tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post663449469656035320..comments2024-01-25T10:14:06.567-08:00Comments on L.A. Crossword Confidential: SATURDAY, March 27, 2010—Brad WilberOrangehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-5458015854321338642010-03-29T10:29:46.660-07:002010-03-29T10:29:46.660-07:00Having never heard of "dab hand", I conf...Having never heard of "dab hand", I confidently put in "old hand" which really messed up that section! Finally got "dab hand" in there, but had to look it up to be sure of it.Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03149073433734971620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-42854890624972711262010-03-29T06:36:03.770-07:002010-03-29T06:36:03.770-07:00I know "defthand" but not "dabhand&...I know "defthand" but not "dabhand" for EXPERT.<br /><br />McBealAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-6648076660726892932010-03-28T00:00:18.972-07:002010-03-28T00:00:18.972-07:00@Joon, Mr. Ed sez "neigh". And isn'...@Joon, Mr. Ed sez "neigh". And isn't REGIFT simply a synonym for FRUITCAKE?lit.dochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06729199575329286046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-71487686216180894952010-03-27T21:15:38.143-07:002010-03-27T21:15:38.143-07:00This was a perfect level Saturday for me. Had diff...This was a perfect level Saturday for me. Had difficulty starting at the top but once I hit the bottom things came together. Kept on wanting FULBRIGHT for FULLRIDES and BUMSTEAD for MR DITHERS. Favorite fill was EGO SURF and UNIBROW. New information for me was DAB HAND and RIT.*David*noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-31133412727467656342010-03-27T21:08:56.440-07:002010-03-27T21:08:56.440-07:00well, i agree with fault finder about one thing: t...well, i agree with fault finder about one thing: today's puzzle rocked. i thought the fill was sensational. yeah, TEARIER and EROSION "just sit there," but there was so much great, fresh fill. EGOSURF, UV INDEX, MR. DITHERS, UNIBROW, JFK JR, ZONKER, GAG REELS, and FULL RIDES... that is a ton of really lively stuff for one grid.<br /><br />the agreement pretty much ends there, though. BEQ used REGIFT in a puzzle last month. ("going too far," if you must know.) and it's been in the new york sun and jonesin' crossword. if you called either of those a "second-rate" puzzle book, you'd lose any and all credibi... wait, let's close this here barn door right after the last horse leaves.Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-49191307665457163302010-03-27T18:33:34.966-07:002010-03-27T18:33:34.966-07:00@Rube - They have Rectangular noses. This isn'...@Rube - They have Rectangular noses. This isn't even a parody of any actual nose. I've seen triangular noses, blob noses, noses that reveal the nostrils full frontal, noses that dip into the owner's mouth, noses like many animals and insects, noses with veins, pimples, warts, whiteheads, hair in and hair out - but not rectangular, even in the slightest. I can't really explain it. <br /><br />@Tinbeni - you said something that made me think that I have improved in one way - I accept my crosses. I no longer doubt and fail to fill for fear of an unknown result.Sfinginoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-56426774029380484932010-03-27T17:34:26.988-07:002010-03-27T17:34:26.988-07:00@Fault Finder, do you realize that the crossword b...@Fault Finder, do you realize that the crossword bloggers give criticism on a routine basis and are not "castigated by the ACPT"? In fact, our panel discussion was the Friday night activity at last year's tournament. Puzzles are made better by criticism, provided that the criticism is well-founded and the critic knows what he or she is talking about. Demanding never-before-seen fill in a weekday themed puzzle seems out of touch with reality.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-37653356692079460372010-03-27T17:20:07.455-07:002010-03-27T17:20:07.455-07:00@Rube. I lived 12 years on Bainbridge Island and ...@Rube. I lived 12 years on Bainbridge Island and never knew that either. I looked up estuary and the definition seemed to focus on the point where the river entered the sea, and the tides thereof.bluebellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07112978237190389791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-52931228202967358752010-03-27T16:49:46.524-07:002010-03-27T16:49:46.524-07:00@Rex
