NYT 2:00 ... LAT 1:51 ... CS 1:37 ... ND 1:28 ... BT 2:54 ... TO 5:55*
Doing the NYT in Across Lite is weird! Add 3 seconds to my AL time for an applet approximation (1-2 seconds for the grid to show up, 1-2 seconds to get the cursor to DONE!)...
Late update: Okay, Byron's Onion puzzle is way too hard. I couldn't finish without guessing letters for three different boxes! (In retrospect I could maybe have figured out 21D.) And sadly, I wasn't even amused by the six dirty theme answers. (And sadly, it's probably just me, as Amy did just fine.) Hey, how weird is it that Tausig's and Byron's puzzles this week have the same 1-Across?
Monday, 5/11/09
NYT 1:22 ... LAT 1:32 ... CS 1:21 ... ND 1:27 ... JON 2:15 ... BEQ 4:16 ... TPP Vowelless 12:45
Today was the first time in a while that I hit the NYT applet "cold" - no warming up with old puzzles or the other dailies. What do I get? My fastest time ever. Maybe it's time to retire from the applet, I think I've shown off enough (and it's been a while since someone beat me)...
Today was the first time in a while that I hit the NYT applet "cold" - no warming up with old puzzles or the other dailies. What do I get? My fastest time ever. Maybe it's time to retire from the applet, I think I've shown off enough (and it's been a while since someone beat me)...
Sunday, 5/10/09
NYT 6:57 ... LAT 5:23 ... MR 5:19 ... BG 4:11 ... ND 3:30 ... LATB 4:27 ... CS 2:42 ... Acrostic 8:10
Toughie NYT by Patrick Berry. That SW corner is going to annoy people, but my error on first submission was MOYLE/BORIC up top. (oops, and I meant to add... hey it's JOON!)
Won't get to the others until tomorrow evening. Not that anyone cares!
Doug P. + Newsday = Sunday record; another blooper in the Bursztyn (82D); Paula G's Sunday Challenge is harder than usual.
Toughie NYT by Patrick Berry. That SW corner is going to annoy people, but my error on first submission was MOYLE/BORIC up top. (oops, and I meant to add... hey it's JOON!)
Doug P. + Newsday = Sunday record; another blooper in the Bursztyn (82D); Paula G's Sunday Challenge is harder than usual.
Friday, 5/8/09
NYT 3:11 ... LAT 2:21 ... CS 1:48 ... ND 2:18 ... CHE 2:27 ... WSJ 6:08 ... BEQ 4:34 ... MGWC 3:20
Great fun from Ms. Gorski in the WSJ - it took me too many crosses to see the central theme answers. BEQ has another crunchy themeless to go with John Farmer's smooth one in the NYT. And Dan Naddor brings us a 70-word grid with 5 theme answers. Jeezum.
Great fun from Ms. Gorski in the WSJ - it took me too many crosses to see the central theme answers. BEQ has another crunchy themeless to go with John Farmer's smooth one in the NYT. And Dan Naddor brings us a 70-word grid with 5 theme answers. Jeezum.
Thursday, 5/7/09
NYT 4:49 ... LAT 2:11 ... CS 1:48 ... ND 1:48
Liz Gorski's NYT was as tricky as advertised. I was done at about 4:00, but as always with a non-standard rebus, had to figure out how the applet wants us to enter the strange squares... my first try was a C in every corner, but it worked when I went with the Across versions.
Newsday today by Sandy Fein has a nice Scrabbly fill. Oh yeah, I appeared twice on Dinner Impossible, once trying unsuccessfully to get out of the way of the cameras (before the A finals), and once trying unsuccessfully to solve a food puzzle. Fortunately, they edited out the long seconds of stumpage, and skipped to the part where they basically gave me the answer...
Liz Gorski's NYT was as tricky as advertised. I was done at about 4:00, but as always with a non-standard rebus, had to figure out how the applet wants us to enter the strange squares... my first try was a C in every corner, but it worked when I went with the Across versions.
Newsday today by Sandy Fein has a nice Scrabbly fill. Oh yeah, I appeared twice on Dinner Impossible, once trying unsuccessfully to get out of the way of the cameras (before the A finals), and once trying unsuccessfully to solve a food puzzle. Fortunately, they edited out the long seconds of stumpage, and skipped to the part where they basically gave me the answer...
Wednesday, 5/6/09
NYT 2:05 ... LAT 2:07 ... CS 1:59 ... ND 1:58 ... BEQ 3:41
HEMP, STONED and UPINSMOKE in the NYT fill? (Not to mention SPANKED.) I raise a joint to you, Michael Callaway Barnhart!
By the way, Dinner: Impossible (ACPT Edition) airs tonight on the Food Network... check your local listings!
HEMP, STONED and UPINSMOKE in the NYT fill? (Not to mention SPANKED.) I raise a joint to you, Michael Callaway Barnhart!
