#591 - "Back and Forth" - September 27, 2019

[ChrisKochmanski]

For those who received hints, who did you ask? I would like a hint to this puzzle. It seems like a lot of people had help with this one.

I once posted just like you did here, John, and somehow, someone else on this forum tracked me down via email. Now we occasionally correspond, when I need a hint. Maybe this will happen for you too.

[BarbaraK]

For those who received hints, who did you ask? I would like a hint to this puzzle. It seems like a lot of people had help with this one.

One of the nice features of this board is that you can send a private message to another poster. So for example, if you want to send a note just to ChrisKochmanski and ask him to share his hint, click on his name to see his profile and then click "Send private message" under the Contact section. He'll be able to send a private reply to you the same way.

In fact, Chris or one of the other solvers, may have already seen your request and sent you a private message. You'd see a red bubble notifying you of it in the heading area.

Sorry I don't have any hints to offer. (Don't want to receive any either. This week, I'm in 'solo solve or bust' mode.)

[Meg]

For those who received hints, who did you ask? I would like a hint to this puzzle. It seems like a lot of people had help with this one.

Sorry I don't have any hints to offer. (Don't want to receive any either. This week, I'm in 'solo solve or bust' mode.)

Barbara, you have my deepest respect.

[damefox]

I would love a hint on this one.

[Jeremy Smith]

With the dearth of successful solvers, I’m holding out hope that Matt will give us a hint. Unless many are holding out on submitting, this may be shaping up to be a week 5 in a 4 week month.

[ChrisKochmanski]

For those who received hints, who did you ask? I would like a hint to this puzzle. It seems like a lot of people had help with this one.

One of the nice features of this board is that you can send a private message to another poster. So for example, if you want to send a note just to ChrisKochmanski and ask him to share his hint, click on his name to see his profile and then click "Send private message" under the Contact section. He'll be able to send a private reply to you the same way.

Wow, I must confess I didn't know this. I've just been stumbling around the forum, doing what seems needed at the time. Good to know!

[BarbaraK]

Sorry I don't have any hints to offer. (Don't want to receive any either. This week, I'm in 'solo solve or bust' mode.)

Barbara, you have my deepest respect.

I'm somewhere along the determined-stubborn-foolish continuum. Not sure exactly where on there though.

I have two conflicting MGWCC goals this year. One is to miss no more than 4 and thus qualify for a bronze prize. The other is to not obsess and spend ridiculous amounts of time on metas.

This week may be the tipping point. If I miss it, I'll be out of the running for an annual prize. Which will be kind of disappointing. But also, oddly, kind of a relief because then I won't have to worry about it any more this year.

[Al Sisti]

I haven't seen the updated board, but I'm 100% on my submission. If I could do so without pulling a muscle, I'd pat myself on the back for a solo solve.

[damefox]

Well, that was not worth the payoff. I'm on the board after a huge hint from Toby (thank you!!), and I'm glad I didn't keep trying to figure it out on my own. I never would've seen that. Way too much going on, and the theme doesn't really feel cohesive. A little forced, which perhaps we should expect from a puzzle where the words "the constructor's favorite" appear in the meta. What's that old writing advice? Oh right, kill your darlings.

[Leslie]

So far I've never done a meta that wasn't a solo solve, for the simple reason that I don't know any other meta solvers! I'm not in contention for any annual prizes (didn't start MGWCC until February, and have missed some since then). I prefer to figure these out on my own, but then I get frustrated at how much time I waste on puzzles I was never going to get where the solution is unsatisfying (I'm looking at you, "Search Party"). So having read all the comments on this one, I would really appreciate a hint -- not a huge hint, just small-to-medium. Thanks to anyone who can give me a gentle nudge in the right direction!

UPDATE: Thanks to damefox for the hint!

[anjhinz]

Hello! New to the forum (unfortunately!) but I am in the same boat as Leslie... would love a gentle nudge on MGWCC this week, if you wouldn't mind. Going crazy staring at the grid and falling way too deep into some silly rabbit holes. Thank you!

[Hector]

Whew, finally got it.

[TMart]

I doubt I’m getting there on this one, so I’ll keep plugging until Tuesday and then let my (meager) streak die here. Not at all interested in putting my name on a leaderboard if I can’t earn the solve on my own. But I am looking forward to seeing if any of my rabbit holes were on the right track.

[Leslie]

Not at all interested in putting my name on a leaderboard if I can’t earn the solve on my own.

