My second Saturday puzzle, I think much easier than my first. Hope you enjoy it. My favorite clues that Will kept are:
Try out the puzzle and let me know what you think.
My favorite blog comment:
The top left of this puzzle was horrible and should be removed from existence. (Ryan, from Ryan and Brian)
Thanks for reading!
Hopefully a fun, challenging Friday puzzle, in the New York Times today. I have a short blurb of constructor notes in the official NYT Wordplay blog. I did not choose the banner image.
Try out the puzzle and let me know what you think. Some of the other blogs:
My favorite blog comment:
It’s the kind of answer that makes you think any old crap is acceptable in a crossword puzzle. (on Rex Parker)
I was pleased to see that my monthly electric bill fell from over 160 kwh in December to 110 kwh in January, about a 33% decrease. It was even higher the months before that, over 200 kwh. I did this through a few really simple steps:
If you’re wondering exactly what resources you’re saving when you use less power, try looking at your town’s or city’s utilities webpage. Here’s Palo Alto’s source of electricity in 2007:
Large Hydroelectric: 53%
Natural Gas: 18%
Nuclear: 0%
Eligible Renewables: 14%
Coal: 14%
(from the Palo Alto utilities page)
From the No Impact Week How-To:
By now, you’ve probably slaughtered some of your carbon footprint — trading in some gas guzzling for sweat equity, phasing out prepackaged processed food for delicious local dishes, shopping less and saving more, turning down the lights, and quenching your thirst with tap water while lightening your planetary load. Pat yourself on the back for coming this far and do a little dance: it’s time to share some of your exuberance with others! By giving back, you slow down and appreciate what you have. The conversation and community that you will experience will give you that all-important, essential nutrient: happiness. Challenge yourself today to be charitable, to act in good faith, to become one with others. Ultimately, you will not only be giving back — you’ll be getting back.
Most of the people I know lead extremely busy lives, juggling high-energy jobs in the technology or science professions with relationships and all the other passions and pursuits that fill our time. It’s not difficult to forget about giving back. For this day of No Impact Week, I’ve been thinking about a few ways to do this suggested by Colin and the other No Impact Project folks:
From the No Impact Week How-To:
A whopping 71% of Americans are trying to reduce their footprint. Of those 71%, 60% are reducing their water consumption, and saving a lot of money on their water and electric bill. In this economy, every flush counts! Turn off the tap. Believe us, you’ll feel better about yourself.
It’s time to tackle energy consumption. From the No Impact How-To:
Unplug! Turn it off. Power down. Go off the grid. For the truly adventurous, turn off your electricity completely and see what happens.
This was a fun one. In the No Impact trailer, you can see that Colin and his family turned off everything – the lights, the TV, even their refrigerator. It’s very difficult to turn off the electricity completely, but it’s possible to come close. Some of the things I did:
It’s harder to go without lights when alone, just because there’s so many fewer things to do and it’s harder to, say, read only by candlelight. The good news is that the decreased heater use, green energy enrollment, and switching to CFLs can be sustained past this week-long experiment.
Today was a toughie. The idea of Day 4 is to start eating only locally grown, organic, unpackaged foods, to reduce waste and eat healthier.
From the No Impact Week How-To:
During their No Impact Year, the Beavan family ex- amined and altered what they ate and found new, carbon-friendly ways to nourish themselves. They ate locally and seasonally. Packaged and processed food disappeared from their grocery list. The Beavans soon discovered that these changes not only lessened their environmental impact, but also enabled them to lose weight and improve their health. Best of all, they got to spend more time with friends and family at vibrant farmers’ markets and while making and sharing meals. What will you discover?
Fortunately, in San Francisco there are numerous farmer’s markets that make it easy to eat local. I’ve found that the Ferry Building farmer’s market has by far the freshest and highest quality produce, plus you can get Acme’s organic bread that’s baked there. Palo Alto has two farmer’s markets, one downtown on Saturday and another (better) one at California Avenue on Sunday.
For lunch on Wednesday I had Acme bread, with an avocado, a variety of salad greens, and fruit that I bought at the farmer’s market. For dinner, a stew with beans and other vegetables that mostly came from a Farm Fresh delivery – local, organic produce. It certainly tasted better and felt healthier than the restaurant food I would have normally eaten – I watched my coworkers consume oily dumplings and other fried things at a Chinese restaurant.
See the How-To guide for additional details on how to eat healthier while supporting local, organic food. I also recommend watching the documentary Food, Inc., which explains the corrupt food factory system that feeds most of America.
From the No Impact Week How-To:
Two months into his No Impact year, Colin and his family began phasing out all forms of mechanized travel — no planes, subways, taxis, cars, not even elevators. They biked, walked, and scooted, and not only did better by the Earth, but discovered that “active transportation” is less stressful (no traffic jams!), cheaper, burns tons of calories, and is plain old FUN. Using active transportation lowers your stress — plus, you get to spend more time with your family. Now, who wants to honk at that?
Transportation is one of the easiest days for me because I can walk to work. If i need to buy groceries or run errands, I can almost always walk somewhere around town. The only tricky parts are if I want to go play sports at a field too far away or go to the city, which is over 30 miles away. I haven’t had to do that yet this week, but if I do, I’ll be trying to carpool or, better, take public transportation.
The object of Day 2 is to create no trash waste that goes to landfills. To do so, all of the waste you generate must be recyclable or compostable, though it’s best to minimize that waste as well. The No Impact Week How-To describes a lot of steps you can take to do this.
Prior to No Impact Week, I’d recently made these changes:
For No Impact Week specifically:
New York Times Crossword – December 19, 2010
This Sunday crossword is my first event puzzle. Hope you can finish it before Monday night, because that’s when the fun really begins.
You can buy a copy of the New York Times and find the puzzle in the magazine, or get it at this link and let me know what you think.
Blog links if you want to be spoiled:
Rex Parker
Orange
Englishman
Official NYT
Thanks for reading!