#594 - "A Tale of Ten Cities" - October 18, 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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BrianMac
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#594 - "A Tale of Ten Cities" - October 18, 2019

#1

Post by BrianMac »

Week 3 of 4,

This week's contest answer is an ancient city.

Enjoy and good luck!
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TMart
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#2

Post by TMart »

Got it. I think Matt went easier on us this week.
Laura M
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#3

Post by Laura M »

Definitely easier! I almost feel better about not getting WSJCC yet (but not quite).
Leslie
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#4

Post by Leslie »

Definitely more of a week 2 this week! Thanks, Matt!
LesY
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#5

Post by LesY »

Agree it played more like a 2.5-2.75....although I can definitely see ways to get stuck on this one (and I tried a couple).

Fun puzzle!
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ChrisKochmanski
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#6

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Beam me up!

Fun. Not too hard, but not a no-brainer, either.
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ky-mike
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#7

Post by ky-mike »

Am I overthinking this? Is the ancient city commonly known? Maybe I am just missing step two.
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BarbaraK
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#8

Post by BarbaraK »

Hmm. That seemed too easy. And there really aren't that many names on the leaderboard yet. So I'm glad to see the others posting here also thought it wasn't too hard. Maybe everyone else is just busy with other stuff today.

I'm requesting beam-up. Hope to see my name on the next update. (I'm pretty confident, but you never really know till it's in black and white.)
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sharkicicles
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#9

Post by sharkicicles »

I’m (I think) two steps in, and currently stuck.
Eckless
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#10

Post by Eckless »

Interesting that some people are calling this "easy". I didn't think so. It's a "week 2.75" in my book.
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Jeremy Smith
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#11

Post by Jeremy Smith »

sharkicicles wrote: Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:36 pm I’m (I think) two steps in, and currently stuck.
Me too!
docison
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#12

Post by docison »

I thought this one was really clever. And it took me a while to figure it out. Matt is on a roll of late, I think!
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Jeremy Smith
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#13

Post by Jeremy Smith »

I think I figured out the final step. Too many coincidences to be red herrings. Will find out with the next leaderboard update.
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sharkicicles
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#14

Post by sharkicicles »

I always worry if I don’t get the solution on a Friday night.

Saturday: wife makes me run errands
Sunday (fall): DA BEARS
Monday: Catching up with work, no energy left afterwards

If I don’t get it in my downtime Saturday afternoon, I’m usually just screwed.
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Jeremy Smith
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#15

Post by Jeremy Smith »

Got it! Fun one, but I would say it was a week 3 difficulty meta.
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Meg
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#16

Post by Meg »

Part of the fun (not) of the process is struggling all Friday afternoon and coming here to discover that many of my solving buddies found the meta easy. Is everything in life relative? At any rate, I finally persuaded my brain to try something new and Voila!
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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ChrisKochmanski
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#17

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

sharkicicles wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 12:41 am I always worry if I don’t get the solution on a Friday night.

Saturday: wife makes me run errands
Sunday (fall): DA BEARS
Monday: Catching up with work, no energy left afterwards

If I don’t get it in my downtime Saturday afternoon, I’m usually just screwed.
Semi-retirement has been wonderful for puzzling. I recommend it!
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Streroto
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#18

Post by Streroto »

Enjoyable grid and meta. Was happy to get it relatively easily after flailing on week 2. Thanks again for the newbie encouragement folks!
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ky-mike
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#19

Post by ky-mike »

Spent way too much time on this. Answer submitted, hopefully correct.
Laura M
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#20

Post by Laura M »

Meg wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 8:39 am Part of the fun (not) of the process is struggling all Friday afternoon and coming here to discover that many of my solving buddies found the meta easy. Is everything in life relative? At any rate, I finally persuaded my brain to try something new and Voila!
Easy is very much in the eye of the beholder, I think sometimes you're on the same wavelength as the constructor but sometimes really, really not. I struggled a lot with WSJCC this week and was bewildered at all of the people "on shore" very quickly. I think that (almost) everyone has this experience from time to time, keeps us humble. And it feels extra good to solve a meta that your brain tried to tell you was impossible!
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