"One-Word Answers" - June 26, 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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Tony S
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#301

Post by Tony S »

TPS wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:27 pm With Florida shut down again I ended up giving this one a shot. Grid was one of the toughest ones I can remember from WSJ. Got onshore with a nudge but it was def a KAS 5 for me.
If you got to shore, it was a KAS 3 at the most for you. KAS 4 are ones you don't get but should have and KAS 5 are ones you don't get and never would have --- don't be so hard on yourself!
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MajordomoTom
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#302

Post by MajordomoTom »

Spent too much time looking at the words in the grid with "ONE" or variants of that - PEONS, EBONY, TONED, etc.

We had noted TROMBONES very early, and I then said "ok, AMBUSHED and TORRENT", but didn't pursue that for a day and a half.

Got nowhere with the "ONE WORDS", so decided to look again at the "two words - can they become one-word answers" ... and found RETRACE, then SATIN, and then took a while, found THEORIZE and my wife just looked at me when I said "got it" - she was cycling through the first letters of ART and I just moved deeper into the word to finally get the "H" and it fell into place.

Curiously, at the very beginning of this, I said "ok, it's when you're in a deposition, you don't want to give long answers" - and sadly, having had that wonderful experience (twice), it really was effectively THAT as an answer.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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TPS
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#303

Post by TPS »

Tony S wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:00 am If you got to shore, it was a KAS 3 at the most for you. KAS 4 are ones you don't get but should have and KAS 5 are ones you don't get and never would have --- don't be so hard on yourself!
I got it because someone said - “Change letters in the theme answers to get other words and the letters will result in the answer to the meta.”

I never would have solved it if not for that AND I still have ZERO clue what pointed anyone to the method of changing letters in the theme answers. Normally in the ones I don’t get I at least see the clue or hint that the constructor provides afterward - not so here. So that’s why it’s a KAS 5 for me.
Inca
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#304

Post by Inca »

I submitted the correct answer but I was troubled. I thought being in the hot seat means that you are held responsible to answer for something done or something that happened. Does that mean you will give one word answers?
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LadyBird
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#305

Post by LadyBird »

I was rather torn after coming up with the answer HOTSEAT (I submitted it that way--hope I don't get dinged for not having the space!).

My problem with this answer--and why I was paddling about even after getting to shore--is that it is a 2-word answer. The 7 theme answers converted from 2 to 1 word with the change of a letter. Since the title was One-Word Answers, I was expecting it to be a one-word answer. I tried mightily to convert HOT SEAT to a one-word answer. I substituted every letter of the alphabet for each of the letters in the answer and got nowhere.
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hcbirker
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#306

Post by hcbirker »

I print out the puzzle, use pencil, and make notes in the margins. Totally old school, but works for me. I love Patrick Berry now that I've been doing his Rows Garden puzzles. Keep them coming!
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SewYoung
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#307

Post by SewYoung »

When I first finished the grid, I saw nothing. Looked again on Friday and there it was. The key for me was Brom Bones. I kept looking at that and thinking "That looks like trombones." (It may help that I sing in the Symphony Chorus) Then I saw "torrent". Would have finished in a minute if it had been the first letter of all the theme answers. As it was it took a few extra minutes. I also liked that "satin" can read as "sat in".
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TPS
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#308

Post by TPS »

MajordomoTom wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:05 am
Curiously, at the very beginning of this, I said "ok, it's when you're in a deposition, you don't want to give long answers" - and sadly, having had that wonderful experience (twice), it really was effectively THAT as an answer.
Actually as an attorney - I don’t completely agree w/ that comment about depositions. In discovery you are limited to the number of depositions you can ask for and the amount of time to depose a witness. A good strategy can be to give long winded over the top answers that veer completely off topic to waste time. It can frustrate opposing counsel and take them off their game - especiallyiat done a lot of depositions. Read the transcript of Donald Sterling or Cardi B’s depositions - Cardi B started talking about the Powder Puff girls :lol: :lol: You do have to be careful though because if it’s completely apparent that you are doing that it could piss the judge off.
Last edited by TPS on Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jeff S
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#309

Post by Jeff S »

I had six of the 2 -> 1 word conversions, but since I had mistakenly turned EAT IN into LATIN, my answer didn't make any sense. When I eventually saw that the conversions also formed real words for the intersecting down words, I realized that the middle clue actually had to be SATIN, and I saw the solution.

The only thing that gave me pause is that I only associate "being in the hot seat" with being under pressure, not necessarily with "giving one word answers" (lots of people "in the hot seat" give long, rambling answers because they can't think clearly). Am I missing some other, more specialized use of the term?
Last edited by Jeff S on Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:36 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Jeremy Smith
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#310

Post by Jeremy Smith »

TPS wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:11 am
Tony S wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:00 am If you got to shore, it was a KAS 3 at the most for you. KAS 4 are ones you don't get but should have and KAS 5 are ones you don't get and never would have --- don't be so hard on yourself!
I got it because someone said - “Change letters in the theme answers to get other words and the letters will result in the answer to the meta.”

