"I Really Don't Need This!" - September 13, 2019

A place to discuss the weekly Wall Street Journal Crossword Puzzle Contest, starting every Thursday around 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please do not post any answers or hints before the contest deadline which is midnight Sunday Eastern time.
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PHOFER
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#181

Post by PHOFER »

Ashore after solving a tough grid, made tougher by the conceit of the puzzle, but happily my first thought on how the meta might work turned out to be the right one. I am so impressed with Matt's cleverness.
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Bob cruise director
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#182

Post by Bob cruise director »

I am not sure if this will be a double posting as the first one crashed and burned

First a welcome to our newest muggle - Anomander

And our final count is 8 on the ship and 110 on the shore

Since noon Howard H and Dennis have joined Isaac in the ship's lounge

and making their way to the shore are
Candy B
LLinNC
Anomander
Kay
Paul D
Domenic
Michael Silverman
Susan G
ImOnToo
Nalugirl
and phofer

Good luck to all in winning the mug
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Stukmn
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#183

Post by Stukmn »

On shore but feel like I cheated.
Don’t bother me until I’ve had my coffee and done the crossword.
Tony S
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#184

Post by Tony S »

Marie Kondo? Celebrity? Who knew? I bet Margaret Cho did!
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Hector
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#185

Post by Hector »

So all I got was that there are blank squares in some entries in the grid, and the letters you use to make the across entries complete words spell out MARIE KONDO, who is a tidiness celebrity. I guess you eliminate the unneeded stuff with her?
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Bob cruise director
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#186

Post by Bob cruise director »

It took me a while to realize that there were blank squares but 9D and 53D cinched it for me. The next challenge was finding out where in the word the blank square fit. After I got the grid completed with the correct blank squares and started looking at the across words with blanks, a couple jumped out at me that you could insert a letter and get a new word. Create, brooklets, slicker and lightning were the giveaways. When I started writing down the fill in letters, shmoes added the M so I looked up Marie Kon (google filled in the DO) and that got me the answer which also helped me with 59A and 27A

The question I have is that 17 A (C_DS) could be Cads, Cods, or Cuds and 56A (TI_E) could be any of Tide, Tile, Time, Tine, or Tire. The only reason I picked an A for 17Across and D for 56 Across is that they completed the name of Marie Kondo however this was not a particularly satisfying method

But Marie Kondo will go down in Muggles lore with Margaret Cho and Uma Sumac in the “who are these famous people” category.
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BethA
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#187

Post by BethA »

Tony S wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:08 am Marie Kondo? Celebrity? Who knew? I bet Margaret Cho did!
Anyone using the wsj app on iPad. It filled in all of the blank letters for you. Disappointing.

Ps. Along with the Steelers. Guess I will have to change my avatar!
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BethA
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#188

Post by BethA »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:13 am It took me a while to realize that there were blank squares but 9D and 53D cinched it for me. The next challenge was finding out where in the word the blank square fit. After I got the grid completed with the correct blank squares and started looking at the across words with blanks, a couple jumped out at me that you could insert a letter and get a new word. Create, brooklets, slicker and lightning were the giveaways. When I started writing down the fill in letters, shmoes added the M so I looked up Marie Kon (google filled in the DO) and that got me the answer which also helped me with 59A and 27A

The question I have is that 17 A (C_DS) could be Cads, Cods, or Cuds and 56A (TI_E) could be any of Tide, Tile, Time, Tine, or Tire. The only reason I picked an A for 17Across and D for 56 Across is that they completed the name of Marie Kondo however this was not a particularly satisfying method

But Marie Kondo will go down in Muggles lore with Margaret Cho and Uma Sumac in the “who are these famous people” category.
Yma! 😀
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Joe Ross
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#189

Post by Joe Ross »

Hector wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:10 am So all I got was that there are blank squares in some entries in the grid, and the letters you use to make the across entries complete words spell out MARIE KONDO, who is a tidiness celebrity. I guess you eliminate the unneeded stuff with her?
Yes, until you realize that the across "blank letters" must form across words. I backed into that when a search on MARIA KONDA gave MARIE KONDO. My incorrect As (for A RAGDOLL at 37D & A CLOCk at 59A) didn't fit.

I agree with the sentiment.

EDIT: Bob explains my "mehness" much better in Post #186, above.
Last edited by Joe Ross on Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:26 am, edited 2 times in total.
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hcbirker
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#190

Post by hcbirker »

As I was filling in the blank squares, I got to Marie K and thought wouldn't it be funny if it was Marie Kelly?
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Tony S
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#191

Post by Tony S »

hcbirker wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:22 am As I was filling in the blank squares, I got to Marie K and thought wouldn't it be funny if it was Marie Kelly?

