Saturday October 6th 2018, NY Times Crossword

-
Time: 30:44
Average Saturday: 39:42
Best Saturday: 20:09

I was thrilled to see SZA making an appearance in the crossword this morning as the "Singer with the 2017 #1 R&B album 'Ctrl.'" It probably wasn't her first appearance, but it's the first I caught. I also laughed to myself to see DREXEL and SCAD together as two universities that I see on the road quite often and the former of which seems to enroll quite a few students from the schools in Pakistan that I've visited.

I have been checking out the BAR SCENE in Pakistan, which generally involves somewhat secret bars in the hotels. Along with being so constantly ON THE GO, it's been delaying my timely blogging. Fortunately, these blogs have not become so LABOR INTENSIVE yet. THAT'S THE SPIRIT, right?

Today I learned that DORADO is another name for the much more common crossword tuna "mahi mahi." I struggled with it for a while because I didn't know SOPS as things "of no great value given or done as a concession to appease someone whose main concerns or demands are not being met." Seems like a helpful usage of that word, so I'll try to incorporate it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday May 1st 2019, NY Times Crossword

-
Image
Time: 8:16 Wednesday Average: 16:37 Best Wednesday: 6:52 Today's theme is STATE CAPITALS that are, as the clue points out to us, in anagram form. MUST I ? OK, let me see if I can figure this out even though it's past my bedtime. I'll get the easy ones first with Salem ( MALES ) and Dover ( ROVED ). After that, we have Austin ( ANTIUS ), Lansing ( IN SLANG ), and Raleigh ( HAIR GEL ). Finally, there's Madison ( DOMAINS ) and the tricky St. Paul ( UP LAST ) There's an exercise I wouldn't have bothered with if I wasn't writing this blog. I know the phrase well, especially since it seems so popular lately, but I never knew the spelling for "Bury the LEDE ." I always assumed it was "lead." I love slang that comes from typesetting. OK, those anagrams thoroughly wore me out. My final observation is that I don't love the way THE EU looks right above S AND P. Both just look deeply wrong.
Read more

Tuesday October 23rd 2018, NY Times Crossword

-
Image
Time: 8:43 Tuesday Average: 13:49 Best Tuesday: 6:10 It's another long day in Beijing and I'm enjoying a night cap in the lounge contemplating my early morning flight to Ulan Baator tomorrow night and feeling a bit like  FLAT  STANLEY . Fortunately, I continue to  RAKE IN the hotel points and the status that goes with it, so I've snagged a couple free beers before they shut down happy hour. Today's theme was  ATHLETIC CUP , which eluded me for a bit since I've only ever referred to it as a cup. Other than the aforementioned NHL championship, we have  GEENA  DAVIS ,  WINONA  RYDER , and  SMALL WORLD  as our theme answers.  Was anyone else hearing TJ from Gilmore Girls yelling, "I'm in  ESCROW !" Sure, it shows up in my mortgage-related dealings, but that's all I'll ever hear. I had no idea that  GALENA is the natural form of lead sulfide and instead I just know the Bulgarian chalga singer by that name. I...
Read more

Monday April 15th 2019, NY Times Crossword

-
Image
Time: 7:03 Monday Average: 8:15 Best Monday: 4:10 Nothing's more fun than an IRS -themed crossword for Tax Day! I'd actually forgotten that this day was so imminent until talking to several of my international students who were understandably baffled by how our tax system works. As you can see, the long answers have the IRS letters mixed up and circled with DOLLA R SI GNS , of course, being the most appropriate. I'm surprised that the "Genuine class" anagram for ALEC Guinness, which we know from the Simpsons, doesn't show up as a clue more often. Next time, maybe. AGASSI was always my favorite player back in the big Sampras rivalry days and I'm happy enough to see him crossing TENNIS RACKET . Sometimes those answers just work out, I imagine. 
Read more