Thanks for setting up this site - I hope people *will* use it to comment on the runtpuzzles. Usually, I can't get to the puzzles the day they're announced on @Rex's blog, so I really appreciate your having created the puzzle site that makes it easy for me to do them at some later point. But then it's difficult to go back and try to find the comments on any particular runtpuz at @Rex's
Seconding the vote of thanks for all you're doing for us. I've gotten kind of hooked into doing some runts, whenever I'm in the mood for a snack. After the 1st one I did [MnA's that was blank around the equator] I was thrown for a loop, and didnt return for a while, but now I'm hooked, and even beginning to recognize style difference.
I also thought your post to Zeke was very good. Hope the Numman isn't off grinding his teeth and punching walls, somewhere...
As far as having a separate site is concerned, I'm divided. It's great having a site to find the runts, but having to divide comments between locations when you're talking roughly to the same group of people...I dunno. It feels like a little too much fragmentation, of myself, anyway.
I guess I'm of the opinion that the exposure is good for the rank and file. Even if they don't realize they'd miss Cletus if he drove off in his pickup.
And you never know when you'll pick up converts.
Can we open this window a little wider? It's like peering out the Venetian blinds.
M&A is away, ma Muse is away, r.alph is waiting to see how things shake out, and Numinous is I know not where. I'm missing the infusion, and don't think Zeke should be calling the shots; there was no great outpouring of support that I was aware of.
Getting time to take back the street, tho I suppose it can wait till all the troops return
I thought Zeke offered a respectful, measured suggestion---especially if he's close enough to Michael to have served as substitute commentator. I also went to school on his clever sidestep of what I perceived as r.alph's effort to entrap him with that battery of questions. Zeke wasn't arrogant enough to suggest that he ruled the roost; he simply believes the NYT Crossword Blog should stay true to that underlying raison d’etre, rather than become a (runt)blog within a blog.
"Let's see what happens with this," says r.alph of this blog, and the answer so far seems to be: Not much. You've got about, what, five or six regulars who eat up an inordinate amount of Michael’s territory engaging in chat about something thousands of others don’t much care about. As chefbea wrote a couple weeks ago when two separate puzzle discussions were going on at once: “In so many of the posts, I have no idea what’s going on.”
You say, “… having to divide comments between locations when you're talking roughly to the same group of people...I dunno. It feels like a little too much fragmentation, of myself, anyway….I guess I'm of the opinion that the exposure is good for the rank and file.”
Yikes. Speaking of arrogance---you presume that you know what’s best for all of us po’ hayseeds? I get that there’s not as much personal reward in writing creatively for a small handful of folks here instead of the masses on the main blog; but there have been plenty of sales plugs presented to what tends to be a pretty well-educated group of participants, and if they want to come play with you here, they can.
I love a good segue on the blog. As long as the comments have some tangential connection to the puzzle, the anecdotes and asides (and, yes, Seinfeld quotes) engender some entertaining discussions, debates and lessons. But I believe that runtpuzzes are a massive sidestep away from the intended purpose of Michael’s effort.
So when a new runt appears, perhaps post one link a day from there to here as a simple reminder of your existence, and maybe your recruiting efforts will increase participation---without shanghai-ing the keystone blog itself.
That's a bad precedent for a young blog, r.alph. Both your comment and mine offered thoughts that were pertinent beyond the two of us. If your personal judgment is all that stands between me and unnecessary censorship, I'll be leaving. Please re-post those comments.
I agreed with you that Zeke's response was measured and respectful and pointed out that mine could be said to have the same qualities given the incendiary nature of his original post.
I then mentioned that one of my interests in participating in this blog was to see how a blog community evolves over time. To do this I have written software to retrieve all blogs entries submitted since 2006 and am developing software to mine the data.
I used this software to examine Zeke's claim that he was an early poster and that he had filled in for Rex. I found that the first post from someone named Zeke was in 2010, four years after the blog began, and that there was no evidence that he had ever filled in for Rex. I pointed out that this was inconclusive because he may have participated earlier using a different name. I said that I thought it was rude to post this on the Rex Parker blog and asked your opinion.
You replied that you were surprised that someone would claim to be a friend of Rex's if that were not true but that you still agreed with his request to limit runt posts.
I removed my post because I felt that it was premature to report results from running the software because it is so new. I removed your comment, not because there was anything I disagreed with, but because it made no sense after I removed my comment.
