Tricia109
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I. LOVE. THIS. PUZZLE. I hereby nominate it for PUZZLE OF THE YEAR. Thank you, Kareem Ayas, for a sparkling, interesting, thought-provoking, lively, wonderful puzzle!
Hello, all! Long time mostly-lurker here. Well, the day has finally come - my gold star streak reached 1,000 today!* I've learned a lot in the last 3 years - wonderful interesting ideas, people and concepts - it's been a literal mental exercise in perseverance and stamina. *Have I looked up answers? Yes, if I was running out of time or energy. In the debate on if that is cheating, I like to give myself and others the grace to learn something new and commit it to memory, rather than give up a streak. I did do all the puzzles, after all. Sometimes the puzzle annoyed or tormented me, but mostly it's a daily excursion through the world, contained within artfully arranged black & white squares. Today's puzzle by Ryan Patrick Smith feels especially suited to be my 1,000th: I recently gave a musical book about The Planets by Gustav HOLST to my grandchildren; I've read MYSTIC RIVER; I recently read about UNCANNY VALLEY because what the heck is that??; big fan of typefaces so ARIAL was a gimme; Billy Joel's music was the soundtrack of my youth - yet none of the answers felt too obvious and a few I'd never heard of: Rapper REMY Ma, LOLLOP as movement?, Greek water nymph NAIAD escaped me. And Priya's column - Priya, who I've enjoyed watching on the Bon Appetit channel many times - evoked the beauty of El Paso's landscape, my husband's childhood home, so enticingly different from our New England home. After 1,000 puzzles, what's next? I think it may be time to try constructing a puzzle.
@Jay T If Deb's editor is OK with her column, then it's "fit to print." I, for one, thought Deb showed great restraint in her words.
@Shelley Check out xwstats.com - it links to your NYT puzzle and you can select 60 days, 1 year, or all time personal stats, along with lots of other interesting info.
And you, @replay, are the record holder of the best thing I've seen posted on the internet today! Hoping you can keep that going until midnight tonight at least. THANK YOU for a great perspective!
@suejean I was also very pleased to see an entry that references my favorite words & music artist of all time, Bob Dylan! I liked this puzzle: a brief review of foreign language skills (AMO, ARIGATO, BESOS, VON) and the mental image of the views from the HOTAIRBALLOON especially. The toughest part for me was the top center 3 letter word section, until I got MACARONIART, which reminded me that I'll soon be pulling out the Christmas ornaments from storage, one of which is a 30 year old gold-painted example of that kindergarten art form by my daughter.
@Anita And now it's time for another viewing of Casablanca! Favorite quote that I've found useful many times: "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life..."
@Paul Turner especially in Chicago ☹️
@Denward Chung Just last night I happened to watch the prescient satire Idiocracy (2005), which imagines a profoundly dimwitted populace in 2505 that had completely abandoned the acquisition of knowledge, to the utter detriment of society. At the end, the 'hero' recalls a time when being smart was cool, or at least not despised, and urges everyone to read a book. Maybe he should have recommended the crossword puzzle, too. I'm no math aficionado, but after a few crosses, even I managed to excavate BASE and EXPONENT from the deep recesses of high school algebra.
@sotto voce Wow wow wow! I have never heard that speech before - thank you for sharing that! May life imitate art!
@AJB E. Morse fan checking in ... I was definitely thinking UK Oxford, not USA Oxford.
@Mean Old Lady I remembered her name, of course, but thought it was "Craig" ... I even remember her Secret Service name: "Flamingo", which she didn't care for, although she did care for her assigned Secret Service agent, a brief cameo by Mark Harmon. What a great show. I'm surprised so many commenters haven't seen it. Also, I wish there had been 17 seasons but there were only 7.
@Anna E At 10 years old I was required to memorize 'Ozymandias', including punctuation! and I still remember it today, 50+ years later. Its message still resonates with me. I've found it's like a tough crossword puzzle - if you leave it alone for a while, when you come back, you can see so much more in it.
@Peter Valentine At the risk of causing the "observer effect": your poems are my new favorite thing to find in the comment section
@Hardroch I'll go back and look for yesterday's French flies discussion, but first wanted to add a corollary to Voltaire's bon mot, inspiration to many crafters and DIYers: "Done is better than perfect". So I guess both DONE and GOOD > PERFECT. Who knew??
@Grant I also remember a thing with 3 pieces of chalk, to teach penmanship on the blackboard ... oh we ARE going back a ways, aren't we?
@Andrzej Literally laughing out loud!
@Steve L @Mean Old Lady @tricia Only sometimes! Also "c-a-p-i-t-a-l"
@Eric Hougland @mad_adam Between the crossword puzzles and Jeopardy!, I was stumped by any opera clues, so a few years ago I googled "top 10 operas", then started listening to their most famous arias - the "hit songs". I realized 'opera' is a beautiful world, full of drama, history, passion, and evocative and accessible melodies - and I get a few more answers in the crossword puzzle.
@RichardZ The Gilbert & Sullivan song that I am most familiar with is the unlikely but rousing and very enjoyable combination of Todd Rundgren singing 'Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song' from 'Iolanthe'. Don't knock it until you've tried it! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuWTNLdKSOs" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuWTNLdKSOs</a>
@Hardroch Wow, thank you for sharing this link to these amazing hats! And WOW, thank you, Sarah, for a challenging and interesting puzzle and the cute knit patterns!
