"Play With Matches" November 10, 2023

[Laura M]

I got step 1, and (eventually) tried to see what words I could make using one letter from each of the step 1 words in order. When STRIKE jumped out it seemed like such a perfect answer that I submitted it. Never did get step 2...

Edited to add: I meant to say, I was already impressed with step 1, but step 2 is truly stunning. Kudos to Patrick Berry!

[BarbaraK]

I won the mug!! In my 7 decades I have collected any number of mugs as travel souvenirs and gifts from grandkids (I'm the world's best grandmother many times over say my mugs) but this one is truly special. I feel like I should give an oscar-like acceptance speech acknowledging Cindy, Adam, Barbara K., Meg and others who have helped me with so many metas over the years.

Woo hoo!! Congratulations!

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is STRIKE. For each of the six longest Across answers, if you remove the letters that appear twice in it, you get a new word (SLUM, OATH, URN, WIN, WALK, HOME). Taking these six words as a set and removing the letters that appear twice, you get the contest answer.

As always when Patrick Berry drops by, this was crazily ingenious. And challenging -- we had just 557 entries, with about 72% correct. A big turnout for TENNIS (45), plus IGNITE (12), HAMLET (9), FLAMES (6), AFLAME (4), TINDER (3) and a few others.

Congrats to this week's winner (as noted above!): Toby Golick of New York, NY!

[Momo]

First time I ever saw a 6 letter word being considered long. I didn’t stand a chance. Next week!!

[Richard]

I was way off. Started to find grid words that were paired - bourbon and proof, queue and cue, etc. Was getting nowhere; Saw the play references and guessed hamlet.

[The XWord Rabbit]

Strangely enough, explaining the method on this one is actually easier than finding it. Remove all the letters that appear twice in the six anchor entries (and yes, that includes BOURBON and WIDENED.) The remaining letters spell new words: SLUM, OATH, URN, WIN, WALK and HOME. Play that game once more by removing letters that appear twice in those six words, taken as a whole, and there’s your answer: STRIKE.

There’s no denying that this puzzle was a meta masterpiece from Mr. Berry and your Rabbit surmises that one of the reasons for the low number of entries, solvers and rabbit hole stories was the simple fact that so few of us believed he actually did it.

Happily, the cavalry came to the rescue, rabbit hole-wise, in the form of Bird Lives who provided an absolutely glorious story worthy of this week’s nomination.

I went down the rabbit hole with the sign “Theater this way.”

1. The title of the puzzle is “PLAY with Matches.”
2. The very first Down entry is PROOF, which is a play.
3. The next-to-last Across entry is RENT, also a play (OK, technically a musical).
4. The fourth line down has two entries: OPERAS (plays, but entirely sung) and LULU. I’m sure we all recognized “Lulu” as the opera by Alban Berg. Maybe some of us joined in the sing-along
5. HELL (9D) could be clued in a hell of a lot of ways, but the actual clue references the title of a play by Sartre, “No Exit.” Lest we think this a mere coincidence, its relevance is reinforced by NAUSEA (47A), which is the title of a novel by Sartre.
6. AVON (68A) is clued not as a product line for ding-dongs but with yet another “play” reference, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

7. Clearly the answer was going to be a six-letter play title (“No Exit” is six letters), perhaps one by the Bard of AVON. Hmmm, anyone for “Hamlet”?

Thank you, Bird Lives. You rescued the Rabbit from a life of quiet desperation, saved everyone from watching another Carmen Miranda video and provided a topic to end with.

Just mentioning Sartre gave your Rabbit pause, thinking about existentialism (Wow! There's something he never dreamed he'd say in a weekly puzzle review.) It brought to mind one of his favorite mock news pieces from “The Onion.” (Not Sartre, but Kafka) Enjoy! And see you next week.

[Kas]

IMG_1382.JPG
One of my silly superstitions is that the universe sends me messages through license plates. This car parked next to me yesterday. I think this might mean that I should sit this one out.

All I'm saying is...I'd have to change my license place. Oy.

[DCBilly]

Again I say: I just love how Mike explains a pretty complex solve in that teeny-tiny box on Monday.

[muggleunity]

After spending too much time looking at all the double letters, I finally found the rabbit hole that kept me entertained. I’m still confident the answer has something to do with pyromaniacs on Broadway.

[ricky]

Didn't reach out for any nudges on this one. I got SLUM OATH etc but then couldn't figure out what to do. Kept looking for similar patterns in the clues and finally just gave up.