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Anyone else do the NY Times Crossword religously?

WoimsahWoimsah 1,734 Posts
edited February 2008 in Strut Central
Beside me????

  Comments

  • iron_monkeyiron_monkey 985 Posts
    Absolutely... great brain exercise, not to mention the fact that it helps keep your vocabulary sharp. They get more challenging as the paper reaches its Sunday edition. I usually get to Wed-Thurs before throwing in the towel.

    There was an interesting documentary (can't remember the title right now) about a yearly NY Times crossword competition that brings out all kinds of socially challenged folks who can fill those shits out in like 10 minutes flat. SCARY!!!
  • verb606verb606 2,518 Posts
    Beside me????


    My mom does. When I happen to visit on a weekend she'll let me take a crack at either that Sunday's or the week before. She often needs help with the music or technology-related clues. She can usually finish them within a week. If I had a copy of it plus the time and stamina to do it, I would. Or at least try.

    She also xeroxes a copy of it for her neighbor every week. Is that bootlegging?
  • sabadabadasabadabada 5,966 Posts
    I think saturday is the hardest, because it not only has the longest words, it lacks the theme of the Sunday puzzles. On Sundays, once you crack the theme its pretty easy. I dont do them that often any more, but will pick one up every once in a while.
  • WoimsahWoimsah 1,734 Posts
    Thurs is impressive mah man. Mon and Tues make me feel mad smart - Wed is either tricky or not - Thurs is usually a little too tricky (and often times boring I've found) and then Fri and Sat....well fuck that. Last Sunday's was really clever with the directional usage in the clues - but sometimes those tricks are just to hard to figure out - and really annoying. By the way - here's a great blog to help out for the answers you can't get - but still want to edu-macate yourself.

    CROSSWORD
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,471 Posts
    I haven't done a Times crossword for a while. I dig crosswords, though--I can usually bang out the one in the SFBG during my morning commute on Wednesdays.
  • pointmanpointman 1,042 Posts
    I love crosswords.

    I always wonder what the people that make crossword puzzles are like? Have to be some strange folks. :BrianPeppers:
  • undertheradarundertheradar 619 Posts
    There was an interesting documentary, Wordplay[/b], about a yearly NY Times crossword competition that brings out all kinds of socially challenged folks who can fill those shits out in like 10 minutes flat. SCARY!!!
  • hungovermulattohungovermulatto 168 Posts

    i can usually get up to thursday, but after that, it becomes a collective effort down at the bar.

    when i lived in brooklyn, there was this older korean dude who's english was broken as fuck -- he could knock out friday and saturday in like a half hour... that always amazed me.
  • SnappingSnapping 995 Posts
    I think saturday is the hardest, because it not only has the longest words, it lacks the theme of the Sunday puzzles. On Sundays, once you crack the theme its pretty easy.



    For some reason people always think that the Sunday are harder because they are larger but I find Saturday and Friday to be more challenging. For some reason I feel like the Sunday have gotten easier over the years, like they are trying to make them more accessible or something.
  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    There was an interesting documentary, Wordplay[/b], about a yearly NY Times crossword competition that brings out all kinds of socially challenged folks who can fill those shits out in like 10 minutes flat. SCARY!!!

    Pretty good movie. Recommended.

    If I got their paper regularly, I'd certainly be a religious Times puzzler. I'm also a fan of the Journal's Friday crossword. As it is, I can finish pretty much any Tribune puzzle in under :15-20, but trying for :10, although perhaps possible, is really not my idea of fun.

    I've been filling in crosswords since my junior year of High School. Got my ass kicked for a good year before I started wrapping my brain around them and learned to speak their language. I'm an especially big fan of the patternless crosswords, as found in the Sun-Times. The stock Saturday-level Patternless are harder than almost any regular crosswords I've ever attempted.

    And yes, Saturday is the hardest Times puzzle. Shortz keeps that shit on lock. Sunday's puzzle is usually Thursday/Friday-level toughness.
  • grandpa_shiggrandpa_shig 5,799 Posts
    I haven't done a Times crossword for a while. I dig crosswords, though--I can usually bang out the one in the SFBG during my morning commute on Wednesdays.

    haha! i used to do that too on the bus. except i did the sf examiner one. when they went to that tabloid format a 2 year old could finish those crosswords. it made me feel really smart! sfbg one was kinda easy too. not that im great at these things but when u take a look at the ny times ones, its like a whole different world.
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    The Sunday is suppose to be the equivalent of the THUR puzzle but larger.
  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,331 Posts
    all kinds of socially challenged folks who can fill those shits out in like 10 minutes flat.

    haha. I half-heartedly try these things once in a while, and after not getting a single line, consider myself like totally unknowledgeable dude.
  • cpeetzcpeetz 2,112 Posts
    Mon-Tues I'm good, Wed OK, Thursday not so much, you know the rest.
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