I know you will delete this because I'm o...@Rex<br />I know you will delete this because I'm over the limit.<br /><br />But FF brought up his reason for using an ANON because he didn't want to be "castigated by the ACPT" in the 4th comment he posted, the one you deleted.<br /><br />Sent shiver's down my spine ...Tinbenihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14661395078047234853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-42666842673617027552010-03-27T16:26:48.655-07:002010-03-27T16:26:48.655-07:00The ACPT is not an entity that can castigate. It&#...The ACPT is not an entity that can castigate. It's a tournament, not a body of people with a membership or spokesperson.Rex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-29762627030743069932010-03-27T14:10:42.720-07:002010-03-27T14:10:42.720-07:00@Fault Finder
I truly apologize that your ERSATZ i...@Fault Finder<br />I truly apologize that your ERSATZ identifier put you in the class of being just another "anon coward" (your words, not mine).<br /><br />I know when I wake up every day and do the LAT CW, then comment here, that I hold back on expressing my honest opinion because of my fear of being castigated by the ACPT ... ROTFLMAO.<br /><br />As to fresh fill in the puzzles, I always look forward to it, like in todays offering.<br />Personally, I thought DABHAND, 41D Expert, was on the arcane maybe a bit obscure side. But I accepted my crosses and looked it up afterward.<br /><br />But your comments Thursday and today were addressed to @Orange in a very chastising and pejorative manner.<br /><br />Sort of like "killing the messenger" for the write-ups of the puzzles in this blog.<br /><br />Seems to me if these are not up to your standards (and I can tell you obviously do a whole lot of CW's, so I'm not questioning that) you should address your comments directly to Rich Norris through the proper channels.Tinbenihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14661395078047234853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-60983809322335603572010-03-27T14:04:52.277-07:002010-03-27T14:04:52.277-07:00I too thought this was like a Thursday or easy Fri...I too thought this was like a Thursday or easy Friday NYT puzzle. It feels good to finish a Saturday w/o Googling, (unlike the NYT which I DNF). Like most everyone here who commented, never heard of DABHAND, EGOSURF, or GAGREEL. However they were all gettable from crosses. <br /><br />@SFINGI, I've heard of foot fetishes and leg men, but a "nabob of noses"? ("Nattering..." seems inappropriate.)<br /><br />@BlueBell, I was going to agree with you about Puget Sound, but I thought I'd better look it up first. According to Wiki, "...[It] is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins...". I lived in Seattle for 18 years and never knew that.Rubehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773241241484881566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-13851556549235883122010-03-27T14:04:47.458-07:002010-03-27T14:04:47.458-07:003 comment limit in force ... now.
There is a dif...3 comment limit in force ... now. <br /><br />There is a difference betw. contrarian and asshole. <br /><br />Always easier to have "fresh" fill in a themeless puzzle, where you have ZERO grid restrictions. To compare today's puzzle to yesterday's on that front shows real ignorance.<br /><br />rpRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-71421500614912028182010-03-27T14:04:45.704-07:002010-03-27T14:04:45.704-07:00This may have been the hardest LAT puzzle I have e...This may have been the hardest LAT puzzle I have ever done, YES! Enjoyed it a lot. Learned and full ride and ego surf (what a good term), loved JFKJR and Mr. Dithers (I also remembered Cora first). Jobbank looks good in the grid.<br /><br />@Orange: hope you have better weather than last year! Have fun.<br /><br /><br />Like this one: hotyp. Thank you!machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-81022177026907346002010-03-27T12:52:13.721-07:002010-03-27T12:52:13.721-07:00I began at the bottom and thought it was easy - un...I began at the bottom and thought it was easy - until I got to the NW. <br />I never heard of EGOSURF or GAGREEL; <br />Had to Google the 2 sports clues in NW: SOSA, UVA. <br />Didn't know LOEW as a founder of MGM and had to Google. Did know Mayer and Goldwyn, er Goldfish.