tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post8782476481359353270..comments2024-03-27T15:47:47.979-07:00Comments on The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project: Rex Parker and Matt Gaffney Review a Pre-Shortzian Puzzle, Over 8,700, In 1970, New Litzer of the Month Todd Gross, and Twitter StumpersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-69368390016772415062013-04-15T21:40:56.366-07:002013-04-15T21:40:56.366-07:00Oxford lengths would be metres, not meters.Oxford lengths would be metres, not meters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-42601941508435466812013-04-08T13:58:57.294-07:002013-04-08T13:58:57.294-07:00Hilarious discussion. I started doing the puzzles ...Hilarious discussion. I started doing the puzzles in the Will Weng era, so the sample Maleska puzzle had some familiar aspects (e.g., the one-word clues). I don't care for all the rappers and current TV shows that are now in puzzles, but they're probably bettor than Paa Vidderne.<br /><br />Question: Is it really obvious when a puzzle has been constructed using a computer program to do the fill? As a non-constructor, I've never noticed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-72760982359875479362013-04-07T20:59:05.682-07:002013-04-07T20:59:05.682-07:00Wow, both of those are embarrassing. I write cros...Wow, both of those are embarrassing. I write crosswords for a living and right now would have to look EROSE up to tell you what it meant. Two words that need to be retired, not endlessly recycled. Matt Gaffneyhttp://xwordcontest.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-82124054176562802172013-04-07T18:53:00.069-07:002013-04-07T18:53:00.069-07:00Ellen, according to Cruciverb, Will Shortz has use...Ellen, according to Cruciverb, Will Shortz has used EROSE 37 times and ONER 63. (Xwordinfo has 47 and 83 but Cruciverb stats are considered more accurate.) Either way, they're both still in current use.Jacknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-76633282234662316662013-04-07T05:40:24.331-07:002013-04-07T05:40:24.331-07:00Forgot to say that Roberta Peters was an opera sin...Forgot to say that Roberta Peters was an opera singer from Scarsdale, New York (I think).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-52288635470120698462013-04-07T05:36:27.389-07:002013-04-07T05:36:27.389-07:00Also have to complain about OTER. It's the Fr...Also have to complain about OTER. It's the French verb meaning to take off as in clothing. I think the clue was misleading since DeGaulle is the airport and the correct answer should be décoller. It was a fun puzzle for me otherwise since all the recent (recent = from 1969 onwards) TV shows, sports stuff, etc., is alien having lived abroad for 40+ years!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-16623066367265547712013-04-06T16:31:30.125-07:002013-04-06T16:31:30.125-07:00I can't remember the last time I tried to do t...I can't remember the last time I tried to do the Dell puzzles. Maybe 10 years ago. I used to sail through the NYT (Maleskan and Shortzian) and struggle with the Dells. Just somehow a different type of cluing that slew me. <br /><br />I think ONER appeared in the NYT within the last week; everybody on Rex's blog acted like they never heard of it. But I'm pretty sure it has been a staple of the Shortz era, not just of ancient Maleskan puzzles; same with EROSE. Those are regular crossword words that I am very familiar with. (I'm trying to decide if it's worth $35 to be able to look it up on Cruciverb. So far, stinginess wins.)Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-65205678245392875752013-04-06T12:07:13.246-07:002013-04-06T12:07:13.246-07:00I'm going to try to use "metas appear to ...I'm going to try to use "metas appear to be the new black" at least three times within the next twelve months. That's hilarious.Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15440942981870183719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-64260691561205597062013-04-06T10:56:45.739-07:002013-04-06T10:56:45.739-07:00I think that if you "learned" on the Tim...I think that if you "learned" on the Times you'll always have a tiny soft spot for Maleska. I can still remember as a first-year mid-western college student suddenly realizing the answer to the clue, "West of Broadway." I felt sophisticated and smart and I just assumed everyone else knew all that Greek and Latin (as a high school student -- not even in a Catholic school -- I took four years of Latin and one of Greek.