Somtimes dentists give you freezing to make you numb. Therefore, they are " ‘numb-ers’ at times".
[Foghorn Leghorn voice] It’s a joke, Son![/Foghorn Leghorn voice]
When I started doing the NYT crossword, I was surprised that they had multi-word answers in one space. I didn’t think that was kosher, either.
That really seems more like a British or cryptic crossword clue, it seems to belong more to the London Times than the NYT…not a great cryptic clue, my late SO who loved the cryptics would’ve found fault with it.
I liked the London Times cryptics, they were more fun than standard crosswords but without his help they are just too hard for me, I am lucky if I can get 3 or 4 clues filled in.
That would not work as a cryptic clue; at least, not in the cryptics I do.
The rule is, the clue can be broken into two parts, and each part leads to the same word. Usually one part is a somewhat direct definition, and the other is wordplay of some kind.
The example I always remember is “I complain about one of the Judds. (5)”
Hint:Break it into “I complain about” and “one of the Judds”.
Almost every time I start a cryptic, I think “this makes no sense, what the hell am I doing?” And then it starts to come to me. Went back to the Harper’s puzzle, got nine more words.
I use the word “adze” quite often - mainly because I use one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know.
What I wanna know is THIS:
Why is it that crossword puzzles from different newspapers will often have one or two of the same answers on the same day?
Sometimes I do both the L.A. Times and the NY Times and they’ll have one or two of solutions that are the same, though the clue is somewhat differently worded. Local papers, too, do this.
Someone please tell me: Is there some kind of crossword puzzle writers communication system, whereby they all agree to put in certain solutions on the same day?
I think the most annoying thing I came across was when they wanted a number in one of the spaces. Like the answer was a-one, and it needed to be written as a1. What’s next, ascii symbols?
ETA: Oh, and fuck “obi.” It’s the bread and butter of the lazy puzzle-maker, no matter how you dress up your clue.
I’ve detested the Times crossword ever since they gave away the Normandy invasion.
Yes same puzzle done
answer was … at an end
This is why I quit doing crosswords.
That is a common Scrabble word. It also is ADZ
I love the NYT sundays! there was one a few weeks ago that ended when you tore out the crossword square, folded it along the right clues, and it made a paper airplane!
I’ve never thought of the use of reference materials as cheating because the objective is to solve the puzzle. Why settle for knowing what you don’t know (a negative experience), instead of learning something new (a positive experience)?
Oh yes. I :
: the intarwebs for clues like that.
I recall an early 80s holiday weekend visit to my parents’ acreage, doing a Sunday NYT. The final clue to be solved was a river in a certain area of Russia. My parents had a gigantic, very detailed atlas from National Geographic, which I lugged from the family room to the kitchen table.
As I’m scouring the names attached to hundreds of little blue squiggles amongst a thousand other labels, my mom asks me what I’m doing in there. I tell her. She comes to stand behind me, her hand on my shoulder, bent over to scan the page. Eventually she sits down and I skew the atlas for us to carry on looking. Shortly after that my brother pops into the kitchen, sits down and asks us what we’re doing. This leads to him kneeling on his chair, elbows and arms on the table, scanning the atlas upside down. He found the damn thing, too! Who knew a crossword puzzle could make for a really nice memory, especially since neither of them ever did crosswords.
Add cwm and adit to the list.
I play online. Some of the ruder players will fling the :dubious: to some of the odd words I’ve learned. I usually say ‘you must not do crossword puzzles, do you?’ 
The reason why I much prefer cryptic crosswords is the elimination of the little cheater words that pop up. To me, a regular crossword is a lot of work to get to the very few juicy clues, where a cryptic is just chock full of juicy clues. Games Magazine, hurray for them, puts in three in every issue, and since I’ve been subscribing for the past 20+ years, I’ve gone from ‘huh’ to finally completing my first one a couple of years ago. That still doesn’t happen often, but it is wildly satisfying to be able to finish one.
I sort of split the difference on this issue.
I’ll complete as much of a puzzle as I can without resorting to Google. To me, the goal is to complete the puzzle without any help at all. It’s sort of a game. If I complete it all by myself, then I win!
If I get stuck, then I’ll certainly use Google or solicit help from other people. That, as you said, makes it an enjoyable learning experience. I’ll also look at the answer key if there is something left undone or if there is a word that I’m not sure I “get” because I want to learn and understand it.
I hate it when someone comes by and offers an unsolicited answer. I’ll gladly work on a puzzle with someone, or if I’m doing at at the breakfast table or something, I’ll throw out clues just to be sociable. But if I’m doing it by myself, don’t mess up my game, dammit!
So, does anybody have any suggestions for other crossword series for someone who likes the NYT puzzles? I get frustrated when I try to do puzzles that are not constructed to high standards. (I did enjoy this series from the New York Sun.)
Your input is requested here, sir.
Friday Wall Street Journal is a good puzzle. It does go for some economic clues though. Like IPO is in quite often.
Oh, I don’t use any reference materials until I’ve filled in as much of the puzzle as I can, either. It is definitely far more rewarding to complete it on my own.
Mensa has great crossword compilations:
Mensa Cranium Crushing Crosswords
Mensa Really Clever Crosswords 2
That’s a good way of looking at it. Finding answers on Google doesn’t bother me; I figure every answer I get there is a new thing I know. I also figure that I’ll use it less and less as I do more puzzles.
We all have our least favorite examples of crosswordese. Mine is ELA (“Guido’s high note”), which is the first clickable entry on this page devoted to the classical music terms used most frequently by constructors.
The crossword editor of the Washington Post agrees with you. In his list of submission guidelines, Fred Piscop includes the following:
Your kid would be destined to join the ranks of such immortals as OONA, ARA, and UMA.