@M & A If you enter the query in google distance between fairfield ia and X where X is a city and state, e.g. natick ma the distance between the two cities will be returned, in this case 1,223.1 miles
I would be interested in how far the closest location on your trip is to fairfield.
Well, U sure R nice & neighborly, but believe me, not even close. Kinda think if U ever met me, you'd be in for a major letdown. Mystique is everything, in the M&A biz. Plus then U also have the problem that I am not only Anonymous, but also Masked -- so, as advertised, it's hard to ferret out the facts from all the info M&A blathers out. A runtpuz within an enigma... sorry to be so weird, but there it is. Too many notes to make a coherent opera.
And now to digress... I've fired off all my Rex bullets, but then @Casco said something about DODODODOLLLLLLLL over there, that whizzed way over my head. Nested dolls? Dodos ate els? U-shaped toys?
M&A "There Ain't Much of a Pony in This Pile of Manure"
Mon Oct 12 NYT Mini http://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=6977&id2=464
KF matured a lot over the weekend. It can now upload and download solutions.
I have decided to abandon my original plan to let solvers attach their online id to the solutions they upload. Assigning unique names requires a password and a password requires the ability to reset the password if the solver forgets it and this requires emailing something to the solver which requires an email address which some would consider an invasion of privacy.
So I am going to do it the way that xwordinfo does it. After you upload your solution KF will display the URL to use to get the solution. You can post this URL wherever you like and you don't have to tell KF anything about yourself.
Has something gone haywire? I just did the Sunday mini; the whole 5x5 grid *had* to be right... but the timer kept on ticking... Then the 'reveal incorrect' lit up the whole 5x5 grid. Nothing happens with 'reveal correct word'..
It appears that xwordinfo.com is no longer including the answers to our puzzles when we download them. It is time that we switch to the KF server to store the puzzles. This will be done in the next couple of weeks.
We should be very appreciative of the generosity of xwordinfo.com in hosting our puzzles. Without them there would probably be no runt puzzles!
@r.alph: I see what U mean... all the features of the Xword Info Solver that make use of the puz's solution are not working correctly. Also, no congrats, when U finish solving correctly. Row rent. I wonder if this was by choice, or if they just have a temporary hitch in their program's giddyup?
I'll hold up on issuing more runts, until things improve.
Regarding the missing answers, my guess is that it is a deliberate attempt to discourage using xwordinfo.com as a server for puzzles meant for general consumption rather than testing.
Fortunately I made a backup of all your runts a couple of weeks ago while they still had answers and have moved them to my server where they are accessable from KF For example, to view the classic "If Thin U Win (If Thick No Trick)" puzzle, do the following runtpuz.org Click "Crowd sourcing runtpuzzes" link at the top Copy http://sanskritlibrary.com/kf/ThinUWin.json into the text box and click Fetch puzzle. You should see the big U and all the answers should be available
Unfortunately, you created the following four puzzles after I did the back up Keepfinger Exercise Mixed Doubles Beyond Thunderdome Nanosecond Noodle Nudger.
I hope that you still have the .puz versions of those puzzles.
I will add the ability for you to upload puzzles to KF just like you have been doing with xwordinfo.com. Another possibility is to create a DropBox account and put your puzzles there for me to download.
Well, U could be spot-on right about the "deliberate attempt" angle. If there is anything they would probably want to discourage, it would be the likes of them weirdball M&A runtpuzs. Only thing is, you'd think that would make things a whole lot harder for all those testers, too, not knowing if their answers were correct, and whatnot. Har -- always a hoot, when the baby gets tossed out with the dirty bathwater. Still have all my runt.puz files, tho.
M&A
p.s. Maybe a real good thing, that the folks at xwordinfo intervened. M&A was contemplatin a dreaded "M et A Runt World Series" collection, with runtmeta contest included. Woulda made the horrific ebola epidemic look like a picnic...
@M & A Testers could be given the answers in a separate email. This would be easy since presumably a constructor would know the email addresses of the testers.
A constructor who puts a puzzle up for general distribution can't do that.
True. But in that case, I'd think the constructioneer could just email testers the .puz file, and make things simpler for everybody. I'm probably missing somethin, here.
Still think it would be strange for xwordinfo to continue to offer a Solver program where several of its features no longer work as advertised. Hopefully they'll bother to explain to their subscribers what's going on, at some point.
Ahar... The Shortzmeister says that there are parts of a hidden meta message in each of this week's NYT crosswords. Maybe the hidden message will explain what is up with the Xword Info Solver program?
@Leapfinger Possibly, but what weakens that hypothesis is the answers are not scrambled in Across Lite. So why are they hiding them in xwordinfo.com. Usually contest puzzles are.
@M and A AFAIK, Across Lite is Windows only. I had to write my own program to run it on a Mac.
@r....alph, A-L is a cold, heartless and entirely separate entity, knows little and cares less about NYT's puny little contests; changes tracks for no man or mouse. OTOH, xwordinfo plays nice with us. chen, chen!
Not a weak hypothesis a tall; just a Monday one. There may be another on Tues.
@Leapfinger You are right. Here is what Jeff Chen said in his comments on xwordinfo.com yesterday:
Jeff Chen notes: Contest week! Jim and I decided to keep everything quiet until the contest is over, including the grid solutions. I doubt we'd give anything away by publishing all the clues and answers, but this method better preserves the mystery.
@M & A Check out this cartoon: http://mumde.net/runtpuz/ThinU.gif
1. Dude. U musta got hold of a real bum copy of Across-Lite. M&A has been runnin it (as-is) on the Mac for years and years.
2. U are a real good artist. Loved the "Weeject Cafe" ref. Thanx. And if U didn't do the drawin, thanx to whoever did. Darn near more clever than the day-um runtpuz was. thUmbsUp.
3. Permanently Masked dudes have developed ways to deal with cinnamon rolls. Simple evolution, really. Most of these techniques Will get U thrown outta Chez Shortz, however.
M & A I need to fact check my posts! My guess is that Across Lite was originally only for Windows. The .puz format is a proprietary format that the company has not prevented other programs from using. There was a rumor a while ago that they were going to require payment for it but that has not happened. Now that I have my own crossword puzzle software, I can invent my own format if necessary. This means that runt puzzes will always be free.
If you go to runtpuz.org there is a new link, "Across and Down - A Cartoonist Looks at Crosswords". I commissioned the cartoonist, Haley Gold, to do the cartoon. I told her to pick some puzzle and do a cartoon for it. I had no other requirements. What she came up with surprised me as much as it did you.
Cool. I didn't see it coming, right till I got close to finishing up in the NE corner.
Just kept plugging in what I thought looked like a word, as often as picking a word based on the clue. At some point, started hitting 'reveal incorrect', and it was kind of demoralizing that none of them were.
Yeah... In retrospect, it probably woulda been solver-friendlier, if I'd given a real clue for the full 6-D entry. Wouldn't cost the puzzle's theme anything.
So, if anyone needs it, here's a "better" 6-Down clue, on the "October Fest" puz: DOWN 6. Advance to the rear
Runtpuz desperation is often confused with Saturday-level thinking. I just noticed that I misspelt "hidalgo" in the 4-D clue, btw. (Runtpuz spelling is also often confused, period.) Corrected version: www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7364&id2=884
Amazin, that all seven of the themers in this runtpuz happened to be seven letters long (with "Tokyo"). Of course, 49 letters of theme material in a 7x7 runtpuz can lead to some of the other fill bein kinda... oh, what's the word?...
You are getting better and better! The penny dropped at the mountain and my posture improved! http://mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/xwrunt03.html In an act of sheer desperation you have combined an "acrostic" with a crossword puzzle.
Re: Jumbo Downs r.alph movie: wow. Looked like a cat chasin a laser beam, for quite awhile. Evidently no r.alph comments were/are fit to print.
Well, I showed this puz to my PuzEatinSpouse last night, and she thought the whole deal was unfair and disgustin. So, figured I was on the right track.
This solve might possibly rank right up there with entombment a la "Cask of Amontillado". Congrats to anyone, like niceguy @r.alph, who hangs in there long enough to figure it all out.
I need to add an emergency comment feature to my camera. Now, I can only enter comments when an answer is complete but that doesn't work here. Most of interesting stuff was in the acrosses and was uncommentable in my current system. Note that uncommentable is different no comment.
I could also add the ability to play back the movie in real time to get the full effect. This one would require 20 minutes to play back. Let me know if you want to show it as the opening act the next time you watch Memento.
har. Sorta like an openin Road Runner feature, if U could maybe calibrate er up to a four/five minute or so runtime. Could U add Looney Tunes music and intermittent crashin coyote sound effects?
Like the emergency comment feature idea. Sorta like a pilot-eject dealy.
How did you like my 9-A "Attempt (@ etc.)" clue's little sadistic jab? Unbelievably, I had originally flirted with the idea of not revealin the lengths and positions of **any** of the Across word pairs, in their clues. Could tell, by the look on PuzEatinSpouse's face, that that was too out there. Ended up leavin one non-reveal in 9-A, just to get a sample reaction. But, see? Even some dude that builds a torture chamber puz like this can still have a little mercy in his heart... [cue eerie organ music] ... [insert maniacal cackle, here] ...
Figure I really owe anyone doin the runts a no-brainer puz, after yesterday's desperado.
Here's one originally slated to be puz#1 at the 2015 ACPT, until I sent The Shortzmeister a picture of it. Ironically, it has certain features vaguely reminiscent of today's Trip Payne prized effort, over thar at the NYT; only, quite a bit runtier...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7398&id2=617
This will be an easier grid for the r.alph KFC movie-and-sausage-machine to digest, I betcha. Enjoy.
I will now take several days off, until an over-worked @r.alph has a chance to get the M&A runtpuz list back up-to-date. Plus, we had 1002 trickertreaters last night, so am feelin kinda stiff in both knees and the goodies-tossin elbow. Best costume: giant sponge bob. Gave little beggar #1000 extra candy, and told him why. He was thrilled.
This is the BEQ puzzle that was used as puzzle 5 in ACTP 2014 http://www.mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/SendInTheClones.puz Will shoot the latest runt and get the runt list up to date this afternoon. I don't want to be the one that delays the production of runts!
Wow, thanx, @r.alph. U are an Officer and a Gentleman!
Any runtpuz delays would be more the fault of every trickertreater after #500, than any of your doing. Hoping to recover fast -- am treatin sore elbow with Snickers.
Thanx again, @r.alph. Sorry U didn't like my rickshaw driver, much. I wanted to have one obvious clue in there, and it turned out to be the opposite. Next time, I'll name him Bad Phil. The "___ Island" idea was the first thing I immediately though of, for that entry; go figure.