<br /><br />Had several write-overs. I had JeteR (I don't know sports, but I know good-looking when I see it), then after Googling had JonJR, and didn't get JFKJR until Orange.<br /><br />So much for NW.<br /><br />I never read (past or present) Doonesbury because (and I know this is goofy) I can't get past the dreadful noses - it's an aesthetic thing; however, got ZONKER from crosses.<br /><br />Got NERO and DABHAND from crosses.<br /><br />I had "heroine" before ADOPTEE. I read the whole set in 6th grade. That's 54 years ago. <br />Had "try cee" before ERASER.<br /><br />HOARDER, I'm one. Mostly (serious) books, also tins and funnels and certain toys. I do have some that might be ridiculous - reusable squirt bottle tops and book marks, but I rationalize they take up little room. We HOARDERs always rationalize. When I heard about animal hoarders, I said - books don't s--t. <br /><br />Lewis Turco, a retired SUNY poetry prof., wrote about how he handled the students who thought ROD McKuen was a poet. After listening to their praise of this simplistic, formulaic, "synestheic" writer, wrote a bunch of poems in the McKuen style to show them the next day that anyone could do it in their sleep. - And broke it to them after they read and praised what they thought was more ROD.<br /><br />And, as I may have bragged before, my son had a FULLRIDE at SUNY Binghamton, and a sister of mine was a Fulbright. I bask in their glory.Sfinginoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-20762120611900730432010-03-27T12:42:09.157-07:002010-03-27T12:42:09.157-07:00I first put FULBRIGHT for the enviable scholarship...I first put FULBRIGHT for the enviable scholarships (I had FUL------) although I noticed the clue was plural. It was eventually corrected when I had to google Dagwood's boss. Getting MR. DITHERS helped to open up a log jam in the area. <br /><br />Had FOLIAGE instead of FOLIATE which left me with GEARIER for "less stoic". I read the word "produce" in the 8A clue as a noun. <br /><br />I have a small nit to pick with the 24A clue using "familiarly". I think it should be "briefly." I doubt anyone would have gone up to Kennedy and said "Hi, JFK, JR." Familiarly would be more along the line of "John-John." I don't know if his family and friends still called him that at the age he was "the sexiest man alive."<br /><br />Really had fun with this puzzle -- thanks, Brad Wilber.shrub5https://www.blogger.com/profile/09466867716773759568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-90907305447024707832010-03-27T12:23:43.063-07:002010-03-27T12:23:43.063-07:00You're right about Rich Norris using EGOSURFIN...You're right about Rich Norris using EGOSURFING (but not EGOSURF, so what, it's the same thing). It's a good word and used a lot by Googlers.<br />I looked through all my BEQ puzzles and could not find REGIFT, but I'm sure you could find it in some second-rate puzzle book. I guess I was referring to LAT & NYT.<br />TEARIER may be boring to just you, but it is a legitimate word and is used in much of great American literature. Perhaps it would be boring to others who are pop-culturists.<br />ITA,"Saturday puzzles should sparkle and pop" and this one certainly did. If eating stale words is the price we have to pay for ditzy themed puzzles, then let's lash out at them. My god, a good constructor surely can come up with a FEW fresh words in a weekday puzzle, even if it's themed. I saw none in Jeff's cutesy puzzle. <br />Was I criticizing today's puzzle? NOT!<br />I rest my case.FAULT FINDERnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-39335587504837745702010-03-27T11:50:31.455-07:002010-03-27T11:50:31.455-07:00@Fault Finder
