Ryan solves the NYT, Sat 7-26-8
It’s Saturday so here’s where I would normally say it’s late, I’m in the middle of solving the puzzle so here’s what I have so far. Well, it is late, but I somehow solved this Barry C. Silk puzzle in 45 minutes and 6 seconds. I’ve never solved a Saturday puzzle in under 5 hours much less in under 1 hour. How did I do this? Well, there is a long answer and a short answer. The long answer involves a number of mathematical equations that calculate letter frequency based on both the constructor’s and solver’s current location, processor speed of the computer or pencil being used in the solving and, of course, El Nino. The short answer is, I’m a genius. In the interest of saving space (after all, the Internet is only so big) I’ll go with the short answer.
I actually did have a few things going for me on this one.
1A. Conductor of many TV experiments (MRWIZARD). I watched Mr. Wizard everyday after school on Nickelodeon. I still remember many of the experiments like how to cut a hole in a standard piece of construction paper that you can fit a person through. It was a great show. No crazy characters or high production values. Just a guy teaching kids about science.
8D. Refuse to let go of (DWELLON). I just watched an episode of the West Wing where President Bartlett says there’s only 3 words in the English language that begin with DW: dwell, dwarf and dwindle. I have no idea if that’s actually true but once I had the DW the rest was easy.
31D. Oahu “thank you” (MAHALO). My parents took me to Hawaii twice when I was a kid. I was the kid on the beautiful beaches wearing long pants and wishing he could be home playing video games. (I was a pain in the ass kid.) Anyway, on our second trip the plane touched down and the attendant said something and ended it with mahalo. I thought I was quite the wiseacre and started making fun of the word and how it doesn’t mean anything and blah, blah, blah. (I told you I was a pain in the ass kid.) I guess I was a talking a little too loudly because some big Hawaiian dude stared me down and said, “It means thank you.” He was offended, I peed a little and I’ve never forgotten it.
62A. “Nothing to get upset about” (IGNOREIT). I worked a puzzle recently that had the same answer and a similar clue. Once I had the IG in place the rest was easy.
There were also quite a few standard crosswordese answers that showed up.
27A. “Frank TV” airer (TBS). I’ve seen this advertised during Braves games. Looks terrible.
37A. Bite (NOSH). I’m Jewish, I live in New York, I’m well-versed in noshing. (Amanda, you may use “Well-Versed in Noshing” as a song title if you’d like.)
48A. Unhappy face (MOUE). Once I saw this in a puzzle for the second time I decided to commit it to memory.
49A. U.S.-born Jordanian queen (NOOR). This is the only thing I know about Jordan. The clue could have been “Jordanian queen” or “Jordanian” or “Jo” and I would have written in the same thing.
64A. Periodicals with unturnable pages (EZINES). I don’t think anybody likes this word. Not Will Shortz, not the constructors, certainly not the solvers. But if it helps the constructors out of a tight spot then I can deal with it.
Other clues that caught my eye:
9A. Many people get 100 on it (IQTEST). This clue is bizarre to me. Don’t many people get all kinds of scores on IQ tests? Do most people get 100? Is that some sort of cut off point?
19A. Scottish : Mac :: Arabic : ___ (IBN). I don’t understand any part of the clue or the answer. The B was the last letter I entered into the grid as I was also unfamiliar with 2D. Cousins of oribis and dik-diks (RHEBOKS).
55A. The Guinness book once dubbed her “television’s most frequent clapper” (VANNA). Seriously, who else could this be? You gotta love Vanna White. While looking for a video to post here I realized that looking at game show clips on youtube is the most addictive thing on the internet. I must stop.
7D. Drifter (ROLLINGSTONE). Love that a Rolling Stone answer is next to a Beatles answer: 21. Title woman of song who “lives in a dream” (ELEANORRIGBY).
43D. Players with saving accounts? (GOALIES). At first I thought this was referring to relief pitchers.
47D. Columbus discovery of 1493 (STKITTS). I figured this was going to be an island of some kind. Once I had the ST in place I guessed the rest.
53D. About 5.5 million Europeans (DANES). Did anybody just know this? I filled it in with crosses.
I thought this was a great puzzle with loads of difficult but gettable clues. Barry also collaborated with Doug Peterson, Crossword Gentleman and Man About Town on the Sun’s Friday puzzle. Really difficult but super fun with a few punny answers that made me want to throw my computer out the window. And both Barry and Doug will be constructing a puzzle for Lollapuzzoola 2008. (Registration now open.)
