"Build Your Brand" - May 8, 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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boharr
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#461

Post by boharr »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 3:20 pm
Eric Porter wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 1:35 pm
yourpalsal wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 12:57 pm So are we thinking it will be under 800 correct answers this week? I was so psyched that I solved a tough one and thought my odds of a mug may skyrocket this time from 1/1500 to 1/750! :-D

Past experiences would indicate about 780 submissions to the WSJ with about 585 correct. Hopefully we will know soon
Hope that's not a nudge.
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MarkL
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#462

Post by MarkL »

DrTom wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 12:23 pm
TPS wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 12:06 pm Well after having never knowingly seeing Life cereal or an Ad for Life cereal - I’ve seen an ad for Life cereal 3 times this morning on BBC America.
Yeah, life is like that.

Little known fact* there was a covert attempt some years ago to have each individual square of the cereal with a different filling. There was to be caramel, toffee, strawberry cream, mocha, vanilla, etc. and everything was going well until a popular movie spilled the beans. They never forgave Tom Hanks for saying; "Life is like a box of chocolates!"

*This is all of course prevarication, a tale spun solely as a set-up for a bad pun. I should be ashamed, I am not.

Little known fact* there was a covert attempt some years ago to have each individual square of the cereal with a different filling. There was to be caramel, toffee, stra

--- for those scoring at home ;)
'tis... A lovely day for a Guinness!
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TPS
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#463

Post by TPS »

femullen wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 3:32 pm When the name of a hip-hop singer crosses with that of any TV actor or actress, I'm doomed.
I’m of the opinion it’s bad form for a grid constructor to have any one answer that is a proper name be crossed by more than one other answer that is a proper name. Most constructors tend to abide by that but I’ve noticed this is less true of the one who construct meta puzzles - especially PGW.
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Bob cruise director
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#464

Post by Bob cruise director »

TPS wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 3:44 pm
femullen wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 3:32 pm When the name of a hip-hop singer crosses with that of any TV actor or actress, I'm doomed.
I’m of the opinion it’s bad form for a grid constructor to have any one answer that is a proper name be crossed by more than one other answer that is a proper name. Most constructors tend to abide by that but I’ve noticed this is less true of the one who construct meta puzzles - especially PGW.
I agree especially if the two names are fairly obscure (yes we are talking about you Marie Kondo et al). I think that the challenge that the meta puzzles have is that they are simultaneously constructing the grid and also getting in the meta. Sooner or later you run out of options and have to resort to obscure names.
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#465

Post by UTHfan »

DBMiller wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 12:00 am There are five brands found in the clues (Not the grid!), that are confirmed to be one of the meta-related items because they also have an alternate answer in one of the long answers.

22a) Job for a SINGER = Aria/Torn Curtain
68a) Frequent openers and closers in a SUBWAY = Doors/Toaster Ovens
1d) Must-have for a MUSTANG, maybe = Oats/Premium Gasoline
55a) Useful tool when you're hitting a TARGET = Bow/Shopping Cart
6a) It has abundant LIFE = Earth/Cereal Aisle

The first letters of the original answers in order of the longer answers spells ADOBE
um, ok...I chose not to get a nudge and I'm glad. It makes sense, I suppose. Maybe I should've seen that. The mustang clue and maybe the singer clue felt a little weird. But ok, let's see what this week brings.
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TPS
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#466

Post by TPS »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 3:51 pm I think that the challenge that the meta puzzles have is that they are simultaneously constructing the grid and also getting in the meta. Sooner or later you run out of options and have to resort to obscure names.

I agree - so I definitely cut them more slack than someone constructing a non meta puzzle. I mean I get it’s hard either way - I could never do it but I still appreciate it when the constructors follow those sorta unwritten rules.
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DrTom
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#467

Post by DrTom »

MajordomoTom wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 2:58 pm so far no discussion about the other brand in the puzzle?

CHRISTIAN DIOR
Oh heck no, politics and religion are taboo :D
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!
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DrTom
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#468

Post by DrTom »

MarkL wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 3:43 pm
DrTom wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 12:23 pm
TPS wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 12:06 pm Well after having never knowingly seeing Life cereal or an Ad for Life cereal - I’ve seen an ad for Life cereal 3 times this morning on BBC America.
Yeah, life is like that.

Little known fact* there was a covert attempt some years ago to have each individual square of the cereal with a different filling. There was to be caramel, toffee, strawberry cream, mocha, vanilla, etc. and everything was going well until a popular movie spilled the beans. They never forgave Tom Hanks for saying; "Life is like a box of chocolates!"

*This is all of course prevarication, a tale spun solely as a set-up for a bad pun. I should be ashamed, I am not.