I find it amusing that you have the ...@Fault Finder<br />I find it amusing that you have the gall to admonish @ORANGE regarding "Original Words" used in crossword puzzles.<br /><br />I am certain the ACPT 2010 9th place finisher (yeah, she is slipping, was 6th in 2009), Co-Host of this Blog and Sole-Host of "Diary of a Crossword Fiend" knows what qualifies as original fill.<br /><br />You on the other hand hide behind an ERSATZ identifier. That speaks volumes. <br /><br />A pseudo-intellectual afraid to show your real face?Tinbenihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14661395078047234853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-54316545245467037352010-03-27T11:33:47.907-07:002010-03-27T11:33:47.907-07:00@Fault Finder: I have seen EGO SURF and REGIFT in ...@Fault Finder: I have seen EGO SURF and REGIFT in other puzzles. Possibly by Brendan Quigley, Matt Gaffney, Matt Jones, Ben Tausig, or the rest of the Onion crew rather than the daily newspapers. I just Googled EGO SURFING and crossword and whaddaya know? I blogged the 9/17/05 NYT puzzle by Rich Norris and commented on the entry EGO SURFING.<br /><br />TEARIER is (a) boring and (b) not new. It was in a 2000 Newsday puzzle. TEARIEST has been in four NYT puzzles. It, too, is boring. When has anyone ever needed either of these comparative/superlative words? There is a distinction between "not found in Xword Info" and "fresh and new." Some new answers are terrific and some...there's a reason constructors have avoided them.<br /><br />I appreciate fresh fill as much as anyone, but when you're demanding that a themed weekday puzzle include the showy answers that one expects to find in a themeless puzzle, it seems overly demanding. A Saturday puzzle should sparkle and pop, because the quality of the fill is the raison d'etre. A themed puzzle's raison d'etre is the theme.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-60390488121586378022010-03-27T11:27:39.991-07:002010-03-27T11:27:39.991-07:002F, did Berry and Shortz give a hint it was chiefl...2F, did Berry and Shortz give a hint it was chiefly British?Argylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09472446316589207365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-90325501821605045962010-03-27T11:22:42.762-07:002010-03-27T11:22:42.762-07:00BTW, DABHAND is British, but has been used a few y...BTW, DABHAND is British, but has been used a few years ago by Pat Berry and Will ShortzFAULT FINDERnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-12501707237459426302010-03-27T11:19:28.435-07:002010-03-27T11:19:28.435-07:00Orange, so you can learn the difference between &q...Orange, so you can learn the difference between "Original words" and "Made-up words" (per your so-called "funny" Thurs. reply).<br />Today Brad used several ORIGINAL words, e.g. EGO SURF, REGIFT, GAG REEL, TEARIER, WINGED IT, and FULL RIDE. None of them are made-up words, but they are all fresh and original in that they have never been used in a puzzle before.<br />Although FULL RIDE is original, I thought FULBRIGHT would have been better for that clue.FAULT FINDERnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-78220859492373533402010-03-27T10:52:18.657-07:002010-03-27T10:52:18.657-07:00I'm having difficulty accepting estuary as a d...I'm having difficulty accepting estuary as a description of Puget Sound. There are certainly estuaries along its shores (places where rivers empty into the Sound), but the body of water itself is huge and deep--an arm of the Pacific flowing through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and stretching 75 to 100 miles south.<br /><br />I never heard the term "egosurf" but then I haven't heard of a lot of computer terms.bluebellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07112978237190389791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-73994830767719310412010-03-27T09:47:41.061-07:002010-03-27T09:47:41.061-07:00Very enjoyable 20 minutes. That's a good time...Very enjoyable 20 minutes. That's a good time for me on a Saturday. Lots of fun, fresh words. Liked MR DITHERS, ZONKER, UNIBROW, REGIFT. One google for Cavaliers of ACC and had to look up the definition for Extemporized. Yuck also for ROD. My parents had that Jimmy Rodgers record. I was only five in 1957, but I can still remember all the words. Weird. Never heard of DAB HAND. EGO SURF was the last to go.CrazyCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00245025301434920905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626052240584383873.post-88792002512016134022010-03-27T08:24:51.852-07:002010-03-27T08:24:51.852-07:00I messed up on the Bert-n-Ernie by first writing e...I messed up on the Bert-n-Ernie by first writing eyebrow instead of the uni-version. I learned to ski on a t-bar at Ski Apache in Ruidoso, N.M. AGES AGO. I've been busy on the slopes in Aspen on the high-speed quads for the last week...such an improvement.SCHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01702562022509062603noreply@blogger.com