Really liked the ACPT #5 puz, altho it put up a much much tougher fight, at my house, than the Trip Payne puz it replaced. The theme was really out there, but made perfect sense, once the right M&A neuron finally sputtered to life, within.
Galaxy Invaders [Source of Rex Parker's logo picture] Page 123... "Overcome with guilt, M&A got little sleep that night. He feared that he had done his solvers a horrendous injustice. AMITY and RIC will be easy pickins, he had told himself. He billed the runtpuz as a no-brainer. But, wrong again, M&A breath. True, the little puz remarkably had no E's, but the solvers were too pissed off to notice that. Somehow, I must try to set things right tomorrow, he vowed..."
The unchecked squares crashed my program. It is now fixed. The movie is not worth much because I did the puzzle about 20 times while debugging the program. Unfortunately I saw the 1A when the program first crashed. I tried not to use it during the solve but it helped me get the polite response and the {Dre or spienca} answer. Those were definitely the hardest part of the puzzle. The rest was easy as advertised.
The program will produce correct times now. It is becoming obvious that runt puzzles will play an important role in the development of this program. They are short so it doesn't take a lot of time to type them in (especially after the 20th time) and even then I can appreciate their creativity. This brings to mind Arthur Samuels checker playing program which was used to test the IBM 701, IBM's first commercial computer. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Samuel. He was still programming at 88!
Program messed up a couple of comments but retained most of them. Need to work on this.
I have been solving runts using my original program which does not run in a browser. I have started solving runts using the new program which runs in a browser. (runtpuz.org, click the first link and hope for the best). In the programming trade this is called eating your own dog food.
I am thinking of putting ads for Cinnabon on runtpuz.org for free and see if I get contacted by their legal department.
Still, a much better movie than that "Easy As It Can Be" flick. I'da given that "Easy..." movie one rotten tomato skin. Best part of any runtpuzs hafta be when they come out in movie form.
Getting this far off vision... It looks like... sorta like... yeah... could be... RuntPuz Film Festival 2015.
@r.alph: I tried adding my "constructor's" comments to a personal solve of the "Easy As It Can Be" runtpuz, but I don't think it took. Uploaded file didn't seem to have any solution entries in it. They musta turned to dogfood. Was worth a shot, tho. For what it's worth, the resulting file is at: http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=7
I think I know what happened. You did the puzzle, wrote comments and before you uploaded the solution you reloaded the puzzles. Or maybe you uploaded the solution, closed the program, thought of something else, displayed the grid again, added a comment and uploaded again. The grid appeared to filled corrrectly when you reran the program but unfortunately I am not saving the movie at the moment so the movie was lost. So if you do this again, you need to do it all without reloading the puzzle. This is clearly something that has to be fixed and I will do it soon.
I really appreciate you doing this. This was not your fault! If the program is designed correctly you should never lose anything.
BTW, I have all your comments in the database and will retrieve them and add them to a movie that I make of the solution.
Your comments are here: http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=3 I really hope that you will do this for every puzzle.
It would probably be best to wait until the movie survives across loads of the puzzle and the comments work correctly. It appears that the following bugs are plaguing comments
1. If you write comments, return to animation page and then go back to comments, some comments may not be there.
2. In order for the last comment you enter to be saved you need to click another answer in the answer list.
3. It would be nice to be able to use the arrow keys to move up and down the answer list.
If you do want to use the program to comment follow these steps.
1. Solve the puzzle 2. Playback the puzzle 3. Enter comments. Only do this once. I would recommend checking that they are correct before returning to the animation page 4. Upload the puzzle.
My day job is crying in the next room and I have to go attend to it. I will make the program more robust soon.
@r.alph: Thanx for saving my "Easy As" runtpuz movie comments from oblivion. U rule, rock and roll. The {Primrose or Penny} entry evidently didn't get a comment, because it was the last one I entered, and I didn't know the extra trick.
But, hey -- my missing comment there was just something like : "Intended to be a pretty easy get", so no real big loss.
Whoa what a coincidence. When all my comments disappeared, my reaction had been to go into the next room and cry. har.
Yes, M&A, I still attempt every runtpuz, although I only rarely finish one without cheating. Today's, for example, took me 8:08 and three "reveal word"s. (Still don't quite understand AH, but then I never quite understood the cited remark.)
There have been a few rare runts that I actually solved, but I haven't mentioned them at the time because, truthfully, I am very shy and when I come to this site I feel like I am trespassing where are I don't belong. You guys have your own language, you are skilled programmers and crossword constructors, and you make all these references to "movies" that I can never see when I follow the links.
But I am still here, hiding quietly in my anonymity (even though Loren has met me in person.)
I'm sure that r.alph would agree that trespassers are more than welcome.
Movie Tutorial: The movie app doesn't come with a whole lot of instructions, yet. After U bring up the link, here's a couple things that I know work: 1. Click on the "Fast forward" button. That runs the movie's animation part. 2. Click on any of the individual entries in the top list, to see the solver's comments for that entry.
Try it for my latest movie, which is a solve of my own runtpuz, with constructioneer commentary... http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=8
Hope that helps. And thanks again, for stickin with the runtz.
M&A
p.s. Joni Ernst just won the Senate seat from out of Iowa. She says she is going to Washington to "make em squeal". "Ah...," the squeelin runt replied.
Persevered and resisted the temptation of doing a reveal or show errors. The original version of this program did not give you the ability to do this. It's motto was "As helpful as a piece of paper"
Same question as Bob vis-a-vis AH
And Bob, I definitely hope to meet you someday. I think we are contemporaries (I was born in '46) and I really like your comments on the other blog. They indicate a clear thinker. People like that are good for me to be around!
Yeah, AH is sorta like a hesitant "hmmm" type of knowledge-digestion response, there. Controversy! Cool! Didn't mean to misspell "squealer", tho. And SS=Nazi special police force troops, circa WW II.
Version with corrected "squealer" spelling: www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7473&id2=681
@BobK and r,alph: That's really day-um weird. I'm a '46-er, also. Good year for crossword-solvers. Asked wife, if I could also be considered a "clear thinker". Her reply was that she might go as far as "clear stinker".
I've stopped telling people my age. If they ask I say I was born in 46 and let them do the math. In that way I only have to memorize one number instead of a new number every year.
I recently had a birthday (Bob Feller and I share the day) and a friend of mine who is aware of my interest in crosswords created a crossword puzzle for me using some software available on the web that creates a puzzle with no regard for unchecked squares. It had 111 unchecked squares and 16 checked squares. My initial reaction was that it was unsolvable but my wife was curiously insistent that I solve it and we sat down to do it together. It soon became obvious that all the answers were related to me somehow and they were clued with clues that had nothing to do with me. For example, 18A was {The writer of the original words for "Vidi sta sam ti uradio od pesme, mama"} which is Italian for "What have they done to my song, ma" and so the answer was MELANIE a misspelling of Melody who was an old girlfriend of mine. It turns out that he asked my wife for some biographical data on me and used it to fill the grid.
It was really a nice gesture that he probably spent a bit of time on. But there was one clue that was by far the worst clue I have ever encountered. It was {He breaks records} and I had _H_ _T_ _G_A_ to work with where he had placed the H in the grid as a "helpful" hint. All the blanks are unchecked squares. The answer? WHITTINGHAM who was a Canadian bicyclist who set several world records riding a recumbent bicycle. The connection with me is that I ride a recumbent but I had never heard of the bicyclist. I am sure he put this in the puzzle because I talked him into getting a recumbent and at that time probably mentioned that some speed record had been set on a recumbent because its efficient use of the thigh muscles, the largest muscles in the body.
I really would like to hang onto the puzzle so I asked him to shorten the space for the answer by one letter and clue it as {What a cape is for Superman?} with the answer BATTLEGEAR. This would refer to the time I spent in the Army and connect to a running joke that we have about my getting him a cape.
Same experience as Bob. What was so devious is that 10A {Certified level} worked without seeing what was going on. {Degree of amp usage?} was also greatly appreciated.
Please view the movie using the fast forward button. Stepping through the solution answer by answer will show the wrong clue for the answer.
Unfortunately my attempt to enter comments was thwarted by the program. This will definitely be fixed this weekend. My recommendation to M&A is to hold off with constructor commentary until Monday.
M&A Non-KFC Movie Comments: "Interstellar" was far-out good. I don't want to give away whatever it was the ending meant, so I won't say very much more. Only that I had to leave in the middle for a de-Coke-ing break, and had a hell of a time peein in five dimensions. Also, I'm pretty sure there was a singularity in my popcorn.
No more runtz, until r.alph can crank out them great movie comments again. (And there are a couple of the lil varmints in the quarantine pen, snortin and gruntin and lookin pretty stumpy. Chicken wire may not hold. Scares the M&A.)
Runt #162, 15 min, 3 sec, after a lot of "show wrong letters" and just asking for 4 D. Might pretend I could have gotten it eventually if I had any idea what 18 A meant! :>)
@BobK: I had feared #162 might be a bit feisty, because of the nature of the theme. Shoulda made 18-A clue easier; always hard to pass up a hardy belch at MacDonald's, tho. Thanx for tryin it out. At least U didn't just say FUHGEDDABOUDIT.
You should be able to enter your comments now and upload them. Each comment will be saved so you can load the puzzle again and make changes if you think of them. Your puzzles are now available in the Crowd Sourcing section.
I got tired of seeing the cursor bounce around when you hit fast forward. Today I am going replace that feature with a desperation map which colors squares with a color indicating how many times you passed through the square without entering its correct letter. The colors will range from light yellow to red with red squares being the desperate ones. The more red that you see, the more desperate the solve.
I am also going to add a summary area where you can type in an overall impression of the puzzle. I solved the "Weeject Ladder" puzzle and commented on individual clues but really felt that I needed to make some overall comments. When this is implemented I will post the link to my comments.
This was probably darn near the toughest puz with average word length 3.1 ever to be devised by man. What can I say. That "NYT Crossword from Hell" puz was clearly a bad influence on M&A...
Click the Overall button to get my overall impressions of the puzzle. This was written before I read your comments in an attempt to accurately reflect my state of mind as I solved the puzzle.
Click the Draw Desperation Map button to see my first attempt at visually displaying the difficulty of the puzzle. This was generated using partial data since when I solved the puzzle it did not generate all the information that this feature now uses. Desperation proceeds from white to yellow to orange to red. There is a lot of red.
@r.alph: I notice in your commentary that some of the letters were evidently never filled in. Is this because U did a reveal on those? I really like Desperation Map.
