#593 - "Union Meeting" - October 11, 2019

An excellent puzzle written by one of the innovators of the meta crossword format. It comes out every Friday at noon and increases in difficulty throughout the month. Available for modest subscription (worth every cent) here: www.xwordcontest.com
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hcbirker
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Location: Studio City, CA

#21

Post by hcbirker »

Well, I submitted my answer. We'll see. (Heidi)

(Edit) Nope. I was wrong. At least I can stop staring at it!
Last edited by hcbirker on Sun Oct 13, 2019 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Heidi
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Streroto
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#22

Post by Streroto »

Just joined MGWCC. Have been doing WSJ for several years and I usually get it quickly. This puzzle is killing me though!! If this is a week 2 then I am never going to get a week 3 or 4!
Laura M
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Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:49 am

#23

Post by Laura M »

I think I can finally beam up! (Pending leaderboard update, but I'm pretty sure.)

Edit: Got it!
Last edited by Laura M on Sun Oct 13, 2019 11:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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hcbirker
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#24

Post by hcbirker »

Streroto wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 5:55 pm Just joined MGWCC. Have been doing WSJ for several years and I usually get it quickly. This puzzle is killing me though!! If this is a week 2 then I am never going to get a week 3 or 4!
This is not a typical week 2. Hang in there! (Heidi)
Heidi
Laura M
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#25

Post by Laura M »

Streroto wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2019 5:55 pm Just joined MGWCC. Have been doing WSJ for several years and I usually get it quickly. This puzzle is killing me though!! If this is a week 2 then I am never going to get a week 3 or 4!
Welcome, and take heart, this is not a normal week 2! I think that the numbers are going to show it was more of a week 3. Which means that Matt might give us an easier one next week to make up for it...

Having done WSJCC for about 2.5 years and MGWCC for almost a year, I'd say that the WSJCC metas are usually around a week 1.5-2 difficulty on the MGWCC scale. MGWCC is definitely a step up.
MaineMarge
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#26

Post by MaineMarge »

Thanks for the encouragement, old timers. I started the MGWCC this August, and have not gotten a week 3 or 4 ( or 5!) yet. This one has me befuddled.
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Streroto
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#27

Post by Streroto »

Thanks all will keep at it!!
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BarbaraK
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#28

Post by BarbaraK »

With my usual impeccable timing, I submitted an answer right after Matt updated the leaderboard. So it probably won't be official for a while, but I'm pretty confident I'm beaming up.

I'm curious about the high number of wrong answers this week. Are they all the same? Is there some reasonable approach that gives another answer? Is this going to be another SFORNO week when Matt ends up accepting almost anything?

Update: Matt didn't make me wait long in the transporter beam. I'm officially on board.
Orsys
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#29

Post by Orsys »

Finally, felt like week 4 while doing it but in the end I think it was a week 2.
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joequavis
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#30

Post by joequavis »

I'm pretty sure I've found the wrong answer others have submitted. I've stared at this a long while and even filled out the grid a second time. Not sure I'll end up submitting anything...
Leslie
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#31

Post by Leslie »

Beam me up, I guess! I wasn’t at all sure about my answer but I was tired of trying to get to 100% certitude so I went ahead and submitted. I’ll be interested to see if I missed some confirmation.
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FrankieHeck
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#32

Post by FrankieHeck »

I felt pretty much 100% confident. And I'm usually not confident at all. Should be some interesting conversation soon!
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Jeremy Smith
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#33

Post by Jeremy Smith »

I got it, but I felt nowhere near 100% that I was correct. In fact, I was rather surprised when I saw my name on the leaderboard.
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FrankieHeck
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#34

Post by FrankieHeck »

I felt confident because the chances of there being 49 states represented on the outer border of the puzzle, with one weird asymmetric black square, seemed impossibly small. Plus Delaware was considered a border state during the civil war. I didn't like the title, though. It had me looking for connecting or abutting state codes for the longest time.
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BarbaraK
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#35

Post by BarbaraK »

Once I figured out that the 49 border squares could be state initials, it wasn't too hard to find the missing D for Delaware. But the only way to be sure that was the correct mechanism was to match up the other 49. That's tedious, not fun. Fortunately I was home and could do it without too much trouble on my computer. But if I'd been away and had to do it all on paper, I'm not sure I'd have bothered - just submitted and taken my chances. (OK, I'm too OCD for that, I'd have done it by hand but grumbled the whole time.)

All around ;) not my favorite MGWCC puzzle.
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Jeremy Smith
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#36

Post by Jeremy Smith »

I attempted using two-letter postal abbreviations, but all that accomplished was making a mess out of the grid. Realizing that Delaware was considered a border state during the War Between the States, and that it was 1 (first) out of 50, I ultimately submitted Delaware.
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FrankieHeck
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#37

Post by FrankieHeck »

BarbaraK wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:28 pm Once I figured out that the 49 border squares could be state initials, it wasn't too hard to find the missing D for Delaware. But the only way to be sure that was the correct mechanism was to match up the other 49. That's tedious, not fun. Fortunately I was home and could do it without too much trouble on my computer. But if I'd been away and had to do it all on paper, I'm not sure I'd have bothered - just submitted and taken my chances. (OK, I'm too OCD for that, I'd have done it by hand but grumbled the whole time.)

All around ;) not my favorite MGWCC puzzle.
Well, I was at home, but I found the matching up part pretty exciting, because I knew it was going to end with success. Although I accidentally missed Delaware the first time around, then miscounted the Ws, and almost excitedly submitted West Virginia as the answer (also a border state.) Thank goodness I double-checked!
damefox
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#38

Post by damefox »

Somehow, at some point in my life, although I can't remember when or why, I learned all of the states in alphabetical order. That cut down on the googling enormously this week. It was just a happy coincidence that it occurred to me to write out all of the letters along the border. Then I noticed there were 49, plus that pesky asymmetric square in the corner, hmm... Then again by a happy coincidence it occurred to be to write the letters in alphabetical order, which is when knowing the states in alphabetical order really came in handy. Four A's, no B's, three C's... wait a minute... and then it all fell into place.
Laura M
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#39

Post by Laura M »

Jeremy Smith wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:32 pm I attempted using two-letter postal abbreviations, but all that accomplished was making a mess out of the grid. Realizing that Delaware was considered a border state during the War Between the States, and that it was 1 (first) out of 50, I ultimately submitted Delaware.
That's so funny that there was another way to get Delaware! I went down the Civil War border states rabbit hole briefly (mostly because of Union in the title) but didn't make that connection to Delaware when I eventually got it.

Amusingly, when I finished the grid and started thinking about the meta, the first thing I said was "Those 6 Ms at the top have to mean something... Are there 6 states that start with M?" And I looked it up, and there were 8, so I let that one go (sigh). It came back to me when I eventually noticed the grid asymmetry and counted the "border" squares (containing 2 more Ms).
Leslie
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#40

Post by Leslie »

Jeremy Smith wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:59 am I got it, but I felt nowhere near 100% that I was correct. In fact, I was rather surprised when I saw my name on the leaderboard.
Me too. I spent a lot of time looking at the many state postal codes in the grid (I think 27 states were represented there, many "meeting" in the same word). Then I focused on the "meeting" of the "Union" and looked at the Civil War Border states (DE, MD, WV, KY, MO). Only DE appeared in the grid -- four times! Plus Delaware was the first state of 50. I didn't have a lot of time this weekend and decided just to go ahead and submit without a lot of confidence.
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