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-35431762139996924642013-04-06T09:38:59.295-07:002013-04-06T09:38:59.295-07:00Fantastic and hilarious! More please! Fantastic and hilarious! More please! Jeff Chenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09513769920700232986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-49512938893933609742013-04-06T09:37:52.209-07:002013-04-06T09:37:52.209-07:00FYI, Mike Shenk does not use Compiler.FYI, Mike Shenk does not use Compiler.Amy Goldsteinhttp://puzzability.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-35280439744432000422013-04-06T07:39:15.412-07:002013-04-06T07:39:15.412-07:00Pretty sure it was Fields saying, "my little ...Pretty sure it was Fields saying, "my little chickadee," as he tapped his cigar. <br /><br />Didn't find the old puzzle or its words objectionable at all. Thought the theme jumped out very quickly, and words like ERS, TIR, ARETE were gimmes. Of course, I cut my eye teeth doing puzzles in this era, so I found the puzzle far more entertaining than one full of actors and rappers I've never heard of and don't care to learn. Normhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10032302346488486116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-10895428852172249982013-04-05T23:22:56.616-07:002013-04-05T23:22:56.616-07:00Pretty entertaining discussion, guys. More fun th...Pretty entertaining discussion, guys. More fun than the solve, no doubt. Couple of thoughts: SALEM instead of SEDUM would have avoided lot of trouble. "Better" for "Bettor" (incomprehensible, as Merl says) had to draw some letters that in those days only the editor had to read; lucky for him, no blogs back then. "W.C.'s chickadee" for MAE had me wondering; "My little chickadee" was a catchphrase of W.C. Fields, but wasn't the joke in their movie together that he was Mae West's "little chickadee," not the other way around? <br /><br />Maybe more some other time on the whole computer-aided crossword construction (cacc) can of worms, but the semi-short version: (a) is anyone really making publishable puzzles using just "autofill"? I tend to doubt it; (b) word lists & databases have been around a long time, longer than software programs, but I just think it's just part of modern-day Constructing 101 that the puzzle-maker owns what's in the list, what's added to it, how it's used, etc. Some constructors have obviously spent a lot of time and effort honing their lists and it shows in the quality of puzzles they make -- and more power to them. A good word database isn't just off-the-shelf tool to use like a screwdriver from the hardware store; it's something that a constructor has to work at. As with themes and clues, part of the fun is finding things that haven't been done before and getting them into a crossword.john farmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09677260995425349436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-5323442464861232212013-04-05T20:42:06.686-07:002013-04-05T20:42:06.686-07:00the fact that BETTER and BEST are inconsistent wit...the fact that BETTER and BEST are inconsistent with the rest of the theme answers is nothing compared to -- well, actually, it is something; it's stupid -- but it's nothing compared to maleska's incomprehensible allowing of BETTER as the term for someone who bets. it's actually a pretty nice idea for a theme -- how about WILD and WILDER? great possibilities there -- but this seems to be another case of a constructor not knowing how to flesh out a good theme with consistently good answers and an "editor" seemingly not doing anything about it, or worse, not even knowing that something needed to be done. and ULNO and OTER are just embarrassing. i'd send the puzzle back to the constructor on those two words alone, 23x23 or no 23x23.Merlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-6730841992210170972013-04-05T19:57:57.610-07:002013-04-05T19:57:57.610-07:00Great idea, Jeffrey! Great idea, Jeffrey! David Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02037243171142078417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-66631556799845488042013-04-05T19:49:44.882-07:002013-04-05T19:49:44.882-07:00This should be a podcast.This should be a podcast.Jeffrey Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-91911781571154022362013-04-05T18:23:31.886-07:002013-04-05T18:23:31.886-07:00this is amazing!!this is amazing!!e.a.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03601255570114624087noreply@blogger.com