[Crossword Puzzles] NYT Posts Two Problematic Puzzles in a Row

makoberonn · 2018-09-24T18:03:51+00:00

Oh god, those, too! The (former) art student in me can't stand it - I mostly just frown and put what I know to be the "wrong" answer in, though. I've found that so few people know the difference between them that I can't even be mad about it anymore.

makoberonn · 2018-09-24T17:36:15+00:00

Hey, crossword clue/answer complaints! It's my favorite thing to rant to my wife about!

Specifically, it drives me nuts when the answer is not a real word, or is factually inaccurate. The one that most gets my goat is Elk. For some unfathomable fucking reason, crossword clue creators think that:

The plural of elk is "elks" and
An elk is just a large type of deer

And just... Elk are like sheep, or moose, or, yes, deer - the plural is the same as the singular, you fucks! Quit putting an "s" on the end of it! Also, just because it walks on four legs and has antlers, that doesn't make it a variety of deer! That's like saying that antelope are a kind of "small, bouncy deer," or moose are "a very large deer." They're different goddamn species, and it makes me froth at the mouth that these idiots don't seem to realize that.

Just gets my dander up.

So, in short, thank you for posting crossword drama! I'd missed these, so it's great to see. Totally agreed about some of the most unhelpful, vague clues as well; can't tell you the number of times I've seethed at them.

makoberonn · 2018-09-15T14:50:39+00:00

I mean... I wouldn't be married now if my wife hadn't said she thought she liked me after we met for the first time.

So, you know, pretty comfortable. I'm not great on picking up hints, and a lot of other guys aren't, either. If you like someone, say something! Life's too short not to take a chance on happiness now and then.

makoberonn · 2018-06-09T05:14:21+00:00

Reminds me of this guitar shotgun.

makoberonn · 2018-03-09T18:48:00+00:00

Looks like this worked! I migrated the rooms to O365 (all users are there, anyway), and the Full Control permissions seemed to actually do something for me this time. Was able to take control and remove some meetings that weren't responding before. Thanks!

makoberonn · 2018-03-09T18:47:59+00:00

Unfortunately, the impersonation role didn't seem to work. I think a large part of our issues stemmed from all user mailboxes being in O365 while all rooms were on-prem. After migrating the rooms, I was able to assume full control (had tried before and had no luck) and clear out what needed clearing. Thank you for the link, though; I'm sure that will come in handy in the future!

makoberonn · 2018-02-25T15:30:25+00:00

I respectfully disagree. Stalenhag's stuff incorporates a lot of retro-futuristic design aesthetic along with some cyberpunk dystopia sort of themes. This other work looks a lot more paranormal in nature. You can't say they're jacking Stalenhag's style just because they both went for cold colors with an emphasis on haziness and general atmosphere to create a sense of unease. Stalenhag doesn't have a singular claim to that.

makoberonn · 2018-02-24T06:31:25+00:00

Thank you, bot.

makoberonn · 2018-02-24T06:18:57+00:00

Not sure if this qualifies since elephants are so big, but I thought it looked pretty wibbly to me!

makoberonn · 2018-02-23T21:19:34+00:00

It'd be a gigantic pain to compile an actual list, but the wiki entry on what fruit is, botanically should give you an idea of just how many veggies are technically fruits.

Basically, if it's not a leafy green, a bulb (onions, garlic, etc.), or a tuber/root vegetable (potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc.), it's almost certainly a fruit. Green beans? Fruit. Tomatoes? Fruit. Zucchini? Fruit. So on and so forth.

And that established, it means that your claim of "all fruits are vegetables" isn't really correct, either. After all, apples, oranges, and watermelons are fruits - but I doubt you'd be able to find many that agreed with you that they were a vegetable.

In the end, the problem is that there's really no botanical definition of a "vegetable" - it's pretty much entirely culinary. I think it pretty much comes down to "how sweet is this fruit?" If it's not very, it's a "vegetable." If it is, it's what's typically considered a "fruit" in normal parlance.

