"Two By Two" - August 23, 2019

[Janet]

The muggles go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The muggles go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The muggles go marching two by two
One of them stops to google a clue
And they all go marching down to the bar or onto the shore

[Beth C]

Done and done. I was stuck on the meta but read the posts about how quick and easy it was. Then I went back and saw the key and solved in the next few minutes! Glad to be done early into the weekend. Good luck Muggles!

[31 Down]

Hey Tom,

Hope you’re feeling well. A close friend of mine was treated at MSK and received great care. They really are the best at what they do.

Wishing you all the best.

Bill

Thanks Bill - I was at MSK to support a friend who is now C-free but has ongoing issues collateral to her ordeal. She's home now and doing well.

I'm fine, physically at least. Not sure of the compos mentis part.

[HowardHuddleston]

Ashore. Finally figured it out after stumbling around a bit. That's 8 out of the last 10. Sure couldn't have said that a year ago!!

[Bob cruise director]

Good Saturday morning muggles

Another week and another crowded shore with 4 on the ship and 94 on the shore

First we welcome our three newest muggles
dgedlion and damefox from this blog
and Janet V's daughter from the WSJ site

And we are all enjoying the parodies on various animals that our creative muggles are posting

And my preemptive apology if I miss someone in the crowd

On the ship are
Brian
GlennG
Eric P
and Richard

The crowd getting drinks at the tiki bar and enjoying the good weather on the shore are
Tom M
David K
Al
Hector
Mary F
Fred
Wendy
Meg
STL-D
OGuyDave
gamera13
inca
Heidi
ky-mike
anita
Jeremy
Barbara K
Kay
Janet P
Moi
Chrisw
joequavis
Doug M
Denise
Cindy
Laura
Beth T
Jim and Anita
Guy L
sharkicicles
Orsys
docison
Julie O
the Thurman8er
Les
drabble
Diana
azdataboy
Toby
Frankie
oldjudge
Beth A
darthdriessen
Barry
Steve B
Brian Mac - and thanks for all you do on this blog
Frank
Tina
JakeorJacob
Trey and Marion
Bird Lives
DBMiller
Tom S
Juliet
Emily K
Steve A
Bill H
streroto
Jennifer
MaineMarge - and the gardens on the ship look great
Mark L
Tony S
jazzvibist
Paul D
Domenic
bobbydeee
Rita W
dgdelion
Janet V's daughter
Stukmn
Susan G
Alan H
Andrew B
ImOnToo
damefox
Cynthia J
Tom Wilson
31 Down
tim1217
James C
Janet
Jeanrosz
Rad26
Paul
JimmyJam
Daniel G
Kathy G
scooby
Jess S
Ed S
Billkatz
DrTom
Howard H
Beth C

and I expect the shore will become more crowded as the day goes on

Good luck to everyone winning the mug

[Horsesense]

This week's "Two By Two" was as clever and fun as ever ... the ingeniousness of the constructors never ceases to amaze!

[Bob cruise director]

This week's "Two By Two" was as clever and fun as ever ... the ingeniousness of the constructors never ceases to amaze!

And welcome to our group of muggles. Good luck winning the mug

[BarbaraK]

This week's "Two By Two" was as clever and fun as ever ... the ingeniousness of the constructors never ceases to amaze!

Two mugs! Wow, cool! Hope your luck spreads around here.

[DrTom]

Been trying to do a spoof of the The Unicorn Song, with apologies to The Irish Rovers. But haven't had the time to work on it. Guessing I'll never see a unicorn, nor a mug.

Hmm, obviously one of those "great minds think alike" (I'm choosing that over the corollary "fools seldom differ") because given the current contest title and the meter of the song it seemed to make a natural. I'd love some honing of my initial attempt, its been a long time since I heard the song and even then I may have been slightly less than totally coherent (pub, beer, song...you know how that goes). So here is the first shot across the bow, I'll defer to any and all of my brilliant co-members of the Muggleopolis for improvements.

Some years ago, when I was still green
And there were more kinds of puzzles than I'd ever seen
They'd abound in media and I would be torn
But the loveliest was delivered Friday morn

Chorus:
There were lots of Ali references and names of geese
Some types of humpty camels or even chimpanzees
Lots things from long ago before many were born
All wrapped together in this crossword porn

Now God seen some Googlin’ and that was OK
And he says, "I just hope you solve it any old way"
He says, "hey, brother Michael, I'll tell you what to do
Create a new one and call it Two by Two"

Chorus:

[Jacksull]

On the beach. I don’t know why, but I had to put this one down four times before I saw the light.

[Janet]

We have a lot of great songs for this week's contest. Here's a drink recipe I found called Noah's Ark:
https://www.food.com/recipe/noahs-ark-251226

[Joedbee]

Onshore! The grid was more of struggle than usual. Clever meta!

[Eric Porter]

The muggles go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The muggles go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The muggles go marching two by two
One of them stops to google a clue
And they all go marching down to the bar or onto the shore

Even with posts like this one, I still can't figure it out. With these tunes and the Noah's Ark references, I'm pretty sure I know the right song.
I have found some similarities between the grid and the song, but I don't think that's leading to anything.
I've tried everything I can think of based on 'two', but nothing came up.

I've solved all of them since the start of April. I feel bad that I can't solve one so easy.

[BarbaraK]

Even with posts like this one, I still can't figure it out. With these tunes and the Noah's Ark references, I'm pretty sure I know the right song.
I have found some similarities between the grid and the song, but I don't think that's leading to anything.
I've tried everything I can think of based on 'two', but nothing came up.

I've solved all of them since the start of April. I feel bad that I can't solve one so easy.

The songs are just entertainment, not hints. Don't bother to analyze them.

[Jacksull]

Even with posts like this one, I still can't figure it out. With these tunes and the Noah's Ark references, I'm pretty sure I know the right song.
I have found some similarities between the grid and the song, but I don't think that's leading to anything.
I've tried everything I can think of based on 'two', but nothing came up.

I've solved all of them since the start of April. I feel bad that I can't solve one so easy.

I was there. I finally printed the puzzle, and filled it in all over again. It made me look at the puzzle with fresh eyes.

[Kris Zacharias]

On shore--after first being a bit puzzled because an obvious approach did not work, and then becoming cross because repeated attempts at this approach never provided an answer. After a few hours away from the rabbit hole, a renewed attempt resulted in success.

[BrianDavidson]

The muggles go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The muggles go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The muggles go marching two by two
One of them stops to google a clue
And they all go marching down to the bar or onto the shore

Even with posts like this one, I still can't figure it out. With these tunes and the Noah's Ark references, I'm pretty sure I know the right song.
I have found some similarities between the grid and the song, but I don't think that's leading to anything.
I've tried everything I can think of based on 'two', but nothing came up.

I've solved all of them since the start of April. I feel bad that I can't solve one so easy.

I was on a similar roll but this one is in my blind spot for sure, so I've decided to head below deck until next Thursday.

[BrianDavidson]

So here is the first shot across the bow, I'll defer to any and all of my brilliant co-members of the Muggleopolis for improvements.

Some years ago, when I was still green

I was playing with a version that starts:
A long time ago when Mike was Marie...

[PHOFER]

Ashore. "Easy" if you see it, not so easy if you don't. I suppose that could be said about many metas, but it seems particularly appropriate as to this one. Good luck muggles!

[AnnP]

On shore, finally! Sometimes I'm just not on the same wavelength as the constructor.