"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.
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Billy M
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#341

Post by Billy M »

One of the interesting rabbit holes I fell down (and stayed in for far too long) was as follows: I kept looking at 10D - "clue heading" as the word "ACROSS" arranged vertically seemed bizarre to me, and taking "clue heading" and "across" together, I started looking at the across clues for the puzzle. The first letters of 21A, 24A, 42A, 59A, and 62A spell "RISKY." I thought for sure I was on the right path here, but couldn't make "BUSINESS" anywhere despite far too many [not elegant] attempts.
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Joepickett
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#342

Post by Joepickett »

So next puzzle I will google "MGWCC subprime (or whatever I am looking for)"

My shortcut to catch up on my meta experience.
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Bob cruise director
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#343

Post by Bob cruise director »

Billy M wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 12:51 pm One of the interesting rabbit holes I fell down (and stayed in for far too long) was as follows: I kept looking at 10D - "clue heading" as the word "ACROSS" arranged vertically seemed bizarre to me, and taking "clue heading" and "across" together, I started looking at the across clues for the puzzle. The first letters of 21A, 24A, 42A, 59A, and 62A spell "RISKY." I thought for sure I was on the right path here, but couldn't make "BUSINESS" anywhere despite far too many [not elegant] attempts.
Yeah - I went down the across rabbit hole also but it went nowhere

Lots of rabbit holes this week for our pleasure
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stmv
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#344

Post by stmv »

My rabbit hole was that I thought of the correct path early on, but then misapplied it: In checking out its viability by eye, I somehow skipped over 5 being prime, and so my letter string started out as LIEONB... which I thought was clearly incorrect, so I shelved that idea and tried a bunch of other things (similar to various rabbit holes already mentioned). It was only after two days of frustration that I came back and more carefully re-tried the correct idea, and finally the light bulb went on.

By the way, for those of you who are truly masochistic/addicted to metas, and who also subscribe to the Sunday NY Times print edition (it's not available electronically anywhere as far as I know), yesterday was their annual "Super Mega" crossword, a 50 by 51 meta crossword by Peter Gordon. Filling in such a large grid is exhausting - I found it to be fairly difficult, maybe Wednesday NYT difficulty? The meta used a mechanism I don't recall seeing before; I found it to be pretty easy once I had solved the grid. Solve and enter and maybe you can win $1000!
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DrTom
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#345

Post by DrTom »

Joe Ross wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:02 am I refuse to give the previous post a thumbs up, on principle.
I gave it a thumbs up on the superintendent instead...
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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DrTom
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#346

Post by DrTom »

Kris Zacharias wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:58 am
DrTom wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:19 pm
HunterX wrote: Sat Dec 12, 2020 5:44 pm

All hands on deck? I can deal with that.

May I just say, I love a bad pun as much as the next guy...

...but only when I'm the one making them. "EMUved" on the other hand... You'll 'roo the day you used that Australian animal in a pun.
Well I agree on bad puns (assuming there is actually anything like a 'bad" pun) and that ostrich sometimes to make one work. I get caught up in the tasmania of it all and turn into a little devil, but that is because I keep trying to make the grade instead of being a punning wallaby since no matter how fast I am there is always someone quokka. Instead I'll just wait for my favorite Month (March) because on the 15th Ides like to look back on the day before and instead of pie I honor the day and make MAR soupial, I don't know if I am odd or just stubborn, perhaps that is why I am considered a kooky burro? Well, if you'll excuse me I have to go to the potoroo....

Oh, and I'll bet you cannula hold the line on me, unless it gets late on a Sunday evening and I find I have to punt. Those are the days that I just cede the ride to shore and sit down with a book by my favorite author, Willa Catheter.

If your ears are bleeding don't blame me, I wasn't the one who told me how I'd roo the day! Bad puns indeed....

crack_bad_puns_0.jpg
Puns! I'd like to see even moa.
Well then, let me Roc your world!
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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Joe Ross
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#347

Post by Joe Ross »

DrTom wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:11 pm
Joe Ross wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:02 am I refuse to give the previous post a thumbs up, on principle.
I gave it a thumbs up on the superintendent instead...
Would that be the eleventh?

