"In The Hopper" - March 6, 2020

A place to discuss the weekly Wall Street Journal Crossword Puzzle Contest, starting every Thursday around 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please do not post any answers or hints before the contest deadline which is midnight Sunday Eastern time.
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juliet
Posts: 119
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:11 pm

#141

Post by juliet »

Count me on the beach!
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Lucas S
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2019 12:51 am
Location: Denver, CO

#142

Post by Lucas S »

Made it to shore, enjoying a Ketel One on the rocks in honor of Arnold Palmer, and enjoying this 70-degree weather out west. Going to be doing a lot of grilling and chilling this weekend!
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OGuyDave
Posts: 169
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 9:03 am
Location: Naples

#143

Post by OGuyDave »

Done and done. For reasons I won't go into now, it's been interesting reading all the comments. Kudos to you who have (on purpose, or inadvertently) made me smile as I read what you wrote.

TFTMXWD
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maprasad
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Sep 07, 2019 6:13 pm

#144

Post by maprasad »

Ashore/submitted.
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CallMeShane
Posts: 150
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:16 pm
Location: Victor, NY

#145

Post by CallMeShane »

After banging my head against the desk for too long, something popped out (not my wee brain) and the rest soon followed.
Done
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RDaleHall
Posts: 229
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:52 pm

#146

Post by RDaleHall »

On shore. Same as others. Frustrated Friday Night turns into Solved Saturday Morning. Morning Corona (less the virus)!
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boharr
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Posts: 3183
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
Location: Westchester, NY

#147

Post by boharr »

So I keep doing what everyone says to do. Fill in the (tough) grid, don't see the meta. Put it aside for awhile, look and still no divine revelation. Read all the hints about solving metas and get confused. Have a drink (or two) and still nothing. Sleep on it and ... nothing. Now the only thing percolating is the coffee, and I wonder if I going to get expelled from this group.
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Bob cruise director
Cruise Director
Posts: 4512
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:38 pm
Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA

#148

Post by Bob cruise director »

boharr wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 9:04 am So I keep doing what everyone says to do. Fill in the (tough) grid, don't see the meta. Put it aside for awhile, look and still no divine revelation. Read all the hints about solving metas and get confused. Have a drink (or two) and still nothing. Sleep on it and ... nothing. Now the only thing percolating is the coffee, and I wonder if I going to get expelled from this group.
Encourage - definitely

Expel - never

Hang in there and keep plugging. It is solvable
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
Dplass
Posts: 1739
Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am

#149

Post by Dplass »

boharr wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 9:04 am So I keep doing what everyone says to do. Fill in the (tough) grid, don't see the meta. Put it aside for awhile, look and still no divine revelation. Read all the hints about solving metas and get confused. Have a drink (or two) and still nothing. Sleep on it and ... nothing. Now the only thing percolating is the coffee, and I wonder if I going to get expelled from this group.
Keep trying. I feel that way very frequently (regarding metas).
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ImOnToo
Posts: 442
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 5:28 pm
Location: Texas

#150

Post by ImOnToo »

On shore.
Konnie
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Bob cruise director
Cruise Director
Posts: 4512
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:38 pm
Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA

#151

Post by Bob cruise director »

Good Saturday morning muggles.

Again, a warm welcome to our contest creator, Joanne Sullivan.

And we have several new muggles from both the WSJ comments and here. A muggle welcome to jackindahl, alec, Lyle and edot.

We have 5 keeping Isaac company for now and a crowd of 122 on the shore. Tom S, jackindahl, Fishmagik, boharr and Diane are working to make their way to shore.

The shore party is (and I hope I have not missed anyone either in reading the comments or typing)
Leslie
Scott M
LesY
Frankie
damefox
Tmart
Meg
joequavis
Brian M
Al
Wendy
mark L
Jazzvibist
docison
steveb
joe
David K
geeteebee
Mike H
Jeremy
Julie O
Billkatz
streroto
ky-mike
higgysue
Anita
Moi
DBMiller
alan H
oldjudge
michaelm
hector
Laura M
Jim and Anita
Heidi
Eric P
Trey and Marion
Jeanrosz
spotter
Cindy
the Thurman8er
tim1217
MajorDomoTom
Bird Lives
Inca
Richard
Drysdale
martin
Tony S
elan
Tina
scooby
Beth A
Glyn
Cynthia J
Frank
Chris
Lacangah
Guy L
Jeffrey G
LittleGood
SusieG
Commodore
SewYOung
WBYonder
Saxerbrau
Michael S
Obie J
Barbara K
dplass
Ed S
Jacksull
burd
Jeff S
Rad26
Sean
Joe R
Tom Wi
JimJim
yourpalsal
Erik
anjhinz
Kay
ALS
Rita and George
Janet P
Homer
Deb F
Jennifer
Howardl
NuYear68
Debbie
Fred F
garry j
PaterLee
sharkicicles
Devil Bunny
NLobb
Janet
Natalie
Kris
Nalugirl
Jackie68
John W
alec
Mary CC
AnnP
Joedbee
Lyle
Juliet
Lucas
maprasad
MatthewB
OGuyDave
Ann
Kas
Scott L
edot
RDaleHall
CallMeShane
ImOnToo
and Maine Marge