By the way, Dinner: Impossible (ACPT Edition) airs tonight on the Food Network... check your local listings!
Sunday, 5/3/09
NYT 5:32 ... LAT 4:00 ... MR 4:58 ... BG 3:48 ... ND 3:38 ... LATB 4:44 ... CS 2:03 ... Cryptic untimed
Gonna print out the cryptic and give it a look - the New Yorker ones are taking me under 10 minutes now, so I think I have a shot at the NYT's...
[updated 24 hours later] Indeed, it wasn't too tricky. My girlfriend (hereafter G, which is her first initial, conveniently enough) was interested in the cryptic thing, so we worked on it together. Usually I'd get an answer, show her the definition and type of wordplay, and let her take a crack, often successfully... but she figured out GUERRILLAS before I did!
Gonna print out the cryptic and give it a look - the New Yorker ones are taking me under 10 minutes now, so I think I have a shot at the NYT's...
[updated 24 hours later] Indeed, it wasn't too tricky. My girlfriend (hereafter G, which is her first initial, conveniently enough) was interested in the cryptic thing, so we worked on it together. Usually I'd get an answer, show her the definition and type of wordplay, and let her take a crack, often successfully... but she figured out GUERRILLAS before I did!
Saturday, 5/2/09
NYT 3:00 ... LAT 2:32 ... CS 3:01 ... ND 9:10
Tonight, I'm actually glad the themed NYT Saturday was extra-easy and not extra-hard. Gotta get up early! Good fill considering the diagonal constraint, but couldn't we have gone with a lower word count so it would look a little like a Saturday puzzle? (Dan Naddor could have.) I kid, I liked it fine, no complaints because I always call for More Themed Saturdays!
S.N., all is forgiven! Loved the Stumper, very hard but with pop culture galore (for Stan) and a fantastic grid. That bottom stack has to be one of the best in history! DRDEMENTO/EDMCMAHON/ROCKSTARS. I had the most trouble with MENUOPTION, not helped by leaving CPI instead of PSI - why I thought the answer would be the most literal interpretation of "inflation measure", I can't say.
Tonight, I'm actually glad the themed NYT Saturday was extra-easy and not extra-hard. Gotta get up early! Good fill considering the diagonal constraint, but couldn't we have gone with a lower word count so it would look a little like a Saturday puzzle? (Dan Naddor could have.) I kid, I liked it fine, no complaints because I always call for More Themed Saturdays!
S.N., all is forgiven! Loved the Stumper, very hard but with pop culture galore (for Stan) and a fantastic grid. That bottom stack has to be one of the best in history! DRDEMENTO/EDMCMAHON/ROCKSTARS. I had the most trouble with MENUOPTION, not helped by leaving CPI instead of PSI - why I thought the answer would be the most literal interpretation of "inflation measure", I can't say.
Friday, 5/1/09
NYT 3:46 ... LAT 2:45 ... CS 1:28 ... ND 2:00 ... CHE 2:45 ... WSJ 5:38 ... BEQ 4:40 ... MGWC 2:34
Nice double-shot of Doug Peterson in Newsday (including NEWSDAY in the fill!) and CrosSynergy. Then a super-sized Trip Payne in the CHE. And hey, I sort know LAT constructor Gareth Bain from the blogs (but haven't met him, since he's South African). What's next, Joon Pahk in the NYT? [Jaw drops upon opening applet]
Not as showy a fill as Joon's other themelesses, but smooth and chewy with great clues. JUT was my first fill and I immediately figured out CARJACK, and got lucky many times along the way with the right letters in place to crack the tough clues. [Biochemical arrangement] freaked me out when I had one letter, but when it was DN-? Gimme. Irony of ironies, the knottiest clue for me was ["___ in Love" ("Kismet" song)]. Don't know "Kismet", but I was sure I'd know the song even if it wasn't one of the famous ones. So I spent some time flicking the Rolodex before coming up empty and filling it from crosses.
Nice double-shot of Doug Peterson in Newsday (including NEWSDAY in the fill!) and CrosSynergy. Then a super-sized Trip Payne in the CHE. And hey, I sort know LAT constructor Gareth Bain from the blogs (but haven't met him, since he's South African). What's next, Joon Pahk in the NYT? [Jaw drops upon opening applet]
Not as showy a fill as Joon's other themelesses, but smooth and chewy with great clues. JUT was my first fill and I immediately figured out CARJACK, and got lucky many times along the way with the right letters in place to crack the tough clues. [Biochemical arrangement] freaked me out when I had one letter, but when it was DN-? Gimme. Irony of ironies, the knottiest clue for me was ["___ in Love" ("Kismet" song)]. Don't know "Kismet", but I was sure I'd know the song even if it wasn't one of the famous ones. So I spent some time flicking the Rolodex before coming up empty and filling it from crosses.
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