"Summer Wear" - October 16, 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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DBMiller
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#361

Post by DBMiller »

I was quite surprised to find I was first to report to shore. I started the puzzle around 7 after, and for me it was straight forward:

1) Open the page in the browser. Noticed the plus signs right away. Odd layout, I thought. I wonder how many grids cause that many plus signs.
2) Finished the grid. I get into grid solving mode, and don't usually pay much attention to the meta.
3) Re-read the title. Hmmm... Didn't a clue mention summer? Ah yes, the clue to "PLUSFOURS". Wait, what about those plus signs?
4) Checked the points, nope. Checked the corners K-N-E-E (Looking good) BREECHES. Done and done!
If I'm around, I am willing to join the Muggle Zoom room at other times to lend a hand to those in need.
Dplass
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#362

Post by Dplass »

I probably would have never gotten this. I was stuck on counting 3s and 4s and 7s (four PLUS) and just didn't see the mechanism.

Harumph. I'm in a 5 week slump... hopefully this week will break it.
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LadyBird
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#363

Post by LadyBird »

I noticed the plus signs right away, along with the PLUSFOURS, but remained fixated on the tips of the plus signs. When that proved to be gibberish, I found myself fixated on the 6 long words (they HAVE to be theme answers). Then I tried to place a fourth plus sign, figuring the displaced letters would form the answer. Then I counted down 4 boxes/"inches" from the plus signs. Nearly 48 hours later, I looked at the non-point letters by the plus signs and went "duh-woo hoo!"
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LadyBird
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#364

Post by LadyBird »

Just checked my email and the title "The Email You've Been Waiting For" immediately caught my eye. :o Unfortunately, it was the weekly Walgreens ad.
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Wendy Walker
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#365

Post by Wendy Walker »

C=64 wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:08 pm
flyingMoose wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 1:08 pm Hmm, the location of 15A and 63A in the grid are complementary? Congruent? Something. Help me, Wendy, et al.
This geometry teacher would go with (rotationally) "symmetrical".
Yep, that's the perfect word.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
flyingMoose
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#366

Post by flyingMoose »

LadyBird wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:52 pm Just checked my email and the title "The Email You've Been Waiting For" immediately caught my eye. :o Unfortunately, it was the weekly Walgreens ad.
Didn't know the Nigerian Prince was pushing Walgreens now.
Last edited by flyingMoose on Mon Oct 19, 2020 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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John77
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#367

Post by John77 »

MaineMarge wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 9:48 am What a great meta! Right away I knew the shape of the 3 pluses would be involved ( see Hints for Solving Metas here). Going up and down and all around those eventually led me to knee breeches. I had to check that spelling, as Grandma always told me I was “getting too big for my britches”.
Another check of plusfours gave the biggest smile- thus called because they were 4” longer than knee breeches.
Loved that not all of the longest answers were involved in the meta. Point taken for meta toolbox. Thanks Mike- we needed that!
I always thought "Plus Four" was a reference to the expert golfer's handicap; perhaps the double entendre was intended by the inventor(s).
Wir sind zu früh alt und zu spät schlau.
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haari
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#368

Post by haari »

tim1217 wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 8:52 am For those that missed the reference regarding Saturday's NYT puzzle, here it is. When I downloaded it Friday night, it confirmed to me that Shortz and Shenk get together on these things to play with our heads!


Screen Shot 2020-10-19 at 7.49.55 AM.png
i gotta admit, i never saw the plus signs in the WSJ until after i did the NYT on Saturday.
an it harm none, do as thou wilt... :D :D :D
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DrTom
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#369

Post by DrTom »

LadyBird wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:52 pm Just checked my email and the title "The Email You've Been Waiting For" immediately caught my eye. :o Unfortunately, it was the weekly Walgreens ad.
Maybe they are having a mug sale?
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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CPJohnson
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#370

Post by CPJohnson »

flyingMoose wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 1:08 pm After finishing the grid on Thursday, the only "connections" I noticed among the long answers was THREEpeat and plusFOURS. The next day, the three pluses in the grid jumped out at me. The letters at the end of the plusses yielded gibberish, but the letters in the "notches" gave me the answer. Later, I decided I should have read THREE PLUS from the long answers, using the first word of each. That would have provided a "verbal" clue in addition to the "visual" clue of the black squares.

