"The Play's The Thing" - June 7, 2019
- Bob cruise director
- Cruise Director
- Posts: 4561
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:38 pm
- Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA
A final report as the ship's bar has closed and there are 113 muggles on the shore. Since noon, the following have made their way to the tiki bar
Kris
phofer
Douglas
Arnold
Susan G
Good luck to all winning the mug. I suspect that the odds are pretty long.
Kris
phofer
Douglas
Arnold
Susan G
Good luck to all winning the mug. I suspect that the odds are pretty long.
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
Cruise Director
-
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:55 pm
Spent way too much time overthinking this one. Finally on shore. I’ll take a gatorade. Need it after all the unnecessary extra work.
- Commodore
- Posts: 367
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:12 pm
Too much Falstaff Beer (but held back posting lest spoilage be done) led to:
Misery acquaints a man with strange mugfellows.
A clue! A clue! My kingdom for a clue!
Friends, Muggles, Countrymen, lend me your beers.
Et tu, Gaffney?
If meta be the food of love, play on.
Once more unto the beach, dear friends, once more.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle… This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this Tiki Bar.
Misery acquaints a man with strange mugfellows.
A clue! A clue! My kingdom for a clue!
Friends, Muggles, Countrymen, lend me your beers.
Et tu, Gaffney?
If meta be the food of love, play on.
Once more unto the beach, dear friends, once more.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle… This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this Tiki Bar.
- pddigi
- Posts: 154
- Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:57 pm
He sure did! He drove up to Philadelphia to attend an ISI conference, a group with which he has been active since college days. He had enough down time to respond to my question as to whether he had had a chance to look at the meta with "Yeah, I crushed it". https://isi.org/
-
- Posts: 292
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:46 pm
This was a popular and successful one. We had 1756 entries, about 91% correct. Given 37 possible solutions to choose from, solvers ranged all over the canon, including the four plays mentioned in the theme entries but also HAMLET (15), ROMEO AND JULIET (11), MACBETH (7) and many others. (Were these just random guesses?)
Congrats to this week's winner, Gideon Fostick of Bergenfield, NJ!
Congrats to this week's winner, Gideon Fostick of Bergenfield, NJ!
- Richard
- Posts: 351
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:06 pm
I got this one pretty early, forgot to post but I had it. So this must have been on the easier side for me to get it.
I wonder if it would have been better without the play names in the clues.
I am no Shakespeare buff but I saw Iago and Regan very quickly and I think I would have gotten it without the help of the plays, but may have taken longer.
Richard
I wonder if it would have been better without the play names in the clues.
I am no Shakespeare buff but I saw Iago and Regan very quickly and I think I would have gotten it without the help of the plays, but may have taken longer.
Richard
- Bird Lives
- Posts: 2724
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:43 pm
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
I submitted THE LITTLE MERMAID. I didn't think WSJ would quibble about minor details like authorship.MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:16 pm This was a popular and successful one. We had 1756 entries, about 91% correct. Given 37 possible solutions to choose from, solvers ranged all over the canon, including the four plays mentioned in the theme entries but also HAMLET (15), ROMEO AND JULIET (11), MACBETH (7) and many others. (Were these just random guesses?)
Jay
- Janet
- Posts: 390
- Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2019 5:22 pm
The Disney version did sing about buying a drink at the Tiki bar on the beach, didn't she? "What would I pay. to spend a day, warm on that sand?"Bird Lives wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 4:05 pmI submitted THE LITTLE MERMAID. I didn't think WSJ would quibble about minor details like authorship.MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:16 pm This was a popular and successful one. We had 1756 entries, about 91% correct. Given 37 possible solutions to choose from, solvers ranged all over the canon, including the four plays mentioned in the theme entries but also HAMLET (15), ROMEO AND JULIET (11), MACBETH (7) and many others. (Were these just random guesses?)
- Eric Porter
- Posts: 485
- Joined: Sun May 05, 2019 2:19 am
- Location: Nashville, TN
I always find it amusing to hear that people guess the plays that are specifically mentioned in the puzzle. Those were the only 4 that were guaranteed to NOT be the answer, but of course not everyone knows that rule.MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:16 pm This was a popular and successful one. We had 1756 entries, about 91% correct. Given 37 possible solutions to choose from, solvers ranged all over the canon, including the four plays mentioned in the theme entries but also HAMLET (15), ROMEO AND JULIET (11), MACBETH (7) and many others. (Were these just random guesses?)
I don't know how anyone could gotten those other plays without guessing. There's no way to know how many people got The Tempest by randomly guessing it.
- Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024
PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
- billkatz
- Posts: 321
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 6:46 pm
I remember when the contest started almost 4 years ago, and we would get a few hundred correct entries - I saw the possibility of getting to at least half as many correct weekly answers for me as correct answers in a week - thereby bringing my cumulative odds of winning a mug up to 50% or so. However the number of correct answers is now growing so quickly that my odds are going in the wrong direction.MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 3:16 pm This was a popular and successful one. We had 1756 entries, about 91% correct.
I'll just enjoy using my MGWCC monthly pen to fill out my grids.
-
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon May 13, 2019 2:57 pm
- BarbaraK
- Posts: 2632
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
Each of the theme answers had hidden in it the name of a character from the Shakespeare play from the clue:
chANGELOcations
driedoREGANo
dIAGOnalparking
mincEDGARlic
pulLAFEWstrings
The initial letters of those names are A R I E L, and Ariel is character in The Tempest, so that's the answer.
- BarbaraK
- Posts: 2632
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
I just happen (who me, a nerd? to have a spreadsheet with the results of the 163 contests since April 29, 2016.Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Jun 11, 2019 8:21 am Interesting take on odds of getting mugged, but the play's the thing:
https://on.wsj.com/2ZePzvB
The average number of correct answers is 747. That has been going up - 607 over the earliest 12 months, 913 over the latest.
If someone sent in the correct answer in all of those contests, their odds of winning a mug were 28.5%
For someone who got the easiest 65%, the odds were 11.7%
- FrankieHeck
- Posts: 839
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 8:57 pm
- Location: West Virginia
I think I love you
- Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
Having learned a lesson, I submitted The Tempest.
Did anyone consider / go down this rabbit hole?:
Did anyone consider / go down this rabbit hole?:
- The 3rd letter of each character in the play answers was "G", with the exception of "F" in "LAFEW" of All’s Well That Ends Well.
- "F" is one letter before "G" alphabetically, so an answer to consider might have been A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Shakespeare play alphabetically before All’s Well That Ends Well.
- Also consider alternatively Troilus and Cressida, the play chronologically before All’s Well That Ends Well.
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024
PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
- Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
You go, Barbara! The power of the spreadsheet versus paper!BarbaraK wrote: ↑Wed Jun 12, 2019 7:47 am I just happen (who me, a nerd? to have a spreadsheet with the results of the 163 contests since April 29, 2016.
The average number of correct answers is 747. That has been going up - 607 over the earliest 12 months, 913 over the latest.
If someone sent in the correct answer in all of those contests, their odds of winning a mug were 28.5%
For someone who got the easiest 65%, the odds were 11.7%
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024
PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
- BrianMac
- Site Admin
- Posts: 787
- Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 11:45 pm
- Location: Connecticut
Just bumping this to maintain the thread order before the new puzzle comes out.
- gamera13
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 9:31 pm
Thank you! It's not my first. I've made it to shore before but I think I'm getting the hang of these better. Although it also sounds like they've been easy lately.Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Fri Jun 07, 2019 10:38 amCongratuilations. Is this the first time you have been on shore?