@ECS "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to not finish the NYT crossword puzzle." -- Winston somebody
@Michael Wow, the Drake Passage! What's that like? I've read some about it and it sounds - challenging! Good luck in your adventure!
@spurious I solve on both my phone and my laptop - via the app on my phone, and just signing in on NYTimes.com and navigating to the puzzle on my laptop, which of course is much faster. Have you tried it?
@Steve L I guess "Your reply is a non sequitur" to @Ragland's comment. Or maybe we're all out here just chatting.
@Terry Go to xwstats.com and connect your NYT account. Gives you info about the puzzles, the constructors, and how you're doing.
@D "Feedback and criticism" are one thing. Writing "I didn't like this puzzle because X or Y or Z" , in the spirit of helpful advice about future puzzles, is a valid reaction. "I hated it" and "worst puzzle ever" and "waste of time" etc. sound like emotional outbursts that don't belong in the virtual public square. Someone put in a lot of time and effort to create these puzzles, and having a modicum of respect or at least politeness improves everyone's experience. N ouns A re T hings I C ould K now
@Sympathetic Elderly Man with Poor Memory I support you!
@Alex Barry Ha ha, yes! I can see them now in their ASCOTs. Somewhat coincidentally, the interwebs (was it the Wordplay column, or maybe a commenter?) recently led me to the sheet music for "47 Ginger-Headed Sailors", which I could only hear in Bertie Wooster's jolly tenor. Might be time for a rewatch of that classic series!
@Teresa Also, applying the Bechdel-Wallace test: two beautiful actresses and a screaming female = FAIL
@Amy That is sad news, and sudden. I'm quite attached to the various old clocks in my house. Coincidentally, this morning (before I finished the puzzle) I contacted a clock-fixer in New Jersey about one of mine. [<a href="https://g.co/kgs/nG4zrDy" target="_blank">https://g.co/kgs/nG4zrDy</a> The Village Timekeeper ] From his website, he seems to be a serious craftsman in his trade, including old clocks such as yours. While it may not be repairable, maybe he would buy the parts of yours to fix others? Kind of like organ donation at the end of life....just a thought.
@Bob @S Although I'm only a casual fan of TMBG (and haven't seen the movie), they still tour and produce music, winning 2 Grammys (one in 2023) and a Tony award along the way. Wikipedia (I know, I know) says: "The group has been noted for its unique style of alternative music, typically using surreal, humorous lyrics, experimental styles and unconventional instruments." ... including some children's albums, too. TMBG might be a niche band, not to everyone's liking, but surely have earned more than "semi-passe 80s boy band" status.
@D If you have a few hours, you could check out <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cook</a> or one of these <a href="https://www.captaincooksociety.com/remembering-cook/books/bibliography-of-books" target="_blank">https://www.captaincooksociety.com/remembering-cook/books/bibliography-of-books</a> or visit the island nation named after him <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Islands" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Islands</a>
@Ragland I would guess the girlfriend referenced on that album is the woman on the cover, Suze Rotolo - but only Bob knows for sure!
@Tom Wild Yes! "MAKE LOVE NOT WAR"
@Hugh "Everything Is Illuminated" is a gripping, poignant movie with a lively, evocative soundtrack. Highly recommend.
@Momerlyn Ah, mon ami! I beg to differ! M. Poirot is head and shoulders above Miss Marple, and I say this as a little old lady knitter!
@Rhona Scoville @Ann @Alexandra Dixon Same thing happened to me starting yesterday, using my chromebook, although I was able to solve on my phone app with no trouble. Today, I cleared my browsing history/cache on my chromebook, and yay! it worked! Have no idea what could have caused it.
@Andrzej ¡Nolite te bastardes carborundorum! 😄
@Bill Thank you for the WRCJ/Christa Grix recommendation - very interesting spot about Skriabin and Sun-Ra, and other interviews that caught my ear, too. I'll be listening from the east coast.
@Ace Fencers use EPEEs in the Summer Olympics every four years, all over the world.
@Nancy With apologies to Bob Marley -- Until the philosophy Which holds one [gender/sex/sexual orientation] superior And another inferior Is finally and permanently Discredited and abandoned Everywhere is [more letters added to LGBTQIA+]
@Liz H I still use my aol email account too - although I also set up a gmail account out of FOMO/shame. Maybe someday, when everything old is new again, aol will again be the hip & with-it email provider....
I agree with you, @Tom. There are ... things ... that some constructors put into their puzzles that cross a line - my own personal line, I guess. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It actually makes it a little harder to solve those puzzles, because I think - really? Did they use that word? The only solution is - we have to start constructing puzzles! Interesting, tough, mind-bending puzzles that pass the "Sunday Morning Breakfast Test"! Today's puzzle: other than that word, I enjoyed it: I'm familiar with VSOP, STETTED, MGMT, ESTONIA; I completed it 10% slower than my average, but it was rated Very Hard on xwstats.com so I'm not mad.
@Vaer @Sam Corbin When my daughters were under driving age (i.e., at my mercy in the car) I played a lot of Bob's music, especially a Blood on the Tracks CD. They both are still fans today. One of them bore my two grandchildren, now 4 and almost 2. The 4 year old requested "Tangled..." recently in her car, and the 2 year old strums his little toy guitar and says "Hi Bob" to the Self Portrait lithograph hanging in my living room. My heart swells.
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