Well it took a while, but the WSJ puzzle blog is updated with the Rows Garden that was published Saturday. (if you have trouble with the Issuu plugin, try the PDF version instead). The Rows Gardens are probably the toughest puzzles in the Journal's rotation, and this one is no exception. Look for some twists in the cluing, and solving will be more fun. I tried working the one in my print copy of the paper yesterday, got a few words, and managed to put a hole through the paper with my pencil, so I started again today on a fresh copy from the PDF. Worth the wait. If you need hints, there's a community of solvers over at the WSJ blog to help.
Canadian Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago, so Falcon's elves were on duty, posting the Cox and Rathvon cryptic in the National Post on time. Falcon tells us it is "A Family Affair."
In case you missed it, the post on the December Harper's puzzle is below.
And it looks like we will have to say "sayonara" to the New York Times variety puzzles in Sunday Brunch. The reconfiguration of the Times crossword site that gave us a Java version of last week's acrostic (hooray!) put this week's puzzle (a cryptic by Jeffrey Harris: I assume it is a block cryptic, as that's the Times' usual form) behind the paywall (boooo!). I don't subscribe to the puzzle site, and I get my paper at the office, so I won't be able to do the puzzle until Mondays now. Hope the Times reconsiders.
I wrote the NYT to complain, and got back cut-and-paste boilerplate stating this was all happening on July 9. Wrote back pointing out (among other things) that the variety puzzles were available until two weeks ago, and that the magazine says specifically that they are free online. Haven't heard back.
ReplyDeleteJust to follow up my previous, the NYT replied with yet more cut-and-paste boilerplate for several messages, and today, finally changed the magazine front page so that the "free" statement no longer appears there. I give up.
ReplyDeleteThe crumbums....
ReplyDeleteWell, we still have some other alternatives to keep us busy between The Nation puzzles. Thanks for giving the NYT a piece of your mind.
Actually, I just sent them a copy. Can't afford to be giving that stuff away.
ReplyDeleteYou know how the Turing test involves a computer that is indistinguishable from a human being? If there is such a thing as a "reverse" Turing test, NYT has it nailed.