"Risky Business" - December 11, 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.
Locked
User avatar
Kas
Posts: 265
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:23 pm
Location: Usually in a rabbit hole.

#301

Post by Kas »

I’ll be the guy at the end of the ship’s bar.
They say, “every once in a while, even a blind squirrel finds a nut,” and I’m no squirrel expert, but sure—that sounds right.

This week, the “blind squirrel” that is my Meta Brain ventured out onto the freeway looking for said nut, and “found” an oncoming semi. It is what it is.
JeanneC
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 11:25 am
Location: Florida

#302

Post by JeanneC »

Tony S wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 12:13 am Oh, for crying out loud --- I just saw the solution when I looked at the Monday puzzle --- all I can say is that I'm glad I have other amusements in my life.
The loud sound you just heard is that of my palm making contact with my forehead! 🤦‍♀️
“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions”. Lillian Hellman
User avatar
escapeartist
Posts: 419
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2020 12:24 am

#303

Post by escapeartist »

KayW wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 11:43 am
escapeartist wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 1:39 am I initially had a quick solve to the Meta that was messy and inelegant but is totally related to this lovely year we call 2020, and by the rules this wrong solution is a very precarious thing to do.

Because it was messy, it clearly was not the right path.

Wondering if this answer makes it into the submissions?
I hope you'll elaborate on Monday!
Well first, the show "Tiger King" (still haven't seen it but welp ) is by far the show that marks 2020 as the dumpster fire of a year it has been.

Underneath the grid answer (aka "sub") "SUBPRIMELENDING" one can barely make out the mistaken solution to "a precarious thing to do":

OWN LIONS

:lol:
* 2022 WSJ Mug Winner - I bask in its Glory *
User avatar
lacangah
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 12:58 am
Location: Claremont, CA

#304

Post by lacangah »

I fixated on the ‘consider the last across answer’ advice that comes up from time to time, and spent a few hours looking at ‘easy,’ interpreting is as ‘E as Y,’ leading to many substitutions across the grid. Somehow I was able to reboot, but I think this would be a fun meta mechanism (if it hasn’t been done already).

Have a great week,
Last edited by lacangah on Mon Dec 14, 2020 1:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
DrTom
Posts: 3764
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
Location: Jacksonville, FL

#305

Post by DrTom »

So was 64A just a red herring or did it actually figure into the puzzle somehow? I got hung up there as well but when the real answer came EASY did not seem to have any bearing except that the puzzle was easier than I thought it would be.
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!
Bill Bovard
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2019 12:18 am
Location: Pasadena, CA

#306

Post by Bill Bovard »

I parsed LENDING as L-ENDING and looked for words ending in L, letters after an L, etc., especially under prime numbers. The first word I found was FOOL (11D) which seemed like a good start. (FOOL MOTHER NATURE? FOOL ME TWICE?)

Pretty sure there was a puzzle where you had to take the letters labeled with a power of 2 (2,4,8,16,32,64). Looks like it was A HIGHER POWER by Marie Kelly, 09/08/2017, and if I recall correctly the answer was ALGEBRA.
Last edited by Bill Bovard on Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dow Jones
Posts: 472
Joined: Thu May 09, 2019 11:02 pm
Location: Yakima, WA

#307

Post by Dow Jones »

Matt Gaffney's MGWCC #469 from May 26, 2017 used the same mechanism for his Meta Contest (even using the grid-spanning "subprime lending"). Al Sisti won the monthly random drawing (for submitting all correct entries for the month). Did it seem like deja vu, Al ?
ALS
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 7:59 pm

#308

Post by ALS »

Forgot to post last night that I made it ashore over dinner.

All of a sudden, enlightenment hit, and sure enough, the letters were there.

ALS
debbierudy
Posts: 141
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 4:57 pm

#309

Post by debbierudy »

One of the reasons I enjoyed this solution is my love of prime numbers. For years I taught my general math students about prime factorization with an analogy: a composite number is like a cake, and the primes that make it are like the list of ingredients. Multiply them together and voila! But it is easier to break down a number into its components than it is to unbake a cake :)
Ksoav
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:34 pm

#310

Post by Ksoav »

I looked at the last down clue/answer and thought somehow casinos were involved. I noticed Aria and Rio both in the grid, which are Las Vegas casinos. Seeing nothing else and no other rabbit holes, I stared and stared and stared... and had to throw in the towel!

