TEC got me, too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that, even in the crosswords.
For what it’s worth, I’ve seen Batman’s adventures get referred to in that manner, because “in the 983rd issue of Detective Comics” is clunkier than “TEC 983”.
This cracked me up. I remember ‘essenes’ (aesthetic priests, maybe?) and ‘etui’ (an ornament of some sort) but ‘nards’ doesn’t ring a bell.
I recall being appalled at brand names being allowed when the new guy took over, and to this day it chafes a little. I know it’s silly, yes.
An etui is a sewing case. And even with as much as my mom sews, I’ve still never encountered the word outside of a crossword puzzle.
Note: if you’re about to do today’s NYT puzzle (Thursday June 11, 2020) on an electronic device, be forewarned that as Thursday puzzles often are, there’s a “gimmick” - but one that has a hint/indicator you’ll need to read the puzzle description to get, because it’s only visually indicated in the print version.
“About this puzzle: In the print version of this puzzle, each of the five squares in 20-Across and each of the seven squares in 22-Across contains a slash mark.”
I mean you don’t NEED that description to solve it; I managed to solve today’s puzzle without reading it, but I lost about 5 minutes off of my solve time figuring out “these particular squares must be doubling letters, but why?” and then realizing after filling in a number of them what that doubling represented wrt to the clues, when in fact the description would have told me that from the get-go.
The gimmick is pretty clever and fun, IMHO.
robardin, I liked it a lot too. Very clever
I was surprised that Rex Parker and his fanboys crapped all over it. Tough cranky crowd I guess.
I’ve seen TEC a number of times and have an odd memory for those sorts of things. The best puzzle in recent memory had clues that had no real world answers. Things like “What is Asberzhistanazi the capital of?” The answer was something like “How the hell should I know?” An amusing puzzle.
I also saw one once where the big theme answers were all crossword-ese, but clued in reverse. Like, the clue for 18-across was “OREO”, and the answer was “oft-separated cookie”, or some such.
I enjoyed it as well, and when I did the crossword on my desktop, the note showed up right away so I was aware of it, and what I guessed the gimmick to be based on that note ended up being the gimmick employed, so it actually did help in the solve. I did technically finish with an error, though – I spelled DJ Casey’s last name with the wrong first letter, and the across clue didn’t help me out, as that one makes sense being spelled with the alternate letter (I’m just not trying to give the answer away), so I couldn’t find my error when I checked the puzzle and had to rely on the menu option to show which square(s) were incorrect.
Yeah, that’s why I can only take Rex in limited doses. His reviews are very cranky. I like it better when Clare or one of his occasional contributors show up and break the cantankerous tone of Rex’s reviews.
Thursday is my least favorite day of the NYT puzzle week, as I often find it fidgety on my iPad, so I was glad of the warning (I usually forget to click the info button). Thanks.
Yeah, if I had done it on the iPad, I would have missed the note, as I almost never hit the “note” menu item. Luckily, I did it on the desktop where, as I mentioned, it shows up before you click “OK” to start the puzzle. Thursday is my favorite day, as I like the extra element of puzzle solving it usually introduces.
It would have been so cool to include “Comme d’habitude” and “Paul Anka”
I’ll have to start constructing my own crosswords :dubious:
Bad clue! It was “gentle gait.” Theanswer was “trot”. Obviously this constructor is not an equestrian. Or maybe just not an equestrian who has mostly ridden quarter horses.
A trot is gentler than a gallop, is it not?
A gallop is like being in a rocking chair. A trot is like being in a rocking chair that’s rocking over a broomstick.
So many better options, like ‘fox or turkey’ or ‘former Red Sox player NIxon.’
Back when I used to read the letter columns in the back of superhero comic booka, Detective Comics was often referred to by the contracted form 'Tec. Like, “That happened back in 'Tec No. 473.”