"Missing Links" - July 10, 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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MaineMarge
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#401

Post by MaineMarge »

My mind first went to anthropology, but right away in the NW corner I saw PARapet and Tee and iceNINE. By tea time I had figured out I was off course down that hole.
Next up I found two perfect alphabet runs by substituting a letter: LENO(m) and ABODE(c).
TaPERS,caPERS(q). No go there, though I did bump into our Muggle Abide snooping down that same hole.
I had noted the multiple occurrences of APE and MAN, but was not finding a way to connect them. Had I HIGHLIGHTED each of them, I might have joined that elusive group of first page solvers.
A friend helped me see the link. That same friend failed to remind me to submit, so I won’t be getting this week’s mug. Nor will any of you. 🙋‍♀️
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Bird Lives
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#402

Post by Bird Lives »

I too went down the ONE NINE TEN rabbit hole and also spent some time with entries that shared all but two letters (PARAPET PAPEETE, EMANATE ENAMELS). But the distractor that cost me the most time was the wording of the clues for PAPEETE and ROSSSEA. Both specified that these were “between” two other places— i.e., that they were links between them.

When I finally got the answer, my first association was not to the song but to something else sort of kinky – the Henry Miller Rosy Crucifixion trilogy.
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Rosy.jpg
(These (not mine, btw) are the original Olympia Press editions from when publication in the US was still too risky.)
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pddigi
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#403

Post by pddigi »

MajordomoTom wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:05 am On my later review of the grid, I suddenly noted - "there are a LOT of APEs in this grid".

I then went ... how many? 5 - ok, what else? Then saw the "MAN" and went - 5 of them, ok what connects?

And it just fell into place.

EDIT: one of my rabbit holes was looking at numbers in the answers in the grid - ICENINE and others with "TEN" in them ... was a very interesting distraction. Looking at the squares with those numbers in them, trying to spell something ... went nowhere, so I abandoned it. But I could see spending a chunk of time trying to make that work.
Oh, that was you next door to me? Forgive my rudeness - I was stuck on whether “emanate” (eman8) made the cut, as well as “One-A-Day” or “Redone” (redONE). And was “Troi” three??
martimeryard
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#404

Post by martimeryard »

It bothered me that Fallon's Predecessor was Leno. Conan was Fallon's direct predecessor (the missing link), but I guess being a predecessor doesn't have to be in a direct order.
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Colin
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#405

Post by Colin »

pookie wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:48 am My answer was VOWEL
5 pairs of words switching one letter
PIER
TIER
OMAN
OMAR
CAPERS
TAPERS
READ
REAL
RTE
ATE
The switched letters are PTNRCTDLRA
C(A)T, L(E)D A(I)R. P(O)T, R(U)N
The missing links are AEIOU to form new words.
Good to find like minds! I went down exactly the same path with the same outcome... and then I found the sixth pair (PREP/PREY) which scuppered it.
One world. One planet. One future.
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pddigi
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#406

Post by pddigi »

martimeryard wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 7:42 am It bothered me that Fallon's Predecessor was Leno. Conan was Fallon's direct predecessor (the missing link), but I guess being a predecessor doesn't have to be in a direct order.
I think the order was Leno-O’Brien-Leno-Fallon. I seem to recall Leno coming out of retirement after they pulled the plug on Conan O’Brien and before elevating Jimmy Fallon to the post.
Tom Wilson
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#407

Post by Tom Wilson »

The meta was repurposed for Patrick Berry's "Whirlpool" puzzle (6A) in Sunday's NYT. In true evolutionary fashion, it seems, everything old is new again. Have a great week, all!
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DrTom
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#408

Post by DrTom »

Well here was one other "Wow, what a coincidence" for the WSJCC. For those of you who get the AARP magazine (and don't pretend I know there have to be some other people than me!) one of this month's puzzles was called Tarzan and it was:
  • APE
    ___
    ___
    ___
    ___
    MAN
Take Ape to Man using regular English words.

Isn't it odd how many times one sees a "link" somewhere else that refers to the puzzle(s)
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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TPS
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#409

Post by TPS »

Amy wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 12:20 am I went down this same path in the beginning 😂
iceNINE
redONE
enTENtes
ONEaday
lessonTEN
I tried to connect these with 27A. Nos.
Fortunately I was too was able to find a new path.
This is where I got stuck as well. Saw he 5 “MAN” but couldn’t make anything more with it so then moved on to trying to make something work with the numbers.

I was sorta doomed from the beginning (Even more than usual) because Cat’s Cradle is one of my favorite books and I became convinced that there was no way some one included that answer in the puzzle without it having something to do with the meta. I also thought the answer might have something to do with the ability to add hyphens to the words to link them.