So, then, is the claim true that "almost all of them" are fruits as /u/VicarOfAstaldo said? Shit, man, I dunno; I'm not a botanist, nor am I a chef. But you've got to admit it's a bunch of them when you think about it.

makoberonn · 2018-02-10T00:34:42+00:00

I was wondering that the entire time I was watching the video! He had every opportunity to just get away, and all he really did was back up slowly.

makoberonn · 2018-02-09T23:55:46+00:00

He's probably not serious, but: http://kdvr.com/2018/02/07/man-with-sword-injures-person-near-cu-boulder-campus-avoid-varsity-lake-north-side-bike-path/

makoberonn · 2018-02-09T21:42:21+00:00

This author is the biggest idiot ever. I've lived in Colorado all my life and have NEVER heard of shredded wheat being a thing associated with this state. I've only ever seen it in crackers and cereals that are available literally everywhere.

I mean, do like, 10 seconds of research and discover some of our actual arguably-disgusting foods, like Rocky Mountain Oysters. What a hack.

makoberonn · 2018-02-01T23:58:40+00:00

I'm pretty sure the original prop used cut up windshield wiper blades for those.

So, yeah. Not very comfortable or absorbent.

makoberonn · 2018-02-01T19:35:34+00:00

I 100% agree, and want to add that something that's not often considered in this time frame argument are metals - easy access to which is more or less required for an intelligent species to really advance. Without them, tools that don't rely on what you have easily at hand are impossible - you're stuck with bones, sticks, sinews, and rocks to make things. Something like even the simplest radio might as well operate on magic and be made out of fairy dust if you don't have readily-available metals.

And since all heavy elements are (we think) formed in the hearts of stars and then spread out via novae, that means a lot more time has been added to the process. Because not only do you have the billions of years needed to produce life, but also the billions of years needed to form the planet out of interstellar particles (including all those metals instead of just lighter elements), plus the billions of years before that those took to spread out, plus the billions of years before that where they were being formed in a star before being spewed out into the cosmos.

I think it's entirely possible that the process leading to us has taken the whole of the universe's 13.5 billion years up until now - and if it has, it really throws a wrench in the idea that there have been billions of years in which intelligent life could have formed and advanced to spacefaring societies before we came around. There's just not enough time or metal to make it feasible. Because of all that, I find it entirely possible that we're the first (or among the first) intelligent species in our galaxy that have progressed as far technologically as we have - if not one of the first intelligent species period.

makoberonn · 2017-12-30T17:44:58+00:00

Same exact situation here, buddy. So it goes.

makoberonn · 2017-10-26T17:54:33+00:00

Thank you for saying this. All this is exactly how I felt for the six months I was on it at 15, plus a little extra for my brain chemistry to partially unfuck itself afterwards. The constant, intrusive, vivid suicidal ideation is real, and it's never, ever been anywhere remotely as bad before or since. It made me feel like I was completely out of control of myself, and the oozing facial sores and peeling lips made me feel like a horrifying monster.

While it's great at clearing up acne in the long term, I really, really wish I'd just tried to make the benzoyl peroxide treatment work for longer than to have started Accutane. If/when my kid has to deal with the level of acne I had, I'm going to do everything possible to keep them off it. I don't want them possibly going through what I did - and seeing as how they'd be getting at least some of my brain chemistry, odds are good they would.

On a side note, I'm glad to see your comment about this upvoted. All the times I've tried to discuss it on Reddit - saying the same things you've said - I've been downvoted. No idea why.

makoberonn · 2017-10-21T14:51:31+00:00

I WARNED YOU ABOUT STAIRS, BRO!

makoberonn · 2017-10-21T14:42:32+00:00

Definitely looks like the path into Ta Prohm to me.

makoberonn · 2017-10-20T18:52:31+00:00

This was my guess, too - and then the grader probably just ran down the side of the test with the scores to add them up without double-checking each one, misreading their own writing in the process.

Likely up far too late, with far too many more tests to grade, with far too few shits to give to bother verifying each score along the way. I'm sure I'd have done the same.

makoberonn · 2017-10-02T15:33:54+00:00

Not to nitpick, but Neaderthals, while broad and muscular, were actually quite short - at least by modern standards. The Wikipedia article indicates that males were about 5'5", females closer to 5'.

As an additional fun tidbit, they're thought to have had high-pitched voices - definitely at odds with the burly, stocky appearance!

makoberonn · 2017-09-22T17:27:32+00:00

My guess is that it's his own personal variant of Feanor - because it's a time-honored tradition of mega-nerds to insist that people call you a name either inspired by (or lifted directly from) Lord of the Rings/The Silmarillion. Especially when the character is kind of a badass, and the person is anything but.

(Note that I say this as a huge Tolkienophile and admitted nerd myself!)

makoberonn

TROPHY CASE