Good luck to all. Going for the record of 150.
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
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dmorack
Posts: 83
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:20 pm
Location: Herndon, VA

#152

Post by dmorack »

On shore after taking a break for a few weeks. I, also, really liked this one.
-Doug Morack
burak
Posts: 246
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 8:15 pm

#153

Post by burak »

Some meta puzzles are great because the construction is super impressive. Some are great because they're simpler but cuter.

This one fell in the latter category, and I really enjoyed it.
burak
Posts: 246
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 8:15 pm

#154

Post by burak »

boharr wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 9:04 am So I keep doing what everyone says to do. Fill in the (tough) grid, don't see the meta. Put it aside for awhile, look and still no divine revelation. Read all the hints about solving metas and get confused. Have a drink (or two) and still nothing. Sleep on it and ... nothing. Now the only thing percolating is the coffee, and I wonder if I going to get expelled from this group.
I started doing them regularly a couple of years ago. I had similar feelings in the beginning. After getting constant practice, becoming familiar with constructors' styles and basically trying out all the metas that come my way, I now feel like I can tackle pretty much all of them.

Most important thing is to never stop enjoying them though. That might also take a bit of time, but now I look forward to the weekends to tackle all the metas that I printed out during the week. (Oh and yeah, definitely print them out because that changed everything for me.)
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tonyrobots
Posts: 149
Joined: Sun Dec 22, 2019 1:48 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon
Contact:

#155

Post by tonyrobots »

Hmm, I think I have it but not exactly sure of the mechanism. Great to see a new constructor, especially a woman!
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boharr
Moderator
Posts: 3183
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
Location: Westchester, NY

#156

Post by boharr »

On shore! I got a kind push over the side and was able to swim to the beach. I will not, however, submit my answer.
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boharr
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Posts: 3183
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
Location: Westchester, NY

#157

Post by boharr »

burak wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 12:48 pm
boharr wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 9:04 am So I keep doing what everyone says to do. Fill in the (tough) grid, don't see the meta. Put it aside for awhile, look and still no divine revelation. Read all the hints about solving metas and get confused. Have a drink (or two) and still nothing. Sleep on it and ... nothing. Now the only thing percolating is the coffee, and I wonder if I going to get expelled from this group.
I started doing them regularly a couple of years ago. I had similar feelings in the beginning. After getting constant practice, becoming familiar with constructors' styles and basically trying out all the metas that come my way, I now feel like I can tackle pretty much all of them.

Most important thing is to never stop enjoying them though. That might also take a bit of time, but now I look forward to the weekends to tackle all the metas that I printed out during the week. (Oh and yeah, definitely print them out because that changed everything for me.)
Thank you for the encouragement. I just swam ashore.
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DrTom
Posts: 3765
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
Location: Jacksonville, FL

#158

Post by DrTom »

Ashore, tough grid but a nice Meta. I even got my friend who usually thinks these are missives from hell (the Meta not the CW) involved and he saw some of the AHAs before I did so I may have him hooked (obviously this was one of those gateway metas).

No if someone can tell me if the MGWCC is difficult or not this week because I am new to them and solved a few of the free ones. I signed up, got the Friday "In the Mix" one and am floundering badly. Don't know if it is hard or if because I finally pulled the trigger and joined I am having "premature exasperation".
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
jag
Posts: 43
Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2019 8:02 am

#159

Post by jag »

Ashore! I enjoyed the construction of this one - everything just fits together perfectly.
Tony S
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:14 pm

#160

Post by Tony S »

boharr wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 9:04 am So I keep doing what everyone says to do. Fill in the (tough) grid, don't see the meta. Put it aside for awhile, look and still no divine revelation. Read all the hints about solving metas and get confused. Have a drink (or two) and still nothing. Sleep on it and ... nothing. Now the only thing percolating is the coffee, and I wonder if I going to get expelled from this group.
Not to be discouraging but I either get these metas on Thursday evening or not at all. Putting it aside and coming back works on rare occasions but mostly it doesn't. Good luck --- the more you attempt these the better you get.
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