@Bob - I meant to erase that post and put an asterisk by two clues that I forgot to put and then repost. 1A and one other clue need an asterisk. Oh well. You're a good sport!!!
Remember that commercial, "If you think it's butter, but it's not. . ."
@loren Clocked 3:41 which is just under the world record for the mile run. Perhaps I could call this the world record for a smile. The link is now on runtpuz.org even though this is dangerously good for a runtpuz. Just be sure to keep using two letter words. Your clue for SNEEZE is priceless.
Do either of your kids do xwords? Would they like to blog about it?
@r.alph: Like this. May just establish my territory, here (semi-)permanently, instead. We are headed back out soon, for another trip -- this time to some lodge way way way up N. Gonna learn to make pretty pictures, there. And stay in one spot and relax.
This oughta keep runtpuzzlers puzzled, until I return. It is solvable, I think, once y'all figure out the right approach...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4940&id2=166
@muse: itsnot. har.
p.s. re: NYT Puzs. Haven't been able to work any, while on the road. So, don't dare look at that "other" blog (much), or I'll get my solves spoilt.
Hope everyone is doin well. Peace on Earth, good will toward desperate ??-answers.
I look forward to your return. Rexville without you is like NPR without Garrison Keillor!
Your latest runt is a masterpiece. It definitely plays with the idea of a checked square. I am amazed that you got it to work out without any two letter answers. The desperation was in the mind of the solver, not in yours! Possible title: Dial D for Desperation.
BTW, shouldn't the clue for 4D be {Stop being such ___! [4ccv]}? (lose the a)
Oopsy. Yep, U are right, about that 4-D clue. Improved runtpuz version would thus be...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4944&id2=827
As always, no refunds. Thanx. U solved this nasty little runt pretty fast, btw. I had figured it to be one of the hardest solves I'd ever served up. Relieved to hear that it is at least doable.
I confess that I needed to reveal incorrect letters a couple of times to see what was going on. Looking at your corrected version I saw 2D {50-500-10, in a way??} which I missed the first time. This is the relic that makes this a true runt puzzle.
Hey all! @r.alph was cool enough to send me the link to his little slice of internet here! It's great to have a place to go to discuss all thing runty! I have made a few myself. Now I know they are not as good as the Founder of the Runts M&A, or even as good as LMS, but I think they are good for a few seconds of fun! I will put the title of the first two next to the links, as I couldn't figure out how to get the titles to go with the puzzles. @r.alph finally explained the procedure to me, I am keeping his e-mails about that cause I will forget in the future! Anyway, here they are: www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4669&id2=141 Title: Is This The End? www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4807&id2=405 Title: Combilations www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4969&id2=515 Enjoy!?
Wanted TI for {Symbol for the chemical element tantalum [Don't overthink this one]}. The clue is misleading because that was the first answer I thought of. Had to do some more thinking after that to get the answer you wanted.
The "Runts ᴙ Us" puzzle works on a lot of levels. Some mathematicians would argue that 6D is the opposite of [3D, 14D, 1A, 12A]. But then again [3D, 14D, 1A, 12A] is a description of how the completed puzzle might look to RP.
@r.alph: yep. Hope @Q comments, so M&A can see if this was what she had on her mind, at all. Her feedback is always so... shapely.
Hard for the M&A to rip these puppies out in less than an hour, but was in the midst of packin up the art supplies and socks for our big class trip, so had to rush er a might. Hope I didn't mess it up, too bad...
Did someone turn out the lights when M&A went on vacation? It's awfully quiet around here.
@Darrin - Nice work on your pan runt! The clock said 19:25, but I stopped to make a sandwich mid-solve, so I'm rounding down to 55 seconds. That's probably about right. ;-) FYI - I think the clue for 17-Down could have used an apostrophe. I was looking for something like "OW".
I am thinking about putting up a runt or two of my own one of these days. Does anyone know where I can find detailed instructions on how to put it up at xwordinfo? I remember M&A posted something once that went over my head. Since I scratch my runtz out on graph paper, there is no electronic version. Do I need to code it the way M&A tried to explain in his May 25 posts on Rex's site? If so, I'm gonna need a little more help. @r.alph - perhaps, if the info doesn't already exist somewhere else, the FAQ section at runtpuz.org might be a good spot to post directions for dummies like me.
