"In The Hopper" - March 6, 2020

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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Joe Ross
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#201

Post by Joe Ross »

With 3 hours & 11 minutes shy of 2 weeks left in winter at the time of posting the puzzle, Thursday, this particular Crossword Contest seemed to be hopping the gun a bit.

20200306 WSJCC In the Hopper.gif
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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hcbirker
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#202

Post by hcbirker »

I was amazed at how many muggles avoided talking about rabbits this week.
Heidi
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Commodore
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#203

Post by Commodore »

Bird Lives,
Enjoyed your "Nighthawks" post. My first thought seeing the puzzle title Thursday afternoon ran to Edward Hopper. Just that very morning I had run across an Instagram from a gallery owner who hangs this Edward Hoppper watercolor in his home. The artist's rendering of sand dunes in Truro, MA. The owner apologizes for hanging it here, but can't resist, claims it fits best on that wall.
Sure.
Hopper in Hopper.jpg
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Bob cruise director
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#204

Post by Bob cruise director »

I was waylaid for a bit because the "hopper" is a toilet so "In the Hopper" means you are in the toilet so I spent time looking for head, bathroom, loo, can, etc.
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MaineMarge
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#205

Post by MaineMarge »

I probably wasnโ€™t the only Muggle whose first thought when seeing the title was how too funny would it be if rabbit turned up to be the answer. So I was primed to see that rabbit almost leaping out at me in 32a when I finally finished the head scratching grid. Interesting and creative throughout- both grid and meta. I loved it.
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Deb F
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#206

Post by Deb F »

What I found amusing was how every muggle skillfully avoided any mention of going down rabbit holes๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿ˜. Good luck everyone.
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Deb F
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#207

Post by Deb F »

Obviously missed HCBirker's comment above!!
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OGuyDave
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#208

Post by OGuyDave »

My comment in #143 was referring to what appeared to me to be lower-than-average occurrences of comments that contained words with six letters.

Good luck to all becoming a mug recipient.

Hey, I did it again!
Last edited by OGuyDave on Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bird Lives
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#209

Post by Bird Lives »

Commodore wrote: โ†‘Mon Mar 09, 2020 6:12 am Bird Lives,
Enjoyed your "Nighthawks" post. My first thought seeing the puzzle title Thursday afternoon ran to Edward Hopper. Just that very morning I had run across an Instagram from a gallery owner who hangs this Edward Hoppper watercolor in his home. The artist's rendering of sand dunes in Truro, MA. The owner apologizes for hanging it here, but can't resist, claims it fits best on that wall.
Sure.
Hopper in Hopper.jpg
I thought there would be Hopper with an actual 6-letter word. I thought one of those his gas stations might be a Flying A. But no. So I went with his most famous and settled for PHILLI.
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LittleGood
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#210

Post by LittleGood »

hcbirker wrote: โ†‘Mon Mar 09, 2020 12:11 am I was amazed at how many muggles avoided talking about rabbits this week.
The dog that didn't bark.
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BethA
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#211

Post by BethA »

One of my first thoughts on seeing the title was, โ€œoh no, what if RABBIT is the answer ?!โ€. ๐Ÿ˜€ Other early idea was the hopper as used in machinery - a compartment where material is put and then fed into the machine, as in farm equipment or a factory.

Such restraint! Great job, MUGgles! Not only did everyone avoid RABBIT, but it also kept people from mentioning the time change - SPRING forward!
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MajordomoTom
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#212

Post by MajordomoTom »

Just "roll" with it.

I was surprised to have SPRING this shortly after SPRINGROLL.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
Nlobb
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#213

Post by Nlobb »

When I saw the title I immediately thought of a rabbit, so in the hopper must mean a carrot!! After doing the grid I saw rabbit right away in arabbritish then had fun looking for other animals that hopped. Great puzzle! Hope to see more from Joanne in the future.
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yourpalsal
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#214

Post by yourpalsal »

I am an idiot. I got the right answer, but I thought it was just about animals and springtime. Only on returning to the muggleboard today did I realize that all the animals mentioned actually hop. That makes the puzzle ever so much more elegant. ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿ’ƒ
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Hector
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#215

Post by Hector »

First day of Spring is March 19 (Thurs), when a WSJ contest puzzle will drop. I wonder why this wasn't held back a couple of weeks.
BrianDavidson
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#216

Post by BrianDavidson »

This was the weekend we Spring forward.
Dplass
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#217

Post by Dplass »

The one that got me was ROO. I saw RABBIT right away and eventually had SPRIN_... and it just had to be G.
Nlobb
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#218

Post by Nlobb »

Too was the last one I found too. I was looking for kangaroo but no k.
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MajordomoTom
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#219

Post by MajordomoTom »

saw RABBI/RABBIT, knew that something had to be there (just ... too odd). When I dropped RABBI for RABBIT, it was all down-hole (?) from there ...

actually LOL'd at FLEA ...

stared at ROO for too long but by that time, knew it was SPRING and that I 'needed' a "G" from that last answer.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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Colin
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#220

Post by Colin »

Oh boy (again). Saw RAP and got completely tied up in hip-hop... aka EMCEE. Not a fan of the genre, but saw a few names in the grid (with help of Mr G, also in grid!) and settled for HAMMER, as in MC HAMMER. Knew it had to be wrong, but no time left. Earlier, I blew past the obvious in the theme answers because only Rate of Progress, File a Return and (at a push) Went Out on a Date seemed to fit the theme, so I gave up.
One world. One planet. One future.
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