"Less and Less" - August 21, 2020

[Laura M]

Oh for f***'s sake. I don't know why I stared at that for so long. Ashore.

I said much the same thing. Though less colorfully.

Me three! KAS 2 for sure.

[LesY]

Me three, Damefox and Heidi. It was only obvious the fourth time I picked it up. Tried what I tried earlier but not nearly hard enough.

Good to be on shore before week 3.

Edit: Me four! Laura beat me to it. ha ha

[femullen]

Grid was a snap for a change. No crunk [sic!] musician crossed with the Inuit word for reindeer fertilizer.

I'm leaving the meta for tomorrow COB, because as a boy I dreamed of a life at sea, and, ta-da, here I am! Besides, Isaac is generous tonight with the Cabernet.

Why yes, thank you, Isaac, I believe I will.

[Jeff S]

On shore in under ten minutes - the sand between my toes feels comforting after failing last week with one that I really should have gotten.

[edot]

On shore! Love a nice grid.

Funny enough, I will be heading to Yellowstone in a few weeks for the first time. Maybe I’ll see some 24D while there!

If anyone has been before and has any advice please PM me, I’d love some tips!

[FKelly]

I'm ashore and wanted to note that the crossword has TWO shout-outs to the Upper Peninsula (9A & 58D).

I'm torn between local pride and wanting to say "hush." We prefer to remain unvisited.

Aw, the land with two seasons: winter and three months of rough sledding. The later is due to end, oooh perhaps, next week.

If you want avoid frostbite and get an idea of life in the land of the Lahti, Haataja, Halonen, Hillukka, Wiitanan and Mattila, here is a link to the Heikki Lunta Snow Dance song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZgGddM ... e=emb_logo

Da Yoopers were bit slow to add a music video (the wood powered video cam wasn't developed until 2013), so here's a version with some some of that twenty feet or so of white stuff being moved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... e=emb_logo

[FrankieHeck]

On shore! Love a nice grid.

Funny enough, I will be heading to Yellowstone in a few weeks for the first time. Maybe I’ll see some 24D while there!

If anyone has been before and has any advice please PM me, I’d love some tips!

We finally got to Yellowstone a few years ago and absolutely loved it. It's all beautiful. My advice is not to put your phone on top of the car before heading down the winding road for the next stop a couple hours away....

[damefox]

Oh for f***'s sake. I don't know why I stared at that for so long. Ashore.

I said much the same thing. Though less colorfully.

[Bird Lives]

Oh for f***'s sake. I don't know why I stared at that for so long. Ashore.

I said much the same thing. Though less colorfully.

I lost time but not just staring blankly. There's at least one red herring (or is it a rabbit hole?) that I kept following even after I knew it was (to mix in a third metaphor) a dead end.

[TPS]

I lost time but not just staring blankly. There's at least one red herring (or is it a rabbit hole?) that I kept following even after I knew it was (to mix in a third metaphor) a dead end.

I am relatively confident that I didn’t solve last week’s puzzle because I was fixated on the fact you could spell trapeze in a certain part of the puzzle and was sure there was a liqueur that had a trapeze on the bottle.

Ok - I had to edit this because it was just a lie - there was no way I was solving last week’s puzzle - but I did waste a ton of time on trapeze.

[whimsy]

Made it Ashore ---

---at the end of a great day that wraps up our Cape Cod vacation ---

[Scooby]

Ashore...first in many weeks, phew!

[LaceyK]

Ashore after chasing some rabbits all afternoon. It made the AHA moment a gleeful squeal. My husband looked over, without too much shock, and said, "oh did you solve your crossword?"
Boy do I love a well-constructed Shenk meta!

[lacangah]

Hello - was in a two week slump, then found the shore after having a hard cider serving. Nice puzzle and meta.

Happy healthy solving to you all,

[Joe Ross]

Oh for f***'s sake. I don't know why I stared at that for so long. Ashore.

Gotta CLAP BACK at that !

[dudeski]

On shore.

[ChrisKochmanski]

Ashore!

Yet another case of me staring at the completed grid for much, much too long — though having some sense for what the puzzle might be looking for — then seeing the way to the answer in, literally, a flash. I mean, like, in mere seconds. So, yes, a nice “Aha!” — but also a definite “D’oh!”

I liked this puzzle. It’s the kind I’d use to explain to a newbie how meta crosswords work. (Sadly, the last couple of people I thought might like to latch on to these metas took in what I had to say, then had that sort of look that says, “Uhh ... I don’t think so.”)

[pamster]

On shore, though I should be sleeping instead. Couldn't go to bed until I solved this as I knew I was on the right track and was afraid I'd forget by morning.

[Hidden in 3D]

Done and done. This one might be my quickest solve yet - on shore before I even poured my second cup of coffee!

[Cindy]

On shore! Love a nice grid.

Funny enough, I will be heading to Yellowstone in a few weeks for the first time. Maybe I’ll see some 24D while there!

If anyone has been before and has any advice please PM me, I’d love some tips!

Hire a guide! Then you really see what is there instead of wandering aimlessly through 3000+ square miles.