I don't know a whole lot about exam-writing, but I figure if you build a puzzle that no one can solve, you have failed to make a good puzzle. "Weeject Ladder" seems to have stunk up the place, in that regard.
A couple of extra postmortem notes: * In the M&A universe, any 3-letter word is a "weeject", because they get so little respect from solvers. That said, my fave weejects are always the desperate ones. * My ODE clue seemed to really (inadvertently) stump people. It was, indeed, an attempt to link a belch to a backward culinary compliment. And I could think of no better belch-inducing fare than fast food. * "Sky lark" was cluing that seemed neat at the time, but now I'm not so sure. A lark can mean a prank or joke, which many UFO's turn out to be. Still seems okay to me, but masked people are often known to have warped thinking habits.
Glad U still look forward to the next runt. I guess part of the runtpuz "mystique" is that U just never know what you're gonna get. Sort of like trips to the dog pound...
You are right about the missing letters. My program currently remembers what is typed on the keyboard. When you ask the program to fill in a word, the keyboard is not involved. This will be fixed on the next iteration of the program.
I am also thinking of adding a page that will let you upload a .puz file directly to runtpuz.org instead of going through xwordinfo.com. You would upload the .puz file just like you do now except that the new puzzle would automatically be added to the list of your puzzles maintained by the program. Would you be interested in this feature?
6:20 for me, with a tiny bit of help. Had ATM at 1 A with entire grid filled, erased it, asked for wrong letters, were none, tried real hard, got the right answer.
@BobK. Cool clues. Nicely done. yep, @r.alph had the same question, which I answered below.
Occurs to me that even the NYTPuz has issues with how difficult their puzs turn out to be, so the runtz probably always will, too. On this runtpuz, @r.alph breezed right thru it, in 3 minutes and change. And U took a lot longer, yet U are also a strong solver. Neither of U seemed to sense much difference between my hard (starts with C) clues and the four others, intended to be much easier gets.
Maybe I need to get me one of them degrees in Enigmatology. Nah. I doubt that Indiana college would even admit some old coot wearin a mask...
I wanted a few of the clues to be non-cruel, to give the solver a fighting chance. Soooo... started those "easier" clues with other letters.
Looks like all my clues ended up being fairly easy for U, in either case. Seems like I get surprised a lot, about the resulting difficulty level of my runtpuzs. But congrats to U, on your very fast solve time.
May soon be on another road trip. So, if I disappear for a while at some point, that's probably why.
FYI, if you want to solve or comment on a runt that hasn't made it to the official list yet, then copy what follows the ? in M&A's link and paste it over what follows the ? in the textbox above the fetch puzzle button. For example, for today's puzzle id=7706&id2=312 follows the question mark so the fetched puzzle's URL is http://www.xwordinfo.com/JSON/data.aspx?id=7706&id2=312
Once I give M&A the ability to upload directly to KF this will not be necessary.
Have a good trip. And my offer still holds. If you end up a couple of hundred miles from Fairfield, IA and want to meet I'll do it and will buy you lunch to boot!
OK, so I'm gonna try to fearlessly predict how hard this runt is, on a scale of: *In yer sleep *Yappy *Medium-Yappy *Medium *Medium-Snarly *Snarly *M&A couldn't even solve it.
Your commentary is definitely a value added to the solving experience. Maybe someday all constructors will do it if somebody will write the software to let them.
Your comment the answer to 18A has appeared in a NYT puzzle sent to me xwordinfo where I found it was in the Thursday, January 22, 2009 by Gary J. Whitehead. Did the puzzle just so that 18A is firmly in my mind. Curiously the clue for 27D there was {It's barely passing} 3 letters
Thanx, @r.alph. I feel lucky, that I only need to enter about 20-30 comments, max, for a runtpuz. Not as tall an order, as for a 15x or 21x puz. It would be mighty interesting, to see comparable comments from the NYT stable of constructioneers, tho.
Okay. I'm putting out this next runtpuz early, to give people lots of weekend time to tackle it. I'm pretty sure it is worse than Snarly Level. Let's call it a "Biter" runt. I will not do this very often, but I'm still tryin to get my bearings, on what's easy vs. what's hard, runt-wise. It is another day-um daring experiment, I reckon.
If anyone can solve this thing, without revealing any words, I'd sure like to hear about that. "Reveal incorrect letters" is okay; it's probably a must.
Otherwise, just hoping that solvers enjoy the challenge. At least the puz is small, so it will all be over relatively soon. If U are a first-time runt solver, I suspect this should not be the one to start with. There are about 100 others out on runtpuz.org, and most of them won't treat U this mean.
Thanx for the holiday gift. 15:51, but only after using "reveal incorrect letters" a few times.
I had everything on my own except for the NW corner. Would have helped a lot if I had remembered Mr. Wallach. (I'm at that stage of life where I could see his face but not his name.)
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=53 It appears that a turkey runt is a decoy. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrVCt8fuyUY
HULU. Like the way U think, BobK. Really nice time, on yer "Turkey Runt" solve; U pretty much made giblets out of it.
Seems like the runtz tend to be much fairer, when there are around three themers. When M&A starts stuffing 5, 6 or 7 themers in, there's often not enough left for solvers to get a decent toehold on, in a 7x7 crossword. Will keep that in mind, when I start makin the official runtpuz gift boxes, for each of the loyal runtpuz fans...
Really hoped I could figure it out by myself, but I had a full grid, it looked good (by runtpuz standards), had to use one "reveal incorrect letter" to find the one letter I had wrong; then done in 13:50.
(I will withhold revealing what was my last entry.)
@r.alph: OK. I'll wait on my "artist's recap", also.
@BobK.: Thanx back. You'll be delighted to hear that the Part VI biter runtpuz features One Free Google.
@All solvers (both of U): Be sure and save all yer solutions to this week's Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza. U will need them for the Sunday Meta Nova finale.
I will also herewithby announce a Runtpuz Christmas Truce, after the Meta Week dealy, to give everyone a well-deserved runtrest. Consider it a "special" present, not unlike neon neckties.
This truce will only be broken twice, the runtz have told m&e...
* Once because of some runt that @r.alph inadvertently let out of its "gift" box (see above comments, somewhere lately). No tellin, when that might show up.
* Once somewhere around Christmas Eve, when an uninvited runt will be scramblin down yer chimneys.
Save a space in the record books for anyone who solves this Runt!
I really, really, tried to get it, After 16 minutes, I had a scattering of answers and possible answers, but broke down and asked for a reveal of 1 A. The deficiency in my thinking became immediately obvious. I filled most of the grid quickly, but still had some lacunae, which at 20 minutes I started asking for, one letter at a time. After three reveals, I "finished" at 21:01.
I can only hope you will have a change of heart and not include this one in my permanent record.
About 10 minutes into the puzzle I am thinking "Bob is already done". Guess not. This brings to mind the closing lines of Henry's St Crispin Day speech
"And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint M & A's day."
@r.alph and BobK. Valiant efforts on (ACPT-like) runtpuz #5 in the HMR-series. I hafta admit, I did toy with the notion of switching runts #5 and #6, in the series, because of #5's wide-open grid structure. So, #6 might actually turn out to be easier.
#5 might be good practice for the next ACPT, since it had no double-?? clues. Or not.
Anyhoo, thanx for hangin in there, on this HMR Week litter of runtz. Am gettin a real charge out of the comments.
Used the Google, fortunately choosing a valid word. But even that left me to choose the seven letters that were most appropriate, and I missed at that, even though I had seven letters that met the definition. But I had already filled enough that when I checked that one word, I was able to fill the rest of the grid in reasonable time.
The real test would be if you could disable all those electronic cheats and leave us to solve purely through brain power -- but I wouldn't get very far that way!
At 11 A, I Googled and saw that the clue words had to do with one-legged creatures. I already had 11 D as OUD, which is a real word, and is also DUO run UP (Though not MESSED), had the solid EPA at 14 D, and MIL (a small unit, to be sure) sitting at 10 D. These three all fit a trial answer of ONELEGS at 11A. Which is why I had to check with the "reveal current word".
@BobK. -- har. Even if I knew how to disable all the Xwordinfo Solver cheater controls, I still couldn't disable dictionaries, Wikipedia, and Google. Desperate solvers are infinitely resourceful, bless their hearts.
Sorry btw about the real late posting of the runtpuz, last night. Was tryin to do a NYTPuz-style posting schedule, for this special runtWeek. But the Friday Night Schlockfilm Fest threw everything off. We watched "Lizard Man", "Bubba Ho-Tep", and 3 chapters of "The Master Key" cliffhanger serial. So, a heavy evening (well wasted).
Nice aha when I got the meta. Check for correctness a couple of times but did not ask for any letters. Program crashed again for the same reason as the one on Dec 3. Will fix this today.
Yep. Sounds like Part VI puz was easier than part V puz. I can sure see why the Shortzmeister -- who actually knows what he is doing -- can mixswitch a Tuespuz and a WedPuz, now and then.
I don't think the Grand Meta Nova finale puz will be all that difficult, other than its enormous size (for a runt). Hopefully it will not be too much of a slog. Also, its meta solution might be kinda tricky to unmask.
************ Previous puz (VI) spoiler-alert: ************** Hope everyone enjoyed the Ultimate Desperation of UOD. It was crucial, to make sure the runtzravaganza puz series always had at least one U in each gridlet. ************************************************** I sorta like the whole Multiple choice Free Google gimmick. Might make an interesting runt-theme, after the Christmas Truce...
Occurs to me, that the NYT SunPuz comes out in about 15 minutes. Since the runt was so late yesterday, might as well get the jump on the "SunRunt", tonight. The Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza Part VII finale...
12:27, but, alas, not clean. Filled the entire grid, and it just sat there. Asked for "reveal incorrect letters," and I had two, both in the same word (to be posted at a later date.) Filled those, and done.
No doubt as to the ultimate meta answer, but I would like to confirm some of the intermediates; again, later.
Next time Will Shortz is looking for someone to compose a week-long suite of puzzles, we know where he will turn!
Program is working better now. Problem was that it didn't know what to do with an unchecked square that contained a rebus that was the only white square in its row. A lot of people would have trouble with that also.
Beside fixing the bug, I have made the following changes to the program.
1. Open runtpuz.org, click "Crowd Souring Runtpuzzes"
2. Paste the entire URL that M & A posted into the text box and click "Fetch puzzle"
3. Solve the puzzle. You now have to click "Check solution" at the top of the page when you think the solution is correct. You will not automatically be told anymore. If it is correct then the playback button becomes enabled.
