"Look Inside" - April, 3, 2020

[Al Sisti]

Couple of rabbit holes have led me to 11 letters each, but nothing to show for it. Looks like I'll be keeping Isaac company at the bar til closing time this week, folks.

Well, evidently all it took was a post indicating that I'm stuck at sea to get me onshore. Finally finally got there!

You might be surprised at how often that happens!

[UTHfan]

it's sort of making sense now for some reason but what to do with it all?

[MajordomoTom]

PM sent

[hcbirker]

Couple of rabbit holes have led me to 11 letters each, but nothing to show for it. Looks like I'll be keeping Isaac company at the bar til closing time this week, folks.

Well, evidently all it took was a post indicating that I'm stuck at sea to get me onshore. Finally finally got there!

That’s why we call it “post enlightenment”!

[lusophile]

Through a long, long Hail Mary on the off chance it might be correct. Since I'm still quarantined on the ship, I'll have to wait till it docks to collect the mug. Cheers!

[BrianDavidson]

Count me on board. Had a few ideas but just not seeing it.

[ImOnToo]

I’m Frozen..

Let It go, Let it go
Can’t look at it anymore
Let it go, Let it go
From here I can’t see the shore

I don’t care how much more I play
On the boat I’ll stay

Isaac’s bar never bothered me anyway!

[Bob cruise director]

Our final count is 31 on the ship and 73 on the shore.

With all our new muggles, our clan has grown to 596 of us.


Keeping Isaac in business for the next week are:
Sisoop
CallMeShane
UTHfan
Hidden in 3D
Inca
Bulls****
ImOnToo
Tom Wi
pookie
Debbie
moodie
Brian D
and lusophile

And making it to shore are
jawinks
Cynthia J - who I missed before - sorry
Nlobb
David K
Tom Shea
LittleGood
tonyrobots
MileHighSolver

Good luck to all winning the mug

and stay safe

[juliet]

I'm afraid I'm just not going to get around to my favorite crossword puzzle this weekend. I haven't even had time to read everyone's posts since Thursday, which always makes me smile (and often laugh out loud). I learned earlier this week that one of my dearest friends since college days has been diagnosed with inoperable metastatic cancer. Her prognosis is not good, but she is going to undergo chemo and hope for the best. I have been trying to get in touch with all of our mutual friends and still have quite a few more to reach, so that is at the top of my agenda for now. Hope to be back on board next week - better yet back ON SHORE!

Being available to your friend must mean so much, at this tender time.

[steveb]

On shore, with almost 2 1/2 hours to spare. I went down so many rabbit holes without success and decided to give it one last shot before dinner. Glad I did!

[JennyByrd]

Hello from house arrest, er social distancing, in Houston. I’ve been doing crosswords on-and-off since college, but mostly do cryptics these days. Tried my hand at the puzzle and had no issues with the grid, but haven’t been able to figure out the meta. It’s been fun reading everyone’s posts. Thanks for letting me join the group.

[hcbirker]

Hello from house arrest, er social distancing, in Houston. I’ve been doing crosswords on-and-off since college, but mostly do cryptics these days. Tried my hand at the puzzle and had no issues with the grid, but haven’t been able to figure out the meta. It’s been fun reading everyone’s posts. Thanks for letting me join the group.

I don’t do cryptic, but there is definitely a learning curve with metas. Keep trying. Look at some of the older ones in this forum to acquaint yourself.

[MajordomoTom]

and I highly recommend also purchasing Gaffney's books.

the first one ... the grids are a bit dated, so I've found them not as easy as the ones in the paper today. But the metas - you'll learn a TON from them.

Of course, that doesn't help you with Mike's puzzle (this one). Stay tuned for the post-mortem discussion - probably not as crazy as that of last week (says me wearing my team ADMONITION sweatshirt).

[DrTom]

Some weeks it just isn't happening, this is obviously one of those weeks. I am totally confounded. I had several ideas and none of them worked. I see countless people who have come to enlightenment, but not me. I am going to have to console myself with a resounding head slap at the 24:00.01 reveal when I will say "ARGGGHHH, why didn't I see that!" or worse yet. ARGGGHHH, I saw that and didn't follow thorough". Congrats to all those clear headed enough to solve. I will be keeping Isaac company this week.

[LaceyK]

Thanks to the encrypted nudge, I'm ashore, but not submitting. Perfect nudge--I still got to search and discover. I'm getting closer every time to these tougher ones.

[matthewmoravec]

Looks like it's not happening for me this week. Congrats to all who figured this one out

[Tony S]

Hello from house arrest, er social distancing, in Houston. I’ve been doing crosswords on-and-off since college, but mostly do cryptics these days. Tried my hand at the puzzle and had no issues with the grid, but haven’t been able to figure out the meta. It’s been fun reading everyone’s posts. Thanks for letting me join the group.

Cryptics are my favorite form of puzzle. I do at least one daily. Solving the meta often uses pathways identical to solving cryptics. You can do this.

[joequavis]

My wsj streak appears to be ending. Congrats to the solvers!

[Al Sisti]

Hello from house arrest, er social distancing, in Houston. I’ve been doing crosswords on-and-off since college, but mostly do cryptics these days. Tried my hand at the puzzle and had no issues with the grid, but haven’t been able to figure out the meta. It’s been fun reading everyone’s posts. Thanks for letting me join the group.

I don’t do cryptic, but there is definitely a learning curve with metas. Keep trying. Look at some of the older ones in this forum to acquaint yourself.

I'm hoping by "Look at some of the older ones..." you meant metas, not Muggles.

[Joe Ross]