Page 17 of 18
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 7:57 pm
by LaceyK
Bird Lives wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 8:03 am
I didn't see the "reminds them of college years" comment that Dr. Tom mentions. But here’s a college connection.
A comment I posted early on said in part, “I guess this is one for the Charter, Colonial, Cannon, Cottage Crowd.” Those are the names of four of the Princeton “eating clubs” (Princeton's version of fraternities). If you knew about Princeton, then you might also know that their version of pledging, or the part where clubs select members, is called “bicker.”
I had thought that this was a reference that would be understood only by those who a.) had gone to Princeton and b.) had solved the meta. Stupid me. If you Google those four words, you find a Wikipedia page about the clubs, and if you read it carefully, you’ll find “bicker.”
When I discovered that, I edited my comment down to only two clubs, sufficient to throw Google off the scent.
In my college years, Charter & Colonial were sign-in, Cannon was an admin building, but Cottage remained Bicker (I bickered Tower).
I'm guessing you are a fellow Tiger? I thought about saying Tiger Tiger Sis Boom Bah in my comment, but went with the more veiled "Roar!"
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 8:39 pm
by Hector
I think Cannon was closed as an eating club in the early 70s.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 9:19 pm
by Bird Lives
LaceyK wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 7:57 pm
In my college years, Charter & Colonial were sign-in, Cannon was an admin building, but Cottage remained Bicker (I bickered Tower).
I'm guessing you are a fellow Tiger? I thought about saying Tiger Tiger Sis Boom Bah in my comment, but went with the more veiled "Roar!"
I had a roommate who was a Princeton grad, and he told us about bicker. Then I had a one-year deal as faculty member there the first or second year Princeton went co-ed. It was still the sixties in spirit. The eating clubs were at alow ebb in popularity. But I guess there were still locomotives by the score.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 8:27 am
by MikeMillerwsj
First of all, our apologies for the technical glitch in posting this one! Our tech team tried to explain it to me and it was too deep in the weeds of an upgrade of one obscure part of our system for me to understand. No excuse, though.
Still, 1688 of you persevered and submitted entries, and about 84% of you got it right. I sound like a broken record, but when you stop and think about the brilliant Swiss watchmaker's mind it took to create this one.. We had 28 votes for ARGUE, 26 for GET EVEN (alluringly clever if a bit random), plus DISAGREE (5, plus 2 AGREE TO DISAGREE), BUTT HEADS (4), and several others.
Congratulations to this week's winner, Jaime-Jin Lewis of Brooklyn, NY!
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 8:54 am
by Joe Ross
MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 8:27 am
First of all, our apologies for the technical glitch in posting this one! Our tech team tried to explain it to me and it was too deep in the weeds of an upgrade of one obscure part of our system for me to understand. No excuse, though.
Still, 1688 of you persevered and submitted entries, and about 84% of you got it right. I sound like a broken record, but when you stop and think about the brilliant Swiss watchmaker's mind it took to create this one.. We had 28 votes for ARGUE, 26 for GET EVEN (alluringly clever if a bit random), plus DISAGREE (5, plus 2 AGREE TO DISAGREE), BUTT HEADS (4), and several others.
Congratulations to this week's winner, Jaime-Jin Lewis of Brooklyn, NY!
Congratulations to our 2nd newest muggle!
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 10:45 am
by DrTom
Bird Lives wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 9:19 pm
LaceyK wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 7:57 pm
In my college years, Charter & Colonial were sign-in, Cannon was an admin building, but Cottage remained Bicker (I bickered Tower).
I'm guessing you are a fellow Tiger? I thought about saying Tiger Tiger Sis Boom Bah in my comment, but went with the more veiled "Roar!"
I had a roommate who was a Princeton grad, and he told us about bicker. Then I had a one-year deal as faculty member there the first or second year Princeton went co-ed. It was still the sixties in spirit. The eating clubs were at alow ebb in popularity. But I guess there were still locomotives by the score.