I never would have solved it if not for that AND I still have ZERO clue what pointed anyone to the method of changing letters in the theme answers. Normally in the ones I don’t get I at least see the clue or hint that the constructor provides afterward - not so here. So that’s why it’s a KAS 5 for me.
This mechanism has been used more than once in the past.
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MajordomoTom
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#311

Post by MajordomoTom »

TPS wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:19 am
MajordomoTom wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:05 am
Curiously, at the very beginning of this, I said "ok, it's when you're in a deposition, you don't want to give long answers" - and sadly, having had that wonderful experience (twice), it really was effectively THAT as an answer.
Actually as an attorney - I don’t w/ that comment about depositions. In discovery you are limited to the number of depositions you can ask for and the amount of time to depose a witness. A good strategy can be to give long winded over the top answers that veer completely off topic to waste time. It can frustrate opposing counsel and take them off their game - especiallyiat done a lot of depositions. Read the transcript of Donald Sterling or Cardi B’s depositions - Cardi B started talking about the Powder Puff girls :lol: :lol: You do have to be careful though because if it’s completely apparent that you are doing that it could piss the judge off.
1 - my thinking on the meta - was that "one-word answers" was "transform the two words into one word".

share the discomfort that HOT SEAT is two words, not one.

2 - I'm also an attorney and giving yes/no/I don't recall is the strategy my counsel advised and it was effective for me. Talking about midget baseball players in a depo about board meetings would probably have not been wise.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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yourpalsal
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#312

Post by yourpalsal »

I got it right, but I worried that the constructor wanted us to apply the same device to HOT SEAT and turn it into a one word answer. I couldn’t find one, so I submitted. Later I was plagued: could there be a letter that changes my answer into a single-word place from which one-word answers are given?? I started exchanging letters slowly and found... TOTSEAT. A baby gives one word answers. Is TOTSEAT a word? Yes. It’s a UK brand of baby restraint for use in a standard chair. But could that be the answer??? Was our constructor seeking an obscure UK brand??? Thank Heaven, the answer was no! :-D All is well in Muggleville.
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TPS
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#313

Post by TPS »

MajordomoTom wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:23 am
2 - I'm also an attorney and giving yes/no/I don't recall is the strategy my counsel advised and it was effective for me. Talking about midget baseball players in a depo about board meetings would probably have not been wise.
When I was at the SEC (we didn’t take depos we took testimony because it was an agency action but same basic rules govern) we had a CEO answer the question, “What time did you learn about the data breach?” by speaking for 20 minutes telling us everything he had done the day in question including what he had for breakfast, who had called him, what exercises he had done at the gym. My point was more that there are different strategies and short answers in depos isn’t the only way to go.
zacmoretz
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#314

Post by zacmoretz »

Anyone think that the word rabbit going down was a little Easter egg about going down a rabbit hole?
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Flamel616
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#315

Post by Flamel616 »

Inca wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:14 am I submitted the correct answer but I was troubled. I thought being in the hot seat means that you are held responsible to answer for something done or something that happened. Does that mean you will give one word answers?
I think in this case hot seat is referring to certain game shows or games that have a rapid fire portion, often called the hot seat. The contestant wants to get as many answers as possible within a time limit, so one-word answers are ideal.
As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all — the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.
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oldjudge
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#316

Post by oldjudge »

TPS wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:40 am
MajordomoTom wrote: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:23 am
2 - I'm also an attorney and giving yes/no/I don't recall is the strategy my counsel advised and it was effective for me. Talking about midget baseball players in a depo about board meetings would probably have not been wise.
When I was at the SEC (we didn’t take depos we took testimony because it was an agency action but same basic rules govern) we had a CEO answer the question, “What time did you learn about the data breach?” by speaking for 20 minutes telling us everything he had done the day in question including what he had for breakfast, who had called him, what exercises he had done at the gym. My point was more that there are different strategies and short answers in depos isn’t the only way to go.
During my business career I was deposed several times and the advice that our outside counsel, a major international law firm, always gave was to provide no information other than what was specifically asked for and to be as succinct as possible, as in a one word answer was best.
MaineMarge
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#317

Post by MaineMarge »

Tina wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2019 7:59 pm
Can you CHANGE ONE LETTER to make another word or name?
Listen up Muggles (unless you are one of our official Muggle Mensas who can remember seeing this meta method before).
There it is, in black and white-Tina’s quote above is one of many tips to try when first analyzing the theme answers. It is found in her post# 11 in the Come Aboard page/FAQ/Hints for solving meta contests
forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=49
Many other Muggles have contributed tips here- so helpful.
I have printed out her whole long post of tips on bright pink paper to review if I don’t immediately see the method. (Never have🤷‍♀️).
This has become an important part of my weekly meta PPE ( now PPPE).
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MarkL
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#318

Post by MarkL »

LATIN/SATIN, then not seeing ARTHRITIC, delayed my path to Guinness. TROMBONE was blaring but it took a while to catch the tune. Very well-crafted puzzle!
'tis... A lovely day for a Guinness!
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lbray53
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#319

Post by lbray53 »

Reverse bias on my part delayed my solve for two days. I noticed the BROM BONES / TROMBONES right away but assumed that was only because I play one!

My long and winding rabbit hole started when I noticed that with a C in the black space between ALEXA and TONED the word EXACT was contained. Then OU between REHAB and THE PRIZE contained ABOUT. I was on my way to finding COURT or COURT ROOM in the grid. The words about and exact seemed related also. Very contrived in retrospect.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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TMart
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#320

Post by TMart »

When I was filling in the grid and only had some of the letters to ARTCRITIC before reading the clue, I saw that it could have been ARTHRITIS, so I guessed what was going on then. I had already filled in ACHY, so I thought there would be another level to this where the one-word answers could satisfy a different clue as well, but that seemed to be the only one with an alternate. Nice construction, however, with the new down answers also being valid words.
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