Also thought easy could be a nod to the Big Easy and was looking for New Orleans casinos.

I think a different title would have had me looking for other paths not necessarily associated with a "business".

Props to everyone who figured it out!
User avatar
KscX
Posts: 234
Joined: Sat May 02, 2020 12:09 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC

#311

Post by KscX »

The syllables of RISKY are contained and rearranged in SKYWRITE and that is all I could see until someone finally put that candy bowl out of reach for me.
User avatar
Bob cruise director
Cruise Director
Posts: 4511
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:38 pm
Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA

#312

Post by Bob cruise director »

I had several rabbit holes for almost two days. Worst one was the seven instances of RI and the fact that combination was in the title made it more convincing. And then we had the embedded words in the long answers like TORE in 56A leaving "au pair"" and then adjacent combinations like Air Mail between 33A and 28 A. And my all time favorite - looking up the areas in the game of Risk to see if they were embedded in there somewhere.

I did hit on the prime numbers early but looked in the boxes containing the primes so I abandoned that path.

It took reprinting the grid and filling it in clean to erase all those rabbit holes.
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
User avatar
Colin
Posts: 546
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:57 pm

#313

Post by Colin »

Neat meta and grid,
Clouds covered the solution,
And hid Geminids! :(
One world. One planet. One future.
User avatar
Tom Shea
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 6:37 am
Location: Freedonia, NH/VT/HI/Earth

#314

Post by Tom Shea »

I suppose I should have got this one (I recall another 'prime' puzzle). Just not to be. I do have a whinge on not including 1 as a prime number -- it is. But I suppose that would have made the answer too easy to find.

Anyway, at least Isaac isn't lonely anymore.
Rufus T. Firefly
User avatar
John77
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:09 pm
Location: New Jersey

#315

Post by John77 »

<Glitch on WSJ's end. The PDF isn't available with Monday's puzzle. I will post an unofficial answer, such as I have it, at midnight, going forward.>


Wow, that almost never happens.
Wir sind zu früh alt und zu spät schlau.
JaneGummy
Posts: 194
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2020 5:38 pm
Location: Punta Gorda FL

#316

Post by JaneGummy »

My rabbit hole, found Rs and Bs (for Risky Business) in the top half of the grid, found corresponding cells in the bottom of the grid (sub prime) and somehow wrestled TATTOO ART as an answer. Thankfully was yanked from that rabbit hole by Boharr 😊
flyingMoose
Posts: 828
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2020 2:35 pm

#317

Post by flyingMoose »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 7:51 am I did hit on the prime numbers early but looked in the boxes containing the primes ...
In my case, looked in the boxes preceding the primes. But it doesn't say PREPRIME now, does it? Sadly, I never returned to the "primes" notion. *Sigh*
higgysue
Posts: 334
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:43 pm
Location: Duluth, MN

#318

Post by higgysue »

Colin wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 7:56 am Neat meta and grid,
Clouds covered the solution,
And hid Geminids! :(
Saw those Geminids this morning. Glorious!
User avatar
Commodore
Posts: 362
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:12 pm

#319

Post by Commodore »

DeMornay After
Isaac, ‘nuther round of Schlitz and Old Milwaukee for this crew. Yeah, in cans. Take those ol’ records off the shelf, and spin a lil’ Bob Seger. I cracked my egg on this one. “Cruise” director, indeed. Hmmph. Risky Business, this partying at home. (hiccup)
User avatar
lbray53
Posts: 1194
Joined: Fri May 08, 2020 8:34 am
Location: Elkhorn, WI

#320

Post by lbray53 »

Tom Shea wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 8:14 am I suppose I should have got this one (I recall another 'prime' puzzle). Just not to be. I do have a whinge on not including 1 as a prime number -- it is. But I suppose that would have made the answer too easy to find.

Anyway, at least Isaac isn't lonely anymore.
The strict definition of a prime number is that it must have exactly two factors, namely 1 and itself. The number 1 has one factor. Kudos to the constructor for getting this right.

BTW, I know this mainly because I learned it the hard way long ago. It cost me a grade getting it wrong.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
Locked