tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post828577219038095227..comments2024-03-29T03:05:05.578-04:00Comments on Horace and Frances discuss the New York Times Crossword Puzzle: Thursday, December 12, 2013, David SteinbergHorace Fawleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04676932991883111336noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-84187514822316140192013-12-13T20:27:10.805-05:002013-12-13T20:27:10.805-05:00Very strange. I just did this this evening--I'...Very strange. I just did this this evening--I'm a day behind. As I was doing it, I was all ready to savage the thing: Another too clever but weird and unfun creation of the boy genius. I didn't completely get the thing until after I was finished, so I am quite proud of finishing with zero write-overs. Now that I am done, and I can take in the whole creation, I think this one is quite brilliant. Horace, It's a shame you had to fill in the R's in order for it to be accepted. The only way the thing works is with the eleven empty squares. That's the way the clues work, obviously. When you have it done with the blank squares and then go back and read what the answers would be with the R's, you appreciate the achievement. The revealer is spot-on and rather ingenius: After the puzzle was finished (in theory, I know), with "erasers," "corners," "rambler," "at rest," etc., the constructor went back and took out all of the R's, and reclued the fifteen--I think--answers affected. And the in-puzzle revealer was in the last across pre-alteration. I really think you guys are selling this thing short. Sure, maybe it's brilliant after the fact, but it is still brilliant. Plus, "theme" aside, there's some nice stuff in here. Refreshing to see CEDILLA instead of serif for "Letter attachment." Don't remember seeing LUEGO previously. "Boomer born in 1961" might have been my favorite. I was thinking generic baby boomer until very late in the game. Nastase has been in puzzles a lot, but I like the stack of those two athletes. Love seeing two other guys from my youth, Weird All and Casey Kasem. Young Mr. Steinberg, I've reviled you in the past, but today I salute you. Keep 'em coming, my man. englishteacher59https://www.blogger.com/profile/16790678319090827125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-34572287739922110102013-12-13T12:59:59.133-05:002013-12-13T12:59:59.133-05:00Yes, MRANDMRS is clever, but I just felt that the ...Yes, MRANDMRS is clever, but I just felt that the whole thing was missing something. It's interesting to think of words that can also work as words without Rs, but the reveal seemed backward, and the new words didn't have anything to do with anything. Horace Fawleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04676932991883111336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7869983234842507044.post-20915588382663461812013-12-12T22:20:09.302-05:002013-12-12T22:20:09.302-05:00Unfinished. I missed the instructions and couldn&#...Unfinished. I missed the instructions and couldn't figure it out at all. Kudos to this one though: MRANDMRS. That's brilliant.Colum Amoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15026647589873845732noreply@blogger.com