Hi Ray, Welcome aboard. Let's do this to get you started. You email me your puzzle in any format you want. Click the r.alphbunker link to get my email address. I will then describe how you can convert your format to a format that Across Lite can understand. Once you get it in .puz format we can discuss what options you have available to you to get it up on the xwordinfo.com site.
Thanks for the quick response! I still need to clue-up the few that I've put together. Maybe I'll have time this weekend to finish them. I'll try to send you something in the next few days. Would you mind if I sent them with blank grids so that you can test-solve them for me? I'd like to make sure the desperation is on-target.
Welcome back, M&A! If you missed it, you should check out Darrin the Roomonster’s Pan Runt. Ralph has it at runtpuz.org.
The clock said 6:19 on your latest (no sandwiches were involved during the solve today). Spent a lot of time head scratching over the geography clues. Terrific display of runt form at 9-across. Bravo!
Ralph was kind enough to lead me through the steps of getting a puzzle from paper into a .puz format so that I could torture you all with my first ever runtpuz. Thank you, Ralph!
Beware the constructor who needs three tries to number a 7x7 grid correctly.
I like runtpuzzes
ReplyDeleteThanks for setting up this site - I hope people *will* use it to comment on the runtpuzzles. Usually, I can't get to the puzzles the day they're announced on @Rex's blog, so I really appreciate your having created the puzzle site that makes it easy for me to do them at some later point. But then it's difficult to go back and try to find the comments on any particular runtpuz at @Rex's
ReplyDeleteSeconding the vote of thanks for all you're doing for us. I've gotten kind of hooked into doing some runts, whenever I'm in the mood for a snack. After the 1st one I did [MnA's that was blank around the equator] I was thrown for a loop, and didnt return for a while, but now I'm hooked, and even beginning to recognize style difference.
ReplyDeleteI also thought your post to Zeke was very good. Hope the Numman isn't off grinding his teeth and punching walls, somewhere...
As far as having a separate site is concerned, I'm divided. It's great having a site to find the runts, but having to divide comments between locations when you're talking roughly to the same group of people...I dunno. It feels like a little too much fragmentation, of myself, anyway.
I guess I'm of the opinion that the exposure is good for the rank and file. Even if they don't realize they'd miss Cletus if he drove off in his pickup.
And you never know when you'll pick up converts.
Can we open this window a little wider? It's like peering out the Venetian blinds.
Thnx again, rb
M&A is away, ma Muse is away, r.alph is waiting to see how things shake out, and Numinous is I know not where. I'm missing the infusion, and don't think Zeke should be calling the shots; there was no great outpouring of support that I was aware of.
ReplyDeleteGetting time to take back the street, tho I suppose it can wait till all the troops return
I offer a great outpouring of support for Zeke.
ReplyDeleteEvil
You would, Flyboy.
DeleteSoarThumb,
ReplyDeleteI thought Zeke offered a respectful, measured suggestion---especially if he's close enough to Michael to have served as substitute commentator. I also went to school on his clever sidestep of what I perceived as r.alph's effort to entrap him with that battery of questions. Zeke wasn't arrogant enough to suggest that he ruled the roost; he simply believes the NYT Crossword Blog should stay true to that underlying raison d’etre, rather than become a (runt)blog within a blog.
"Let's see what happens with this," says r.alph of this blog, and the answer so far seems to be: Not much. You've got about, what, five or six regulars who eat up an inordinate amount of Michael’s territory engaging in chat about something thousands of others don’t much care about. As chefbea wrote a couple weeks ago when two separate puzzle discussions were going on at once: “In so many of the posts, I have no idea what’s going on.”
You say, “… having to divide comments between locations when you're talking roughly to the same group of people...I dunno. It feels like a little too much fragmentation, of myself, anyway….I guess I'm of the opinion that the exposure is good for the rank and file.”
Yikes. Speaking of arrogance---you presume that you know what’s best for all of us po’ hayseeds? I get that there’s not as much personal reward in writing creatively for a small handful of folks here instead of the masses on the main blog; but there have been plenty of sales plugs presented to what tends to be a pretty well-educated group of participants, and if they want to come play with you here, they can.
I love a good segue on the blog. As long as the comments have some tangential connection to the puzzle, the anecdotes and asides (and, yes, Seinfeld quotes) engender some entertaining discussions, debates and lessons. But I believe that runtpuzzes are a massive sidestep away from the intended purpose of Michael’s effort.
So when a new runt appears, perhaps post one link a day from there to here as a simple reminder of your existence, and maybe your recruiting efforts will increase participation---without shanghai-ing the keystone blog itself.