4. Click the playback button and then upload solution after writing some comments (optional)
KF appears to be able handle rebuses now. http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=86 Part IV http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=87 Part VI Both these puzzles took about 20 minutes with assistance.
@r.alph: I tried to do some comments for the Part IV one, using your 6Dec/8:51pm instructions. But still got the chimes of congratulations, and when I pushed playback, I got a playback window with no answer entries to comment on.
Your browser is caching the old version. Please do the following:
1. Open http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/
2. Click on M & A runt puzzes
3. Click on Meta, part IV link
4. You should see what you typed in.
5. Refresh the browser.
6. Click check solution at top right of page.
7. The playback button should become enabled
8. Click it and you should be able to enter comments and upload them.
I am going to add a link to your commentary for all puzzles that you choose to comment on. I find your comments both entertaining and educational and I am sure other people will also.
I just occurred to me that there may be stuff cached in your localStorage that will still break the program. If you have another browser on your machine, try using that or use another computer. Otherwise we probably should write this off as a beta experience.
All the REBUS-infected entries were there (in odd places) when I commented on them, but disappeared from the generated final file. But, most of the other comments made it through, this time.
Sun, Oct 12 Mini
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=6959&id2=491
@M & A
Thanks for pointing out the Load button.
1:32 on the SunMini. Two false starts on "spanners" did m&e in.
DeleteNeed a Load button for my brain.
Thanx back, @r.alph.
M&A
@M & A
ReplyDeleteIf you enter the query in google
distance between fairfield ia and X
where X is a city and state, e.g. natick ma
the distance between the two cities will be returned, in this case 1,223.1 miles
I would be interested in how far the closest location on your trip is to fairfield.
Well, U sure R nice & neighborly, but believe me, not even close. Kinda think if U ever met me, you'd be in for a major letdown. Mystique is everything, in the M&A biz.
DeletePlus then U also have the problem that I am not only Anonymous, but also Masked -- so, as advertised, it's hard to ferret out the facts from all the info M&A blathers out. A runtpuz within an enigma... sorry to be so weird, but there it is. Too many notes to make a coherent opera.
And now to digress...
I've fired off all my Rex bullets, but then @Casco said something about
DODODODOLLLLLLLL over there, that whizzed way over my head. Nested dolls? Dodos ate els? U-shaped toys?
M&A
"There Ain't Much of a Pony in This Pile of Manure"
Doh!
DeleteValley of the Dolls.
(My new symbol is RHO, for density.)
M&A
"Rho Warrior"
Mon Oct 12 NYT Mini
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=6977&id2=464
KF matured a lot over the weekend. It can now upload and download solutions.
I have decided to abandon my original plan to let solvers attach their online id to the solutions they upload. Assigning unique names requires a password and a password requires the ability to reset the password if the solver forgets it and this requires emailing something to the solver which requires an email address which some would consider an invasion of privacy.
So I am going to do it the way that xwordinfo does it. After you upload your solution KF will display the URL to use to get the solution. You can post this URL wherever you like and you don't have to tell KF anything about yourself.
Tues Oct 14 NYT mini
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7006&id2=813
Wed Oct 15 NYT mini
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7012&id2=804
Wed Oct 16 NYT mini
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7032&id2=225
In 4D "local" should be "locale"
You're right that ;local' is wrong, r.alph, but the most natural word to use would be 'location'. I know, know, it's a clue, not a deinition.
ReplyDeleteFri, Oct 17 NYT Mini
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7061&id2=574
Sat, Oct 18 NYT Mini
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7091&id2=646
Sun, Oct 19 NYT Mini
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7112&id2=674
Has something gone haywire? I just did the Sunday mini; the whole 5x5 grid *had* to be right... but the timer kept on ticking... Then the 'reveal incorrect' lit up the whole 5x5 grid. Nothing happens with 'reveal correct word'..
Delete???
A tisket, a tasket
Is it me that blew a gasket?
It appears that xwordinfo.com is no longer including the answers to our puzzles when we download them. It is time that we switch to the KF server to store the puzzles. This will be done in the next couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteWe should be very appreciative of the generosity of xwordinfo.com in hosting our puzzles. Without them there would probably be no runt puzzles!
@r.alph: I see what U mean... all the features of the Xword Info Solver that make use of the puz's solution are not working correctly. Also, no congrats, when U finish solving correctly. Row rent.
DeleteI wonder if this was by choice, or if they just have a temporary hitch in their program's giddyup?
I'll hold up on issuing more runts, until things improve.
M&A
M & A
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, welcome back.
Regarding the missing answers, my guess is that it is a deliberate attempt to discourage using xwordinfo.com as a server for puzzles meant for general consumption rather than testing.
Fortunately I made a backup of all your runts a couple of weeks ago while they still had answers and have moved them to my server where they are accessable from KF
For example, to view the classic "If Thin U Win (If Thick No Trick)" puzzle, do the following
runtpuz.org
Click "Crowd sourcing runtpuzzes" link at the top
Copy http://sanskritlibrary.com/kf/ThinUWin.json into the text box and click Fetch puzzle.
You should see the big U and all the answers should be available
Unfortunately, you created the following four puzzles after I did the back up
Keepfinger Exercise
Mixed Doubles
Beyond Thunderdome
Nanosecond Noodle Nudger.
I hope that you still have the .puz versions of those puzzles.
I will add the ability for you to upload puzzles to KF just like you have been doing with xwordinfo.com. Another possibility is to create a DropBox account and put your puzzles there for me to download.
Well, U could be spot-on right about the "deliberate attempt" angle. If there is anything they would probably want to discourage, it would be the likes of them weirdball M&A runtpuzs. Only thing is, you'd think that would make things a whole lot harder for all those testers, too, not knowing if their answers were correct, and whatnot.
DeleteHar -- always a hoot, when the baby gets tossed out with the dirty bathwater.
Still have all my runt.puz files, tho.
M&A
p.s. Maybe a real good thing, that the folks at xwordinfo intervened. M&A was contemplatin a dreaded "M et A Runt World Series" collection, with runtmeta contest included. Woulda made the horrific ebola epidemic look like a picnic...
@M & A
ReplyDeleteTesters could be given the answers in a separate email. This would be easy since presumably a constructor would know the email addresses of the testers.
A constructor who puts a puzzle up for general distribution can't do that.
True. But in that case, I'd think the constructioneer could just email testers the .puz file, and make things simpler for everybody. I'm probably missing somethin, here.
DeleteStill think it would be strange for xwordinfo to continue to offer a Solver program where several of its features no longer work as advertised. Hopefully they'll bother to explain to their subscribers what's going on, at some point.
Ahar... The Shortzmeister says that there are parts of a hidden meta message in each of this week's NYT crosswords. Maybe the hidden message will explain what is up with the Xword Info Solver program?
M&A
I don't think it's an attempt to discourage anything; it's probably a function of whatever they had to do to disconnect for the Blindauer meta week.
ReplyDeleteBut carry on according to your desires.
@Leapfinger
ReplyDeletePossibly, but what weakens that hypothesis is the answers are not scrambled in Across Lite. So why are they hiding them in xwordinfo.com. Usually contest puzzles are.
@M and A
AFAIK, Across Lite is Windows only. I had to write my own program to run it on a Mac.
We will know in a week.
@r....alph, A-L is a cold, heartless and entirely separate entity, knows little and cares less about NYT's puny little contests; changes tracks for no man or mouse. OTOH, xwordinfo plays nice with us. chen, chen!
DeleteNot a weak hypothesis a tall; just a Monday one. There may be another on Tues.
@Leapfinger
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Here is what Jeff Chen said in his comments on xwordinfo.com yesterday:
Jeff Chen notes: Contest week! Jim and I decided to keep everything quiet until the contest is over, including the grid solutions. I doubt we'd give anything away by publishing all the clues and answers, but this method better preserves the mystery.
@M & A
Check out this cartoon: http://mumde.net/runtpuz/ThinU.gif
@r.alph: A couple things come to mind...
Delete1. Dude. U musta got hold of a real bum copy of Across-Lite. M&A has been runnin it (as-is) on the Mac for years and years.
2. U are a real good artist. Loved the "Weeject Cafe" ref. Thanx. And if U didn't do the drawin, thanx to whoever did. Darn near more clever than the day-um runtpuz was. thUmbsUp.
3. Permanently Masked dudes have developed ways to deal with cinnamon rolls. Simple evolution, really. Most of these techniques Will get U thrown outta Chez Shortz, however.
M&A
M & A
ReplyDeleteI need to fact check my posts! My guess is that Across Lite was originally only for Windows. The .puz format is a proprietary format that the company has not prevented other programs from using. There was a rumor a while ago that they were going to require payment for it but that has not happened. Now that I have my own crossword puzzle software, I can invent my own format if necessary. This means that runt puzzes will always be free.
If you go to runtpuz.org there is a new link, "Across and Down - A Cartoonist Looks at Crosswords". I commissioned the cartoonist, Haley Gold, to do the cartoon. I told her to pick some puzzle and do a cartoon for it. I had no other requirements. What she came up with surprised me as much as it did you.
Correction
ReplyDeleteThe cartoonist is Hayley Gold not Haley Gold
@r.alph, great PUBlicity to commission hALEly Gold!
ReplyDeleteoops, Hayley
@r.alph: I think the Xword Info Solver program is firing on all cylinders again.
ReplyDeleteEnd of Meta-Morphosis period?
M&A
Having the runtpuz engine back is... Neat-o! ...
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7292&id2=874
M&A
Solved the puzzle. Sneak preview of the movie is here:
ReplyDeletehttp://mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/xwrunt.html
Not as much desperation as usual. I guess you got a bit rusty during the down time.
Here is what I saw when I finished the puzzle: http://mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/runtend.png
I guess Will liked it.
Mr. Happy Shortz! Didn't get that, when I test solved.
DeleteMy momma used to say: Desperate is, as desperate does.
re: movie: AH can mean lots of stuff, I reckon. Plus, it is an "awe" soundalike. See there? Desperate logic.
M&A
Currently Will Shortz shows up only on my computer.
ReplyDeleteWhat program did you use to test solve the puzzle?
I see your desperation clue and raise you {A mixed up Thai with no tea}.
I used plain old Xword Info Solver to test it.
Deletehar. I see that clue and raise U one {Both ends of Hail Columbia??}.
M&A
Then again, {Both ends of Artificial teeth??} might be a bit more fair...
DeleteNah.
M&A
AH {Mostly nah}
ReplyDeleteKinda quiet, around this dump.
