"Color Code" - July 24, 2020

[oldjudge]

Finally ashore. I like the concept.

I am crushed. I thought, until last Tuesday, that we were honored with a judge in our midst.

Sorry to disappoint. You will have to get your traffic tickets fixed elsewhere.

[oldjudge]

"Local man who flipped eighteen heads in a row reports that it was easy."

It is if you have a two-headed coin

[oldjudge]

This could be a wacky season. Some unexpected team or guy could get hot - or some rookie you never heard of. Will records count if they are made this year??

With all this talk of small sample size, this season would be a great opportunity for records based on rates, such as batting average or ERA. DiMaggio's streak is probably safe for another year.

I remember one year when George Brett hit over 400 for the first few months of the season and everyone was talking about him breaking Ted Williams's record

That guy cheated anyway. BTW, Ted Williams did not have any record; he was just the last player to hit over .400. I think the post-1900 record is something like .424.

[oldjudge]

I'm clearly going insane (by the pop definition) as my same method keeps yielding nothing intelligible. I wish my brain had a ctl-alt-del...


...and I seem to remember <insert troubled Philly kid here> hitting over .400 into mid-June in the mid-80s. Can't think of his name. Google time

Edit: man was I off...Lenny Dykstra, 1990, born in CA and definitely played for the Mets before the Phillies and self-destructing.

George Brett was hitting .39950 in late September 1980. He dropped off to hit .390 for the season

And Tony Gwynn hit .396 in 1994 for the Padres. He might have hit .400 except by then his knees were shot.

With the prevalence of night games and the high percentage of innings thrown by relief pitchers it is unlikely that anyone will hit .400 again. Twenty win seasons may soon become a thing of the past too.

[Bob cruise director]

I'm clearly going insane (by the pop definition) as my same method keeps yielding nothing intelligible. I wish my brain had a ctl-alt-del...


...and I seem to remember <insert troubled Philly kid here> hitting over .400 into mid-June in the mid-80s. Can't think of his name. Google time

Edit: man was I off...Lenny Dykstra, 1990, born in CA and definitely played for the Mets before the Phillies and self-destructing.

George Brett was hitting .39950 in late September 1980. He dropped off to hit .390 for the season

And Tony Gwynn hit .396 in 1994 for the Padres. He might have hit .400 except by then his knees were shot.

With the prevalence of night games and the high percentage of innings thrown by relief pitchers it is unlikely that anyone will hit .400 again. Twenty win seasons may soon become a thing of the past too.

So true. Add onto that the introduction of scouting, real time videos, training, and a few other things.

[Bob cruise director]

"Local man who flipped eighteen heads in a row reports that it was easy."

It is if you have a two-headed coin

Or a lot of time.

Odds may be just slightly better than winning the mug

[yourpalsal]

Still at the bar, but I think I’ll have the last word...
https://www.liquor.com/recipes/the-last-word/

[Dplass]

Feeling blue in the bar
Green with envy of those who said it’s easy
Red with rage that it won’t pop for me
Yellow with fear that I’ll sweat it all weekend
Orange you glad you’re on the beach?

You get the MMVP (meta MVP) for this.

[steveb]

From someone lucky enough to be a first-pager this week, I can assure you this is NOT an easy one. As I alluded to earlier, it's only something in my upbringing that made me see this relatively quickly.

I was a first-pager this week, but never got last week's, so you never know. I agree that there is a particular reason that some people (myself included) may find this week's puzzle easier than other people might. Any more than that might be a spoiler.

[Eric Porter]

While I was on the wrong island earlier, I'm definitely on the beach with all of you now.

The only help I got was that my first answer was wrong, without a hint of where to go. After the contest is over, I'll share my wrong guess. You may find it amusing.

I realized what to do while trying to fall asleep last night, making this the second week in a row where I solved the meta without having it in front of me.

Did you jump out of bed and solve it? I remember doing that on the ADOBE puzzle ( the one that involved Mustangs and premium gasoline and Subway and toaster ovens)!

I did jump out of bed and solve it. I knew what to do, but I didn't have everything I needed memorized.

[whimsy]

On the shore and raising a special toast to my Dad! Thanks, Jack!
Incredible construction, Mike -- wow!

So, Wendy, tell us more about your father........
(JK -- not really looking for any hints.)

[Al Sisti]

Okay, now Utica in baseball. One of this year's HOF inductees, Larry Walker, started his professional career with the Utica Blue Sox. Also spending time on the Blue Sox/Jays were Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzales, David Wells, Jesse Barfield, Ken Brett and Mike Cameron. But before the second wave of Utica Blue Sox, there was one in the late 1940s... they went on to the majors, known as the "Whiz Kids": Richie Ashburn, Stan Lopata and Granny Hamner, leading the Phillies to the National League Championship. Also from Utica were Dave Cash, Mark Lemke (lives about 2 miles from me), Andy Van Slyke, Tom Carroll, Ted Lepcio, Hal White. Also from Utica was my cousin, Bobey Salerno, who was an American League ump, until he and Carl Valentine got booted for trying to unionize umpires. Uh, they're now unionized.

[boharr]

Okay, now Utica in baseball. One of this year's HOF inductees, Larry Walker, started his professional career with the Utica Blue Sox. Also spending time on the Blue Sox/Jays were Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzales, David Wells, Jesse Barfield, Ken Brett and Mike Cameron. But before the second wave of Utica Blue Sox, there was one in the late 1940s... they went on to the majors, known as the "Whiz Kids": Richie Ashburn, Stan Lopata and Granny Hamner, leading the Phillies to the National League Championship. Also from Utica were Dave Cash, Mark Lemke (lives about 2 miles from me), Andy Van Slyke, Tom Carroll, Ted Lepcio, Hal White. Also from Utica was my cousin, Bobey Salerno, who was an American League ump, until he and Carl Valentine got booted for trying to unionize umpires. Uh, they're now unionized.

Must be the quality of the beer.

[whimsy]

Cool puzzle! I am safely on shore, bringing my current WSJ streak to 1.

When I'd play checkers with my kid brother in our childhood, he would often end up saying excitedly: "I won one in a row!"
(Kind of linguistically fun to say!)

[hcbirker]

Still at the bar, but I think I’ll have the last word...
https://www.liquor.com/recipes/the-last-word/

That looks tasty!

[M and M]

We are done and enjoyed it mightily. It's tricky but it's fair - and there's always that great feeling when it starts to fall into place. Not as many rabbits infesting our lives as we usually see on a Muggle weekend.

[whimsy]

A colorful scene here. Pink foxgloves, white feverfew, a late peony, with delphiniums and a favorite purple clematis, Etoile Violette. Many years ago a British gardener came up with this helpful way of pronouncing the name of this famous old climber:
“A twelve year let”.

I read that a good way to approximate saying Eyjafjallajokull, the name of the volcano in Iceland, is to say quickly and slurringly(?): "Hey! I forgot the yogurt!"

[jenirvin]

I feel like this one should be leaping out at me. Quick grid, but stuck at the bar with Isaac. arrrrrgh

[MarkL]

According to Mr. G there are 12478 five-letter words. So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-lagunga.

Big hitter, the Lama — long.

I'd keep playing. I don't think the heavy stuff is gonna come down for quite awhile. (this could go on all weekend!)

[MarkL]

"Local man who flipped eighteen heads in a row reports that it was easy."

Florida man says, "I am sooo far out to sea!" Late start on this and very likely to lead the Occupy Bar Stool effort this weekend.

Also, reeling a bit over new Mass. travel restrictions which have potential to complicate and add a hefty fine to a quick trip in a couple of weeks.