The Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday puzzles are do-able. Come Thursday, most clues are about obscure
movies and old television shows. Last Saturday was
this clue: “Fifth in a series of seven old
comedy films”. ?? For a
late 80s immigrant, it is quite a struggle to get those answers. (btw, the answer to that question is Road to Rio)
Then I begin cheating…I go to Google for help. I discovered in my surfing two websites that
take all the fun out of doing the crossword.
One is www.crosswordheaven.com
– it’s a site that allows you to enter the clue and it just spits out the
answer. It is always a temptation to go to it. The other is http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/ -- the blogger is a Rex Parker who says of
himself “I am the 31st Greatest Crossword Puzzle Solver in the Universe!” Don’t ask me who the other 30 are!! Rex Parker takes 2 minutes to do the NY Times
crossword and by the time I solicit Google for help at about 9 a.m., HE is
there – on top of the search list. All
smug and done, the fastest pencil in the east.
And, of course, I follow his blog.