"Color Code" - July 24, 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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Al Sisti
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#81

Post by Al Sisti »

Bird Lives wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:09 am
boharr wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:41 am
yourpalsal wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:35 am
Green with envy of those who said it’s easy
People on the first page always say it's easy, and it's often the same people. By page three, people are saying, well, maybe it's not so easy. Perhaps even hard. When the pages get to the teens, we see the many struggles. This is a trend.
It's a sampling problem. The people on the first page -- and they're not always the same people -- say it's easy because it was easy . . for them. That's why they're on the first page. But they're a highly skewed sample. Also, we tend to attribute our performance to the meta, not to ourselves. If I got it quickly and am on page one, it must be easy. If it took me a while, or if I didn't get it at all, it must be hard. But maybe what's different is not the difficulty of the meta but me -- better at some kinds of metas, worse at others.
Absolutely agree. I've been a "page 1-er" but I've been a "page 13-er" as well.
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Eric Porter
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#82

Post by Eric Porter »

While I was on the wrong island earlier, I'm definitely on the beach with all of you now.

The only help I got was that my first answer was wrong, without a hint of where to go. After the contest is over, I'll share my wrong guess. You may find it amusing.

I realized what to do while trying to fall asleep last night, making this the second week in a row where I solved the meta without having it in front of me.
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Wendy Walker
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#83

Post by Wendy Walker »

From someone lucky enough to be a first-pager this week, I can assure you this is NOT an easy one. As I alluded to earlier, it's only something in my upbringing that made me see this relatively quickly.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Wendy Walker
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#84

Post by Wendy Walker »

Eric Porter wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:19 am While I was on the wrong island earlier, I'm definitely on the beach with all of you now.

The only help I got was that my first answer was wrong, without a hint of where to go. After the contest is over, I'll share my wrong guess. You may find it amusing.

I realized what to do while trying to fall asleep last night, making this the second week in a row where I solved the meta without having it in front of me.
Did you jump out of bed and solve it? I remember doing that on the ADOBE puzzle ( the one that involved Mustangs and premium gasoline and Subway and toaster ovens)!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Hector
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#85

Post by Hector »

"Local man who flipped eighteen heads in a row reports that it was easy."
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C=64
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#86

Post by C=64 »

Bob cruise director wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:20 am
oldjudge wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 11:48 pm
boharr wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 10:14 pm On shore. Took an early shove because I really wanted to watch baseball tonight (Go Yanks). But, alas, we may have a rainout. Bummer. Goes without saying I won't be submitting.
Official game-Yanks won 4-1. Cole only allowed one hit. 👍
This could be a wacky season. Some unexpected team or guy could get hot - or some rookie you never heard of. Will records count if they are made this year??
With all this talk of small sample size, this season would be a great opportunity for records based on rates, such as batting average or ERA. DiMaggio's streak is probably safe for another year.
MaineMarge
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#87

Post by MaineMarge »

Good news/Bad news.
It’s a beautiful day to work in the stern garden.
Looks like I could be there all weekend.

Reality check:
7D35391E-B765-4260-984F-4AD8E333994C.jpeg
A colorful scene here. Pink foxgloves, white feverfew, a late peony, with delphiniums and a favorite purple clematis, Etoile Violette. Many years ago a British gardener came up with this helpful way of pronouncing the name of this famous old climber:
“A twelve year let”. 🌺
elementary
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#88

Post by elementary »

Ashore but not submitting–I was 75% there and then needed a nudge. Clever though!
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Bob cruise director
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#89

Post by Bob cruise director »

C=64 wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:42 am
Bob cruise director wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:20 am
oldjudge wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 11:48 pm

Official game-Yanks won 4-1. Cole only allowed one hit. 👍
This could be a wacky season. Some unexpected team or guy could get hot - or some rookie you never heard of. Will records count if they are made this year??
With all this talk of small sample size, this season would be a great opportunity for records based on rates, such as batting average or ERA. DiMaggio's streak is probably safe for another year.
I remember one year when George Brett hit over 400 for the first few months of the season and everyone was talking about him breaking Ted Williams's record
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Bob cruise director
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#90

Post by Bob cruise director »

Good Friday morning muggles

A challenge for most of us compliments of Mr. Shenk

We have 15 on the ship and 30 on the shore.