Evil
Some posts removed, r.alph?
ReplyDeleteYes. I removed the last one which was essentially a personal communication with you.
DeleteThat's a bad precedent for a young blog, r.alph. Both your comment and mine offered thoughts that were pertinent beyond the two of us. If your personal judgment is all that stands between me and unnecessary censorship, I'll be leaving. Please re-post those comments.
ReplyDeleteOK. The comments I removed were the following:
ReplyDeleteI agreed with you that Zeke's response was measured and respectful and pointed out that mine could be said to have the same qualities given the incendiary nature of his original post.
I then mentioned that one of my interests in participating in this blog was to see how a blog community evolves over time. To do this I have written software to retrieve all blogs entries submitted since 2006 and am developing software to mine the data.
I used this software to examine Zeke's claim that he was an early poster and that he had filled in for Rex. I found that the first post from someone named Zeke was in 2010, four years after the blog began, and that there was no evidence that he had ever filled in for Rex. I pointed out that this was inconclusive because he may have participated earlier using a different name. I said that I thought it was rude to post this on the Rex Parker blog and asked your opinion.
You replied that you were surprised that someone would claim to be a friend of Rex's if that were not true but that you still agreed with his request to limit runt posts.
I removed my post because I felt that it was premature to report results from running the software because it is so new. I removed your comment, not because there was anything I disagreed with, but because it made no sense after I removed my comment.
Thanks for keeping me honest!
I thought it was a fine Monday theme! Perfect reveal, IMO. So is YOU FORGOT ME a NYT debut? Nice!
ReplyDeleteStill in Maine with horrible internet service, but it's up now. Here's one I've had in my back pocket for a while. . .
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4934&id2=175
Re: your latest runtpuz - Just under four minutes for me. Are your allergies acting up out there in the woods? :>)
Delete@Bob - I meant to erase that post and put an asterisk by two clues that I forgot to put and then repost. 1A and one other clue need an asterisk. Oh well. You're a good sport!!!
ReplyDeleteRemember that commercial, "If you think it's butter, but it's not. . ."
Ignore the first link and use this one. I fixed it.
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4936&id2=505
@loren
ReplyDeleteClocked 3:41 which is just under the world record for the mile run. Perhaps I could call this the world record for a smile. The link is now on runtpuz.org even though this is dangerously good for a runtpuz. Just be sure to keep using two letter words. Your clue for SNEEZE is priceless.
Do either of your kids do xwords? Would they like to blog about it?
@Loren
ReplyDeleteNew link is posted on runtpuz.org.
NS could be clued {*An end to allergens??}
LO {*There would be no lifeblood without it??}
These might be classified as themeorhea in other contexts but not on runtpuz.org .
Man. U sure have to jump thru a lot of strange hoops, to post yer first comment here. Maybe easier, after this test one...
ReplyDeleteM&A
OK! Test worked.
ReplyDelete@r.alph: Like this. May just establish my territory, here (semi-)permanently, instead.
We are headed back out soon, for another trip -- this time to some lodge way way way up N. Gonna learn to make pretty pictures, there. And stay in one spot and relax.
This oughta keep runtpuzzlers puzzled, until I return. It is solvable, I think, once y'all figure out the right approach...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4940&id2=166
@muse: itsnot. har.
p.s. re: NYT Puzs. Haven't been able to work any, while on the road. So, don't dare look at that "other" blog (much), or I'll get my solves spoilt.
Hope everyone is doin well.
Peace on Earth, good will toward desperate ??-answers.
M&A
I look forward to your return. Rexville without you is like NPR without Garrison Keillor!
DeleteYour latest runt is a masterpiece. It definitely plays with the idea of a checked square. I am amazed that you got it to work out without any two letter answers. The desperation was in the mind of the solver, not in yours! Possible title: Dial D for Desperation.
BTW, shouldn't the clue for 4D be {Stop being such ___! [4ccv]}? (lose the a)
Oopsy. Yep, U are right, about that 4-D clue. Improved runtpuz version would thus be...
Deletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4944&id2=827
As always, no refunds.
Thanx. U solved this nasty little runt pretty fast, btw. I had figured it to be one of the hardest solves I'd ever served up. Relieved to hear that it is at least doable.
M&A
I confess that I needed to reveal incorrect letters a couple of times to see what was going on. Looking at your corrected version I saw 2D {50-500-10, in a way??} which I missed the first time. This is the relic that makes this a true runt puzzle.
