"Let's Move Beyond It" - August 7, 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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spotter
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#321

Post by spotter »

Worst. Meta. Ever.
stmv
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#322

Post by stmv »

Wow, I followed so many rabbits down so many holes, and I never came remotely close to making the Monopoly connection (other than maybe noticing the "dice" and PIPS connection). Usually when I don't get these I feel regret afterwards that one of my rabbits came close, but in this case none of them were even in the right ballpark (to mix metaphors).
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Gman
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#323

Post by Gman »

Never in a million years would I have arrived at this one. The title had nothing to do with the answer, and its reference to the mechanism was clearly lost on me as I can't remember the last time I played Monopoly. KAS6? Would it be so bad to have a simple "drink more Ovaltine" meta every now and then?
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Abide
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#324

Post by Abide »

Huh? "Let's Move Beyond It" not clear enough? In the words of another Joe: "C'mon Man!"

In addition to the streets/blocks of Atlantic City, the entire board of properties represents one large block.

Winner should get this t-shirt https://www.funnyshirts.net/monopoly-i- ... gJZJPD_BwE
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woozy
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#325

Post by woozy »

So did anyone figure that it had something to do with world records almost made.

The clue for Luxury Liner referred to the Queen Mary 2 which is *not* the largest passenger cruise ship (That is Symphony of the Seas).

The clue for Lima, referred (bizarrely) to the University of San Marcos (*very* obscure) which is the oldest university in the Americas but not the world (Barcelona) and it is the *second* highest ranked university in Lima (Pontifica)

And Sundance, the largest film festival in the United States (but not as big as Cannes)

And a clue that stuck out like a sour thumb was a swimmer in the Orinoca River... how oddly specific. The Orinoca is the *second* largest river in South America. That and the San Marcos reference were just *weird* so I figured to "Go Beyond it" was to consider the ones that *did* make th records.

But I couldn't get six (Mark Twain buried in El Mira .... Is that a reference that Harriet Beecher Stowe outsold him in the 19th century? Is the rapper Lil John outstanding in a field?)

So was that *intentional* misdirection?

(I actually got the right answer with two hours to spare... After figuring if it *was* about world records I would have gotten *something* by now so it must be something else.... And Luxury Tax and Reading Railroad made me scoff but ... why not? )
Latest meta: Never forget... and never mind (A WSJ retaliation)
Geezer Weezer
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#326

Post by Geezer Weezer »

Much hand wringing and consternation. I'm not that bright yet found the solution relatively quickly. However, I would not have gotten "Russian Dolls" or "Wires" if my life depended on it. I haven't played Monopoly in decades, but it just came to me. I guess that just shows that some things fit some minds and not others. My wife calls me a blockhead, anyway...
I am a man of few...
jimbo1
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#327

Post by jimbo1 »

The title is Let’s Move Beyond IT
IT is defined by the six across answers containing LUXURY, PARK, READING, SHORT, FREE, and ELECTRIC
Go to those ITS on a Monopoly Board and MOVE BEYOND IT
Either the ITS or the Spaces beyond add up to SIX CITY BLOCKS
Nicely Done.
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DrTom
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#328

Post by DrTom »

I saw all the words and was trying to make something of them. I cannot tell you how many chimes I looked at PARKCITY and READINGLIST and unconsciously thought PARK PLACE and READING RAILROAD, I even tried to relate this to New York City (PARK AVENUE, READING TERMINAL - and then remembered that was in Philadelphia). Unfortunately I never related it to Monopoly. Oh, and I can tell you that Googling all of the words does no good, I tried it several times to no avail.Matter of fact they often return results that refer to NYC for some reason.

I only managed to see what the answer was when a fellow muggle gave me a head slap and told me to look at the names and what game they all tied back to. It was then and only then that Monopoly (which I have not played in 50+ years) jumped to the forefront. Not my favorite puzzle, but then my favorites are ones I solve. New streak starts Thursday!

Congrats to all who solved.
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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DaveKennison
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#329

Post by DaveKennison »

No idea on this one. I played Monopoly once in my life ... in 1963! ... so what I know about the game mostly comes from crossword puzzles ... and the names chosen for this puzzle were not ones that I’ve come across much. Perhaps the word “Move” in the title should have clued me in that a game was being referenced, but ... didn’t. C’est la vie. There’s always next week! ... 😜
flyingMoose
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#330

Post by flyingMoose »

Did anyone solve this without having a Monopoly board in front of them? I recognized very early on the Monopoly connection in the Theme Entries, but after that, I assumed I should find the meta in the grid, not on an adjunct element (the board). Perhaps the title was intended to Clue me in.

And perhaps some will point out similar examples in the not-so-distant past. I haven't been here that long.
Jeff S
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#331

Post by Jeff S »

I got this surprisingly easily after LUXURY, SHORT, and READING summoned up long-dormant memories of childhood Monopoly games, and then just tried the "one step beyond" methodology as a first stab. It unveiled a word, so I submitted that. (I haven't played the game in over 30 years and don't currently own a set, but luckily it's trivially easy to find a photo of a Monopoly board using Google.)