At least I've heard of Marie Kelly!
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EdStrong
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#192

Post by EdStrong »

Hmm - shmoe and cad. Learned two new words today!
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FrankH
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#193

Post by FrankH »

So I asked my daughters if there is someone named MARIE KONDO, and I got back strange "where have you been" looks on their faces.
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FrankH
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#194

Post by FrankH »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:13 am It took me a while to realize that there were blank squares but 9D and 53D cinched it for me. The next challenge was finding out where in the word the blank square fit. After I got the grid completed with the correct blank squares and started looking at the across words with blanks, a couple jumped out at me that you could insert a letter and get a new word. Create, brooklets, slicker and lightning were the giveaways. When I started writing down the fill in letters, shmoes added the M so I looked up Marie Kon (google filled in the DO) and that got me the answer which also helped me with 59A and 27A

The question I have is that 17 A (C_DS) could be Cads, Cods, or Cuds and 56A (TI_E) could be any of Tide, Tile, Time, Tine, or Tire. The only reason I picked an A for 17Across and D for 56 Across is that they completed the name of Marie Kondo however this was not a particularly satisfying method

But Marie Kondo will go down in Muggles lore with Margaret Cho and Uma Sumac in the “who are these famous people” category.
And for 27A, it also could be Pawn. It looks like for each of the blanks if you go through the alphabets in order and select the first letter that can make a new word, you'll get the answer. But this point isn't mentioned in WSJ write-up.
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FrankH
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#195

Post by FrankH »

EdStrong wrote: Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:36 am Hmm - shmoe and cad. Learned two new words today!
It is shmo, a variation of schmo. But cad occurs quite often in crosswords.
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DrTom
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#196

Post by DrTom »

OK, I'll agree the construction was clever, but wouldn't it have been even better if the clues had hinted at the word that you had to come up with?

I would offer (and I am sure others have even better examples):

15 Too many heels hanging around the dressing room floor

17 Music holders that are obsolete and treated people badly anyway

24 Reading material you probably won’t ever look at again and could stream if needed

27 Item crammed into a kitchen cabinet and is a bother to get out

35 Containers that just seem to make more stuff

38 Kitchen gadget with a plastic cover you’ve used maybe once

43 Kitchen item you have dozens of but only ever use a few which threaten to take over the drawers

47 Old lamps that flash and might not even work anymore, e.g.

56 One of dozens on a rack whose popularity rises and falls and some of which are super-ugly

59 Item whose sole function and display is duplicated by your phone
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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Bob cruise director
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#197

Post by Bob cruise director »

By the way, can someone explain to me what a "tidiness celebrity" is or does. Is it kind of like your mother yelling at you to clean up your room?
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oldjudge
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#198

Post by oldjudge »

The elegant solution I was looking for apparently does not exist. For some of the blanks there was only one choice. For others there were multiple choices. Getting the right answer was not difficult, but there should have been an elegant way of getting there. There should have been a reason contained in the puzzle that made you choose PAIN rather than PAWN, or TIME rather than TIDE or TILE. I think this was an unusually poor job by Matt.
Emmaa
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#199

Post by Emmaa »

These metas never cease to amaze me. I often find amusing journeys down hare-brained chutes, wondering how many of these tunnels or traps are set by M&M, et al, and how many of them are muggle created. If muggle creations, I wonder is it just me, or do others find these same tunnels and traps? I, therefore, share now some of my amusements.

The scattered extra letters I found, at first, spelled MARINE KODO. I often will put these in the order they appeared, or in an order that I can remember them without necessarily writing them down, though I usually also write them down. I knew Marine could be USMC or perhaps something related to water. I searched G. and learned KODO is a Japanese drumming musical group, based in Japan, and they tour abroad to Europe and the U.S. I began another long rabbit hole thinking about Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump, and I knew he was played by Gary Sinise, a celebrity, a great American, and giant supporter of various veterans' organizations, both personally and through the Lt. Dan Band. He frequently performs on USO tours at military bases around the world and I remember seeing him and his band in Vegas a few years back. I remember a possible hint USO 61A in this puzzle. In the movie he, like Gump, was in the army, not the marines, and his band is not KODO. MARINE KODO, surely is not the name of a celebrity, but I began thinking perhaps MARIE is the name of the celebrity. I briefly thought about Marie Osmond and wondered if I had somehow gotten some of the letters wrong, or maybe even missed some. So, I reviewed the entire grid and the only 10 extra letters, which I confirmed we’re likely correct.

Removal of the N from MARINES left me an N to add to KODO, hence, NKODO, which can be anagrammed into KONDO. I was surprised to see my G. search of Marie K. The first auto item on the list popped up Marie Kondo, whose name I didn’t know, a #1 on the NY Times best seller list, and she is a professional organizer. Then, “I don’t really need this!,” had relevance. I asked my wife, who immediately told me who she is, without looking her up. I further learned from G. that Marie Kondo is of Japanese descent, and her net worth is estimated at $10 million USD. She is just 4 ft 7 in tall, making me giggle to think how easily she could fit in some of these rabbit holes...or organized spaces.

Am I a cheat using G.?
I’m reminded of what my Pathology professor, disapprovingly would say: “Even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while.”
Another rabbit hole I went down was 8 Across SCHWA, when I once noticed a lot of Es on the completed grid, unsure how that might possibly be related, but wondering if a schwa e might be similar and/or opposite to 10 extra letters that led us to MARIE KONDO.

Anyone else admit to rabbit hole exploring of MARINES, KODOs, Sinese, Osmond, or SCHWA Es?
Emmaa
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#200

Post by Emmaa »

ImOnToo wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 6:41 pm
ImOnToo wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 6:22 pm Oh, good grief. Post enlightenment strikes again.
I’ve been looking at this off and on since Thursday with nary a clue.
I posted that I was lost and, BAM! On shore!
🏖🍹
I’m also laughing at myself for all of the gymnastics I attempted for four days. 🙄
Do share!
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