Oh, Oh, if you go to the eating club and consume one of the score of locomotives, do you end up with locomotive breath? Please tull me you do.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 10:58 am
by Bob cruise director
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 8:54 am
MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 8:27 am
First of all, our apologies for the technical glitch in posting this one! Our tech team tried to explain it to me and it was too deep in the weeds of an upgrade of one obscure part of our system for me to understand. No excuse, though.
Still, 1688 of you persevered and submitted entries, and about 84% of you got it right. I sound like a broken record, but when you stop and think about the brilliant Swiss watchmaker's mind it took to create this one.. We had 28 votes for ARGUE, 26 for GET EVEN (alluringly clever if a bit random), plus DISAGREE (5, plus 2 AGREE TO DISAGREE), BUTT HEADS (4), and several others.
Congratulations to this week's winner, Jaime-Jin Lewis of Brooklyn, NY!
Congratulations to our 2nd newest muggle!
jaimejin.png
When we started having muggles on the WSJ page, I could only count someone as a muggle when they posted on ship or shore. I kept the same method here although we have all sorts of variants.
I don't count someone who has created an account but not posted on the ship or shore which is why we show 771 users but only 662 muggles (about 1/3 of which have never posted on the blog) . Also there are several users who have either created an account but not posted or posted but not declared whether ship or shore. And there are a few who have posted their background in Come Aboard but not posted ship or shore. And there are some who have posted in one of the other topics such as the Other Metas, Other Puzzles or Acapulco Lounge.
As a result, congratulations to Jaime-Jin Lewis for winning the mug but I have not counted him as a muggle - yet.
Another interesting thing is the large number of "guests" that I see here. I am not sure if they are muggles who have not logged in or if they are lurkers who have not created an account. Either way great to see the interest. And, as always, a big thank to Brian Mac for setting this up and babysitting any issues which come up.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 11:03 am
by boharr
Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 10:58 am
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 8:54 am
MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 8:27 am
Another interesting thing is the large number of "guests" that I see here. I am not sure if they are muggles who have not logged in ...
I'm often guilty of this. Open up the forum in a tab and then forget about it. So I "guest" for a long time sometimes.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 11:52 am
by Meg
Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 10:58 am
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 8:54 am
MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 8:27 am
First of all, our apologies for the technical glitch in posting this one! Our tech team tried to explain it to me and it was too deep in the weeds of an upgrade of one obscure part of our system for me to understand. No excuse, though.
Still, 1688 of you persevered and submitted entries, and about 84% of you got it right. I sound like a broken record, but when you stop and think about the brilliant Swiss watchmaker's mind it took to create this one.. We had 28 votes for ARGUE, 26 for GET EVEN (alluringly clever if a bit random), plus DISAGREE (5, plus 2 AGREE TO DISAGREE), BUTT HEADS (4), and several others.
Congratulations to this week's winner, Jaime-Jin Lewis of Brooklyn, NY!
Congratulations to our 2nd newest muggle!
jaimejin.png
When we started having muggles on the WSJ page, I could only count someone as a muggle when they posted on ship or shore. I kept the same method here although we have all sorts of variants.
I don't count someone who has created an account but not posted on the ship or shore which is why we show 771 users but only 662 muggles (about 1/3 of which have never posted on the blog) . Also there are several users who have either created an account but not posted or posted but not declared whether ship or shore. And there are a few who have posted their background in Come Aboard but not posted ship or shore. And there are some who have posted in one of the other topics such as the Other Metas, Other Puzzles or Acapulco Lounge.
As a result, congratulations to Jaime-Jin Lewis for winning the mug but I have not counted him as a muggle - yet.
Another interesting thing is the large number of "guests" that I see here. I am not sure if they are muggles who have not logged in or if they are lurkers who have not created an account. Either way great to see the interest. And, as always, a big thank to Brian Mac for setting this up and babysitting any issues which come up.
Bob,
I remember when you volunteered to be temporary and then permanent Cruise Director. Little did you know how important you would become to so many people. And now it’s soooooooo complicated!! Do you have names for all those categories? Have an account, but never posted ship or shore = a Nuggle? N meaning not. Anyway, thanks for all you do.
