Saturday, 10/17/09

NYT (p) 6:14 ... LAT (p) 2:29 ... CS (p) 2:11 ... ND (p) 7:16

So I heard a rumor at Lollapuzzoola that the Newsday Saturday Stumper would be easing up in difficulty, starting in October. Can't remember who told me, but he'd heard it from Stanley Newman. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be happening. Maybe there are a few more gimme clues to get started, but overall I haven't noticed much of a change.

2 comments:

Joon said...

i found this to be one of the easiest stumpers in memory, except for that pesky NE corner. still did it in under 10, which is not that common for me.

Howard B said...

Right with you on this one Dan, Joon. It's still challenging but accessible, still with plenty of trickery and subject-specific trivia to trip us up in there (not to mention a horribly obscure fabric name hiding in there today. Live and learn).
I think if there's a difference, I haven't seen anything that was incredibly/obscure or borderline unfair crossing other vagueness (such as the bottom line of the Snellen eyechart as an across answer). That stuff can be really clever, but can also completely stymie a solver. I haven't been stonewalled by anything like that recently.