XWord Muggles Forum

MarkL wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:31 pm Not many Italians/Sicilians in the cohort? Anisette was fairly popular on the holidays as an after dinner drink - if memory serves.

Also, my Boston up-bringing got the better of me for a short while because TUMBLA didn't seem to fit.

Have a great, safe and healthy week!!

Cin cin

MarkL wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:31 pm Not many Italians/Sicilians in the cohort? Anisette was fairly popular on the holidays as an after dinner drink - if memory serves.

Also, my Boston up-bringing got the better of me for a short while because TUMBLA didn't seem to fit.

Have a great, safe and healthy week!!

Even though I bailed on this meta I actually liked it, partly because the answer was ANISETTE. My 1st generation Italian-American parents were beer drinkers but my mother always had a bottle of anisette in the kitchen for making biscotti.

Just to be clear - I didn’t hate the methodology or the construction. I just thought a more popular liqueur would have made it better - like perhaps one as well known as Monopoly. Also, I knew I had only 4-5 hours to solve it because I was traveling all this week. Next week’s puzzle will probably be the same.

MarkL wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 5:31 pm Not many Italians/Sicilians in the cohort? Anisette was fairly popular on the holidays as an after dinner drink - if memory serves.

Also, my Boston up-bringing got the better of me for a short while because TUMBLA didn't seem to fit.

Have a great, safe and healthy week!!

My Italian grandparents always served Sambuca, which I enjoy! And I love in Europe where many Greek restaurants served a little shot of ice cold Ouzo before a meal. After solving the meta we went on a scouting mission to try to find Anisette locally, with no luck. I'll be keeping my eyes open in the future.

In addition to Alanis Morisette, Anisette is hidden in anti-Irish-Setter, which must be a thing, because where are all the Irish Setters now?

Cue the internet:

The Irish Setter Epidemic
In the early 1960s, however, the popularity of the breed suddenly began to skyrocket. Between 1963 and 1974, AKC Irish Setter registrations jumped 1,500%, from about 4,000 puppies a year to over 60,000 dogs. And Irish Setters rose from America’s 27th most popular canine companion to number three. (Only poodles and German shepherds were more popular.) For a while, Setters were the proverbial “next big thing.” But fads are fickle, and the crash began in 1974. By 1986, AKC registrations had dropped 95%, to a little over 3,000 puppies, and the breed fell to 46th in popularity. (Now they rank 77th.)

This was a KAS 4 for me. Rumble and Stumbles made me think of Tumblers. I also wrote down all the words containing TUM that I saw but I guess I didn't think outside the straight line.

Sipping a drink on shore and at sea has long been a part of the culture of contest fans--so this one was right in your element. We had 1514 entries, about 76% correct. Can someone explain the 54 submissions of AMARETTO? Plus OUZO (20), DRAMBUIE (10), SAMBUCA (8), FRANGELICO (7), LIMONCELLO (7) and a bar cart of others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Elisabeth Slotkin of Jacksonville, Fla.!

MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:50 pm Sipping a drink on shore and at sea has long been a part of the culture of contest fans--so this one was right in your element. We had 1514 entries, about 76% correct. Can someone explain the 54 submissions of AMARETTO? Plus OUZO (20), DRAMBUIE (10), SAMBUCA (8), FRANGELICO (7), LIMONCELLO (7) and a bar cart of others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Elisabeth Slotkin of Jacksonville, Fla.!

They were probably just a bunch of Hail Mary's!

hcbirker wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 11:25 pm

MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:50 pm Sipping a drink on shore and at sea has long been a part of the culture of contest fans--so this one was right in your element. We had 1514 entries, about 76% correct. Can someone explain the 54 submissions of AMARETTO? Plus OUZO (20), DRAMBUIE (10), SAMBUCA (8), FRANGELICO (7), LIMONCELLO (7) and a bar cart of others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Elisabeth Slotkin of Jacksonville, Fla.!

They were probably just a bunch of Hail Mary's!

That was my Hail Mary because I spent most of the time trying to make something out of the 8 eight-letter answers. Where's the dunce emoji ?

MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:50 pm Sipping a drink on shore and at sea has long been a part of the culture of contest fans--so this one was right in your element. We had 1514 entries, about 76% correct. Can someone explain the 54 submissions of AMARETTO? Plus OUZO (20), DRAMBUIE (10), SAMBUCA (8), FRANGELICO (7), LIMONCELLO (7) and a bar cart of others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Elisabeth Slotkin of Jacksonville, Fla.!

