Dead tree solving - eco edition! 
Best of both worlds - paper and pencil/pen solving, but rather than curled up with the newspaper, you're curled up with your tablet/iPad/Android! Write, even draw, in the grid, directly on the screen. 

Perfect for rebus puzzles, like this one from a recent Thursday NYTimes puzzle. Use a stylus, for the feel of really writing, or just use your fingertip - it is remarkably easy and is your real writing... I filled this one out using my finger - the stylus is just there for show. (The rebus was MAN - as in TAXMAN at 54D...) If you would like to try it out, click on "About Me" on this page and send me an email.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Chicken Paprikash and Crossword Puzzles

One particular clue/answer really got to me in today's NYT puzzle.  Now, this might not have anything to do with puzzle quality, but again, that's what's fun...something resonates sideways...
Anyhow, this evening, after a difficult and harrowing weekend, I finally sat down with a glass of wine and the Monday puzzle.  Phil was in the kitchen working on a stunning paprikash sauce, whose aroma was wafting through the house.  Then I hit 12D - Kitchen Magnet - A_OMA...  what serendipity!
Especially fun that in the opposite corner were SMELLY gym socks.
It was, in fact, a gourmet's delight, with ECLAIRs, Black-eyed PEAS, BAGELs, Chewing of the fat, BEL Paese cheese, OVO, Uncooked: RAW

Here's our clue-by-clue replay.  Thank you Andrea & Michael Blake.


Summary

Puzzle completion time

Solve time
Pause time
Total time
tita
10min:52sec
9min:16sec
20min:8sec
ralph
5min:10sec
No pauses
5min:10sec

ACPT results (based on time limit of 15min:0sec)



Effective time
Correct words
Wrong letters
Total score
tita
15min:0sec
51
50
510
ralph
6min:0sec
78
0
1155
Overall comment:
tita
A near perfect Monday! Another A-E-I-O-U suite - with a very meta spanner dead-center!. Some fun fill, like YEOW, OGRESS, EATME, IMHOT, DIE... Nice meta-puzzle, with OED and of course, FILLINTHEBLANKS! Some junk, but not much!!
ralph
Cute puzzle. Saw F*LL after I was done. FILL IN THE BLANKS was probably the seed. A little worried about ABFAB.

Write overs (word evolution)
tita
2D Eaglet's nest [eERIE-->AERIE]
1A Chews the fat [yAkS-->GABS]
ralph
31D C.I.O.'s partner [AFc-->AFL]
44A Greeted and seated [LEtIN-->LEDIN]
71A Tavern [inn-->BAR]



General comments

1A Chews the fat [GABS]
tita

Nice as 1A, though I had yAkS first.
1D Harsh and brusque[GRUFF]
tita
nice clue
Not a very common word. I likes it... All 3 words have the same harshness of tone that all set off their definitions.
2D Eaglet's nest[AERIE]
tita
crosswordese
Not sure of the spelling... Like the thought of an eaglet.
3D Breakfast order with a hole in it[BAGEL]
tita
nice clue
Only in NY, baby! ANywhere else, they're Wonderbread...
ralph
nice clue
Not a donut
4D Like gym socks[SMELLY]
tita
nice clue
Indeed!
5A Fiona, e.g., in "Shrek" [OGRESS]
tita
nice clue
obscure
pop name
A new word is coined?? I like it!
5D Dunderhead[OAF]
tita

Dunderhead is a term not used often enough...
6D 4.0 is a great one: Abbr.[GPA]
tita
gimme

7D Kramden of "The Honeymooners"[RALPH]
tita
pop name
gimme

ralph

Hey Ralphie! and then there was Archie Bunker. Two blue collar icons.
8D Cream-filled pastry[ECLAIR]
tita

Easier to make then one would think... Ralph - do try some in Paris!! Same pastry as New Orleans beignets - one is baked, the other fried. Either way, yum!
9D Mount Everest guide[SHERPA]
tita
gimme

11A Hula-Hoops or Furbys, once [FAD]
tita
nice clue
The former has far outlasted the latter...
11D Squirming[FIDGETING]
tita
nice clue
Perfect description...I can just see that 3-year old doing both in his high chair.
12D Kitchen magnet?[AROMA]
tita
nice clue
Phil is making a paprikash sauce as we speak...mmmmmmm!
ralph
nice clue
redirect

14A 500 sheets of paper [REAM]
tita
gimme

15A Geronimo's tribe [APACHE]
tita
obscure 
Didn't know, but inferable/
ralph

Got this off the A
18A One knocked off a pedestal [FALLENIDOL]
tita
nice clue

ralph

No hint of theme yet
19D African antelope or Chevrolet[IMPALA]
tita
nice clue
When I worked in Da Bronx, this was a much-desired car among the locals... Nice cluing.
21D Jane or John in court[DOE]
tita
gimme

22A Course guide? [PAR]
tita
redirect
sports
Oh - I get it now - not a golfer, so this is 'meh' to me. Nice redirect, none-the-less.
ralph
nice clue
redirect

23A C.E.O.'s job: Abbr. [MGMT]
tita

If only - too many don't know their own business! Hats off to those that do...
24A Paid postgraduate position at a university [FELLOWSHIP]
ralph

