"Two's Company" June 19, 2020

[Commodore]

The sea was wet as wet could be, the sands as dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud because no cloud was in the sky.

[JennyByrd]

On the ship. I got the first step in about ten minutes (I think). Lots of thoughts but nothing getting me to shore.

I was there too. Slept on it a night and the second step was evident in the morning. Good luck!

[lacangah]

Ashore - I found the initialism without the need for last week's polylingualism.

Good luck and good health to you all!

[MaineMarge]

It is a pleasure going through the chatter each week and the cleverness that each and every one of you shows in your comments and the threads that go from week to week.

Thank you very much for being humorous, civil, clever and innovative.

BCD, thank you for this lovely thoughtful post. Ditto to you from us. We love you too.
And thank you always for the untold hours you devote to herding this motley crew of mariners to a safe shore somewhere by midnight every Sunday.

[Joe Ross]

Happy Fathers Day to all muggles who are &/or have fathers! May you spend time with your loved ones in person, via phone or video, or in your thoughts & prayers.

[Frenchy]

Ok... I think I need a [clue for 44A] Mama needs to check one of these off after a frustrating dry streak!

[halseymac]

On shore from North Carolina!! Glad to see the Tarheel state was noted this week!! Meta completed! Have been shut out the last 2 weeks, really enjoyed this one! Very fun!

[flyingMoose]

Submitted - whether ashore or not remains to be seen.

Several have suggested that those of us with limited experience (three months for me) may find this more difficult than the raft of "Grateful for an easy one! A 1 (or 1.5) for me" responses would indicate. I agree, this being an approach I haven't seen before in my short time here. For me, this is a 2.5 or 3 - which *sigh* may be telling me I am on the wrong beach.

At least my confidence is greater than that with my Russian CHOIR answer instead of AUDIO which I knew was almost certainly wrong. (But I had fun with it. )

[whimsy]

My First Post --- which sounds like something Fisher-Price came up with a zillion years ago for cavetoddlers.

I've been attempting the meta, studying the forum, and practicing with the backlogged puzzles for a couple of months and told myself I'd sign up when I finally felt like I got the current week's meta. So the time has come. Cruise Director Bob's and others' comments the other day about the affability of the group clinched the decision. Additionally, it was my brother who put me on to metas this spring, and he and our mom, who would have been 99 years old today (she made it to nearly 96!) used to talk Jeopardy, crosswords, Jumbles, etc. on the phone most evenings in her later years. So I thought that it would be fitting to have this pleasantly memorable date showing up beneath my muggle name.

Will introduce myself further on Come Aboard but in the meantime, I'll say ASHORE for the first time. And as a Rhode Island girl originally, I'll say gimme a Del's lemonade......please.

[femullen]

I declare myself ashore. I have no idea where. Might be False Cape. I'll have coconut milk, if I can just crack this nut.

Step 1, pretty sure. Either that or the most diabolical rabbit hole in metahistory. Step 2, disappointingly straightforward if Step 1 was right, which makes me think it wasn't, which makes me think that this is the third week in a row that...

you can call me Alice.

[Dennis]

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads! Am hoping all your sons and daughters will be able to express their appreciation for all you have done....and likely continue to do!

I will declare myself ashore, but have the usual qualms when the second or third step are not quite as elegant as I would like. I haven't spread my blanket on the sand just yet and will drink standing up.

[Streroto]

I suspect many or most of us consulted mr G this week for the meta which as Matt has indicated is fair game. Will be interesting to see what ads start appearing in our social media!!

[JeanneC]

Submitted - whether ashore or not remains to be seen.

Several have suggested that those of us with limited experience (three months for me) may find this more difficult than the raft of "Grateful for an easy one! A 1 (or 1.5) for me" responses would indicate. I agree, this being an approach I haven't seen before in my short time here. For me, this is a 2.5 or 3 - which *sigh* may be telling me I am on the wrong beach.

