tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post4023871758584367520..comments2024-03-27T07:17:39.554-04:00Comments on Horace and Frances discuss the New York Times Crossword Puzzle: Wednesday, August 10, 2016, David C. Duncan DekkerHorace Fawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04676932991883111336noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-11525779554321893582016-08-12T06:04:40.751-04:002016-08-12T06:04:40.751-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jim Kingdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01857308320156877253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-14417322840765690172016-08-12T06:03:50.010-04:002016-08-12T06:03:50.010-04:00Usually the fill suffers in a pangram, for no part...Usually the fill suffers in a pangram, for no particular benefit. So I would have thought this would be five times worse. But it actually has quite a few good answers, including just about all the Q answers, STRAW (has anyone done a theme with straw, brick, and sticks? I suppose so), and BIRD (as clued).<br /><br />Still, I naticked in four places and I don't feel bad about it. I mean, sure, I knew there was a crosswordese word for that wind (FOHN, as it turns out), so I could have known that one, and I suppose Honey Boo Boo's name is probably known to people who follow pop culture more than me. But there's enough scraping the bottom of the barrel that I'm not left feeling I could have gotten much more than I did (even to get within four letters was a fair bit of relying on the crosses and "shrug, I guess that must be a person or an idiom" type stuff.<br /><br />All in all, though, not as horrible as it should have been given the theme. I'll give it a B. Turning the pangram dial up to five and giving it a revealer definitely helps. At least you get some payback for all the suffering.Jim Kingdonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01857308320156877253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-7163919941890208132016-08-10T22:16:33.764-04:002016-08-10T22:16:33.764-04:0010:05
This was crazy. I usually hate a pangram, a...10:05<br /><br />This was crazy. I usually hate a pangram, and a double pangram is abysmal, but somehow this quintgram, with its middle slant of Qs and Us and Ks ... well, it's not all that bad. The RAKI/JAKE cross is rough, and entries like TSWANA, FOHN, and LARP are words that, I hope, would get a puzzle pushed back for re-working if it weren't for the stunt aspect. But as you say, the longer stuff is good, and aside from the stuff already mentioned, the fill isn't that bad. I don't want to see this again, but once was fun enough.Horace Fawleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676932991883111336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-31462040575267905732016-08-10T17:36:34.297-04:002016-08-10T17:36:34.297-04:00I knew RAKI from Patrick Leigh Fermor's wonder...I knew RAKI from Patrick Leigh Fermor's wonderful book "Ill Met By Moonlight" about the resistance in Crete during World War II. I subsequently drank Raki on my own visit to Crete in 1992. Pretty strong stuff!Colum Amoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15026647589873845732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-68793986649095329062016-08-10T07:43:53.571-04:002016-08-10T07:43:53.571-04:0013:01 (FWOE)
I didn't know Mr. JAGR, but the c...13:01 (FWOE)<br />I didn't know Mr. JAGR, but the crosses were fine. My error came at the RAKI/JAKE cross, which is terrible. And the sheer number of abbreviations is bad, too, but I forgive those things for the remarkable accomplishment of creating a grid like this. Amazing. I especially enjoyed the Q words, with QUAFF and DOWNQUARK being my favorites, and QUILTING being the most surprising (I wanted "queen" to bee in there somewhere).Huygenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14539030936919012404noreply@blogger.com