Little known fact* there was a covert attempt some years ago to have each individual square of the cereal with a different filling. There was to be caramel, toffee, stra

--- for those scoring at home ;)
What the heck, I had an asterisk, so I did!
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!
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#469

Post by LadyBird »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 3:16 pm
LadyBird wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 3:06 pm

On an unrelated note, I went out birding on Sunday morning as my Mother's Day treat to myself. 55 species of birds, including 15 different warblers. It was worth getting caught in a downpour.
Where are you. The warblers are only very slowly coming into NE. Maybe this storm will blow them in and we will have a great fall out.
I was out in the western suburbs of Chicago at a local forest preserve. Someone on the Illinois Birding Facebook page said that, according to the radar (bird flocks actually show up on weather radar although I haven't been able to figure out how to read it). Anyway, the radar showed that there should be good birding in northern IL on Sunday--and he was definitely right. Hope they come flying by you soon!
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EdStrong
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#470

Post by EdStrong »

I got the meta somehow, but am still not sure what BSIX is - “left hand row”?? Bingo? Anyone else find this one peculiar?
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#471

Post by PHOFER »

EdStrong wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 4:48 pm I got the meta somehow, but am still not sure what BSIX is - “left hand row”?? Bingo? Anyone else find this one peculiar?
Yes, I assumed that’s bingo.
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#472

Post by Geoduck »

Nycerjohnnie wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 10:36 am The comments on WSJ are pretty funny. People are...angry??
Wow. I just looked.

I may not always enjoy a puzzle, but I generally don't get angry at them or the people who make them. I am grateful that there are constructors out there who come up with this stuff -- and who challenge me regularly.

I would be less happy if I were never challenged like this puzzle challenged me, but not unhappy enough to rant about it online.
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#473

Post by flyingMoose »

EdStrong wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 4:48 pm I got the meta somehow, but am still not sure what BSIX is - “left hand row”?? Bingo? Anyone else find this one peculiar?
Left-end of a row, I get. Left hand row? There is no such thing (unless you turn your head sideways). I wondered if the clue was "corrected" to "left hand row" after it left MG.

Perhaps others will enlighten us.
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GerryWhite
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#474

Post by GerryWhite »

EdStrong wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 4:48 pm I got the meta somehow, but am still not sure what BSIX is - “left hand row”?? Bingo? Anyone else find this one peculiar?

BSIX is B-6, which is a number/letter combination found in Bingo
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#475

Post by Geoduck »

MajordomoTom wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 2:58 pm so far no discussion about the other brand in the puzzle?

CHRISTIAN DIOR
Yes, this distracted me for a while. As did the clue for 14A, which began with "BUILDing..."
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GerryWhite
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#476

Post by GerryWhite »

Hmm, I always seem to miss the ones that require an examination of the clues, rather than just the grid.

I make a mental note each time it happens, but it doesn't do any good...
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#477

Post by tigerfly222 »

flyingMoose wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 5:01 pm
EdStrong wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 4:48 pm I got the meta somehow, but am still not sure what BSIX is - “left hand row”?? Bingo? Anyone else find this one peculiar?
Left-end of a row, I get. Left hand row? There is no such thing (unless you turn your head sideways). I wondered if the clue was "corrected" to "left hand row" after it left MG.

Perhaps others will enlighten us.
I also picked up on this peculiar one, and I agree about the non-sensical "left hand row" bit. I even matched it up with OP ED COLUMN, thinking words from the clues needed to be swapped with words from the grid (since "left hand COLUMN" would have made much more sense).
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#478

Post by UTHfan »

The DIOR answer was kind of a red herring, eh?

I also found the PING in shopping cart kind of distracting.

now that I think about, yeah...those 5 clues were pretty weirdly written, I should've put more thought into that instead of plumbing the 5 meta-answers for some sort of hidden message, as is gaffney's want.
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#479

Post by flyingMoose »

tigerfly222 wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 5:20 pm
flyingMoose wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 5:01 pm
EdStrong wrote: Mon May 11, 2020 4:48 pm I got the meta somehow, but am still not sure what BSIX is - “left hand row”?? Bingo? Anyone else find this one peculiar?
Left-end of a row, I get. Left hand row? There is no such thing (unless you turn your head sideways). I wondered if the clue was "corrected" to "left hand row" after it left MG.

Perhaps others will enlighten us.
I also picked up on this peculiar one, and I agree about the non-sensical "left hand row" bit. I even matched it up with OP ED COLUMN, thinking words from the clues needed to be swapped with words from the grid (since "left hand COLUMN" would have made much more sense).
I tried to tie those two together, too.
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SusieG
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#480

Post by SusieG »

Even though I DID read the clues several times, I still missed the double meanings. This one was just over my head.
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