I have more rabbit holes than I can count. Colors, colors and more colors.
Bob Stevens
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Joepickett
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#91

Post by Joepickett »

Ashore with help. Great construction but not really a fun one for me.
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Al Sisti
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#92

Post by Al Sisti »

Bob cruise director wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:13 pm
C=64 wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:42 am
Bob cruise director wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:20 am
This could be a wacky season. Some unexpected team or guy could get hot - or some rookie you never heard of. Will records count if they are made this year??
With all this talk of small sample size, this season would be a great opportunity for records based on rates, such as batting average or ERA. DiMaggio's streak is probably safe for another year.
I remember one year when George Brett hit over 400 for the first few months of the season and everyone was talking about him breaking Ted Williams's record
(this is from memory, so forgive me if it's not completely accurate) When Ted Williams came into the final day of the year -- a double header -- he was hitting over .400 -- like .402 or something. His manager said, "You know, if you sit, you'll be guaranteed to break .400." Williams insisted on playing and went 6-8 in the double header and brought his final average to .406.
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grwinski
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#93

Post by grwinski »

Ashore! I'm embarrassed to say that Rita got this and not me! Also, crazily, didn't get last week's (which I think was a lot easier than this weeks!). Supports the theory that it either pops out quickly, or doesn't at all!

Rita and George
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Streroto
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#94

Post by Streroto »

TPS wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 8:36 pm
Streroto wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 8:30 pm Easy grid done by 4:15.
When I first read this I thought it meant you finished the grid in 4 minutes 15 seconds - and I was like "Holy F'ing Sh*t" I'm always ecstatic when I finish them in under 20 minutes but I'm happy anytime less than 30 minutes and thought I was pretty decent at solving grids - but I need to reevaluate that if people are solving these in under 5 minutes!! But then my brain started working.
LOL too funny. Only watch time that closely on the Mini where my son and I are competing (21 sec best so far). Will be more explicit in future. Still no clue as to meta!!!
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Streroto
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#95

Post by Streroto »

And even as I was typing this, a text comes in that he did today’s in 19 seconds. Darn!!!
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joequavis
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#96

Post by joequavis »

I'm clearly going insane (by the pop definition) as my same method keeps yielding nothing intelligible. I wish my brain had a ctl-alt-del...


...and I seem to remember <insert troubled Philly kid here> hitting over .400 into mid-June in the mid-80s. Can't think of his name. Google time

Edit: man was I off...Lenny Dykstra, 1990, born in CA and definitely played for the Mets before the Phillies and self-destructing.
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Bob cruise director
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#97

Post by Bob cruise director »

Al Sisti wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:32 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:13 pm
C=64 wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:42 am
With all this talk of small sample size, this season would be a great opportunity for records based on rates, such as batting average or ERA. DiMaggio's streak is probably safe for another year.
I remember one year when George Brett hit over 400 for the first few months of the season and everyone was talking about him breaking Ted Williams's record
(this is from memory, so forgive me if it's not completely accurate) When Ted Williams came into the final day of the year -- a double header -- he was hitting over .400 -- like .402 or something. His manager said, "You know, if you sit, you'll be guaranteed to break .400." Williams insisted on playing and went 6-8 in the double header and brought his final average to .406.
Your memory is correct.
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Bob cruise director
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#98

Post by Bob cruise director »

joequavis wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 1:21 pm I'm clearly going insane (by the pop definition) as my same method keeps yielding nothing intelligible. I wish my brain had a ctl-alt-del...


...and I seem to remember <insert troubled Philly kid here> hitting over .400 into mid-June in the mid-80s. Can't think of his name. Google time

Edit: man was I off...Lenny Dykstra, 1990, born in CA and definitely played for the Mets before the Phillies and self-destructing.
George Brett was hitting .39950 in late September 1980. He dropped off to hit .390 for the season

And Tony Gwynn hit .396 in 1994 for the Padres. He might have hit .400 except by then his knees were shot.
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Wendy Walker
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#99

Post by Wendy Walker »

Baseball is such a wonderful social lubricant, isn't it! Before COVID nixed social events, I was at a get-together of people from across the political spectrum and we started talking about a whacky local community activist. Things were about to get ugly when one smart person redirected the discussion simply by saying, "So how 'bout them Phils?"
Speaking of entertainment, who will be performing 2D at tonight's On Shore Cabaret?
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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pddigi
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#100

Post by pddigi »

Al Sisti wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:32 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:13 pm
C=64 wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 11:42 am
With all this talk of small sample size, this season would be a great opportunity for records based on rates, such as batting average or ERA. DiMaggio's streak is probably safe for another year.
I remember one year when George Brett hit over 400 for the first few months of the season and everyone was talking about him breaking Ted Williams's record
(this is from memory, so forgive me if it's not completely accurate) When Ted Williams came into the final day of the year -- a double header -- he was hitting over .400 -- like .402 or something. His manager said, "You know, if you sit, you'll be guaranteed to break .400." Williams insisted on playing and went 6-8 in the double header and brought his final average to .406.
Re George Brett:

That was 1980. He finished at .390 and won the MVP. I got to watch my Phillies beat his Royals in the 1980 World Series. I watched the deciding game 6 from the right field seats behind the Phillies’ bullpen at Veterans Stadium.

Re Ted Williams:

Williams was batting .3996 entering the last day of the season and his manager told him that would be .400 in the record books. Ted thought that it wouldn’t really be .400, so he played a doubleheader, went 6-for-8, and finished at .406.
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