Tag Archives: New York Times

NYT Crossword 8-5-20 Complete

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Holy smokes! I wanted to get the crossword post out before I watch Twin Peaks through Netflix Party with some friends. I start it at 7, so I don’t have a lot of time. I looked at the clues and just went for it. I started at the top left and ended at the bottom right.

I know there is a theme in this one because some answers had to do with a theme, but I figured out the answers as I went through without ever considering the theme. I’ll look back on it later to see what that was, but this post goes out first.

This is the first time I’ve done a Wednesday this fast. I did the whole thin in 7:55 with no errors. For me, that’s amazing. I’m still stunned. I have more than 10 minutes until Twin Peaks.

NYT Crossword 8-4-20 Complete

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I learned a bunch from this puzzle.

Like Brian McKnight would say, “Start it back at 1,” so here we go.

1D Mocking remark: JAPE. JAPE?! No idea.

jape (v.)late 14c., “to trick, beguile, jilt; to mock,” also “to act foolishly; to speak jokingly, jest pleasantly,” perhaps from Old French japer “to howl, bawl, scream” (Modern French japper), of echoic origin, or from Old French gaber “to mock, deride.” Phonetics suits the former, but sense the latter explanation. Chaucer has it in the full range of senses. Around mid-15c. the Middle English word took on a slang sense of “have sex with” and subsequently vanished from polite usage. It was revived in the benign sense of “say or do something in jest” by Scott, etc., and has limped along since in stilted prose. Related: Japed; japing.
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=jape

So that’s a thing I now know.

53D Frozen dessert chain: TCBY. We all know that it’s the place to go for the country’s best yogurt, but I haven’t seen one of those since I was on the Santa Monica College campus.

Oh I just checked, and TCBY is still on that campus! That’s pretty cool. Too bad I have to miss out this summer because covid!

NYT Crossword 7-29-20 Complete

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I’m still watching the hearing, and it’s driving me crazy. Why should these guys even show up if they’re not going to tell the truth?

I was going to write a long thing about how Jim Jordan is hurting America (Matt Gaetz just said pundint instead of pundit. Ugh. How easy must the Florida Bar Exam be?!) and how his opponent Shannon Freshour https://twitter.com/ShannonFreshour should be able to capitalize on Jim Jordan’s lunacy to make up the war chest gap, but that’s an off-topic post for another time.

This crossword has a tech safety theme. 49A It may require letters, a number, and a special character — as seen in 20-, 33- and 39-Across: STRONGPASSWORD.
20A Reduced-fat option: TWOPERCENTMILK
33A Mobile device that debuted in 2016: IPHONESEVENPLUS
39A Highly sought-after restaurant rating: ONEMICHELINSTAR

I like the story about how the Michelin rating system started. Michelin, yes, the same Michelin as the tire manufacturer, is the Michelin that started the restaurant ratings. They did in 1926 what people have been relying on AAA for for our entire lives: helping people figure out where they should go and therefore creating a need for the company to be needed. See, if you hear about an amazing restaurant, don’t you want to go there–to drive there? You wear down your tires whenever you drive, and then you need more tires! AAA cares about you needing roadside assistance, and I never would have gotten a flat if I never drove. (Interestingly enough, the AAA tow truck that came to my aid was hanging out around the corner and was was very familiar with the pothole that sliced through the sidewall of my Michelin Primacy. I now have a set of Michelin Pilot tires on my car. I am very happy with them.)

NYT Crossword Special May 2020 Free Comic Book Day Complete

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Since I do the Saturday NYT puzzle with friends, today’s puzzles are special ones. May’s puzzle wasn’t as fun as the July puzzle I posted yesterday.

I don’t really have much to say about this one. The special June one later today should be a substantially better post than this one is.

NYT Crossword 7-21-20 Complete

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For the third day in a row, we’ve got Will “Drop” Shortz editing this puzzle. I don’t need to explain further than what’s highlighted in the image for this post.

I think it’s weird to have a 2020 puzzle more than halfway through the year. Why not earlier? We all know that Will Shortz is willing to sit on submissions for years and the use them without crediting the people who submitted them and they only find out by realizing their work is being used without any attribution, right? That can’t only have happened to me. If it really did only happen to me, should I feel more special or more targeted? I guess it doesn’t matter because I’m sore either way.

Overall this puzzle was easy. I got done in 6:28.

NYT Crossword 7-19-20 Complete

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I think this is the first time ever that I’ve taken the time to complete a Sunday crossword. These usually are just too big for me to want to take on, but today I tried it. And I won! Yes, it took me about an hour, but I got through it.

I struggled a little at the beginning because the double letters seemed like they couldn’t be right. I must have goofed up somewhere. But when I realized what they were, I knocked out a huge chunk of the puzzle:
TRAPPARTISTS=TRAPEZE ARTISTS
CCTHEDAY=SEIZE THE DAY
DIZZCONTROL=DISEASE CONTROL
STRIPTT=STRIPTEASE (You dog, Will Shortz! Letting that one through!)
AMUUMENTPARKS=AMUSEMENT PARKS
CLOCKYY=CLOCKWISE
OLDDSTATION=OLDIES STATION
GGLOUISE=JEEZ LOUISE (or what you’d say when playing Louise in Rocket League)
SURPRIIPARTY=SURPRISE PARTY

Overall, pretty good. Glad I got it done. And I won one 1:01:10!

NYT Crossword 7-16-20 Complete

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Well this was way easier than yesterday’s crossword. I finished in 17:17. Why is a Thursday easier than a Wednesday? I don’t know. But this one was. I liked the theme of DARK ART. The three black squares in a row took the place of the word ART, so there was (ART)IFICIAL HE(ART), (ART)ICLE II, POISON D(ART), (ART)HUR DENT, FLOW CH(ART). Definitely (ART)IFICIAL HE(ART) was my favorite of all of them.

I also learned that there is a short that is BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA. It’s worth a watch if you haven’t seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-wUdetAAlY

My longstanding beef with Will Shortz remains but wasn’t made worse by today’s puzzle.