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A weekly meta crossword created by members of the forum. Difficulty levels will vary. Hints are usually available starting Wednesday, and solutions are posted on Sunday.
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Bob cruise director
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Posts: 4511
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:38 pm
Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA

#81

Post by Bob cruise director »

Joe Ross wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 2:23 pm
Al Sisti wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 1:48 pm
TPS wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2020 1:07 pm

That is funny you should say that my GF and I were talking this weekend how outside of career/academics we are both slightly below average at everything - like not good at anything and certainly not great - rock climbing, surfing, snowboarding, golf, darts, pool, coding, crosswords, painting, cooking, running... To be fair, she is actually quite good at a number of things but she counts them as all academic/career - I mean she speaks 6 languages other than English and has a Masters degree in French literature - but we generally suck at all of our hobbies which is probably why we have so many. I guess I am good at skydiving because if I wasn’t I’d be dead but even that I’m not great at. Oh - I forgot fantasy football - I’m pretty bad at that also - and poker!
Personally, I think that's a great formula! Could I be the very best in the world at something if that's all I worked on... every hour of every day for my whole life? Maybe, maybe not. And if I achieved that? So what? Is that a way to spend our scant time on this marble? Life is so much more rewarding -- for me, anyway - to be a jack of all trades and a master of none.
Waxing philosophical, are we? Lemme!

An example of appreciating what the world has to offer: I've been playing more golf, lately, not having spent enough in previous decades to be considered average. I am getting better & my friends tolerate me. I've improved to the point of not being a hindrance, anyway.

Nearly everyone with whom I play is better than me, but there are a few who are simply impressive. It's fun to be there & witness some of the shots they pull off and pull off consistently. One friend, in particular, has a knock-down mid-iron shot he'll use as a rescue, or when a green is open & approachable at the front. For three decades, it still remains a thrill to watch him hit this shot. It's nearly poetic.

I have played enough to understand the innate talent needed to be awesome & the practice it takes to achieve higher levels of play. If I only watched the professionals play, I'd assume that the game was easy. Not having given it recent consistent effort, despite never being in danger of winning, I wouldn't understand nor appreciate the accomplishments & talent of others.

The experience translates, of course, particularly here. Witnessing others' abilities & being privileged to read of their strategies makes me want to try that much harder. Not to compete at their higher level, for I know my limitations, but to enjoy witnessing the process & improving where I can, so that I might be included in the conversation, occasionally.

[EDIT: grammar]
Joe
I took up golf in the mid 90's after playing tennis for 30 years. My index was about 14. When I retired, I had delusions of taking a half a dozen strokes off that - it did not happen. My conclusions are that since golf is a highly repetitive sport and you can lose strokes very easily, you have to practice, practice and practice some more and take lessons. There was no hope of me hitting the ball 250+ yards but I could improve from 150 yards in. The problem was that I have a lot of other interests and am not willing to dedicate my life to golf. So I accept what I can do, work not to totally screw up any holes and have a good time.

By the way, driving four carts around the course sucks. There is no conversation except at the tee and the green. And you can't even go in for a beer afterwards.
Bob Stevens
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Joe Ross
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Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
Location: Cincinnati

#82

Post by Joe Ross »

Bob cruise director wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 2:42 pm By the way, driving four carts around the course sucks. There is no conversation except at the tee and the green. And you can't even go in for a beer afterwards.
Got to walk it, Bob!

True story: Played 18 in a foursome at a local country club. A friend had purchased the round at a charity auction, which came with carts, fortunately. Being between a glacial plain & a major river, we are not unfamiliar with billy goat golf courses, but this course was brutal. Even in carts (2 per), we all felt as if we played four hours of tackle football. As another friend put it, the next day, it was as if we tried to set a record for consecutive rides in a wooden roller coaster.
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
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Bob cruise director
Cruise Director
Posts: 4511
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:38 pm
Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA

#83

Post by Bob cruise director »

Joe Ross wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:11 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 2:42 pm By the way, driving four carts around the course sucks. There is no conversation except at the tee and the green. And you can't even go in for a beer afterwards.
Got to walk it, Bob!

True story: Played 18 in a foursome at a local country club. A friend had purchased the round at a charity auction, which came with carts, fortunately. Being between a glacial plain & a major river, we are not unfamiliar with billy goat golf courses, but this course was brutal. Even in carts (2 per), we all felt as if we played four hours of tackle football. As another friend put it, the next day, it was as if we tried to set a record for consecutive rides in a wooden roller coaster.
I know those courses. We walk courses if we can but some courses have too much distance from green to tee to walk.
Bob Stevens
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whimsy
Posts: 2718
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
Location: Hopkinton MA

#84

Post by whimsy »

OK -- I know I don't have to do this since I've already been accounted for but......

I'm moving this thing out -- no need for it anymore thanks to a certain percentage (yeah, over 50%) of Al's generous nudges:
CaptureouchwAl.JPG

Thanks for indulging me -- since this is what I've enjoyed learning lately (along with the actual metas) --- experimenting and creating silly posts to amuse myself. You can tell I'm getting very good at it because you can't even tell this was photoshopped, right? :P

I've enjoyed the life-long learning and limitations talk; another good thing about the puzzles and this forum -- new words and concepts that lead me to check out more about them. Why, just now I learned there's such a thing as a gimmick rallye! Thanks, Anita!

