"Alternatives" - May 31, 2019

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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BarbaraK
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#141

Post by BarbaraK »

MikeMillerwsj wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2019 4:51 pm I sound like a broken record in these weekly reports, but I know I am echoing many of your comments here: hats off to a truly ingenious and innovative puzzle this week. We had 936 entries, about 83% correct. A grab bag of incorrect answers led by EUROPEAN (45) plus ATHENIAN (5), POLE (5), SCOT (2) and sundry others.

Congrats to this week's winner: Teresa Hall Gavin of Pleasant Prairie, Wisc.!
Thanks, Mike! It is kind of amazing that the Mike & Matt can think of new puzzles every week while we keep going to the same compliments - clever, ingenious, etc.
Tony S
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Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:14 pm

#142

Post by Tony S »

BarbaraK wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2019 5:50 pm
MikeMillerwsj wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2019 4:51 pm I sound like a broken record in these weekly reports, but I know I am echoing many of your comments here: hats off to a truly ingenious and innovative puzzle this week. We had 936 entries, about 83% correct. A grab bag of incorrect answers led by EUROPEAN (45) plus ATHENIAN (5), POLE (5), SCOT (2) and sundry others.

Congrats to this week's winner: Teresa Hall Gavin of Pleasant Prairie, Wisc.!
Thanks, Mike! It is kind of amazing that the Mike & Matt can think of new puzzles every week while we keep going to the same compliments - clever, ingenious, etc.
For me this puzzle hit the sweet spot -- not too easy, not too hard, just right -- my favorite so far this year.
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Bird Lives
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#143

Post by Bird Lives »

TMart wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2019 10:46 am
Bird Lives wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:24 am
Meg wrote: Thu May 30, 2019 4:34 pm I waved at Isaac as I swam to shore. I’m hoping tomorrow's week 5 MGWCC will not be too painful.
I'm not a MGWCC subscriber, but just out of curiosity, I got a bootleg copy of this. The fill was easy enough, but as for the meta, I have absolutely no idea. Not a rabbit hole in sight. Does MG come up with difficult and different tricks for these that are never used in the WSJ puzzles? In any case, hats off to anyone who figures it out.
Matt's weekly MGWCC metas generally get harder as the weeks go on - usually, Week 1 is ridiculously easy (600+ solvers), Weeks 2 and 3 are more WSJ-level, (300-400 solvers) Week 4 is tough (200ish solvers), and Week 5, when there is one, is almost impossible. You picked a very atypical week to try - a true Week 5 with only 50 solvers so far - hardest I've seen yet (though I've only been a subscriber since February). The harder ones usually have some of the same tricks from the WSJ, but a lot more steps and outside information needed. At only $26 per year, its well worth the subscription price if you are as addicted to metas as most of us are!
I knew that Week 5 would be tough. But I have still no idea of where to look for step one. How much time does MG give before he publishes the solution?
Jay
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billkatz
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#144

Post by billkatz »

Bird Lives wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:28 pm
I knew that Week 5 would be tough. But I have still no idea of where to look for step one. How much time does MG give before he publishes the solution?
He doesn't publish the solution until the next Friday. But there will be an explanation at crossword fiend minutes after the deadline tomorrow morning (Noon Eastern/9AM Pacific)
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CPJohnson
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#145

Post by CPJohnson »

Meg wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:03 am I did not see the title as ALTER NATIVES. Nice. I feel like this change/find one letter in a set of grid entries has been done a lot lately.
I think it's because that type of puzzle construction is especially difficult for some of us. I know that, for me, it is the hardest construction for me to "see" the correct path.
Cynthia
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JJD
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#146

Post by JJD »

Once I had 30 minutes to sit down today to look at my completed grid (without looking here all weekend) I got on shore pretty quickly — for me. For me, seeing the Title was critical to cracking it.
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BrianMac
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#147

Post by BrianMac »

:)
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