The New York Times Crossword Puzzle thread

drummerboy said:

Does anyone do the daily Spelling Bee? I've been doing it the last week and have done pretty well, but today is pretty tough, I'm finding.

 i have been hooked on it now for a few weeks-yes, today is tough!

Damn letter "J"

jimjam is not a word.

I did finally get the pangram though.

drummerboy said:

Does anyone do the daily Spelling Bee? I've been doing it the last week and have done pretty well, but today is pretty tough, I'm finding.

 I've been doing for a while & I like it.  But the last few days have been tough -- difficult letters with not enough common letters to make many words.  It's something else to do, though, so I appreciate it during these times.

My son and I have become moderately obsessed with this. I actually prefer the days when there are fewer words. We tend to compare lists once we've both gotten to "genius," unless one of us thinks we have a chance at making it to Queen Bee alone. Turns out it's a great way to get your adult child to call you every day.

I was informed by my wife yesterday that she almost made a huge mistake because she does it online, as does my son, and she didn't realize that he hadn't done it yet.  So she was going to check the puzzle and a warning message apparently came back saying that it would ruin the current 1200+ day streak that my son has finishing the puzzle.  

Apparently she did this 4 years ago otherwise his streak would be years longer.   I don't know how he does it.   I can't complete one.

sbenois said:

I was informed by my wife yesterday that she almost made a huge mistake because she does it online, as does my son, and she didn't realize that he hadn't done it yet.  So she was going to check the puzzle and a warning message apparently came back saying that it would ruin the current 1200+ day streak that my son has finishing the puzzle.  

Apparently she did this 4 years ago otherwise his streak would be years longer.   I don't know how he does it.   I can't complete one.

 practice, practice, practice

I have no patience or time.   And he's way smarter than I am.  He qualified to be on Jeopardy and was in the pool to be picked but obviously COVID impacted a lot of things.  

Yes, the Spelling Bee! I know there is a website where it is solved but I have been successful at not cheating and just accepting where I wind up.

I recently started the crossword.  It's an intimidating task to start.  But as time goes by your get more acquainted with how the clues are phrased.  Still not ready to tackle the harder days without help.  Maybe someday.

sbenois said:

I was informed by my wife yesterday that she almost made a huge mistake because she does it online, as does my son, and she didn't realize that he hadn't done it yet.  So she was going to check the puzzle and a warning message apparently came back saying that it would ruin the current 1200+ day streak that my son has finishing the puzzle.  

Apparently she did this 4 years ago otherwise his streak would be years longer.   I don't know how he does it.   I can't complete one.

 So, do you have home delivery, or just a digital subscription? My kids and I were all sharing the crossword app, so I'd do it first (for streak purposes), then they'd do it. There were so many texts, especially later in the week, with someone wanting someone else to finish the puzzle and clear it. Then we learned that, with home delivery, we can share the digital subscription with two other people. Now we each have our own puzzle app. Much more peaceful, but I kind of miss sharing. But, at least I'm not in danger of anyone ruining my streak with checking!

And weirdly, if your son and wife get into doing the Spelling Bee, that cannot be erased for a second user. That's what finally got us to figure out that we could each have the app.

Digital.   I believe my wife prints it out and does it.  My son does it online.

jamie said:

I recently started the crossword.  It's an intimidating task to start.  But as time goes by your get more acquainted with how the clues are phrased.  Still not ready to tackle the harder days without help.  Maybe someday.

 Ah, I remember when I started doing the daily crossword in the NYT. It was, ahem almost half a century ago. My parents both did it. They were among the first people to buy a home photocopy machine so they could stop buying two copies of the paper every day. They amortized that damn thing in less than a year. And, yes, after a while you get facile with the style of the puzzle, the types of usage and puns and the vocabulary. Now I buy books of Sunday NYT puzzles cuz 8 puzzles a week ain't enough. I do the Acrostic on Sundays sometimes but it just takes too damn long. 

My son is into it and we text most days about it. It's a lovely thing to share with him. I'm so happy he's into it, And he's good, too. He often finished before I do. (I never read Harry Potter so he has that over me.) 

Frankly, Jamie, I envy you starting out. I hope you get lots of enjoyment, mental challenge, personal satisfaction and relaxation from it. Don't look at Rex Parker. 

bikefixed said:

Yes, the Spelling Bee! I know there is a website where it is solved but I have been successful at not cheating and just accepting where I wind up.

 That's what I do, too.  Satisfying enough for me.

As a retirement gift, somebody gave my husband a reprint with one puzzle from each year since the NYT puzzle started (1940s??).  Since he would never touch it, i did.  It was fun, both the puzzles and the other articles on each page (for most of the years, they just reprinted the whole page).  Those early ones were really hard, for lack of knowledge of the times, changing vocabulary, etc.

(This was a commercially prepared thing, not something the giver printed out.  Don't know where it would be available, though.)

What???? Badonkadonk isn't on the list?

bikefixed said:

What???? Badonkadonk isn't on the list?

 I think any word that gets more than a million google hits should be valid.

Anyway, you should get a couple of points just for the effort. That was a good one.

The Bee word list is kind of restrictive, I find.

drummerboy said:

 I think any word that gets more than a million google hits should be valid.

Anyway, you should get a couple of points just for the effort. That was a good one.

The Bee word list is kind of restrictive, I find.

 Uh huh. I'm always disappointed in how some science words are accepted and other, more common ones are not. First world problems...

tough one today-for me anyway

did you guys get a pangram?  ( just yes or no0no clues )

Not yet.

ETA: I just took another look and one pangram just bopped me on the head. It got me to amazing. Woo

I thought today's wasn't too bad. I got a pangram and made it to genius.

looked like it might be tough

got the pangram and got to amazing ( my goal)

My daughter more or less refuses to do the Spelling Bee because of the restrictive word lists. This might amuse those of you who agree. It’s from last week, so I assume the list has narrowed now. 

Today's bee is kind of tough. I got a bunch of words but no pangram.

And having said that, boom, there it is.

drummerboy said:

And having said that, boom, there it is.

 lots of words-no pangram yet.  maybe I will have a boom moment

and sorry, but lepton is most definitely a word.

I got it!

or at least one of them 

drummerboy said:

and sorry, but lepton is most definitely a word.

 You can email them 

2 or 3 words i thought should count today, including lepton.  Thanks (i guess) to this thread, i'm now hooked on Spelling Bee in addition to crossword and acrostic.  Having a little trouble getting used to reusing letters, but all good except for some snarling about their word list.

oots said:

drummerboy said:

and sorry, but lepton is most definitely a word.

 You can email them 

 I did once. I just got a canned response and then nothing else.