ReplyDeleteHere's a fresh pile of junk...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7338&id2=590
M&A
1D was no hat trick
DeleteCool. I didn't see it coming, right till I got close to finishing up in the NE corner.
DeleteJust kept plugging in what I thought looked like a word, as often as picking a word based on the clue. At some point, started hitting 'reveal incorrect', and it was kind of demoralizing that none of them were.
Nice wrap.
What a relief! After a Shortzian puzzle M & A is back in form with this splendid runt.
ReplyDeleteThe movie is out and can be download for free from
http://mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/xwrunt01.html
Every clue was worth commenting on!!!
Yeah... In retrospect, it probably woulda been solver-friendlier, if I'd given a real clue for the full 6-D entry. Wouldn't cost the puzzle's theme anything.
DeleteSo, if anyone needs it, here's a "better" 6-Down clue, on the "October Fest" puz:
DOWN
6. Advance to the rear
Updated puz:
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7341&id2=526
M&A
Oh, man. Thanks, NYT ThursPuz.
ReplyDeleteA little something spooky, to help U lose yer cookies...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7359&id2=617
M&A
"As Always, No Refunds"
Runt puzzles are back!!
ReplyDeletehttp://mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/xwrunt02.html
@r.alph movie - Re: "I don't get it"...
DeleteIf U are in a spot, U are in a ___. Desperate enough for yah?
M&A
Nice! I wouldn't call it desperate, I would call it Saturday level.
ReplyDeleteRuntpuz desperation is often confused with Saturday-level thinking.
DeleteI just noticed that I misspelt "hidalgo" in the 4-D clue, btw. (Runtpuz spelling is also often confused, period.)
Corrected version:
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7364&id2=884
M&A
Yo! Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteAmazin, that all seven of the themers in this runtpuz happened to be seven letters long (with "Tokyo"). Of course, 49 letters of theme material in a 7x7 runtpuz can lead to some of the other fill bein kinda... oh, what's the word?...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7379&id2=920
M&A
"boo"
You are getting better and better!
ReplyDeleteThe penny dropped at the mountain and my posture improved!
http://mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/xwrunt03.html
In an act of sheer desperation you have combined an "acrostic" with a crossword puzzle.
Re: Jumbo Downs r.alph movie: wow. Looked like a cat chasin a laser beam, for quite awhile. Evidently no r.alph comments were/are fit to print.
DeleteWell, I showed this puz to my PuzEatinSpouse last night, and she thought the whole deal was unfair and disgustin. So, figured I was on the right track.
This solve might possibly rank right up there with entombment a la "Cask of Amontillado". Congrats to anyone, like niceguy @r.alph, who hangs in there long enough to figure it all out.
Trick or treat,
M&A
I need to add an emergency comment feature to my camera. Now, I can only enter comments when an answer is complete but that doesn't work here. Most of interesting stuff was in the acrosses and was uncommentable in my current system. Note that uncommentable is different no comment.
ReplyDeleteI could also add the ability to play back the movie in real time to get the full effect. This one would require 20 minutes to play back. Let me know if you want to show it as the opening act the next time you watch Memento.
har. Sorta like an openin Road Runner feature, if U could maybe calibrate er up to a four/five minute or so runtime. Could U add Looney Tunes music and intermittent crashin coyote sound effects?
DeleteLike the emergency comment feature idea. Sorta like a pilot-eject dealy.
How did you like my 9-A "Attempt (@ etc.)" clue's little sadistic jab? Unbelievably, I had originally flirted with the idea of not revealin the lengths and positions of **any** of the Across word pairs, in their clues. Could tell, by the look on PuzEatinSpouse's face, that that was too out there. Ended up leavin one non-reveal in 9-A, just to get a sample reaction. But, see? Even some dude that builds a torture chamber puz like this can still have a little mercy in his heart... [cue eerie organ music] ... [insert maniacal cackle, here] ...
Off to watch some schlock movies, this pm.
M&A
Figure I really owe anyone doin the runts a no-brainer puz, after yesterday's desperado.
ReplyDeleteHere's one originally slated to be puz#1 at the 2015 ACPT, until I sent The Shortzmeister a picture of it. Ironically, it has certain features vaguely reminiscent of today's Trip Payne prized effort, over thar at the NYT; only, quite a bit runtier...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7398&id2=617
This will be an easier grid for the r.alph KFC movie-and-sausage-machine to digest, I betcha. Enjoy.
I will now take several days off, until an over-worked @r.alph has a chance to get the M&A runtpuz list back up-to-date. Plus, we had 1002 trickertreaters last night, so am feelin kinda stiff in both knees and the goodies-tossin elbow. Best costume: giant sponge bob. Gave little beggar #1000 extra candy, and told him why. He was thrilled.
M&A
This is the BEQ puzzle that was used as puzzle 5 in ACTP 2014
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/SendInTheClones.puz
Will shoot the latest runt and get the runt list up to date this afternoon. I don't want to be the one that delays the production of runts!
Wow, thanx, @r.alph. U are an Officer and a Gentleman!
DeleteAny runtpuz delays would be more the fault of every trickertreater after #500, than any of your doing. Hoping to recover fast -- am treatin sore elbow with Snickers.
M&A
Tough puzzle for me. Comments here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mumde.net/runtpuz/puzzles/xwrunt04.html
I think the list of runt puzzles is now up to date.
I have also downloaded all your puzzles to my computer so we have a back up.
Thanx again, @r.alph. Sorry U didn't like my rickshaw driver, much. I wanted to have one obvious clue in there, and it turned out to be the opposite. Next time, I'll name him Bad Phil.
DeleteThe "___ Island" idea was the first thing I immediately though of, for that entry; go figure.
Really liked the ACPT #5 puz, altho it put up a much much tougher fight, at my house, than the Trip Payne puz it replaced. The theme was really out there, but made perfect sense, once the right M&A neuron finally sputtered to life, within.
Have a great weekend,
M&A
Galaxy Invaders [Source of Rex Parker's logo picture]
ReplyDeletePage 123...
"Overcome with guilt, M&A got little sleep that night. He feared that he had done his solvers a horrendous injustice. AMITY and RIC will be easy pickins, he had told himself. He billed the runtpuz as a no-brainer. But, wrong again, M&A breath. True, the little puz remarkably had no E's, but the solvers were too pissed off to notice that. Somehow, I must try to set things right tomorrow, he vowed..."
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7414&id2=260
to be continued
M&A
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=3
ReplyDeleteThe unchecked squares crashed my program. It is now fixed. The movie is not worth much because I did the puzzle about 20 times while debugging the program. Unfortunately I saw the 1A when the program first crashed. I tried not to use it during the solve but it helped me get the polite response and the {Dre or spienca} answer. Those were definitely the hardest part of the puzzle. The rest was easy as advertised.
The times are wrong.
The program will produce correct times now. It is becoming obvious that runt puzzles will play an important role in the development of this program. They are short so it doesn't take a lot of time to type them in (especially after the 20th time) and even then I can appreciate their creativity. This brings to mind Arthur Samuels checker playing program which was used to test the IBM 701, IBM's first commercial computer. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Samuel. He was still programming at 88!
ReplyDeleteRuntpuzs... the lab rats of crossword program development.
ReplyDeleteBest runtpuz comment, ever in the history of the universe:
"[Stall] Took 23583158 min 8 sec seconds to get started with SLY".
M&A
Let the merciless experimentation on those poor, lowly, unprotected runtz continue unchecked...
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7432&id2=351
M&A
"Just Tryin To Worry r.alph, with That Unchecked Business"
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=5
ReplyDeleteTough puzzle with a very nice AHA.
Program messed up a couple of comments but retained most of them. Need to work on this.
I have been solving runts using my original program which does not run in a browser. I have started solving runts using the new program which runs in a browser. (runtpuz.org, click the first link and hope for the best). In the programming trade this is called eating your own dog food.
I am thinking of putting ads for Cinnabon on runtpuz.org for free and see if I get contacted by their legal department.
Still, a much better movie than that "Easy As It Can Be" flick. I'da given that "Easy..." movie one rotten tomato skin. Best part of any runtpuzs hafta be when they come out in movie form.
DeleteGetting this far off vision... It looks like... sorta like... yeah... could be...
RuntPuz Film Festival 2015.
Wow.
M&A
@r.alph: I tried adding my "constructor's" comments to a personal solve of the "Easy As It Can Be" runtpuz, but I don't think it took. Uploaded file didn't seem to have any solution entries in it. They musta turned to dogfood. Was worth a shot, tho.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, the resulting file is at:
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=7
M&A
"Program Misuser"
I think I know what happened. You did the puzzle, wrote comments and before you uploaded the solution you reloaded the puzzles. Or maybe you uploaded the solution, closed the program, thought of something else, displayed the grid again, added a comment and uploaded again. The grid appeared to filled corrrectly when you reran the program but unfortunately I am not saving the movie at the moment so the movie was lost. So if you do this again, you need to do it all without reloading the puzzle. This is clearly something that has to be fixed and I will do it soon.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate you doing this. This was not your fault! If the program is designed correctly you should never lose anything.
BTW, I have all your comments in the database and will retrieve them and add them to a movie that I make of the solution.
Your comments are here:
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=3
I really hope that you will do this for every puzzle.
It would probably be best to wait until the movie survives across loads of the puzzle and the comments work correctly. It appears that the following bugs are plaguing comments
1. If you write comments, return to animation page and then go back to comments, some comments may not be there.
2. In order for the last comment you enter to be saved you need to click another answer in the answer list.
3. It would be nice to be able to use the arrow keys to move up and down the answer list.
If you do want to use the program to comment follow these steps.
ReplyDelete1. Solve the puzzle
2. Playback the puzzle
3. Enter comments. Only do this once. I would recommend checking that they are correct before returning to the animation page
4. Upload the puzzle.
My day job is crying in the next room and I have to go attend to it. I will make the program more robust soon.
@r.alph: Thanx for saving my "Easy As" runtpuz movie comments from oblivion. U rule, rock and roll. The {Primrose or Penny} entry evidently didn't get a comment, because it was the last one I entered, and I didn't know the extra trick.
ReplyDeleteBut, hey -- my missing comment there was just something like : "Intended to be a pretty easy get", so no real big loss.
Whoa what a coincidence. When all my comments disappeared, my reaction had been to go into the next room and cry. har.
M&A
Yo and lo, @r.alph! I think I met with success, on my second KFC attempt!! Chimpanzees Can be trained! U are so proud of me.
ReplyDeleteBehold: "Jumbo Downs" runtpuz, with some constructioneer comments...
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=8
M&A, filmmaker.