What bothered me, and the reason I was feeling uneasy until I saw my answer confirmed today, is that the title is Let's Move Beyond It - with "it" as a singular noun - while the solution was the plural "blocks". That just didn't feel quite right, especially since I didn't see any hints within the grid that would have acted as a confirmation.
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Patty
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#332

Post by Patty »

flyingMoose wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:33 am Did anyone solve this without having a Monopoly board in front of them? I recognized very early on the Monopoly connection in the Theme Entries, but after that, I assumed I should find the meta in the grid, not on an adjunct element (the board). Perhaps the title was intended to Clue me in.

And perhaps some will point out similar examples in the not-so-distant past. I haven't been here that long.
There have been past puzzles that I would never have solved without consulting Mr. G. but others posting at the time didn't mention needing additional resources to confirm their answer so I surmised (incorrectly) that the information necessary for the solve was all right in front of me. Other times people have said they needed Mr. G to confirm, which I found helpful in knowing that the answer might be beyond my 'general knowledge'.

I was surprised when looking at comments that no one had mentioned needed G to help get to the answer. I said so when I posted that I was ashore.
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#333

Post by Streroto »

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I have played Monopoly, including day long sessions on rainy Saturdays with my brother, making up rules as we went along, I’ve been playing the game for over 50 years. However, neither I nor my wife have ever in our entire lives heard a monopoly referred to as a block. While everything made perfect sense meta wise and I went with it, it took some googling to realize that somewhere the term block has entered the parlance to describe a monopoly in the game.

Great puzzle and meta! Stay well all.
Schmeel
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#334

Post by Schmeel »

I didn't need google.
I took the filled-in grid with me on a family outing. I saw the Monopoly connection pretty early on, and asked my 14 year-old son to confirm, which he did. After checking to see that it wasn't the squares that appeared in the grid that provided the answer, but as the name of the puzzle suggested, squares beyond those, I then said we'd have to wait to get home to check the Monopoly board. My son asked: "Why?", and immediately rattled off the following squares, and thus the answer.
When we got home I took out the game and he does indeed remember the layout of the Monopoly board down the to the last Chance and Community Chest. He went through all 40 without a hem or a haw. I was impressed.
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MarkL
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#335

Post by MarkL »

Looks like I picked a good weekend to be away!
'tis... A lovely day for a Guinness!
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Bob cruise director
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#336

Post by Bob cruise director »

I was totally lost until the Monopoly connection jumped out at me at lunch on Friday and the rest fell into place as the title told me what to do. Many hours playing the game during the snow storms of upstate New York has embedded the board in my mind so I drew the board and got Blocks

However I could see no hint or anything that would lead you to considering a board game and that was going over the clues and answers several times.

The only thing was that the process was so clean that it had to be the path to the answer.
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Ksoav
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#337

Post by Ksoav »

To me, the leap to Monopoly was really a stretch. I would have appreciated an Easter egg in the title or in the clues to help me make it there! And I miss the days when they would put a "*" next to the theme clues... since I had no idea the connection between the words, I figured any of the grid words and clues were fair game.

I play Monopoly quite a bit, but nothing in the title/hint/clues nudged me in that direction.

On to next week!
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TMart
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#338

Post by TMart »

The meta gods smiled on me this week. A few days before the puzzle came out, I played Monopoly with my wife and son for the first time in years, so it was all fresh in my mind. I pulled the board back out and that was that.
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FrankieHeck
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#339

Post by FrankieHeck »

woozy wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:57 am So did anyone figure that it had something to do with world records almost made.

The clue for Luxury Liner referred to the Queen Mary 2 which is *not* the largest passenger cruise ship (That is Symphony of the Seas).

The clue for Lima, referred (bizarrely) to the University of San Marcos (*very* obscure) which is the oldest university in the Americas but not the world (Barcelona) and it is the *second* highest ranked university in Lima (Pontifica)

And Sundance, the largest film festival in the United States (but not as big as Cannes)

And a clue that stuck out like a sour thumb was a swimmer in the Orinoca River... how oddly specific. The Orinoca is the *second* largest river in South America. That and the San Marcos reference were just *weird* so I figured to "Go Beyond it" was to consider the ones that *did* make th records.

But I couldn't get six (Mark Twain buried in El Mira .... Is that a reference that Harriet Beecher Stowe outsold him in the 19th century? Is the rapper Lil John outstanding in a field?)

So was that *intentional* misdirection?

(I actually got the right answer with two hours to spare... After figuring if it *was* about world records I would have gotten *something* by now so it must be something else.... And Luxury Tax and Reading Railroad made me scoff but ... why not? )
Wow! I think this gets the prize for most educational rabbit holes.
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#340

Post by hashbrown »

As a British muggle and relatively new meta solver, I always have to try a bit harder when it comes to the grids - and on rare occasion turn to Mr. G when desperate and completely clueless for a particular entry. I do feel that knowing the UK Monopoly board rendered this much harder as three of the squares have different starting words: Reading Railroad and Short Line Railroad become Kings Cross and Liverpool Street Stations, and Luxury Tax is Super Tax. Electric Company and Free Parking remain unchanged, and curiously Park Place becomes Park Lane! This is my first time having a bash at the NYT Weekly but you can usually find me trying the MGW and PGW CC's:)
-HB
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