"Stress Test" - July 3, 2020

[MajordomoTom]

It does explain both Windows ME and also Windows CE (compact edition), aka, "WINCE".

[Bob cruise director]

I guess that I am officially a meta geek (along with my bird nerd title). I just created a spreadsheet to track the date, puzzle (title, clue, solution), creator, if I solved it, and my bird reference.

And we love it

[whimsy]

I guess that I am officially a meta geek (along with my bird nerd title). I just created a spreadsheet to track the date, puzzle (title, clue, solution), creator, if I solved it, and my bird reference.

Certainly give credit to the bird! That could be the good karma key!

[Jeremy Smith]

OMG! I’m onshore. I’ve had the nonsensical part since Thursday, but the answer finally jumped off the page at me. What a wacky, totally freaky meta! Diabolical, Matt. Diabolical.

[CPJohnson]

I have an answer of sorts, but it BArely makes sense--I couLD venture to say that it makes no sense. Which lEAds me to think that I should just keep paddling around for a while (which should feel good in this hot and humid weather) and explore other possible anGLEs.

Never mind. My dear husband just towed me to shore! He'll have a pina colada. Maybe he'll share with me.
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On another note, o wise and quirky muggles. Any suggestions for something fun go have delivered to our son and his wife this weekend. They were supposed to come up this weekend to visit us and her folks, but they are now laying low since she was exposed to a patient who was then found to have Covid. It's been one thing after another: delayed honeymoon to Europe canceled,; grad school graduation canceled; job that was supposed to start last month now delayed ( perhaps forever), and now this. Thanks!

I love your birdiegrams, too! This week’s answer was especially appropriate under the circumstances that occurred shortly after I finished filling in the grid on Friday morning. I was sitting on my screened porch and heard a loud splash on the lake. When I looked up there were two of those magnificent birds heading away from me, one with a fish in his/her talons. (They were both juveniles so it was hard to tell their gender.) I watched in awe as the second bird flew behind the first, making every move in unison with the leading bird. It was as if their flight had been choreographed. So beautiful!

Now you are really not going to believe my next sentence. As I was typing the paragraph above, another one of these great birds splashed down to catch a fish in our little cove. Unfortunately, this attempt was not successful.

Finally, I have a suggestion for your son and DIL, or for future sending since I know I am posting long after your original request for ideas. I just have to give a shout-out to a great online bakery here in NC. Check out Carolina Cookie Company: www.carolinacookie.com. I have sent several boxes to friends and relatives over the years to celebrate all sorts of occasions. Yes, I would have preferred to do my own baking, but when you are not nearby, this is a lovely alternative.

That reminds me of another great cookie purveyor....Cheryl’s Cookies. We’ve bought from them several times; every item is individually wrapped.

[DBMiller]

It does explain both Windows ME and also Windows CE (compact edition), aka, "WINCE".

Then they mixed together CE, ME, and NT and came up with Windows CEMENT, aka Vista.

[beccacollins]

Hmmm.... still on the ship. Think I'm not making it to shore again this week. Alas, the ship is not so bad!

[C=64]

Off topic, but today two of my family members were playing Animal Crossing when someone from "vainilla" island wanted to visit our island. They were commenting on the spelling and I blurted out "That could be the postal abbreviations for Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana!" They gave me a look and I muttered "Well, if you were doing these crosswords you'd want to notice these things."

[ccmac]

Still at sea struggling with the meta

[boharr]

Hmmm.... still on the ship. Think I'm not making it to shore again this week. Alas, the ship is not so bad!

Keep at it. You’ll get there.

[tori.l]

Ashore. Fun one today!

[yungchap]

anyone mind giving me a nudge for this one? I believe I know what the mechanism ought to be, but can't figure out how to apply it. Thank you!!

[Jacksull]

I guess that I am officially a meta geek (along with my bird nerd title). I just created a spreadsheet to track the date, puzzle (title, clue, solution), creator, if I solved it, and my bird reference.

I see you adding columns to the spreadsheet to describe the conventions used in each puzzle (e.g., importance of title, type of theme entries, steps required, clue and clue number significance, cross references). The list goes on, geekiness knows no bounds.

[Flamel616]

On the ship; very lost at sea. I haven't even found the evidence of a rabbit hole.

[tim1217]

Good Sunday all. I hope you had a great fourth and are enjoying the day after.

We have a crowded ship with 26 partaking of the various activities and 103 on the shore.

New to the ship since yesterday are
Miki
Jeremy
LittleGood
Ed S
Diane
Burak
Rexthree


And on the shore are
JoePicket
edot
Tom Wi
MajorDomoTom
eagle1279
STL-D
Dough C
billkatz
ricky
phofer
Nibil
and Geezer

Good luck with the meta and mug

Hey Bob, add me to the ship list. I saw you had me on shore yesterday...I could only wish!

[tim1217]

That bottle was a gift from a friend in Versailles.

I assume you mean Versailles, Kentucky. Funny story since I went to school for a year in Versailles, France. I was in Lexington (KY) a few years back and asked the local sitting next to me at the bar what bourbon distillery was best to visit since I only had time for one. He said, Woodford Reserve. I said; "Oh that's the one in Versailles" (spoken the French way). He said; "You're not in France boy, you in Kentucky, we pronounce it VER SALES"!

[BrianDavidson]

Still on the ship. Not feeling it this week.

[cbarbee002]

Argghhh!!! someone please nudge me!

[norrin2]

On shore (with a nudge). Wow, what a cool puzzle!

[SpicyMcFatburger]

Not seeing it this week, this is only my third WSJ contest crossword, so a 33% success rate doesn't feel too bad. Oh well, staying on the ship for now!