And now I should haul myself over to another part of the forum because I'm guessing that's where everyone has got to.... hey, guys, wait for me!
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Al Sisti
Posts: 2037
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Whitesboro NY

#85

Post by Al Sisti »

The answer to this meta was “Jack in the Box.”

There weren’t any obvious theme entries, so where to start? Clue 1A (awkwardly) gives us a hint: “Jack inserted to connect components.” [confession: Although I’ve been plugging in my electric guitar for 57 years now, I *never* knew that the jack was the female part of the connection! Peter Abide educated me, and suggested that a better worded clue might’ve been "You can connect components using this jack." Of course, he was right.]. Anyway, after a nudge or two, solvers noticed that there were four symmetrically placed rows where the word “Jack” could be inserted into a black “box,” connecting two existing components to yield new phrases: Bo JACKson, HiJACKed, DustJACKet and NewJACKCity. The add(ition)s” point to the fast food chain, Jack in the Box, which is a toy that pops up.

As I like to do, I also added four hidden hints to these answers within the clues:

30A included the phrase “… walked away from the royal family,” which also applies to BO JACKSON, who left the Kansas City Royals in 1991 and was signed by the Chicago White Sox
17A mentioned the movie "Air Force One," which was HIJACKED by terrorists
34A included “…spent a lot of time around books,” which also could describe a DUST JACKET
37D mentions “snipes,” and Wesley Snipes starred in the movie NEW JACK CITY

Anyway, 26 of you successfully solved the meta, although a few people didn’t know why… but a solve is a solve, just as some football games are won as much by a desperation Hail Mary pass as by 60 minutes of a well-executed game plan.

The random winner this week is veteran solver markhr, who will receive either a) a Utica Club keepsake, or b) an unsullied copy of one of the books in Peter Gordon’s “____ingly Hard Crosswords” series, autographed by Peter himself. (markhr, pm me for your choice, and how I can get it to you).

I hope you enjoyed the puzzle. I know it was a little different, but hopefully it didn’t frustrate you too much, and that you’ll be back for my next one.
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boharr
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Posts: 3182
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
Location: Westchester, NY

#86

Post by boharr »

Thanks Al. Loved it.
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TPS
Posts: 721
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:19 pm
Location: Florida

#87

Post by TPS »

Although "Jack in"serted had my immediate Hail Mary guess as "Jack in the Box" which was later confirmed by nudges and frequent use of the word in the thread over the week.

NEVER - I never would have ever come to that answer organically. I enjoyed the grid - far better constructed than my attempts! Thanks for the effort!
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KayW
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Posts: 3124
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 12:10 am
Location: Chicago

#88

Post by KayW »

After the nudges, I knew the answer had to be "Jack in the Box", but I never submitted because I couldn't work out the mechanism. A big KAS 4 for me because I like rebuses... rebi? D'OH!

Great meta - wish I had been up to it.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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ReB
Posts: 667
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:34 pm
Location: East Tennessee

#89

Post by ReB »

Nice construction. The nudges were enough to give me the solution. I tried inserting "jack" between words and trying to combine parts to find a new word, but somehow just couldn't see any of the newly created theme entries above - another of my too-often occurring meta blind spots. (The hidden hints were outside of my knowledge base.)
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whimsy
Posts: 2718
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
Location: Hopkinton MA

#90

Post by whimsy »

Here's my (not too serious) plug for the answer to have been Blimpies.

First of all, there was BALLOON, and SCALE(s)(NE) and ATE and ATE and ATE and ATE.

The four symmetrically placed theme entries (horizontal nudge had not been mentioned at this point) were the nicely crossing:
In NW: BALLOON & PLACEBO
In SE: CITYMAP & IDEATES

B and L from Balloon (2 spaces apart)
I and M from CityMap "
P and E from Pacebo (3 spaces apart)
E and S from IDEATES "
Spelled wrong, of course, and pretty arbitrary sequence of selection from the grid ----
----- but, hey ---- there was the antidote of CALISTA as the "cherry on top!"

Also wanted to do something with SAAB and PESCI ---- like, Sleeps with the Swedish Fishes?

All that but I never noticed the "reinforcements" -- Royals, Snipes etc. !! :P
Thanks for the fun, Al!
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FrankH
Posts: 242
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 4:15 am

#91

Post by FrankH »

I was thinking Jack in the Box, and one rabbit hole was looking for four theme entries that could form that box. I noticed the BO at the end of 19A, which could change into BOX by adding an X at the end, and so I circled BO. When one of Al's nudges mentioned symmetrical theme entries, I also circled CI in 60A. Eventually I noticed that putting JACK after BO gives me BO JACKSON, and then I can see the NEW JACK CITY for the symmetrical theme entry. Then it is just a matter of looking for the other two.
markhr
Posts: 342
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:56 pm

#92

Post by markhr »

I am very honored to be the chosen winner of an Al Sisti meta contest. We are in discussions regarding the prize.
I suspected Jack in the Box as the answer, and when I saw BO SON, I had the a-ha moment. Cool puzzle.
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