I mean, if none intendent, you're saying there are more that deserve it?
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DrTom
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#348

Post by DrTom »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:39 am
Joe Ross wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:02 am I refuse to give the previous post a thumbs up, on principle.
I blame Dr Tom for all these groaners
Oh, the Blame Game eh...

Tommy Tommy To Tommy, Banana Panna Quite Balmy, Fee Fie Foe Fommy - opps sorry wrong game.

Gosh, laying all the blame on me - doesn't that just take the cake, I guess I'll take the bundt of the punishment as long as I don't get iced for it!

I'm thinking of doing a talking/singing presentation where every stanza consists of beatboxing and word plays. Know what I'm going to call myself...Rap Punzel of course!
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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DrTom
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#349

Post by DrTom »

Joe Ross wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:41 am
Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:39 am
Joe Ross wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:02 am I refuse to give the previous post a thumbs up, on principle.
I blame Dr Tom for all these groaners
Oh, I thought is was funny enough, if a little overused, but - given the pun - there's no way I'm laughing at it, or giving it a thumb's up.

Blaming DrTom for anything is easy and 99 & 64/100ths effective.
Well maybe he should tell twelve puns then, that's an apostleble solution?

Oh, and blaming me has a much higher percentage of success than that - like Ivory I'm so pure I float!

(By the way, you know that is how one can tell the sex of an ant right? Through it in water and if it floats its a bouyant!)
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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Bob cruise director
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#350

Post by Bob cruise director »

DrTom wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:22 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:39 am
Joe Ross wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:02 am I refuse to give the previous post a thumbs up, on principle.
I blame Dr Tom for all these groaners
Oh, the Blame Game eh...

Tommy Tommy To Tommy, Banana Panna Quite Balmy, Fee Fie Foe Fommy - opps sorry wrong game.

Gosh, laying all the blame on me - doesn't that just take the cake, I guess I'll take the bundt of the punishment as long as I don't get iced for it!

I'm thinking of doing a talking/singing presentation where every stanza consists of beatboxing and word plays. Know what I'm going to call myself...Rap Punzel of course!
The prosecution rests :lol:
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minimuggle
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#351

Post by minimuggle »

2 weeks now that I haven't made it to shore but I continue to be impressed at how all of your minds work. I'll continue fighting on and hopefully make it next week. Luckily I enjoy being out on the water.
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Wendy Walker
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#352

Post by Wendy Walker »

mwickham@nyc.rr.com wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:37 pm 2 weeks now that I haven't made it to shore but I continue to be impressed at how all of your minds work. I'll continue fighting on and hopefully make it next week. Luckily I enjoy being out on the water.
You are doing everything right: just keep trying!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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mheberlingx100
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#353

Post by mheberlingx100 »

Wendy Walker wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 3:36 pm
mwickham@nyc.rr.com wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:37 pm 2 weeks now that I haven't made it to shore but I continue to be impressed at how all of your minds work. I'll continue fighting on and hopefully make it next week. Luckily I enjoy being out on the water.
You are doing everything right: just keep trying!
Agree! I didn't get it this week, but after seeing the mechanism of the solution I feel I'll have a better shot down the line. To me it's a matter of mostly experience and maybe a tiny bit of luck, and sometimes you just can't see it.
PJM
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#354

Post by PJM »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 9:39 am
And as a minor distraction, Risky Business is a ski trail at Sunday River in Maine.

Indeed, and Sunday River says it has fresh manmade as of this morning!

I never reported in but I was LAS this weekend...did the grid saw no quick solution to the meta so set it aside and never took is up again.
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DrTom
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#355

Post by DrTom »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:34 pm
DrTom wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:22 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:39 am

I blame Dr Tom for all these groaners
Oh, the Blame Game eh...

Tommy Tommy To Tommy, Banana Panna Quite Balmy, Fee Fie Foe Fommy - opps sorry wrong game.

Gosh, laying all the blame on me - doesn't that just take the cake, I guess I'll take the bundt of the punishment as long as I don't get iced for it!