I was afraid that Mike and the rest of the WSJ crew were a bunch of lameos and wouldn't get my SNAKE JUICE reference but alas not many can be Swansons most of the world is made up of Jerrys.

hcbirker wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 11:25 pm

MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:50 pm Sipping a drink on shore and at sea has long been a part of the culture of contest fans--so this one was right in your element. We had 1514 entries, about 76% correct. Can someone explain the 54 submissions of AMARETTO? Plus OUZO (20), DRAMBUIE (10), SAMBUCA (8), FRANGELICO (7), LIMONCELLO (7) and a bar cart of others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Elisabeth Slotkin of Jacksonville, Fla.!

They were probably just a bunch of Hail Mary's!

Hail Mary? Sounds delicious. Think I'll try one of those Sunday morning.

P.S. Message to crossword constructors: HAIL MARY would be an excellent Meta answer.

I got hung up on the yelling at umpires "You Need Glasses". And when I found the six UM's, I figured that there had to be a bunch of "P's" somewhere so I fought that for a long time. Then I noticed the T's in front of five of the UM's and wondered if there was a liqueur with 5T's in the title.

My next rabbit hole was the eight clues in quotation marks - Matt has been known to do something with the clues - but nada

And then there was the number "two" as in the answer to 35A and in the clue to 33A so I looked at the five answers with two words and got nothing.

And then there was the reading glasses link with two cases of OO in 5D and 25D that looked like glasses.

The last time I heard the word tumbler was in the 60's when they were giving out Anchor Hocking glasses when you got a fill up at the Shell station.

Needless to say it was a long weekend.

TPS wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:38 am I was afraid that Mike and the rest of the WSJ crew were a bunch of lameos and wouldn't get my SNAKE JUICE reference but alas not many can be Swansons most of the world is made up of Jerrys.

You mean Larrys?

I just got my email about "Monopoly Classic Replacement" boards from Amazon. Gotta love big brother, always tracking what we do.

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 10:30 am I got hung up on the yelling at umpires "You Need Glasses". And when I found the six UM's, I figured that there had to be a bunch of "P's" somewhere so I fought that for a long time. Then I noticed the T's in front of five of the UM's and wondered if there was a liqueur with 5T's in the title.

If this had been a sports meta and the only pointer in that direction was the title, I would never ever have picked up on it:)

Speaking of sports metas, this week's Will's Weekly Meta has a football theme. I solved it anyway, thanks to good puzzle construction. If you're interested, it's here:

https://crosshare.org/crosswords/uH4rTqduzrCIyvOKCtIX

And the forum page for it is forums/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=527

spotter wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 1:07 pm I just got my email about "Monopoly Classic Replacement" boards from Amazon. Gotta love big brother, always tracking what we do.

Glassware and/or eyeglasses ads to come.

MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:50 pm Sipping a drink on shore and at sea has long been a part of the culture of contest fans--so this one was right in your element. We had 1514 entries, about 76% correct. Can someone explain the 54 submissions of AMARETTO? Plus OUZO (20), DRAMBUIE (10), SAMBUCA (8), FRANGELICO (7), LIMONCELLO (7) and a bar cart of others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Elisabeth Slotkin of Jacksonville, Fla.!

Mike, I know that you must have had a hard time with all those submissions and I'm CERTAIN that is why you got it wrong and it was actually Tom Burnakis of Jacksonville, Florida you meant to send it to!

Just kidding Elisabeth, glad it was another First Coaster, congratulations on your win. I wonder how many Jacksonvillians (Florida Jacksonvillians that is since there are a BUNCH of Jacksonvilles) are META contestants?

TPS wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:38 am

MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:50 pm Sipping a drink on shore and at sea has long been a part of the culture of contest fans--so this one was right in your element. We had 1514 entries, about 76% correct. Can someone explain the 54 submissions of AMARETTO? Plus OUZO (20), DRAMBUIE (10), SAMBUCA (8), FRANGELICO (7), LIMONCELLO (7) and a bar cart of others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Elisabeth Slotkin of Jacksonville, Fla.!

I was afraid that Mike and the rest of the WSJ crew were a bunch of lameos and wouldn't get my SNAKE JUICE reference but alas not many can be Swansons most of the world is made up of Jerrys.

Oh, I'm sure Ron is proud of you! Few have ever tasted the bite of Snake Juice!

DrTom wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 4:30 pm Jacksonvillians

Jackson Villains

Is there no Zoom call this week?