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Where can you get yesterday's NYTimes?

Brainy — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:27:30 -0800

How can I get a Sunday New York Times on Monday (in NY)? My girlfriend (who is busy writing a paper) woke up and realized she should have gotten an issue of the NYTimes yesterday for a class today, but totally forgot.

Where is the best place (preferably around Hunter college at 68th St on the east side.) to try to get one?

Surely those old newspapers go somewhere

The Biggest Dreamer — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 09:29:25 -0800

How do I get a copy of a newspaper... that's NOT today's? This feels like a really stupid question. But..

let's say that I/my friend had her name mentioned in the New York Times last Friday, and in her absentmindedness she never bought a copy that day. And unfortunately her parents read the NYPost and don't buy the Times 'cause it's so expensive.. so they haven't even noticed yet! She wants to send her parents a newspaper clipping (while she could just print the article off the Internet, there's nothing like a nice newspaper clipping that'll yellow over the years, really).

So given that today's Sunday, how can I purchase (or find) a copy of Friday's newspaper? Is this even possible?

Can you help me find this NYTBR letter to the editor?

Mr. Justice — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:51:45 -0800

Please help me find this letter to the editor in the New York Times Book Review that is somewhere between a couple of months and a couple of years old. I am trying to find the text of a letter to illustrate a particular point of view for a class I am teaching. This letter appeared in the New York Times Book Review after 2006 (I think). It was about the immense dangers to writers of books that resale of books over the Internet posed. The idea was basically that writers have a tough enough time as it is, and the increased competition that the Internet creates for them -- especially with reference to resale of books -- will make writing less remunerative

How to get a blog comment removed from the New York Times?

gagglezoomer — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:09:07 -0800

For Google-sake, help me get a comment removed from one of the New York Times' blogs. Several years ago I made a comment to a blog maintained by the New York Times using my full name (poor judgment, I know). As I have a very unique name, whenever you Google my name the blog post containing the comment is always returned in the first few results - all these years later. The problem is, this comment, while not completely inappropriate, makes me look like somewhat of an ass. I would have no problem if this comment was buried deep in the Google search return, but it always comes up in the first few results, even though I have several professional accomplishments, articles, etc, that are much more relevant but which appear later. I'm guessing this is because Google interprets any occurrence of my name on NYTimes.com as of high importance/relevance. I might need to look for a job soon and I don't want this to kill my chances when employers do their due diligence by Googling me, and see this.

I have emailed the Times several times using their feedback form and have not received a response.

Does anyone have any suggestions for helping me get the Times to remove this comment, or at least removing my last name from the comment?

What is the word frequency distribution in the NY Times?

stevekinney — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:22:41 -0800

How many different words (excluding proper nouns) appear in the New York Times on average? I remember hearing this friendly fact at one point, but I can't find it anywhere on Google or MeFi. It was something along the lines of "300 words make up 80% of the New York Times." Does anyone have the actual frequency off-hand?

Help me find the article about the column written by "We"

Su — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:25:40 -0800

I need a hand trying to hunt down an article about a column published by "We," probably in New York. Some time ago, I read an article about a publication that at one point regularly published a column, probably as editorial or opinion, with the byline "We," giving the suggestion that it represented the opinions of the entire publication. It was well-known, however, that any given piece was only written by a single anonymous author, with no particular requirement that their piece agree or even be consistent with anything previously written.

Here are the details I've got:

* The article would have been published within the last ten years, but also several years ago, ie. probably before 2006/7. (This has been tormenting me on and off for a while.)
* Based on what I was reading at the time, there's a strong chance the article appeared in The New Yorker or Harper's.
* It would most likely have been /about/ one of those two or the New York times, though I have a definite impression this was a New York thing, so Harper's seems least likely.
* It's not too likely that the article was in the same publication that originally ran the column.
* I don't recall the main title of the article, but pretty strongly recall a sub-title of "How [publication] Killed 'We'"
* I believe part of the reason the practice was stopped involved internal conflict at the publication itself over the content of the pieces, and/or general feuding.

It's not too much, and the possible search terms suck(I've tried), but maybe it'll drag up a memory for someone.

Help me find some two-year-old cool.

rachelpapers — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:05:53 -0800

Please help me find a specific New York Times tshirt. It's the one Eric wears in Las Vegas in Season 3 episode 9 of Entourage. It is blue and uses the classic NYT typeface and logo, set at an angle on the shirt. I can't find any pictures of it on the web, but I'm hoping you fashionistas out there can give me a hand. Thanks a lot!

Here is a clip for reference.

Thank you very much!

books on liberia

charlesv — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:14:35 -0800

Where can I learn more about the Liberian history explored in this New York Times article? I have been meaning to post this for quite a while. I was fascinated by the article. I would like to learn more about the aspects of Liberian society discussed in the article and about the coup and its aftermath.

A couple of years ago I read In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo, so something along those lines but in Liberia would be ideal.

Apartment Code Puzzle

xz — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:29:51 -0800

Cypherfiler: Did anyone check out the NYT article about the amazing puzzle/scavenger hunt that was built into the NY apartment? possibly the coolest thing i've seen in years. i'm intrigued by the part of the cypher shown but i've got a little stuck... "The children’s bedrooms have radiator covers with poems written specifically for each child cut into them in code. The Caesar Shift cipher in the bedroom of the oldest child, Cavan, was broken by a friend."

Caeser Shift works by "shifting" the alphabet a set number of letters along, so F becomes C, G becomes D, etc.

the code translates to (with odd 'errors'):

cavan, the archer's child
curioM, bright--your
quicE Gind pivots and
leaps like a dancer.
curiouMity;s light
is to love the question
as much as the answer.

can anyone figure out the code within the code? seems inexplicable that they'd just screw up those 4 letters, especially as they are the RIGHT letters if you translate the cypher backwards (if C becomes F instead, so M=S, E=K, and G=M).

why MEGM? (or SKMS or...)

What does the NYT Style Guide say about "UK" vs. "England"

caek — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:02:01 -0800

Can someone with a copy of the New York Times Style Guide tell me what it says about the preferred nomenclature for the country that calls itself "The United Kingdom"? They seem to use "England" as a synonym for the UK (e.g.), which most Britons consider incorrect. I'm interested to learn if this usage is justified in the Style Guide or is it just following standard usage in the US, which is rather casual about the distinction. Bonus points if you can tell me what the AP Style Guide (or any other American usage guide) says. p.s. I'm not looking for a fight about which is right. Just quotes from style guides and relevant comments on these.

Today's NYTimes in London?

Optamystic — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 04:54:51 -0800

Can I buy today's New York Times anywhere in North London? My kid brother's band got a nice write up in the Arts section, and I'd like to hang on to the paper for posterity.

Bad links on major news sites

MiguelCardoso — Sat, 10 Apr 2004 19:25:16 -0800

Why do the most professional news web sites so often - and increasingly often - include bad or wrong links? I'm talking NYT, WP, Daily Telegraph and Google News et al. (For a recent example, click on the Researching the New Joy of Sex highlight in today's Observer and you get this.)

Gmail?

Prospero — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 06:29:12 -0800

Is this an April Fool's joke, or not? The New York Times (reg. req.) appears to think that it isn't, but it's on this list of online April Fool's jokes.