XWord Muggles Forum

I got nothing, even after the spoilers. But I didn't watch much TV those decades; I think I only know one sitcom from that era and I can't link that one to anything in either the puzzle or the spoilers... A PM remedial nudge would be much appreciated!

But I loved the grid. Except for the earworm at one-down

KayW wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:51 pm I got nothing, even after the spoilers. But I didn't watch much TV those decades; I think I only know one sitcom from that era and I can't link that one to anything in either the puzzle or the spoilers... A PM remedial nudge would be much appreciated!

But I loved the grid. Except for the earworm at one-down

Same. Eagerly awaiting the solution so I can get some closure.

I'm also awaiting the reveal.
I solved the grid, but not being much of a TV viewer, then or now, didn't see how to proceed, even after the spoilers.
I'm curious to see the solution.

Here is the solution to Crown Jewels:


Steps:

• Notice that the names of five musicians are included as entries in the grid
• Notice that each musician has the nickname "King" or "Queen" of their respective genre, which genre crosses their name in the grid
• Next, without a hint or prompt of any kind that you should start thinking about card games , you are expected to notice that the set of theme entries consists of three "kings" and two "queens," which in poker is a FULL HOUSE, which is also the name of a popular television sitcom from 1987 to 1995.

I have very mixed feelings about this one. I like the mechanism, but wish it could have had a stronger click. Several members wanted the intersecting letters to spell something, and maybe I could have achieved that with a different set or by going beyond musicians, which could have been fun (Queen of Mean, King of Beers). In retrospect, it just seems pretty random to expect the solver to transition to thinking about a poker hand and then a TV show. But more than 20 of you were able to figure it out.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, this puzzle had been on the shelf for a while, and when I dusted it off, the prompt seemed convoluted to me...why limit the answer to 80s-90s TV shows? I decided to try to make the puzzle a little harder by removing that qualification, but was quickly reminded why it was there in the first place when numerous answers for "The King of Queens" started coming in. Sorry to anyone affected by my bad memory.

The reason for the delay is kind of funny. I was originally going to post this back on June 8, but on June 5, MGWCC came out with the puzzle "Big Deals," which had the same solution - FULL HOUSE. I intended to save this one for even longer, but the same thing basically just happened again - a few days before, someone else released a puzzle with a very similar theme or mechanism. So now that one is on the shelf and this one was the only "backup" I had ready to go.

Thanks everyone who took the time to solve this one. I've had the pleasure of previewing the puzzle Al Sisti will be posting tomorrow, and you are in for another treat!

Wow. Well constructed. Never heard of (George) Strait.

My next guess would've been Fresh PRINCE of Bel Air.

One of those where you're so surprised that it's possible you wonder how the idea can have occurred to the constructor.

What a great meta - between a KAS 4 / 5 for me. After a few nudges (thank you kindly) I got far enough along to figure out most of the "royalties". But not knowing George Strait, I was thinking of (Dire) STRAIT(s) and the Sultans of Swing So I'd never have made the connection to Full House.

...and I do recognize the title of that show, tho I never watched it.

KayW wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:09 pm What a great meta - between a KAS 4 / 5 for me. After a few nudges (thank you kindly) I got far enough along to figure out most of the "royalties". But not knowing George Strait, I was thinking of (Dire) STRAIT(s) and the Sultans of Swing So I'd never have made the connection to Full House.

...and I do recognize the title of that show, tho I never watched it.

...and you are the better for it.

Brian, I got the answer only thanks to your hints (I know nothing about poker!) -- but what on earth was the significance of the "See 58 down" phrases in the clues for 56D, 57D, and 66D?

Dplass wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:53 pm Wow. Well constructed. Never heard of (George) Strait.

WHAT??? I would say of of all the musicians in this puzzle, he is the one I'm most familiar with (although it still took all three hints before I realized what was going on). So. Many. Great. Songs. I think "Run" is my favorite, esp. the duet version with Miranda Lambert.

Thanks for a fun puzzle, Brian!

Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:35 pm Brian, I got the answer only thanks to your hints (I know nothing about poker!) -- but what on earth was the significance of the "See 58 down" phrases in the clues for 56D, 57D, and 66D?

I think he was alluding to the fact that those three answers are all a little on the awkward side, and then 66D is the apology, "Sorry, I had to." The constraints from the STRAIT/COUNTRY crossing made for some weird fill in that corner. But there was no other significance to the "See 58-Down" phrases, at least not in terms of the meta.

damefox wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:57 pm

Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:35 pm Brian, I got the answer only thanks to your hints (I know nothing about poker!) -- but what on earth was the significance of the "See 58 down" phrases in the clues for 56D, 57D, and 66D?

I think he was alluding to the fact that those three answers are all a little on the awkward side, and then 66D is the apology, "Sorry, I had to." The constraints from the STRAIT/COUNTRY crossing made for some weird fill in that corner. But there was no other significance to the "See 58-Down" phrases, at least not in terms of the meta.

Correct. The partial HAD TO itself is pretty bad fill, but that corner also has PSP, PHYSIO, NORAS (clued as the partial NOR AS, since I wanted to keep all non-musician names out of the grid), whatever the 5-digit Roman numeral was, it was all just so junky.

Thanks so much for the explanation, Brian! I thought that three repetitions of the same phrase MUST be significant but couldn't make anything whatsoever out of them.

damefox wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:55 pm

Dplass wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:53 pm Wow. Well constructed. Never heard of (George) Strait.

WHAT??? I would say of of all the musicians in this puzzle, he is the one I'm most familiar with (although it still took all three hints before I realized what was going on). So. Many. Great. Songs. I think "Run" is my favorite, esp. the duet version with Miranda Lambert.

Thanks for a fun puzzle, Brian!

Shrug. Different strokes.

I got the King’s and Queens but didn’t connect. Thanks for the puzzle Brian. I just wasn’t on the right wavelength. The title was my failure.

KAS 5 for me. I stayed on the couch this time. Too many connections to make in areas that I'm less familiar with.
At least I got to enjoy the grid. Congratulations to all solvers!

I kept trying to find more confirmers for ELLEN, a TV sitcom. ELLEN appeared diagonally in the SW corner running through PRESLEY, and she hosted the OSCARS TWOYEARS!