Meg
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 1:13 pm
by yourpalsal
So I declared myself on shore this week and I was wrong, and my answer wasn’t even a common error, but it was a pretty amazing coincidence. After trying all kinds of gematria-like numerical equivalents to letters based on PICA = 12, I finally gave up on that pernicious rabbit hole and started working with “odds and ends.” “People at odds” suggested to me that there were named people at odd numbers and their final letters might link up to create a solution. It ended up slightly out of order - which should’ve been enough to sink my ferry to shore! - but the letters did work out to NAYSAY. The right answer was of course much more in keeping with puzzle standards and I am pretty blown away by how much work Mike must have done to make this clockwork tick. Looking forward to next week!
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 2:19 pm
by DrTom
My GOODNESS, the WSJ blog site has a host of upset people! I never experienced the problem, maybe I didn't log in until Friday? At any rate they seem markedly less happy than our group of bon vIvants (our luxurious indulgence being the puzzle/blog). I can understand if your remote heart monitor or internet (or God forbid - cable!) was on the fritz but it occurred to me there was a lot more agita over the late/muddled arrival of the crossword than necessary. Now that is not to say I never get whiny, but I save it for something good like a paper cut.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 2:22 pm
by thejeffbrown
I figured out that the odd letters of the long Across answers spelled out certain puzzle clues.
According to WSJ, "the first letters of the answers to those puzzle clues" spell the word BICKER.
Can someone explain to me how the letters B (Bad Day), I (Islet), C (Cargo Dock), P (Penny), S (Strain), R (Reign) spell Bicker?
What am I missing? Did I misunderstand the method to the answer given in the paper?
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 2:27 pm
by Hector
BEND, IDES, CENT, KEY, EXERT, and RULE are the answers to the clues Crook, Bad day, Penny, Islet, Strain, and Reign.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 2:31 pm
by thejeffbrown
Hector wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 2:27 pm
BEND, IDES, CENT, KEY, EXERT, and RULE are the answers to the clues Crook, Bad day, Penny, Islet, Strain, and Reign.
Slapping my head!
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 2:40 pm
by Joe Ross
thejeffbrown wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 2:31 pm
Hector wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 2:27 pm
BEND, IDES, CENT, KEY, EXERT, and RULE are the answers to the clues Crook, Bad day, Penny, Islet, Strain, and Reign.
Slapping my head!
Didn't know the reason
You start to feel the rub
You know it isn't easy
Well, welcome to the club
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 3:35 pm
by juliet
Beautiful, just beautiful seeing the meta revealed in colors! At some point I'm going to learn how to use the solving tool. . .
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 4:07 pm
by Bob cruise director
thejeffbrown wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 2:31 pm
Hector wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 2:27 pm
BEND, IDES, CENT, KEY, EXERT, and RULE are the answers to the clues Crook, Bad day, Penny, Islet, Strain, and Reign.
Slapping my head!
That would be a KAS 4
We have all been there - multiple times.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 4:10 pm
by Bob cruise director
juliet wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 3:35 pm
Beautiful, just beautiful seeing the meta revealed in colors! At some point I'm going to learn how to use the solving tool. . .
Just like in Alice's Restaurant
“… and they took twenty seven 8×10 color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us”
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 5:37 pm
by cbarbee002
Well, embarrassingly I have to walk back my "ashore" thought; turns out I was just on a big sandbar way out at sea. I had constructed a complex solution that ended up with letters to spell "Call A Bet" (which seemed to fall in with the theme); alas, I was far too clever (not). So if you take the added two latecomers and deduct me, it's a tie . . . . Couldn't just sit on this - - had to fess up.
Re: "At Odds" - May 15, 2020
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 6:12 pm
by boharr
cbarbee002 wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 5:37 pm
Well, embarrassingly I have to walk back my "ashore" thought; turns out I was just on a big sandbar way out at sea. I had constructed a complex solution that ended up with letters to spell "Call A Bet" (which seemed to fall in with the theme); alas, I was far too clever (not). So if you take the added two latecomers and deduct me, it's a tie . . . . Couldn't just sit on this - - had to fess up.
He’s ashore. Just with a wrong answer. There were many. Not all on shore got it correct.