At least my confidence is greater than that with my Russian CHOIR answer instead of AUDIO which I knew was almost certainly wrong. (But I had fun with it. )

Hey, was that you next to me in that CHOIR box a few weeks ago? Been doing these for almost a year and joined this group in April. The more of these you do, the more familiar you become with approaches for meta solution. I still miss my share, though. Have fun!

[BarbaraK]

Hmm. I didn’t need to google anything for WSJ, and I’d guess that most people wouldn’t need to either.

Now MGWCC - that’s another story.

[Joe Ross]

Apologies for being reflammable(?) with this GIFfy IF:

[Bob cruise director]

Good Father's Day morning to everyone

We welcome our 695th muggle to the clan - Whimsy

And we have 5 on the ship and 168 on the shore. Very good crowd but short of our record of 209 set last month

lbary53 joined the group with Isaac

And making their way to shore are:
zacmoretz
cbarbee002
Deb
Libbypibby
Burak
Ann
eagle1279
ReB
Frank
beccacollins
Colin
Cynthia J
Commodore
Lacangah
jag
Dennis
Ayaka and Tony
whimsy
and femullen

Have a great Father's Day.

[JRS51]

Well things didn’t click for me when i did the grid on Friday, and after a round of golf yesterday with the temperature 109 as we finished I wasn’t in any condition to solve anything. But I woke up in the middle of the night with realization of step 1, and a good idea what step 2 would be. It seems clear that my ideas work, though I’m a bit concerned after being in last week’s forty group. All in all I believe I’m on the beach, under an umbrella of course.

[Bob cruise director]

Well things didn’t click for me when i did the grid on Friday, and after a round of golf yesterday with the temperature 109 as we finished I wasn’t in any condition to solve anything. But I woke up in the middle of the night with realization of step 1, and a good idea what step 2 would be. It seems clear that my ideas work, though I’m a bit concerned after being in last week’s forty group. All in all I believe I’m on the beach, under an umbrella of course.

Why and where did you play in 109 degree temperature. I once played in 100 and thought I was going to die. It would have to be a free round at Pebble Beach to get me to play in those conditions

[Bird Lives]

I surrender.

I think I am done with doing meta puzzles. I clearly don't have the knack for them.

I might drop in to say "hi" from time to time but I don't think I am going to do these any longer.

Thank you to all who have offered help over the months!

I see that some others are encouraging you to hang in there. My take is different.

Years ago, I tore my meniscus. My orthopedist was pushing me very hard to have the surgery so that I could go back to running, which I did for exercise — 6-7 miles three times a week — never in competition. It wasn’t because of the fee he’d collect. It was because he himself ran marathons, competed in triathlons. He assumed that if only I had the surgery, went to PT to rehab the knee, and then trained back up, I would find as much joy in running as he did.

My primary care physician asked, “Does it hurt?’ No. “So . . . .? So I got a gym membership, switched to the elliptical machine, and haven’t run since.

I really like figuring out the meta. But I really hate not solving it, especially when I come here and read all the announcements from everyone who’s on shore. I guess the pleasure-pain balance of those two outcomes is still on the plus side. But it won’t be that way for everyone.

[JRS51]

Well things didn’t click for me when i did the grid on Friday, and after a round of golf yesterday with the temperature 109 as we finished I wasn’t in any condition to solve anything. But I woke up in the middle of the night with realization of step 1, and a good idea what step 2 would be. It seems clear that my ideas work, though I’m a bit concerned after being in last week’s forty group. All in all I believe I’m on the beach, under an umbrella of course.

Why and where did you play in 109 degree temperature. I once played in 100 and thought I was going to die. It would have to be a free round at Pebble Beach to get me to play in those conditions

This is what we deal with here in Phoenix in the summer. That’s the “where,” the why is harder to define! Sometimes you just have to play! The official temp was 105 yesterday but driving home my car showed 109.