This was my first non-solo solve, and while I'm happy that getting a hint saved me from wasting a lot more time on this one, I don't feel great about submitting my answer (though I told Matt in the comments that I don't think I would have solved it without help). I think that in the future if I need a nudge I just won't submit the answer and wait until Tuesday to find out if it's right. But I do hate it when I spend way too much time banging my head against the wall on an obscure or arbitary meta that I would never get!

[OGuyDave]

Not at all interested in putting my name on a leaderboard if I can’t earn the solve on my own.

This was my first non-solo solve, and while I'm happy that getting a hint saved me from wasting a lot more time on this one, I don't feel great about submitting my answer (though I told Matt in the comments that I don't think I would have solved it without help). I think that in the future if I need a nudge I just won't submit the answer and wait until Tuesday to find out if it's right. But I do hate it when I spend way too much time banging my head against the wall on an obscure or arbitary meta that I would never get!

I, too, got a hint, which was enough to give me (what I'm pretty sure is) the right answer. However, I submitted "Never in a MIllION years." so as not to skew the results. This one was way beyond my abilities. Maybe lessons learned will help me in the future, so that's the bright side.

[damefox]

Not at all interested in putting my name on a leaderboard if I can’t earn the solve on my own.

This was my first non-solo solve, and while I'm happy that getting a hint saved me from wasting a lot more time on this one, I don't feel great about submitting my answer (though I told Matt in the comments that I don't think I would have solved it without help). I think that in the future if I need a nudge I just won't submit the answer and wait until Tuesday to find out if it's right. But I do hate it when I spend way too much time banging my head against the wall on an obscure or arbitary meta that I would never get!

I, too, got a hint, which was enough to give me (what I'm pretty sure is) the right answer. However, I submitted "Never in a MIllION years." so as not to skew the results. This one was way beyond my abilities. Maybe lessons learned will help me in the future, so that's the bright side.

This is the one contest I've seen that has a yes/no "Solo solve?" option, so I definitely don't feel bad about getting a hint. If Gaffney wants to disqualify people who didn't solve on their own from receiving prizes, that's his prerogative, but given he's apparently considered the possibility that people are collaborating, this doesn't seem like cheating. And this is a community for discussing meta crosswords - we should be helping each other out in addition to celebrating people getting it on their own.

[markhr]

This is the one contest I've seen that has a yes/no "Solo solve?" option, so I definitely don't feel bad about getting a hint. If Gaffney wants to disqualify people who didn't solve on their own from receiving prizes, that's his prerogative, but given he's apparently considered the possibility that people are collaborating, this doesn't seem like cheating. And this is a community for discussing meta crosswords - we should be helping each other out in addition to celebrating people getting it on their own.

The Solo Solve option is not new. It has actually been in place since January. It is used for year-end prizes, but not for weekly or monthly prizes. Everyone is eligible for the weekly/monthly prizes.

For me, I will stubbornly stick with solo solving on this one, though success seems very unlikely. Like some others here, I'll get it on my own or not at all. But this meta has been especially befuddling.

[sharkicicles]

This is one of the few times I gave up early. Just didn’t feel like banging my head against the wall.

[LesY]

Fwiw, while I wasn't able to spend a lot of time on this one I'll be curious to see if any of the rabbit holes I attempted were headed in the right direction. From reading the comments it sounds like a "Quartet Quest" or "Search Party" level of sustained/intense focus may have been required...

Similar to what Pete is now doing with MMMM, I wonder if Matt/Rich have considered emailing a hint at the deadline - for those who want to continue trying to solve before Noon on Friday. (Also think it would be interesting to see what hint (singular?) they believe could nudge someone to the solution.)

Oh, and if anyone wants to drop me a hint by Personal Message after the deadline please do. I plan to avoid this thread for a few days and keep trying!

[Leslie]

Similar to what Pete is now doing with MMMM, I wonder if Matt/Rich have considered emailing a hint at the deadline - for those who want to continue trying to solve before Noon on Friday. (Also think it would be interesting to see what hint (singular?) they believe could nudge someone to the solution.)

Oh, and if anyone wants to drop me a hint by Personal Message after the deadline please do. I plan to avoid this thread for a few days and keep trying!

I actually think in retrospect I should have been able to get this without a nudge. I think I have the perfect small hint/observation that would lead someone in the right direction without giving too much away. I'd be happy to send it to you!