No idea of theme yet
26D Hit, as a fly[SWAT]
ralph

Nice cross of SWAT and YEOW
27A Black-eyed ___ [PEAS]
tita

Susans didn't fit...
28A Cry after hitting a hammer on one's thumb, say [YEOW]
tita
nice clue
Ouch!
29A Morocco's capital [RABAT]
tita
obscure answer

ralph
crosswordese
obscure 

For a Monday
30D ___ Paese cheese[BEL]
tita
gimme
was a fabulous restaurant in Rye...alas, went out of business - Italian - huge portions, home cooking - totally delicious! Lots of food clues today!
ralph
obscure 
For a Monday. Potential Natick here for some solvers?
31A "Much ___ About Nothing" [ADO]
tita
gimme

31D C.I.O.'s partner[AFL]
tita
redirect
Can't believe I got sidetracked by this one - thought CFO, I guess because of teh _F_.
32D Repeated cry when sticking a stake in a vampire[DIE]
tita
wow
nice clue
Love this!!! Inspried clue indeed...!
ralph
nice clue

33D 1957 Disney dog movie[OLDYELLER]
tita

I'm crying just typing this answer in!!! (This was back in the days when Walt Disney was alive - the current company bearing his name should be sued for defamation of character!
34A Uncooked [RAW]
tita
gimme

35D "___ Let the Dogs Out"[WHO]
tita
pop name
gimme
Oops - didn't even see this.
36A Beethoven's "Für ___" [ELISE]
tita
gimme
Old standby, straightforward cluing. (I used to be able to play this...)
ralph

The cheese may not help with this one
37D Cousin of calypso[SKA]
tita
crosswordese
Finally hammered this through my brain a few months back...
38D Mind reading, for short[ESP]
tita
crosswordese
gimme

39A Solve a crossword, e.g.? [FILLINTHEBLANKS]
tita
nice clue
Very cute, in a meta sorta way! Nothing to do with the theme, though...
ralph
nice clue

40D Big name in toy trains[LIONEL]
tita
gimme
Puzzle spouse is a big-time train buff - real and model. We incorporated his love of trains into our Village (see blog)...
41D Tattoos, slangily[INK]
tita
nice clue
gimme
!
42D Dastardly[EVIL]
tita
gimme
He whom we do not name...
43D Pro ___ (like some law work)[BONO]
tita
gimme

44A Greeted and seated [LEDIN]
tita

Had sawIN
45A ___-lacto-vegetarian [OVO]
tita
gimme
ode food... ;)
46A Old Navy alternative [GAP]
tita

Fresh clue
ralph

Isn't it The Gap?
47A Harnessed, as oxen [YOKED]
tita
nice clue
In Portugal, yokes were fabulously carved and beautifully painted. Amazing folk art.
48D Cause's partner[EFFECT]
tita
nice clue

50A Mother of Don Juan [INEZ]
tita
opera
Did not know, but inferable...
52D One of the Gabor sisters[ZSAZSA]
tita
pop name
gimme

53A "You said it, sister!" [AMEN]
tita
wow
nice clue
I think they say this at barn dances...
53D Beeb comedy[ABFAB]
tita
obscure
pop name
natick
Near natick., but decent guess at the crossing [A]RE.
ralph

Never heard of it
54D Actress Tierney of "ER"[MAURA]
tita
obscure
pop name
No idea
ralph

Did not know
55A Put a spade atop a spade, say [FOLLOWSUIT]
tita
nice clue
Great clue - had no idea what you were getting at!
57D Salt Lake City native[UTAHN]
tita

Really? Did not know this was a legit spelling!
58D "Can we turn on a fan or something?!"[IMHOT]
tita
nice clue
Just love this clue...well done!
59D Manages, as a 71-Across[TENDS]
tita

This disambiguated 71A - made it clear it must be BAR, not inn...
ralph

This favors BAR over inn
60A Barn dance seat [BALE]
tita
nice clue
Never been to one, but this paints quite a picture...
61A Miami locale: Abbr. [FLA]
tita
crosswordese
Duh - too obvious...
62A Cake words in "Alice in Wonderland" [EATME]
tita
nice clue
pop name
Like this clue much better than that Al Franken or somebody-or-other cluing of late...
ralph

Mildly risque
63A Illegal wrestling hold [FULLNELSON]
tita
sports
Didn't know - not much into wrestling!
ralph
nice clue
Did not know this. Deducible from half nelson
65D Brit. reference work[OED]
tita
crosswordese
Undoubtedly a gimme for constructors - therefore, rather a meta clue!!
66D Bill the Science Guy[NYE]
tita

Another repeat clue - wasn't this in Sunday's? He is a great guy - always loved him! I really don't get what's so "hard" about editing that they can't avoid so many repeats...from Saturday to Sunday we had PTBOAT and NTEST... 2 repeats!
68A "___ You Experienced" (Jimi Hendrix's first album) [ARE]
tita
obscure
pop name
natick
Did not know...but could guess the A.
ralph

Never heard of it but made sense
69A Sean who wrote "Juno and the Paycock" [OCASEY]
tita
obscure
pop name
No idea
ralph
obscure 

70A Like show horses' feet [SHOD]
tita

Most horses, no??  (Though in general, I DO like alliteration in clue/answer pairs...) This coulda been clued around the Belmont, had the timing only been known...
71A Tavern [BAR]
tita

Wondered if it could be 'inn'...
ralph

Had inn for a long time

No comments:

Post a Comment