Thursday February 21st 2019, NY Times Crossword

-
Time: 11:01
Thursday Average: 25:20
Best Thursday: 10:18

I managed another quick solve today, this time coming from Kuala Lumpur. Strangely, I actually went four for four on the actors with no crosses needed, a rarity for me, but they were throwing straight nerd stuff with "X in 'X-Men,'" "M in 'Goldeneye,'" "V in 'V for Vendetta,'" and "J in 'Men in Black'" for PATRICK STEWART, JUDI DENCH, HUGO WEAVING, and WILL SMITH. Since they're all playing roles named after letters, the theme is CHARACTER ACTOR. I'm obliged to mention, as a nerd, that in no universe is Professor X known simply as X, so that's a questionable inclusion at best.

I'm not crazy about a random vitamin brand that I've never heard of appearing this puzzle. ESTER-C? Desperate times, I suppose.

I'm traveling with a representative from Chicago and she was happy to help me out with THE BEAN for "Chicago landmark named for its resemblance to a legume." She was also quicker than I was to get A TREE for the "Answer to an the old riddle 'What wears more clothing in summer than in winter?'" I imagine there are some crossword solvers who would be horrified that I'm willing to collaborate with friends and colleagues while working on a crossword, but I'm a big believer in group crossword solving, because it's just more fun and reminds me of Sundays with my family poring over the Boston Globe Sunday crossword. That collaborative solve with a touch of competition is the ideal solving situation for me. 

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