I'm thinking of doing a talking/singing presentation where every stanza consists of beatboxing and word plays. Know what I'm going to call myself...Rap Punzel of course!
The prosecution rests :lol:
Well they are never going to win that way, if they are going to keep resting. Typical, they say something and then rest on their orals.
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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HunterX
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#356

Post by HunterX »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 9:39 am
lbray53 wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 9:07 am
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.
(...)
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.
I started out with including 1 and immediately got OLIVE but when I moved on to the next letters it became obvious that 1 was not a prime. My senior moment problem was that after I did the first 10 or I included the number in the box so It one point I had Live on Bo (some gibberish)ed Time. Minor course correction.
(....)
and I agree with not including 1 as it falls in a special category called a "unit" (special for muggle nerds)
This came up when I was working on the meta over zoom with my 20-something kids. While they were gabbing, I thought of the mechanism, but didn't really want to do the work alone. (Usually, I figure out the answer, proudly announcing that I solved it first, then let them keep trying to figure it out until they ask the old man for a hint.) My older one started with "1." My younger one is a math major in college and corrected with the rule stated by lbray53, above. A minor argument ensued (instead of just trying it out and seeing what happens). I broke the logjam with "I side with the math major."

Between them, it's more important to be right on principle than accomplish their shared goal. Reminds me of a poem my father used to recite: "Here lies the body of Jonathan Gray / He died defending his right of way / He was right, "Dead right!", as he sped along / But he's just as dead as if he were wrong."
otlaolap
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#357

Post by otlaolap »

The rabbit hole that swallowed up my mind was trying to make something from the eight two-word alliterative clues (e.g. salon substances and buzzy bodies -- I counted carnival city as well) since they stood out distinctly from the others and because buzzy body and salon substances seemed especially odd. Spent virtual ages trying to discern anything in the clues and their answers. Otherwise, RI and SKY took away my mind. The lesson I've got to learn in a real and practical way (not just as a mental statement or a checklist entry) is that if something is going nowhere then it is likely not the answer. Did a lot of SUBbing, subtracting letters, substituting letters. Made, in essence, a prime fool of myself.
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HunterX
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#358

Post by HunterX »

DrTom wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:27 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:34 pm
DrTom wrote: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:22 pm

Oh, the Blame Game eh...

Tommy Tommy To Tommy, Banana Panna Quite Balmy, Fee Fie Foe Fommy - opps sorry wrong game.

Gosh, laying all the blame on me - doesn't that just take the cake, I guess I'll take the bundt of the punishment as long as I don't get iced for it!

I'm thinking of doing a talking/singing presentation where every stanza consists of beatboxing and word plays. Know what I'm going to call myself...Rap Punzel of course!
The prosecution rests :lol:
Well they are never going to win that way, if they are going to keep resting. Typical, they say something and then rest on their orals.
Bob - If Tiger King taught me anything, it's to never stick your hand in the cage. And for god sake don't taunt them. You may think you're playing and having fun. But that's how you'll lose an arm.

Or be subjected to more puns. You'll sigh, sip some beer, and the sigh-beerian will pounce!
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mpmanning
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#359

Post by mpmanning »

The WSJ is still having a problem printing their solution. I wonder if it’s because they found my solution –
Grab Repos – to be simpler, more elegant, and possibly more precarious. The meta solution focuses on noticing that there are many two-word, alliterative clues both across and down with answers as follows:

Salon substances Gels
Small stream Rill
Britten bit Aria
Buzzy body Bee

Carnival city Rio
Counts’ counterparts Earls
Domino’s delivery Pie
High hunter Orion
Paltry pencil Stub
The first letters of the grid entries clearly spell out GRAB REPOS. Your local bank will be able to tell you how precarious a job this may be if you tell them you are looking for employment. They should be able to explain how irate their customers (armed or not) may be as you come to repossess their cars because they are a few payments in arrears on their subprime loan.
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mpmanning
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#360

Post by mpmanning »

The WSJ is still having a problem printing their solution. I wonder if it’s because they found my solution –
Grab Repos – to be simpler, more elegant, and possibly more precarious. The meta solution focuses on noticing that there are many two-word, alliterative clues both across and down with answers as follows:

Salon substances Gels
Small stream Rill
Britten bit Aria
Buzzy body Bee

Carnival city Rio
Counts’ counterparts Earls
Domino’s delivery Pie
High hunter Orion
Paltry pencil Stub
The first letters of the grid entries clearly spell out GRAB REPOS. Your local bank will be able to tell you how precarious a job this may be if you tell them you are looking for employment. They should be able to explain how irate their customers (armed or not) may be as you come to repossess their cars because they are a few payments in arrears on their subprime loan.
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