Sunday, 11/29/09
NYT (p) 7:23 ... LAT 5:04 ... MR (p) 7:27 ... BG (p) 7:40 ... ND 4:27 ... CS 3:58 ... P&A pass
Friday, 11/27/09
NYT 2:46 ... LAT 2:17 ... CS 1:57 ... ND 1:41 ... CHE 2:39 ... BEQ 4:01 ... WSJ 7:15 ... DB 4:24 ... MGWC 3:44
Wednesday, 11/25/09
NYT (p) 2:34 ... LAT (p) 2:33 ... CS (p) 2:22 ... ND (p) 2:21 ... BEQ (p) 5:31
Because you're my friends and you're trying to help me with my problem, I'm not going to mention the Universal puzzle that crossed OOOLA with OOOOO. Instead, I'll just note that I printed out all 44 of The Week's current-events crosswords yesterday. Mmm, mmm, Gordon.
Because you're my friends and you're trying to help me with my problem, I'm not going to mention the Universal puzzle that crossed OOOLA with OOOOO. Instead, I'll just note that I printed out all 44 of The Week's current-events crosswords yesterday. Mmm, mmm, Gordon.
Monday, 11/23/09
NYT 1:54 ... LAT 1:30 ... CS 1:43 ... ND 1:35 ... JON 2:36 ... BEQ 2:04
I might not have noticed this if I hadn't solved both puzzles on the same day. The Universal Syndicate puzzles of 11/10 ("Weather Watch" by Kelly Mellon) and 11/22 ("How's the Weather" by Mark Howard) have identical theme answers and grid design, but only one identically-filled corner. I wonder if either of those "constructors" are real people.
Meanwhile... clearly Rich Norris has once again run out of Monday puzzles. Ouch.
I might not have noticed this if I hadn't solved both puzzles on the same day. The Universal Syndicate puzzles of 11/10 ("Weather Watch" by Kelly Mellon) and 11/22 ("How's the Weather" by Mark Howard) have identical theme answers and grid design, but only one identically-filled corner. I wonder if either of those "constructors" are real people.
Meanwhile... clearly Rich Norris has once again run out of Monday puzzles. Ouch.
Sunday, 11/22/09
NYT 5:43 ... LAT 4:32 ... MR 4:52 ... BG 6:49 ... ND 3:25 ... LATB 5:11 ... CS 2:34 ... Acrostic 21:00
Friday, 11/20/09
NYT 2:53 ... LAT 2:02 ... CS 1:51 ... ND 2:39 ... CHE 2:46 ... BEQ 3:31 ... WSJ 4:45 ... DB 5:03 ... MGWC 4:12
Yesterday I sent Peter Gordon a request for a Fireball Crosswords custom entry -- a semi-obscure TV show that's 15 letters long. Turns out that it's one of his favorite shows too, and he was already considering a theme using it! Back to the drawing board...
Yesterday I sent Peter Gordon a request for a Fireball Crosswords custom entry -- a semi-obscure TV show that's 15 letters long. Turns out that it's one of his favorite shows too, and he was already considering a theme using it! Back to the drawing board...
Sunday, 11/15/09
NYT 7:09 ... LAT 5:31 ... MR 4:45 ... BG 5:22 ... ND 3:53 ... CS 2:14 ... Diagramless 9:20
I had to guess about 7 different consonants at box 103 to finish the NYT. Loved the themes from Reagle and Hook.
I had to guess about 7 different consonants at box 103 to finish the NYT. Loved the themes from Reagle and Hook.
Friday, 11/13/09
NYT (p) 6:24 ... LAT (p) 2:54 ... CS (p) 2:13 ... ND (p) 3:21 ... CHE (p) 3:10 ... BEQ (p) 4:08 ... WSJ (p) 7:18 ... DB (p) 5:49 ... MGWC 4:05
Thursday, 11/12/09
NYT 3:16 ... LAT 1:50 ... CS 1:58 ... ND 1:46
Excellent CS debut from Tyler Hinman! I think that guy is good at crosswords.
Excellent CS debut from Tyler Hinman! I think that guy is good at crosswords.