"No Sanskrit Translators Were Harmed, in the Making of This Film"
Looks like @Leapf may still be workin some of these runtz. So, at least runtpuzs still have a solving base larger than r.alph.
ReplyDeleteAnybody else still doin these things? @Muse? @BobK? @Benko? @DanF? @Shortzmeister? (Goin for too much, there? -- thought so)
Today's humble runt offering, guaranteed to chase off additional customers...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7472&id2=75
M&A
Yes, M&A, I still attempt every runtpuz, although I only rarely finish one without cheating. Today's, for example, took me 8:08 and three "reveal word"s. (Still don't quite understand AH, but then I never quite understood the cited remark.)
ReplyDeleteThere have been a few rare runts that I actually solved, but I haven't mentioned them at the time because, truthfully, I am very shy and when I come to this site I feel like I am trespassing where are I don't belong. You guys have your own language, you are skilled programmers and crossword constructors, and you make all these references to "movies" that I can never see when I follow the links.
But I am still here, hiding quietly in my anonymity (even though Loren has met me in person.)
:>))
Wow, mucho thanx, @BobK.
DeleteI'm sure that r.alph would agree that trespassers are more than welcome.
Movie Tutorial:
The movie app doesn't come with a whole lot of instructions, yet.
After U bring up the link, here's a couple things that I know work:
1. Click on the "Fast forward" button. That runs the movie's animation part.
2. Click on any of the individual entries in the top list, to see the solver's comments for that entry.
Try it for my latest movie, which is a solve of my own runtpuz, with constructioneer commentary...
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=8
Hope that helps.
And thanks again, for stickin with the runtz.
M&A
p.s.
Joni Ernst just won the Senate seat from out of Iowa. She says she is going to Washington to "make em squeal". "Ah...," the squeelin runt replied.
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=10
ReplyDeletePersevered and resisted the temptation of doing a reveal or show errors. The original version of this program did not give you the ability to do this. It's motto was "As helpful as a piece of paper"
Same question as Bob vis-a-vis AH
And Bob, I definitely hope to meet you someday. I think we are contemporaries (I was born in '46) and I really like your comments on the other blog. They indicate a clear thinker. People like that are good for me to be around!
Yeah, AH is sorta like a hesitant "hmmm" type of knowledge-digestion response, there. Controversy! Cool! Didn't mean to misspell "squealer", tho. And SS=Nazi special police force troops, circa WW II.
DeleteVersion with corrected "squealer" spelling:
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7473&id2=681
M&A
Thanx, M&A & r.alph.
DeleteYes, I am class of '46 also.
And SS was no problem, not least because I saw "Fury" last week.
Maybe the pig would be more likely to say AY!
@BobK and r,alph: That's really day-um weird. I'm a '46-er, also. Good year for crossword-solvers. Asked wife, if I could also be considered a "clear thinker". Her reply was that she might go as far as "clear stinker".
DeleteM&A
I've stopped telling people my age. If they ask I say I was born in 46 and let them do the math. In that way I only have to memorize one number instead of a new number every year.
ReplyDeleteI recently had a birthday (Bob Feller and I share the day) and a friend of mine who is aware of my interest in crosswords created a crossword puzzle for me using some software available on the web that creates a puzzle with no regard for unchecked squares. It had 111 unchecked squares and 16 checked squares. My initial reaction was that it was unsolvable but my wife was curiously insistent that I solve it and we sat down to do it together. It soon became obvious that all the answers were related to me somehow and they were clued with clues that had nothing to do with me. For example, 18A was {The writer of the original words for "Vidi sta sam ti uradio od pesme, mama"} which is Italian for "What have they done to my song, ma" and so the answer was MELANIE a misspelling of Melody who was an old girlfriend of mine. It turns out that he asked my wife for some biographical data on me and used it to fill the grid.
It was really a nice gesture that he probably spent a bit of time on. But there was one clue that was by far the worst clue I have ever encountered. It was {He breaks records} and I had _H_ _T_ _G_A_ to work with where he had placed the H in the grid as a "helpful" hint. All the blanks are unchecked squares. The answer? WHITTINGHAM who was a Canadian bicyclist who set several world records riding a recumbent bicycle. The connection with me is that I ride a recumbent but I had never heard of the bicyclist. I am sure he put this in the puzzle because I talked him into getting a recumbent and at that time probably mentioned that some speed record had been set on a recumbent because its efficient use of the thigh muscles, the largest muscles in the body.
I really would like to hang onto the puzzle so I asked him to shorten the space for the answer by one letter and clue it as {What a cape is for Superman?} with the answer BATTLEGEAR. This would refer to the time I spent in the Army and connect to a running joke that we have about my getting him a cape.
It's not too late to say "Happy belated Birthday!"
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn't know Bob Feller's birthday; I just Googled it!
Happy belated birthday, @r.alph.
ReplyDeleteMade this runtpuz "just for U":
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7492&id2=378
M&A
"Sparing No Expense"
p.s. Well, at least altered a couple clues a little, after readin yer latest message.
Sorry, it was just for r.alph, but I solved it anyway; 5:27, no cheats.
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=12
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good wishes and I was glad to share the puzzle.
Not sure what the connection is to the Stumpy Stumper.
Good solve times, guys -- especially on a Stumpy Stumper. I hated to call it that again in the title, so went the "Son of Kong" route. JAZZier.
ReplyDeleteTitle had nothin at all to do with r.alph's b-day, btw.
M&A
NYT FriPuz was a challenging, themeless masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteWhat U all now require, to round out yer day, is an easy, themed abomination...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7523&id2=57
M&A
"PBhar"
Latest runt: 2:21, no cheats, and genuine LOL when I parsed the long answers!
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=15
ReplyDeleteSame experience as Bob. What was so devious is that 10A {Certified level} worked without seeing what was going on. {Degree of amp usage?} was also greatly appreciated.
Please view the movie using the fast forward button. Stepping through the solution answer by answer will show the wrong clue for the answer.
Unfortunately my attempt to enter comments was thwarted by the program. This will definitely be fixed this weekend. My recommendation to M&A is to hold off with constructor commentary until Monday.
@BobK. U have no idea, how much gettin back the runtzcomments encourages the M&A. (My wife's shoulders visibly slumped.)
ReplyDelete@r.alph: day-um. M&A lives to read yer movie comments. Altho, this pm we are goin to see "Interstellar", instead.
@Roo: Do U still do these things? Wish U still made em, too. That all-U's one was magnifico. Keep in touch, my son...
M&A
M&A Non-KFC Movie Comments: "Interstellar" was far-out good. I don't want to give away whatever it was the ending meant, so I won't say very much more. Only that I had to leave in the middle for a de-Coke-ing break, and had a hell of a time peein in five dimensions. Also, I'm pretty sure there was a singularity in my popcorn.
ReplyDeleteNo more runtz, until r.alph can crank out them great movie comments again. (And there are a couple of the lil varmints in the quarantine pen, snortin and gruntin and lookin pretty stumpy. Chicken wire may not hold. Scares the M&A.)
M&A
OK. It's Monday, so I think r.alph might theoretically have his magic runtcommentz workin again. Close enough. I'm gonna go for it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a real shame @muse had to sorta drift off, as I think she'da really got a charge out of where this runtpuz ultimately descended to...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7595&id2=185
This one's for all the muses, out there.
M&A
It's almost there. Am working on this today. Thanks for the impetus.
ReplyDeleteRunt #162, 15 min, 3 sec, after a lot of "show wrong letters" and just asking for 4 D. Might pretend I could have gotten it eventually if I had any idea what 18 A meant! :>)
ReplyDelete@BobK: I had feared #162 might be a bit feisty, because of the nature of the theme. Shoulda made 18-A clue easier; always hard to pass up a hardy belch at MacDonald's, tho.
DeleteThanx for tryin it out. At least U didn't just say FUHGEDDABOUDIT.
M&A
M&A
ReplyDeleteYou should be able to enter your comments now and upload them. Each comment will be saved so you can load the puzzle again and make changes if you think of them. Your puzzles are now available in the Crowd Sourcing section.
I got tired of seeing the cursor bounce around when you hit fast forward. Today I am going replace that feature with a desperation map which colors squares with a color indicating how many times you passed through the square without entering its correct letter. The colors will range from light yellow to red with red squares being the desperate ones. The more red that you see, the more desperate the solve.
I am also going to add a summary area where you can type in an overall impression of the puzzle. I solved the "Weeject Ladder" puzzle and commented on individual clues but really felt that I needed to make some overall comments. When this is implemented I will post the link to my comments.
Tried er out on the Weeject Ladder runt. Worked great. Looking forward to r.alph's "Weeject Ladder: The Movie". Here is my version...
Deletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=20
This was probably darn near the toughest puz with average word length 3.1 ever to be devised by man. What can I say. That "NYT Crossword from Hell" puz was clearly a bad influence on M&A...
M&A
Even after reading your note, it took a minute or two for the fog to clerar from my brain, but now I understand 18 A!
ReplyDeleteThanx!
Here is my commentary
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=19
Click the Overall button to get my overall impressions of the puzzle. This was written before I read your comments in an attempt to accurately reflect my state of mind as I solved the puzzle.
Click the Draw Desperation Map button to see my first attempt at visually displaying the difficulty of the puzzle. This was generated using partial data since when I solved the puzzle it did not generate all the information that this feature now uses. Desperation proceeds from white to yellow to orange to red. There is a lot of red.
I am looking forward to the next runt.
@r.alph: I notice in your commentary that some of the letters were evidently never filled in. Is this because U did a reveal on those?
DeleteI really like Desperation Map.
I don't know a whole lot about exam-writing, but I figure if you build a puzzle that no one can solve, you have failed to make a good puzzle. "Weeject Ladder" seems to have stunk up the place, in that regard.
A couple of extra postmortem notes:
* In the M&A universe, any 3-letter word is a "weeject", because they get so little respect from solvers. That said, my fave weejects are always the desperate ones.
* My ODE clue seemed to really (inadvertently) stump people. It was, indeed, an attempt to link a belch to a backward culinary compliment. And I could think of no better belch-inducing fare than fast food.
* "Sky lark" was cluing that seemed neat at the time, but now I'm not so sure. A lark can mean a prank or joke, which many UFO's turn out to be. Still seems okay to me, but masked people are often known to have warped thinking habits.
Glad U still look forward to the next runt. I guess part of the runtpuz "mystique" is that U just never know what you're gonna get. Sort of like trips to the dog pound...
M&A
You are right about the missing letters. My program currently remembers what is typed on the keyboard. When you ask the program to fill in a word, the keyboard is not involved. This will be fixed on the next iteration of the program.
