The other good news is that I now know the names of some songs by 26D so I might recognize her more often.
@CCNY I wish I could give this comment 1000 recommends so that everyone would see it. I couldn't stop laughing at the image you created. (I do know it is dangerous and people can be hurt.)
I sat for a while trying to figure out 28D. I had the V and finally got it from another crossing while solving on one. Sometimes doing the puzzle at 3:30 in the morning when you can't go back to sleep is a bad idea.
@Jenny For the longest time, I stuck with Onion on the pizza before I switched to Olive. I don't happen to like either on pizza, but I can pick the olives off, but the taste of the onions stays no matter what I do.
@dutchiris I know gender is still a factor - I had a mother as a role model in the sciences. I had to fight the biases. I had hoped it would be better for my daughter.