#634 - "Foursquare"

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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#21

Post by hcbirker »

Beam me up! That was a fun one.
Heidi
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ChrisKochmanski
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#22

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Beam me up!

I started on it at about 2 pm, under the umbrella on the back deck ... finished the grid, then nodded off to a nap ... woke to stare unfruitfully for a while, then again drifted off to my snooze ... then woke to almost immediately see what was going on here.

Ah, semi-retirement. Not a bad way to spend a Friday afternoon!
damefox
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#23

Post by damefox »

Dplass wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 3:59 pm
damefox wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 3:38 pm Got it a couple hours ago but forgot to post. It sort of seems like this one should've been harder than last week's, but I found it much easier.
No; Matt wrote that since last week didn't have the expected % correct, he would make this week's easier.
I don't mean should've been harder because it's week 4. I also read Matt's write-up last week, so I know he said this would be easier. I just meant looking back at the mechanism, I feel like this one should've taken me longer to see than last week's. I can see why Matt thought last week's would play as a week 3.
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oldjudge
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#24

Post by oldjudge »

Meg wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:41 pm Not a week 3 imho. Matt, despite his incredible constructing skills, has trouble sometimes with difficulty rating.
Matt said that this week’s puzzle was the “calm before the storm”. Hopefully, that storm isn’t a cat 5.
Laura M
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#25

Post by Laura M »

Beam me up! I see why people are saying it's on the easy side, but it took my brain a while to come up with the second step. Very cool when I got there though.
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Joe Ross
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#26

Post by Joe Ross »

Laura M wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 4:45 pm Beam me up! I see why people are saying it's on the easy side, but it took my brain a while to come up with the second step. Very cool when I got there though.
Brain's been skipping like 33 RPM vinyl since 12:20 PM ET. I'd welcome an earworm, at this point. Time for the 2nd 2-hour break.

Congratulations to solvers & best luck to the rest of us!
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
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BarbaraK
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#27

Post by BarbaraK »

Joe Ross wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 4:49 pm
Brain's been skipping like 33 RPM vinyl since 12:20 PM ET. I'd welcome an earworm, at this point. Time for the 2nd 2-hour break.
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world


You asked. You're welcome.
:)
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Joe Ross
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#28

Post by Joe Ross »

BarbaraK wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 5:23 pm
You asked. You're welcome.
:)
That actually helps! Thank you, Barbara!

I am so close & cannot make that obvious connection. Thought I'd have a personal-record solving time... I'm taking the night off.
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
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MajordomoTom
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#29

Post by MajordomoTom »

Very interesting construction, waiting for the "AHA" moment to hit whilst I play with the foursquares of the title.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
Djquimby
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#30

Post by Djquimby »

Got it. I actually think this would have been a perfectly placed Week 3 without one (relatively) obvious (to me) component (period)
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KayW
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#31

Post by KayW »

Beam me up! Very clever - and I found this one much easier than WSJCC - with which I can now resume staring contest.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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Bird Lives
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#32

Post by Bird Lives »

I guess Matt figured that last week's was really a Week 4, so this one is a Week 3. There was a path that I very quickly sensed was a dead end, but I spend a lot of time on it anyway. Then I realized the general strategy -- a familiar one in these puzzles -- and kicked myself for not going there sooner.
Jay
Dplass
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#33

Post by Dplass »

oldjudge wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 4:23 pm
Meg wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:41 pm Not a week 3 imho. Matt, despite his incredible constructing skills, has trouble sometimes with difficulty rating.
Matt said that this week’s puzzle was the “calm before the storm”. Hopefully, that storm isn’t a cat 5.
Yes, next week will be the week 5 it was always scheduled to be...
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Abide
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#34

Post by Abide »

Laura M wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 4:45 pm it took my brain a while to come up with second step
Same here. Was grinding my teeth for a hour...
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bhamren
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#35

Post by bhamren »

I wasn’t really looking forward to a week 4 so I was glad he said it was more week 3ish, but turns out to be a week 2.
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Jeremy Smith
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#36

Post by Jeremy Smith »

Beam me up! Still lost at sea on WSJCC.
stmv
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#37

Post by stmv »

This was not so easy for me - I desperately wanted it to work in one particular (wrong) way, so it took me a while to let that go and be able to find to correct way, but now I'm on the leaderboard, yay. Onwards to the WSJ......
Big Mac
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#38

Post by Big Mac »

Beam me up - had to step away from it earlier today and 1am yields the answer quickly. One of those weeks.
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Joe Ross
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#39

Post by Joe Ross »

Beam me up, please.

Will be drinking fruit glop straight from the Ninja mixer, every morning, in preparation for next Thursday's Mattegory 5 CC.
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
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Jacksull
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#40

Post by Jacksull »

Beam me up.

I’m on the leaderboard, but I am not completely satisfied with how I got there.
Jack Sullivan
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