ReplyDeleteI am also thinking of adding a page that will let you upload a .puz file directly to runtpuz.org instead of going through xwordinfo.com. You would upload the .puz file just like you do now except that the new puzzle would automatically be added to the list of your puzzles maintained by the program. Would you be interested in this feature?
@r.alph: If U build it, M&A will probably come...
DeleteM&A
Needed to do a nice unthemed runtpuz, to get my nerve back, after the "Weeject Ladder" accident.
ReplyDeleteHere yah go, fresh from the pound...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7654&id2=606
M&A
6:20 for me, with a tiny bit of help. Had ATM at 1 A with entire grid filled, erased it, asked for wrong letters, were none, tried real hard, got the right answer.
DeleteYou're back on the horse!
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=23
@r.alph: Glad to get back on the horse. U folks had great times, on that Stumper. Speakin of the back of the horse...
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7696&id2=661
M&A
"Some Runts Just Snarl More Than Others"
Brilliant! Almost eight minutes, but, alas, not without o bit of help.
DeleteThat was a four horse meal!
ReplyDeleteFull disclosure:
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=26
M&A constructioneer comments, for the "Inside Story" one...
Deletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=29
M&A
Possible clue for OW {Punchline of a man walks into a bar}
ReplyDelete@r.alph: OW.
ReplyDelete@whom it may concern: Liked the three B's in the NYTPuz clues. The runtz will see that, and raise it 15 C's...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7706&id2=312
M&A
I was determined to do this one on my own, no cheats, and I did. Took me 10:02, gave me great satisfaction!
DeleteWhy not -
Delete10 A - Could be ( "___ so")
11 A - Cooler for German drinks
7 D - Care areas for acc. victims
13 D - Comes after Mar.
All Cs, no more difficult!
@BobK. Cool clues. Nicely done. yep, @r.alph had the same question, which I answered below.
DeleteOccurs to me that even the NYTPuz has issues with how difficult their puzs turn out to be, so the runtz probably always will, too. On this runtpuz, @r.alph breezed right thru it, in 3 minutes and change. And U took a lot longer, yet U are also a strong solver. Neither of U seemed to sense much difference between my hard (starts with C) clues and the four others, intended to be much easier gets.
Maybe I need to get me one of them degrees in Enigmatology. Nah. I doubt that Indiana college would even admit some old coot wearin a mask...
M&A
"Runtz Is Like a Box of Chocolates"
Why not 19 C's? Click the overall button for suggestions
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=30
I wanted a few of the clues to be non-cruel, to give the solver a fighting chance. Soooo... started those "easier" clues with other letters.
DeleteLooks like all my clues ended up being fairly easy for U, in either case. Seems like I get surprised a lot, about the resulting difficulty level of my runtpuzs. But congrats to U, on your very fast solve time.
May soon be on another road trip. So, if I disappear for a while at some point, that's probably why.
M&A
FYI, if you want to solve or comment on a runt that hasn't made it to the official list yet, then copy what follows the ? in M&A's link and paste it over what follows the ? in the textbox above the fetch puzzle button. For example, for today's puzzle id=7706&id2=312 follows the question mark so the fetched puzzle's URL is http://www.xwordinfo.com/JSON/data.aspx?id=7706&id2=312
ReplyDeleteOnce I give M&A the ability to upload directly to KF this will not be necessary.
Have a good trip. And my offer still holds. If you end up a couple of hundred miles from Fairfield, IA and want to meet I'll do it and will buy you lunch to boot!
ReplyDeleteOK, so I'm gonna try to fearlessly predict how hard this runt is, on a scale of:
ReplyDelete*In yer sleep
*Yappy
*Medium-Yappy
*Medium
*Medium-Snarly
*Snarly
*M&A couldn't even solve it.
Prediction: Medium-Yappy
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7729&id2=670
Have fun, y'all.
M&A
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=32
ReplyDeleteI would rate it Medium-Snarly because of 18A
Fair enough. M&A's "Primo Variety" courtroom defense...
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=33
M&A
Your commentary is definitely a value added to the solving experience. Maybe someday all constructors will do it if somebody will write the software to let them.
ReplyDeleteYour comment the answer to 18A has appeared in a NYT puzzle sent to me xwordinfo where I found it was in the Thursday, January 22, 2009 by Gary J. Whitehead. Did the puzzle just so that 18A is firmly in my mind. Curiously the clue for 27D there was {It's barely passing} 3 letters
Thanx, @r.alph. I feel lucky, that I only need to enter about 20-30 comments, max, for a runtpuz. Not as tall an order, as for a 15x or 21x puz. It would be mighty interesting, to see comparable comments from the NYT stable of constructioneers, tho.
ReplyDeleteOkay. I'm putting out this next runtpuz early, to give people lots of weekend time to tackle it. I'm pretty sure it is worse than Snarly Level. Let's call it a "Biter" runt. I will not do this very often, but I'm still tryin to get my bearings, on what's easy vs. what's hard, runt-wise. It is another day-um daring experiment, I reckon.
If anyone can solve this thing, without revealing any words, I'd sure like to hear about that. "Reveal incorrect letters" is okay; it's probably a must.
Otherwise, just hoping that solvers enjoy the challenge. At least the puz is small, so it will all be over relatively soon. If U are a first-time runt solver, I suspect this should not be the one to start with. There are about 100 others out on runtpuz.org, and most of them won't treat U this mean.
Let the rodeo begin...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7738&id2=715
M&A
"Desperate But Acceptable"
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=35
ReplyDeleteDefinitely one of the better runts. Great theme! Would be nice if you remember how the idea came to you.
Congrats, @r.alph -- well solved! U bit that Biter Runt right back!
ReplyDeleteConstructor's brief postmortem:
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=36
M&A
Probably the last runtpuz, before we head out.
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7773&id2=55
M&A
6:14, no cheats. Have a good trip!
Deletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=38
ReplyDeleteMedium-Snarly
If you are so inclined drop runtpuz.org a postcard
runtpuz.org
c/o Ralph Bunker
2151 185st #14
Fairfield, IA 52556
Thanx, @BobK and r.alph. BobK really crushed this one. r.alph probably woulda done better, but held a grudge on 15-A.
DeleteYep, I have some postcards here that had been used to line the runt cages... Was wonderin what on earth to do with those.
Constructioneer excuses:
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=39
Coming early next season:
A runt (called "Mincing Words") that attempts somethin new and freaky that should never be tried, over at the NYT...
M&A
"No Refunds"
Happy Runtsgiving, everybody!
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7959&id2=247
M&A
Thanx for the holiday gift. 15:51, but only after using "reveal incorrect letters" a few times.
DeleteI had everything on my own except for the NW corner. Would have helped a lot if I had remembered Mr. Wallach. (I'm at that stage of life where I could see his face but not his name.)
Happy Thanksgiving!
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=53
ReplyDeleteIt appears that a turkey runt is a decoy. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrVCt8fuyUY
Runtsgiving runtpuz postmortem:
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=54
M&A
This one is mostly a decoy. (And all @r.alph's fault.)
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=7976&id2=613
M&A
p.s. See yah after Thanksgiving. Have a Happy T-Day.
3:46, no cheats. Would have been faster if I hadn't gone with the Us at 14 A and put in HULU!
DeleteHappy T'Day to you, too.
HULU. Like the way U think, BobK. Really nice time, on yer "Turkey Runt" solve; U pretty much made giblets out of it.
DeleteSeems like the runtz tend to be much fairer, when there are around three themers. When M&A starts stuffing 5, 6 or 7 themers in, there's often not enough left for solvers to get a decent toehold on, in a 7x7 crossword. Will keep that in mind, when I start makin the official runtpuz gift boxes, for each of the loyal runtpuz fans...
M&A
"Makin a List and Uncheckin It Twice"
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=55
ReplyDeleteTough with a great punchline
"Turkey Runt" constructioneer excuses...
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=56
M&A
For those of U that still have an empty post-tday feeling inside, due to no themeless NYT FriPuz...
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8004&id2=356
M&A
"I've Got Yer Day-um Black Friday!"
Thanx for the themeless (if we ignore the two-letter leftovers?)
ReplyDelete3:15, no cheats. Biggest stumbling block was 14 A, had those little onion-like plants they have that festival for - you know - ramps.
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=59
ReplyDeleteBeat Norman Taber's 1915 world record mile time by a good 1.6 seconds
Great solve times, both of U. I'm impressed.
DeleteM&A flashes back, on the latest Stumpy Stumper:
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=60
M&A
17 A - "Standalone abbr. for that which does not stand alone"?
ReplyDelete(Yes, I embarrassed to post this suggestion.)
har
DeleteSaturday-level themeless runt?...
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8023&id2=53
M&A
Saturday-level, indeed!
Delete15:35; had to use "reveal incorrect letters" twice.
15 A - Never heard of it, but guessed correctly.
14 A - Never heard of, could have been anything.
3 D - Even Google can't tell me what that is, with the word in front of me.
Thanx!
@BobK: 3-Down answer has been clued several times, in real old NYTPuzs, with stuff like:
Delete"Soprano Lucrezia ___"
Unfortunately, that is way way too cultured, for the runtz.
Thanx for the neat comments.
M&A
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=62
ReplyDeleteLived up to its name. Seven seconds short of the fame limit
Stumpier Stumper dust jacket notes...
Deletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=64
M&A
"fame" limit?
DeleteFifteen Arduous Minutes Expended?
M&A
ReplyDeleteDo you know this chicken?
http://mumde.net/runtpuz/chicken.png
har. No.. but I can see why he crossed that road.
DeleteIs this yer way of tellin me a good clue for ED?
Am workin on a holiday meta week runtzravaganza. Maybe this will induce more solvers to "cross the road"...
M&A
p.s.
Delete...why "it" crossed that road. Hard to sex a chicken by drink order.
Bet Hayley's version of the cartoon woulda taken place at Ed's Roadside Cinnabun...
M&A
Exactly. The clue could be {___'s Roadside Lounge}
ReplyDeleteYour recap could contain a link to the cartoon
Day-um, r.alph. U went and inspired me a new runtpuz. And I'm still in the middle of my meta opus. snort.
DeleteM&A
If you could describe what Ed's Roadside Cinnabun Ranch (whatever) looks like I will get Hayley on it immediately!
ReplyDeleteHeck if I know. Other than I visualize a little sign on the wall of the place...
Delete* Cinnabun: $3.25. With sesame seeds: $4.25 ($1 for hold the bun orders)
* No crowing
M&A
Enhancement...
Delete* No crowing or cock fighting
Ed can't be too careful.