Hmm, the location of 15A and 63A in the grid are complementary? Congruent? Something. Help me, Wendy, et al.
Symmetrically placed?
Cynthia
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Al Sisti
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#371

Post by Al Sisti »

boharr wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2020 3:24 pm
CPJohnson wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2020 3:18 pm Any other Dodger fans out there? I married into Dodger fandom; my husband has followed them since he was 5 (and they were in Brooklyn).
I suppose then he's not to fond of us Yankee fans? Still, tell him I hope the Dodgers beat the Braves.
Never was a Braves fan growing up, as I was a Willie Mays/Giants fan -- BUT -- the star of the Atlanta Braves in the 1991 World Series -- Mark Lemke -- grew up a mile from my house. He would have been the World Series MVP had the Braves won it.
Tony S
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#372

Post by Tony S »

haari wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 5:37 pm
tim1217 wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 8:52 am For those that missed the reference regarding Saturday's NYT puzzle, here it is. When I downloaded it Friday night, it confirmed to me that Shortz and Shenk get together on these things to play with our heads!


Screen Shot 2020-10-19 at 7.49.55 AM.png
i gotta admit, i never saw the plus signs in the WSJ until after i did the NYT on Saturday.
That was what enabled me to get the meta, the visual clue from the NY Times. I'll accept help in any form.
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boharr
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#373

Post by boharr »

Tony S wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 9:58 pm
haari wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 5:37 pm
tim1217 wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 8:52 am For those that missed the reference regarding Saturday's NYT puzzle, here it is. When I downloaded it Friday night, it confirmed to me that Shortz and Shenk get together on these things to play with our heads!


Screen Shot 2020-10-19 at 7.49.55 AM.png
i gotta admit, i never saw the plus signs in the WSJ until after i did the NYT on Saturday.
That was what enabled me to get the meta, the visual clue from the NY Times. I'll accept help in any form.
Forfend. Are we saying that the the NY Times offered a nudge?
Tony S
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#374

Post by Tony S »

boharr wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 10:32 pm
Tony S wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 9:58 pm
haari wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 5:37 pm

i gotta admit, i never saw the plus signs in the WSJ until after i did the NYT on Saturday.
That was what enabled me to get the meta, the visual clue from the NY Times. I'll accept help in any form.
Forfend. Are we saying that the the NY Times offered a nudge?
It's what did it for me. I can't imagine another helpful coincidence happening for quite awhile.
cherikee
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#375

Post by cherikee »

I wrote down KNEE BREE CHES and didn't see the answer. I'd like to blame my age, but I doubt that any of us were alive when knee breeches were a thing. I tried to scramble up those letters a million different ways before finally coming here for a nudge, only to learn that I already had the answer... tough way to DNF, but there's always next week!
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Joe Ross
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#376

Post by Joe Ross »

I don't recall the exact times I ran across "breeches" in books, but they were several and, I assume, in required reading. I do remember heeding Mom's & Dad's advice to "Look it up in the (unabridged) dictionary!" on untold occasions & did so with "breeches."

The etymology of "breeches" may be interesting. One definition of "breech" is "hind end" of the body, as in "breech birth." My guess would be that "leg coverings"/pants evolved from that, or the other way, then getting from "breeches" to "britches" was a matter of continual, repeated, & phonetic misspeeling of the word.
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Schmeel
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#377

Post by Schmeel »

Joe Ross wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:35 am I don't recall the exact times I ran across "breeches" in books, but they were several and, I assume, in required reading. I do remember heeding Mom's & Dad's advice to "Look it up in the (unabridged) dictionary!" on untold occasions & did so with "breeches."

The etymology of "breeches" may be interesting. One definition of "breech" is "hind end" of the body, as in "breech birth." My guess would be that "leg coverings"/pants evolved from that, or the other way, then getting from "breeches" to "britches" was a matter of continual, repeated, & phonetic misspeeling of the word.
Somehow I also encountered "breeches" on more than one occasion that required looking it up.
There's a lot, probably more than most anyone needs to know, that can be learned about breeches in Wikipedia (not that it's necessarily correct):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeches
Enjoy!
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SusieG
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#378

Post by SusieG »

Dplass wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:34 pm I probably would have never gotten this. I was stuck on counting 3s and 4s and 7s (four PLUS) and just didn't see the mechanism.

Harumph. I'm in a 5 week slump... hopefully this week will break it.
As was I. Also tried 8’s because + 4’s is plural. My stubborn brain just wouldn’t move off the numbers, even though I knew the plus signs had to be signs to something.
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mheberlingx100
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#379

Post by mheberlingx100 »

cherikee wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:59 am I wrote down KNEE BREE CHES and didn't see the answer. I'd like to blame my age, but I doubt that any of us were alive when knee breeches were a thing. I tried to scramble up those letters a million different ways before finally coming here for a nudge, only to learn that I already had the answer... tough way to DNF, but there's always next week!
From now on, you can think of plus four pants as sons of breeches.
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whimsy
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#380

Post by whimsy »

I just realized this AM that there was another fun, number-related rabbit hole I wished I'd gone down:
One, Two, Three, Four --
Tell the people what she wore --
Captureypdbbun.JPG
Anybody else see spots? -- :)
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