"Creature Features" - May 10, 2019

[Julie O]

On shore!

[SewYoung]

Finally got over the last hurdle. Count me a shore.

O. K. You're A Shore. Sorry I couldn't resist.

I am neither a shore nor ashore.

[Gwyneth_S]

Aha! Ashore. Fun puzzle. And since I always feel a bit intimidated by MG puzzles, I’m proud of my solve.

Happy, too, to have the new blog space. I would hate to lose this wonderful camaraderie. Long live the Muggle community

[BarbaraK]

Are you doing the easier or harder version?

Barbara - thank you for pointing this out. I solved MMMM earlier this week but hadn't even noticed there were two versions. So much for my attention to details! I happened to click on the easier version. Looking at it now, I'm not confident I would have gotten the harder. Which version did you do?

I did the harder one. Knowing I can count on elegance in Pete’s puzzles helped once I figured out what I was looking for.

[Janet]

Finally got over the last hurdle. Count me a shore.

O. K. You're A Shore. Sorry I couldn't resist.

I am neither a shore nor ashore.

Can you ashore us of this?

[Tom Shea]

A quick note from the Mike Miller at the WSJ.

Greetings--yes, comments on this puzzle will stay open indefinitely. As some of you have noticed, in recent weeks, they fell under a new WSJ policy that comments are only open for 48 hours, but the puzzle is now an exception. Post away! Good luck with this elegant puzzle!

Mike is a great guy for getting this done, and for the many things he has done to help the land of muggles. I received one of the 3 month free subscriptions, but I just can't bring myself to comment on the wsj site. My loyalty is now with this site. I only fear they will put the puzzle itself behind the paywall.

[Richard]

I too got over the last hurdle.

Dewars on the rocks for me.

Richard

[JJD]

Finally got over the last hurdle. Count me a shore.

O. K. You're A Shore. Sorry I couldn't resist.

I am neither a shore nor ashore.

Can you ashore us of this?

Uhh, sure.

[JJD]

Well I’ve got something that feels Gaffney-esque in methodology, but... I’m going to tell Isaac to keep my tab open.

[gfindli]

I’m on confidently on shore. But I have a nit about the Meta: I think it violates one of the unwritten rules of crossword construction. I can’t be more specific until after the deadline. George Findling

[DrTom]

Sloshed around a bit in the ocean, but finally saw a ray of light (Lighthouse for those at sea??) that led me away from that wascally wabbit. So count/call/pipe/take/carry me ashore please. Delightful puzzle, so much so that I am ALMOST over missing last week's which I thought was a 5 but I realize now definitely was a 4. By the way I am awaiting a meta where ARCHIE is the answer.

[Colin]

This is a first for me... ashore on Friday! Weekend on the beach... lovely!!

[Drink_til_MT_puzzler]

Took the speedboat to shore on this one!

[FrankH]

On shore!

[Bob cruise director]

On shore!

What an enjoyable meta. Although the fill (understandably) suffered a bit because of the theme density, the payoff was well worth the compromise. Impressive idea and construction!

As a relatively new solver of meta puzzles, I have benefited tremendously from examining the mechanics of past metas, both from Gaffney and other constructors. If any new solvers find themselves stuck on this or future puzzles, I highly recommend you do the same.

Anyway, cheers!

Check out the hints for solving puzzles under the Welcome aboard/ FAQ - comments tabs. We talk about styles of each constructor

[MarkL]

Could have sworn that I posted on Thursday afternoon. I am ashore.

[JJD]

“My compliments to the chef on this very tasty meal! What is in it again?”

“Red herring, you say? It’s very good.”

“Oh, it’s time to leave the boat? No, I’m going to stay here and keep eating. Thanks.”

[Cindy]

Solved.

[Bob cruise director]

Good Saturday morning fellow muggles.
A couple of pieces of administrivia - the WSJ will be keeping the comments site open through at least Monday for those who want to post there. However, it is still only open to WSJ subscribers. So we will keep the blog open and the reports will incorporate muggles who post on both sites.

We have several new muggles this week - Joe Ross, Kevin Conlon and Nalugirl which I have found out means either the pairing of the characters Natsu and Lucy from Fairy Tale or the Hawaiian word for wave or surging surf.

Currently we have 2 muggles keeping Isaac in business for now, Ed S and Joe R and 90 on the shore.

The shore party hovered around the tiki bar are
Al
Leslie
moi
Tmart
Wendy
Tony S
Laura M
Meg
Toby
Tina
Barbara K
Frankie
Les
geeteebee
Hector
Darryl
Anita
Steve Beck
Brian Mac
ALS
Tom Wi
drabble
Inca
Cindy
Andrew B
David K
joequavis
Jacksull
billkatz
Jim and Anita
Sheila
Peter L
Special Ed
Orsys
Diana
Ron
Mike H
Guy L
Jazzbibist
Kay
Tom S
31 down
Jeff S
oldjudge
azdataboy
Beth A
Stukmn
Heidi
Beth C
Jeremy Smith
Brian
Matthew
ky-mike
Barry
Rad26
John D
Glyn
Bill S
John B
James W
Anne
Kevin Conlon
Doug C
Brunella
Paul D
Domenic
Blair
Sam G
James C
Cynthia J
Janet P
Sew Young
Gwyneth
Julie
Frank
Jimmyjam
Janet
Doug M
Scott MT
Natalie
Dr. Tom
Colin
Deb
George
Richard
Nalugirl
Mark L
JJD
Eric P
and Russ


Great crowd. Good luck winning the mug. Looks like a bunch of great comments coming on Monday.

[Patty Mack]

After a few weeks away I am happy to be back with the crowd! And sweeter with a Matt Gaffney