DeleteHey all! @r.alph was cool enough to send me the link to his little slice of internet here! It's great to have a place to go to discuss all thing runty! I have made a few myself. Now I know they are not as good as the Founder of the Runts M&A, or even as good as LMS, but I think they are good for a few seconds of fun! I will put the title of the first two next to the links, as I couldn't figure out how to get the titles to go with the puzzles. @r.alph finally explained the procedure to me, I am keeping his e-mails about that cause I will forget in the future! Anyway, here they are:
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4669&id2=141 Title: Is This The End?
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4807&id2=405 Title: Combilations
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4969&id2=515
Enjoy!?
@Darrin: Welcome aboard, matey.
ReplyDelete@Q: As per yer reQUest:
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=4986&id2=881
M&A
Wanted TI for {Symbol for the chemical element tantalum [Don't overthink this one]}. The clue is misleading because that was the first answer I thought of. Had to do some more thinking after that to get the answer you wanted.
DeleteThe "Runts ᴙ Us" puzzle works on a lot of levels. Some mathematicians would argue that 6D is the opposite of [3D, 14D, 1A, 12A]. But then again [3D, 14D, 1A, 12A] is a description of how the completed puzzle might look to RP.
@r.alph: yep. Hope @Q comments, so M&A can see if this was what she had on her mind, at all. Her feedback is always so... shapely.
DeleteHard for the M&A to rip these puppies out in less than an hour, but was in the midst of packin up the art supplies and socks for our big class trip, so had to rush er a might. Hope I didn't mess it up, too bad...
Au revederci, amigo.
M&A
@MA
DeleteHere is a way to build a fractal runt puzzle
1. Create 4 2x2 runts and publish them.
2. After the runt world has appreciated 2x2s put them together to form another runt puzzle and publish that one: a runt made up of runts.
For example, the four runts might be (you fill in the clues)
EN
XO
BA
IN
CT
MI
LA
OX
They can then be put together to form a fifth puzzle: E.G.
EN.BA.CT.LA
XO.IN.MI.OX
A more ambitious one would not have any black squares
@ M&A... loved it! Never mind my mind.
ReplyDeleteDid someone turn out the lights when M&A went on vacation? It's awfully quiet around here.
ReplyDelete@Darrin - Nice work on your pan runt! The clock said 19:25, but I stopped to make a sandwich mid-solve, so I'm rounding down to 55 seconds. That's probably about right. ;-) FYI - I think the clue for 17-Down could have used an apostrophe. I was looking for something like "OW".
I am thinking about putting up a runt or two of my own one of these days. Does anyone know where I can find detailed instructions on how to put it up at xwordinfo? I remember M&A posted something once that went over my head. Since I scratch my runtz out on graph paper, there is no electronic version. Do I need to code it the way M&A tried to explain in his May 25 posts on Rex's site? If so, I'm gonna need a little more help. @r.alph - perhaps, if the info doesn't already exist somewhere else, the FAQ section at runtpuz.org might be a good spot to post directions for dummies like me.
Thanks, and keep the runtz coming!
Hi Ray,
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard. Let's do this to get you started. You email me your puzzle in any format you want. Click the r.alphbunker link to get my email address. I will then describe how you can convert your format to a format that Across Lite can understand. Once you get it in .puz format we can discuss what options you have available to you to get it up on the xwordinfo.com site.
Thanks for the quick response! I still need to clue-up the few that I've put together. Maybe I'll have time this weekend to finish them. I'll try to send you something in the next few days. Would you mind if I sent them with blank grids so that you can test-solve them for me? I'd like to make sure the desperation is on-target.
DeleteGood idea. Use underscores for white squares and periods for black squares.
DeleteVacation's Over...
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=5225&id2=503
M&A
Welcome back, M&A! If you missed it, you should check out Darrin the Roomonster’s Pan Runt. Ralph has it at runtpuz.org.
ReplyDeleteThe clock said 6:19 on your latest (no sandwiches were involved during the solve today). Spent a lot of time head scratching over the geography clues. Terrific display of runt form at 9-across. Bravo!
Ralph was kind enough to lead me through the steps of getting a puzzle from paper into a .puz format so that I could torture you all with my first ever runtpuz. Thank you, Ralph!
Beware the constructor who needs three tries to number a 7x7 grid correctly.
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=5228&id2=440
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=5322&id2=319
ReplyDelete