Tuesday, 11/10/09
NYT (p) 2:36 ... LAT (p) 2:05 ... CS (p) 2:40 ... ND (p) 2:02 ... BT (p) 4:02 ... TO (p) 3:14
Monday, 11/9/09
NYT 1:36 ... LAT (p) 2:06 ... CS (p) 2:12 ... ND (p) 1:56 ... JON (p) 3:15 ... BEQ (p) 4:30*
Tired after actually working all day... I'll catch up tomorrow. Meanwhile, this blog received its first spam comment today! I have truly arrived.
Tired after actually working all day... I'll catch up tomorrow. Meanwhile, this blog received its first spam comment today! I have truly arrived.
Sunday, 11/8/09
NYT 5:01 ... LAT 3:33 ... MR 5:12 ... BG 5:22 ... ND 4:16 ... LATB 4:15 ... CS 2:02... Acrostic 8:05
Saturday, 11/7/09
NYT (p) 14:46 ... LAT (p) 3:12 ... CS (p) 5:22 ... ND (p) 6:19
Thought it would be a good idea to solve on paper, since I heard we were in for a Wrath of Klahn. Not so much! I had lots of guessing and erasing in the SW corner, which took up half my time: several tries at [Sink]; SIMILE for CLICHE; WRECK for CRATE; AMARETTO for TIA MARIA (which doesn't make sense); EDNA for EDIE; RIOT for ROAR... Managed to retrieve ODALISQUE, but should have gotten the relatively straightforward ROMANTIC and SCORCHER much sooner; EL DORADO finally broke the logjam. This would have been a perfect puzzle to practice on a big dry-erase board! Maybe I can borrow Thomas Snyder's.
Thought it would be a good idea to solve on paper, since I heard we were in for a Wrath of Klahn. Not so much! I had lots of guessing and erasing in the SW corner, which took up half my time: several tries at [Sink]; SIMILE for CLICHE; WRECK for CRATE; AMARETTO for TIA MARIA (which doesn't make sense); EDNA for EDIE; RIOT for ROAR... Managed to retrieve ODALISQUE, but should have gotten the relatively straightforward ROMANTIC and SCORCHER much sooner; EL DORADO finally broke the logjam. This would have been a perfect puzzle to practice on a big dry-erase board! Maybe I can borrow Thomas Snyder's.
Friday, 11/6/09
NYT 3:25 ... LAT 1:54 ... CS 1:58 ... ND 2:22 ... CHE 2:09 ... BEQ 3:24 ... WSJ 4:57 ... DB 4:40 ... MGWC 2:31
Tuesday, 11/3/09
NYT 2:23 ... LAT 1:36 ... CS 1:43 ... ND 1:41 ... BT 3:35 ... TO 3:50
To my surprise, I solved all of Matt Gaffney's "Hell Month" metapuzzles! (Pending Joon's reveal today... but I'm pretty sure I got it.) Usually I fail to grok the hard metas, so either I'm getting better at Puzzle Hunt-style thinking, or the guaranteed prize was enough to keep me from giving up too soon this time.
To my surprise, I solved all of Matt Gaffney's "Hell Month" metapuzzles! (Pending Joon's reveal today... but I'm pretty sure I got it.) Usually I fail to grok the hard metas, so either I'm getting better at Puzzle Hunt-style thinking, or the guaranteed prize was enough to keep me from giving up too soon this time.
Monday, 11/2/09
NYT 1:47 ... LAT 1:31 ... CS 2:04 ... ND 1:16 ... JON 1:56 ... BEQ 3:03
Breaking news from the NPL mini-con! Peter Gordon is preparing to launch a weekly subscription crossword next year, hoping to attract enough subscribers to support a daily puzzle (and ideally, pay constructors $201!). All of us on the "Sunrise" email list will get an official notification once Peter's gotten everything set up.
Important clarification to the above! I failed to note that Peter's doing all the constructing himself for the time being. Don't start sending him theme ideas. Sorry...
Breaking news from the NPL mini-con! Peter Gordon is preparing to launch a weekly subscription crossword next year, hoping to attract enough subscribers to support a daily puzzle (and ideally, pay constructors $201!). All of us on the "Sunrise" email list will get an official notification once Peter's gotten everything set up.
Important clarification to the above! I failed to note that Peter's doing all the constructing himself for the time being. Don't start sending him theme ideas. Sorry...
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