M&A
Welcome, one and all, to Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza Week!
ReplyDeletePart I: Let's start with a fairly easy one...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8053&id2=8
Please feel free to enjoy.
M&A
LOL! Enjoyed a lot!
Delete3:58, no cheats -- but maybe I had a slight advantage on this one.
Thanx mucho!
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=68
ReplyDeleteHoliday Meta Runtzravaganza Week, part II: Slightly harder...
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8087&id2=741
M&A
13:21, using "Reveal incorrect letters" twice, even though when I did, I only had two letters wrong.
DeleteAnd when finished, still don't understand 13 D or 18 A; their intersecting letter was my last entry.
Evil Doug should have an easy time with this one.
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=69
ReplyDeleteNot too sure anyone enjoyed this one.
DeleteHere's the skinny on the Part I meta runtpuz:
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=70
M&A
The one slowdown I remember from this one was ISH before ALA.
DeleteAnd here's the recap on the Part II runtpuz:
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=71
M&A
My penultimate letter change was from ON WORDS (isn't that the way a runtpuz moves?) to ONWARDS. (Not saying ONY made ANY sense.)
DeleteOK, BAD makes sense now. I wasn't thinking cryptically enough. Just guessed at the B because it made a word, and got the finished puzzle chimes.
And if I forget again, I always mean to say Thank You for providing these clever amusements!
Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza Week, Part III:
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8114&id2=759
Not much harder than yesterday's, I'm figurin.
M&A
3:26, no cheats.
DeleteBut I must confess, earlier today I had mused that this was an inevitable theme this week!
Thanx!
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=74
ReplyDeleteGood one.
r.alph - Putin's "Yes-man" is a "Da-man."
DeleteBut, M&A, you da man!
Cute, @BobK. You're sure nice now, but wait til U see the Meta Part VI runtpuz.
DeleteWhile I'm here, Part III puz recap:
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=76
M&A
Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza Part IV:
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8135&id2=787
M&A
Another brilliant puzzle.
ReplyDeleteReally hoped I could figure it out by myself, but I had a full grid, it looked good (by runtpuz standards), had to use one "reveal incorrect letter" to find the one letter I had wrong; then done in 13:50.
(I will withhold revealing what was my last entry.)
Thanx!
Brillant! However, when I attempted to playback the solution it crashed KF. Will fix it this weekend and then upload solution.
ReplyDelete@r.alph: OK. I'll wait on my "artist's recap", also.
Delete@BobK.: Thanx back. You'll be delighted to hear that the Part VI biter runtpuz features One Free Google.
@All solvers (both of U): Be sure and save all yer solutions to this week's Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza. U will need them for the Sunday Meta Nova finale.
M&A
"Happy Holidays"
I will also herewithby announce a Runtpuz Christmas Truce, after the Meta Week dealy, to give everyone a well-deserved runtrest. Consider it a "special" present, not unlike neon neckties.
ReplyDeleteThis truce will only be broken twice, the runtz have told m&e...
* Once because of some runt that @r.alph inadvertently let out of its "gift" box (see above comments, somewhere lately). No tellin, when that might show up.
* Once somewhere around Christmas Eve, when an uninvited runt will be scramblin down yer chimneys.
So, there.
M&A
Here is Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza Part V:
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8154&id2=484
M&A
LOL!
ReplyDeleteSave a space in the record books for anyone who solves this Runt!
I really, really, tried to get it, After 16 minutes, I had a scattering of answers and possible answers, but broke down and asked for a reveal of 1 A. The deficiency in my thinking became immediately obvious. I filled most of the grid quickly, but still had some lacunae, which at 20 minutes I started asking for, one letter at a time. After three reveals, I "finished" at 21:01.
I can only hope you will have a change of heart and not include this one in my permanent record.
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=79
ReplyDeleteThat warn't no runt, that was a bronco!
About 10 minutes into the puzzle I am thinking "Bob is already done". Guess not. This brings to mind the closing lines of Henry's St Crispin Day speech
"And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint M & A's day."
Somehow, I had actually heard of RAT as referring to hair, but I couldn't say where:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.howtohairgirl.com/2012/10/a-spooky-yet-awesome-vintage-hairstyling-trick/
No refunds.
ReplyDeleteArtist's flashbacks on Part V runt:
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=80
M&A
@r.alph and BobK.
ReplyDeleteValiant efforts on (ACPT-like) runtpuz #5 in the HMR-series. I hafta admit, I did toy with the notion of switching runts #5 and #6, in the series, because of #5's wide-open grid structure. So, #6 might actually turn out to be easier.
#5 might be good practice for the next ACPT, since it had no double-?? clues. Or not.
Anyhoo, thanx for hangin in there, on this HMR Week litter of runtz. Am gettin a real charge out of the comments.
M&A
"Happy Meta Holidays"
Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza Part VI is here:
ReplyDeletewww.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8169&id2=520
Only one more runtpuz after this one, to complete the semi-epic mini-series!
M&A
12:23, but not clean.
DeleteUsed the Google, fortunately choosing a valid word. But even that left me to choose the seven letters that were most appropriate, and I missed at that, even though I had seven letters that met the definition. But I had already filled enough that when I checked that one word, I was able to fill the rest of the grid in reasonable time.
The real test would be if you could disable all those electronic cheats and leave us to solve purely through brain power -- but I wouldn't get very far that way!
Thanx.
Spoiler ahead, but r.alph already did the puzzle:
DeleteAt 11 A, I Googled and saw that the clue words had to do with one-legged creatures. I already had 11 D as OUD, which is a real word, and is also DUO run UP (Though not MESSED), had the solid EPA at 14 D, and MIL (a small unit, to be sure) sitting at 10 D. These three all fit a trial answer of ONELEGS at 11A. Which is why I had to check with the "reveal current word".
@BobK. -- har. Even if I knew how to disable all the Xwordinfo Solver cheater controls, I still couldn't disable dictionaries, Wikipedia, and Google. Desperate solvers are infinitely resourceful, bless their hearts.
DeleteSorry btw about the real late posting of the runtpuz, last night. Was tryin to do a NYTPuz-style posting schedule, for this special runtWeek.
But the Friday Night Schlockfilm Fest threw everything off. We watched "Lizard Man", "Bubba Ho-Tep", and 3 chapters of "The Master Key" cliffhanger serial. So, a heavy evening (well wasted).
M&A
Nice aha when I got the meta. Check for correctness a couple of times but did not ask for any letters.
ReplyDeleteProgram crashed again for the same reason as the one on Dec 3. Will fix this today.
Yep. Sounds like Part VI puz was easier than part V puz. I can sure see why the Shortzmeister -- who actually knows what he is doing -- can mixswitch a Tuespuz and a WedPuz, now and then.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Grand Meta Nova finale puz will be all that difficult, other than its enormous size (for a runt). Hopefully it will not be too much of a slog. Also, its meta solution might be kinda tricky to unmask.
************ Previous puz (VI) spoiler-alert: **************
Hope everyone enjoyed the Ultimate Desperation of UOD. It was crucial, to make sure the runtzravaganza puz series always had at least one U in each gridlet.
**************************************************
I sorta like the whole Multiple choice Free Google gimmick. Might make an interesting runt-theme, after the Christmas Truce...
M&A
"Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Dufflepuds"
Occurs to me, that the NYT SunPuz comes out in about 15 minutes.
ReplyDeleteSince the runt was so late yesterday, might as well get the jump on the "SunRunt", tonight.
The Holiday Meta Runtzravaganza Part VII finale...
www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?id=8187&id2=493
Enjoy.
M&A
12:27, but, alas, not clean. Filled the entire grid, and it just sat there. Asked for "reveal incorrect letters," and I had two, both in the same word (to be posted at a later date.) Filled those, and done.
DeleteNo doubt as to the ultimate meta answer, but I would like to confirm some of the intermediates; again, later.
Next time Will Shortz is looking for someone to compose a week-long suite of puzzles, we know where he will turn!
Many thanks.
M&A's Part VII recap:
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=84
M&A
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=83
ReplyDeleteProgram is working better now. Problem was that it didn't know what to do with an unchecked square that contained a rebus that was the only white square in its row. A lot of people would have trouble with that also.
Beside fixing the bug, I have made the following changes to the program.
1. Open runtpuz.org, click "Crowd Souring Runtpuzzes"
2. Paste the entire URL that M & A posted into the text box and click "Fetch puzzle"
3. Solve the puzzle. You now have to click "Check solution" at the top of the page when you think the solution is correct. You will not automatically be told anymore. If it is correct then the playback button becomes enabled.
4. Click the playback button and then upload solution after writing some comments (optional)
5. Copy the URL that is returned to this blog.
M&A
ReplyDeleteHold off on doing a commentary on Part IV. It still has a problem. If you did the commentary I can probably restore it.
KF appears to be able handle rebuses now.
ReplyDeletehttp://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=86 Part IV
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=87 Part VI
Both these puzzles took about 20 minutes with assistance.
@r.alph: I tried to do some comments for the Part IV one, using your 6Dec/8:51pm instructions. But still got the chimes of congratulations, and when I pushed playback, I got a playback window with no answer entries to comment on.
DeleteDitto, for the Part VI puz.
M&A
Your browser is caching the old version. Please do the following:
ReplyDelete1. Open
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/
2. Click on M & A runt puzzes
3. Click on Meta, part IV link
4. You should see what you typed in.
5. Refresh the browser.
6. Click check solution at top right of page.
7. The playback button should become enabled
8. Click it and you should be able to enter comments and upload them.
I am going to add a link to your commentary for all puzzles that you choose to comment on. I find your comments both entertaining and educational and I am sure other people will also.
I just occurred to me that there may be stuff cached in your localStorage that will still break the program. If you have another browser on your machine, try using that or use another computer. Otherwise we probably should write this off as a beta experience.
ReplyDelete@r.alph: har.
ReplyDeleteTried again this morning on the Part IV puz, and got some slightly better results...
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=89
All the REBUS-infected entries were there (in odd places) when I commented on them, but disappeared from the generated final file. But, most of the other comments made it through, this time.
M&A
That (DOT) in square 5 was the last letter I filled, as mentioned in my December 3, 2014 at 8:22 PM post.
ReplyDeleteM&A
ReplyDeleteThanks for perservering on this. I have put your comments here
http://sanskritlibrary.com:8080/CrowdSource/GetSolution?id=90
If there are other comments you would like to add put them in a comment here and I will include them.
Did you run KF on another browser or machine or did you just refresh the browser?
@r.alph: Same browser and machine, different day.
DeleteM&A
Since this is approaching 200 comments I will create a new post.
ReplyDelete