"Line of Work" - April 17, 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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Joe Ross
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#281

Post by Joe Ross »

20200417 WSJCC Line of Work.gif
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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MajordomoTom
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#282

Post by MajordomoTom »

this one was fun, thanks for posting the solution ... I agree 100%.

spent a fair amoutn (ok, about an hour) looking at the various double letters in the puzzle, but was getting gibberish.

then looked at 1A and the "BETWEEN JOBS" and thought ... ok, there has to be something there. And then it fell out.
Last edited by MajordomoTom on Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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#283

Post by SewYoung »

It was so hard not to mention how this week's path to the answer was to last week's. Especially the central across answer being the vital clue.
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MajordomoTom
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#284

Post by MajordomoTom »

SewYoung wrote: โ†‘Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:06 am It was so hard not to mention how this week's path to the answer was to last week's. Especially the central across answer being the vital clue.
if you don't have obvious/clear theme questions & answers, it's one way to help the solver to the end.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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#285

Post by Big Mac »

BeST meta EVEr?
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#286

Post by LaceyK »

Looking at the double letters was an appealing rabbit hole for me, as you do find PEEL twice!
I kept thinking in my search that this puzzle was All About EVE. No actually it was All About STEVE!
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#287

Post by Jeff S »

Onshore, reporting in late. I ended up submitting the correct answer less than half an hour before the deadline, but only because it was sitting in plain view.

All weekend I had been looking at APPLE and thinking that APP was a line of work for that company, but instead of figuring out the correct mechanism, I kept looking in the grid for other companies and their associated "work" (with no success, obviously). Giving it one last try, I noticed APP DEV in a vertical "line", and following the same "line" I found ELO and PER - which seemed like too much of a coincidence, so I submitted the answer, all without having decoded the BETWEEN JOBS clue. It wasn't until I looked at Crossword Fiends after the close of the contest that I saw how literally "clueless" I had been.

Tl; dr: sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart!
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#288

Post by tigerfly222 »

CPJohnson wrote: โ†‘Sun Apr 19, 2020 8:36 pm Solved, with a nudge from the daughter in Spain. Haven't had time to read the blog yet....looking forward to doing it tomorrow.
I think you got this one all on your own :)
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tigerfly222
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#289

Post by tigerfly222 »

Jeff S wrote: โ†‘Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:08 am Onshore, reporting in late. I ended up submitting the correct answer less than half an hour before the deadline, but only because it was sitting in plain view.

All weekend I had been looking at APPLE and thinking that APP was a line of work for that company, but instead of figuring out the correct mechanism, I kept looking in the grid for other companies and their associated "work" (with no success, obviously). Giving it one last try, I noticed APP DEV in a vertical "line", and following the same "line" I found ELO and PER - which seemed like too much of a coincidence, so I submitted the answer, all without having decoded the BETWEEN JOBS clue. It wasn't until I looked at Crossword Fiends after the close of the contest that I saw how literally "clueless" I had been.

Tl; dr: sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart!
Nearly the same for me. I picked up the hint about Steve Jobs / Between Jobs and just figured the answer would have something to do with Apple or tech in general. During a rabbit hole in which I wondered if the meta lay with short one-word answers that sounded phonetically like letters (VEE, ELL, ARE...), I had made a list of all 3-letter grid words. And I remained convinced that the answer would most likely end in -ER. Saw PER, happened to notice DEV-ELO- and thought "hey that makes a word", tacked on APP for good measure so it was more "techy" sounding. Never saw the actual gimmick. :oops:

tl;dr: Sometimes a blind squirrel still finds a nut. :lol:
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#290

Post by MaineMarge »

stuck, so took a nAP
post enlightenment aha
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CallMeShane
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#291

Post by CallMeShane »

I thought this meta was harder than many of my fellow muggles did.

If unfamiliar with the name Steve Jobs, and perhaps his association with Apple, this would have been a KAS3 or, more likely, KAS5 for me.

Having spent the bulk of my career in the computer industry, I was familiar with the history of Steve and The Woz. If all I had to go on was my initial suspicion of the over abundance of "VE" and "EVE", it would have been a tough row to hoe. How tough? Kudzu-smothered garden tough.
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#292

Post by Bird Lives »

The general lesson I learned here is that when a clue is convoluted, roundabout, or oblique when A simple clue would suffice, pay attention.
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#293

Post by Jeff S »

tigerfly222 wrote: โ†‘Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:59 am During a rabbit hole in which I wondered if the meta lay with short one-word answers that sounded phonetically like letters (VEE, ELL, ARE...)
I went down that exact same hole! :D
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#294

Post by Colin »

Did not see the STEVES in the grid. No surprise, I usually look straight at the thing I canโ€™t find without seeing it! Also, spent too much time researching the execs at Apple between Jobs leaving and his return. But the true crux of my downfall was the many hours I spent as a PRUNER tackling a row of out of control shrubs this weekend. Subliminally, this must have focused me in the wrong rabbit hole.
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Bob cruise director
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#295

Post by Bob cruise director »

Interesting to note that last week and this week we had multi word answers where you could leave out words and get an answer which fit the title and contest requirement e.g. Grilled Cheese or Developer. I wonder if this will become a trend
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tigerfly222
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#296

Post by tigerfly222 »

Bob cruise director wrote: โ†‘Mon Apr 20, 2020 7:49 am Interesting to note that last week and this week we had multi word answers where you could leave out words and get an answer which fit the title and contest requirement e.g. Grilled Cheese or Developer. I wonder if this will become a trend
That's the fate that befell me last weekend. I congratulated myself once I found HAM AND CHEESE and went no further. Alas.
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#297

Post by Commodore »

GREK Meta.
Besides APPLE, some computer-y red herrings to investigate before finding answer: BORG, APP, CRUNCH, DEMO, RAM, DEV, CRTS, STEP, NEST, RAY

Presently enjoying an old John Updike novel, Villages. Protaganist works in IT industry in the 50s & 60s. Many references to old IT terminology. Terminal-ology?

GROK JOBS.
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Tom Shea
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#298

Post by Tom Shea »

Saw many replicated letters (ver, vee, app, ell, run, uso) and never got out of that rabbit hole.

Should have instantly seen that Apple and Jobs in the grid were significant, but didn't.

I blame it on having an android phone.
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Janet P
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#299

Post by Janet P »

Commodore wrote: โ†‘Mon Apr 20, 2020 8:12 am GREK Meta.
Besides APPLE, some computer-y red herrings to investigate before finding answer: BORG, APP, CRUNCH, DEMO, RAM, DEV, CRTS, STEP, NEST, RAY

Presently enjoying an old John Updike novel, Villages. Protaganist works in IT industry in the 50s & 60s. Many references to old IT terminology. Terminal-ology?

GROK JOBS.
Same here for the puzzle. Now I need to look for the John Updike book! Thanks!
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Deb F
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#300

Post by Deb F »

Hooray. Wasn't pageanted after all. Stuck for a long time, as were many others, on ELL, VEE, APP, PER, USO, etc. and was working toward some kind of apparel job but couldn't get there. Then APP and DEV jumped out and, with the ELO and PER, I had what I figured was the solution. I must admit--never saw the STEVE's. Oh well. Good luck all.

Had a nice anniversary. No projects but looking forward to our new refrigerator delivery. ๐ŸŽ‰
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