Either just further illustration of how bad I am at these and that I never really get any better.
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Wendy Walker
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#410

Post by Wendy Walker »

I was distracted for a while by SEA-TAC in the bottom right and thought the strategy might be airport acronyms.
And TACOMAN reminded me of the time when my brother and I, with our usual overinflated sense of agency, wrote to Frito-Lay suggesting they use the Village People song "Macho Man" to advertise Nacho Cheese Doritos ("Nacho, nacho man! I wanna be a nacho man"). They said thanks but no thanks and sent us some coupons.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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FrankieHeck
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#411

Post by FrankieHeck »

Wendy Walker wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:17 am I was distracted for a while by SEA-TAC in the bottom right and thought the strategy might be airport acronyms.
And TACOMAN reminded me of the time when my brother and I, with our usual overinflated sense of agency, wrote to Frito-Lay suggesting they use the Village People song "Macho Man" to advertise Nacho Cheese Doritos ("Nacho, nacho man! I wanna be a nacho man"). They said thanks but no thanks and sent us some coupons.
Frito-Lay definitely missed a great opportunity there!! :D
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femullen
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#412

Post by femullen »

Completely lost at sea this week. Was never anywhere close to the solution. Found a bunch of rabbit holes. Heck, I found a whole warren.
For nudges, feel free to PM me. I won't have a clue how to help you, but you might shove me ashore.
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DrTom
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#413

Post by DrTom »

Wendy Walker wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:17 am I was distracted for a while by SEA-TAC in the bottom right and thought the strategy might be airport acronyms.
And TACOMAN reminded me of the time when my brother and I, with our usual overinflated sense of agency, wrote to Frito-Lay suggesting they use the Village People song "Macho Man" to advertise Nacho Cheese Doritos ("Nacho, nacho man! I wanna be a nacho man"). They said thanks but no thanks and sent us some coupons.
Darn, I like Fritos, wonder if I could send them a jingle done to the tune of Born Free, "Born Frito, Frito as cheese flows..."?

Was thinking of you this week-end because there was a piece on TV about a man in Uniontown, PA who has been harassed by the Police many times but ran to the site of a bad police car crash to pull an officer out of a burning vehicle that would definitely have taken his life. It was a very nice story (well as nice as one with a car wreck in it can be) and was very much appreciated during all of the negative reporting that abounds.

I always do a double take when I see Uniontown because I am from near Unionville, PA - MUCH smaller.
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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TPS
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#414

Post by TPS »

Wendy Walker wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:17 am use the Village People song "Macho Man" to advertise Nacho Cheese Doritos ("Nacho, nacho man! I wanna be a nacho man")
But This did actually make its way into the modern zeitgeist it’s own way even if it wasn’t Doritos:

https://youtu.be/wOsWfzzvlkU

https://youtu.be/JiEk1zew0UE
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KayW
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#415

Post by KayW »

Commodore wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:53 pm Have loved spreadsheets since ‘81. Visicalc on original PC (5.25floppy). Anybody remember 20/20? Used to sell that spreadsheet to mainframe, minicomputer and microcomputer users of all ilk. IBM, SperryRand, DEC, DG, Wang, Prime, you name it. Lugged a Compaq suitcase with Lotus 1-2-3 home after work to get through B-school at night. Pretty good macro writer. But I digress.
Pineapple on pizza is an abomination.
Pr1me computers! I got my first introduction to computers on them - working part-time through college as a computer operator on a system that looked like this. (Sadly, the Doctor and Romana were not available to help)

I was so grateful for that job because I was able to switch from my manual typewriter to using RUNOFF to enter/print papers for school. Not to mention it got me started on my eventual career path in computing.
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Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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TPS
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#416

Post by TPS »

femullen wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:34 am Heck, I found a whole warren.
If only you had found a shrewdness :lol: :lol: you’d have been halfway home!
Last edited by TPS on Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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KayW
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#417

Post by KayW »

Bird Lives wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 10:19 pm
Geoduck wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:47 pm
802puzzler wrote: Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:05 pm

You're killing me! I too found the first step right away, but my second step is NOT bringing to mind a music video! LOL
I'll post it if I remember (and am up) at midnight -- unless someone else does so first!
My association to this was literary rather than musical, but still kinda kinky,
:lol: I see what you did there
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
MatthewB
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#418

Post by MatthewB »

I was lost among the rabbit holes until my sister - in - law became obsessed with Louis Leakey and Lucy, the missing link. Once I saw there were 5 apes, I knew that was the correct path... With little more than an hour to spare.
martimeryard
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#419

Post by martimeryard »

pddigi wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 7:48 am
martimeryard wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2020 7:42 am It bothered me that Fallon's Predecessor was Leno. Conan was Fallon's direct predecessor (the missing link), but I guess being a predecessor doesn't have to be in a direct order.
I think the order was Leno-O’Brien-Leno-Fallon. I seem to recall Leno coming out of retirement after they pulled the plug on Conan O’Brien and before elevating Jimmy Fallon to the post.
Ah. I remember that now.
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KayW
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#420

Post by KayW »

I got diverted into a rabbit hole trying to "link" several of the 7-letter entries that were anagrams of each other with a two-letter difference:

paRApet - papeEtE
actEDon - tacoMAn
aCTedon - oneadAY
GeRmane - emanATe - enameLS

All of course a side-effect of working so many APE-MANs into close proximity in the grid. What an amazing construction!
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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