"Physical Science" - April 19, 2019

[EdStrong]

Ashore, thanks to some help from Mr G for validation.

[Commodore]

Now standing on sand. <Wait!> Now being told this may be a Sand Bar.

"You're no bunny, til some bunny loves you." - Happy Easter

[BarbaraK]

There is a new person over at the old site (jeffrey parish) asking some questions. I tried twice to reply, and the posts don't appear. Maybe some of you who have been at this longer than I have can help him.

I just tried too and also have a reply pending moderation. Wonder if all of them will appear eventually. Looks like they did allow one response through anyway.

Imagine being the poor person who has to sort through all the comments on all the WSJ articles all weekend.

Looks like the moderator did approve them all. There are now 6 replies.

Yesterday someone posted the four letter noun that he thought was the answer. Either that went through without moderation or the moderator didn't realize what it was and approved it. It was visible on the site for a while though before Mike deleted it.

[sheilaco]

I'm LAS. Haven't had a lot of time to look at this. I followed one promising rabbit hole that went nowhere. I'm going to see a movie and hope for some divine inspiration.

[Meg]

Or maybe you will experience "post enlightenment", which is the phenomenon of having the answer jump into your brain soon after you post that you are LAS.

[curtremarks]

At sea but mostly to spend time with Isaac. Great pic BTW.

[debbierudy]

Swam ashore this morning, but was too busy planting my herb garden to get online till now. Spring in Ohio this year is actually very nice, unlike last year which was cold, wet and terrible until it got hot. This was an enjoyable puzzle, very clever, and well constructed. After all this exercise (swimming, planting, thinking, etc.) I'm ready to hit the tiki bar for an old fashioned!

[Bob cruise director]

I just tried too and also have a reply pending moderation. Wonder if all of them will appear eventually. Looks like they did allow one response through anyway.

Imagine being the poor person who has to sort through all the comments on all the WSJ articles all weekend.

Looks like the moderator did approve them all. There are now 6 replies.

Yesterday someone posted the four letter noun that he thought was the answer. Either that went through without moderation or the moderator didn't realize what it was and approved it. It was visible on the site for a while though before Mike deleted it.

At least we were consistent

[JJD]

On shore, KAS 3 for me.

I’m going to resist the urge to make vague but (IMHO) clever comments that could be construed as hints. Instead I’ll just say I appreciated the ‘aha’ moment.

[Beth C]

Done and done. Clever meta, per usual. Good luck Muggles!

[DrTom]

OK, I actually think I got this one! Took me a while to see and was led astray by a few craftily scattered "hey wait a minute" things, but perhaps I have broken the curse. I have been sooo close the last few weeks and not been able to bring it home. We'll see.

Thanks for the new forum, it really was rather silly what WSJ did. Given that one of the main reasons I but the paper is the Crossword Contests and since the puzzles are so far free and now I don't have to be a member to comment to my hearts content - well they may have made it easier to not renew. I might just go to Saturday reading to save on subscription costs.

[hcbirker]

Just noticed the WSJ posted the "continued discussion" on the Crossword Contest. That means you can continue posting on the site. (Heidi)

[Thurman8er]

Took a day or so, but I got it.

[SueJ]

On the ship....think I'm going down the right rabbit hole but have a busy weekend. I see a head slap coming Monday morning!

[31 Down]

Swam ashore this morning, but was too busy planting my herb garden to get online till now.

Debbie can be our resident crucial herbalist! (groan?)

[FKelly]

On shore Thursday, but a bit late to post. A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle from Mike Shenk. There are a variety of cocktails associated with this one.

[tim1217]

A while back someone (I think the name was Howard...) posted a series of comments that described 'rules of thumb' for solving META puzzles. One of those rules is that when you have the correct answer, you will 100% know that it is correct (i.e.,you can logically walk it back to the beginning of the process AND it makes sense with the title of the puzzle). I absolutely believe this one. Whenever I 'think' I have the answer (i.e. it's not 100%) then it is always the 1st or 2nd losing answer (per Mike's Monday reporting). I spent Thursday afternoon til Saturday afternoon 95% sure of the answer, but that rule of thumb was bugging me. Then the AHA happened. Glad I spent more time on it, otherwise I'd be in the 'also ran' group come Monday.

[KayW]

Not seeing it yet. I’m thinking of some four letter words, but not all of them are nouns.

LAS. I see an obvious starting point and a few rabbit holes that so far lead to nothing but four-letter gibberish. I think Brian expressed my sentiments perfectly. On the bright side, it looks like I have my choice of barstools this week.

Happy holidays to those who celebrate!

[billkatz]

It took me a while (and a gentle nudge) but I made it ashore! Travelling in Maryland this week to visit my son at U of Maryland.

[Jim and Anita]

Kudos to all those who solved the meta. We thought we had a possible idea for this one but we feel like our boat is taking on water so fast that even all the rabbits have abandoned ship. In the real world, spring has come at last to central Pennsylvania and we wish everyone a lovely day.