"Summer Wear" - October 16, 2020
- DBMiller
- Posts: 545
- Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:59 pm
- Location: New Hampshire
I was quite surprised to find I was first to report to shore. I started the puzzle around 7 after, and for me it was straight forward:
1) Open the page in the browser. Noticed the plus signs right away. Odd layout, I thought. I wonder how many grids cause that many plus signs.
2) Finished the grid. I get into grid solving mode, and don't usually pay much attention to the meta.
3) Re-read the title. Hmmm... Didn't a clue mention summer? Ah yes, the clue to "PLUSFOURS". Wait, what about those plus signs?
4) Checked the points, nope. Checked the corners K-N-E-E (Looking good) BREECHES. Done and done!
1) Open the page in the browser. Noticed the plus signs right away. Odd layout, I thought. I wonder how many grids cause that many plus signs.
2) Finished the grid. I get into grid solving mode, and don't usually pay much attention to the meta.
3) Re-read the title. Hmmm... Didn't a clue mention summer? Ah yes, the clue to "PLUSFOURS". Wait, what about those plus signs?
4) Checked the points, nope. Checked the corners K-N-E-E (Looking good) BREECHES. Done and done!
If I'm around, I am willing to join the Muggle Zoom room at other times to lend a hand to those in need.
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- Posts: 1739
- Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am
I probably would have never gotten this. I was stuck on counting 3s and 4s and 7s (four PLUS) and just didn't see the mechanism.
Harumph. I'm in a 5 week slump... hopefully this week will break it.
Harumph. I'm in a 5 week slump... hopefully this week will break it.
- LadyBird
- Posts: 878
- Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:20 pm
- Location: Chicagoland
I noticed the plus signs right away, along with the PLUSFOURS, but remained fixated on the tips of the plus signs. When that proved to be gibberish, I found myself fixated on the 6 long words (they HAVE to be theme answers). Then I tried to place a fourth plus sign, figuring the displaced letters would form the answer. Then I counted down 4 boxes/"inches" from the plus signs. Nearly 48 hours later, I looked at the non-point letters by the plus signs and went "duh-woo hoo!"
- LadyBird
- Posts: 878
- Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:20 pm
- Location: Chicagoland
Just checked my email and the title "The Email You've Been Waiting For" immediately caught my eye. Unfortunately, it was the weekly Walgreens ad.
- Wendy Walker
- Posts: 1719
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:44 pm
- Location: Unionville, PA
Yep, that's the perfect word.C=64 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:08 pmThis geometry teacher would go with (rotationally) "symmetrical".flyingMoose wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 1:08 pm Hmm, the location of 15A and 63A in the grid are complementary? Congruent? Something. Help me, Wendy, et al.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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- Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2020 2:35 pm
Didn't know the Nigerian Prince was pushing Walgreens now.
Last edited by flyingMoose on Mon Oct 19, 2020 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- John77
- Posts: 159
- Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:09 pm
- Location: New Jersey
I always thought "Plus Four" was a reference to the expert golfer's handicap; perhaps the double entendre was intended by the inventor(s).MaineMarge wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 9:48 am What a great meta! Right away I knew the shape of the 3 pluses would be involved ( see Hints for Solving Metas here). Going up and down and all around those eventually led me to knee breeches. I had to check that spelling, as Grandma always told me I was “getting too big for my britches”.
Another check of plusfours gave the biggest smile- thus called because they were 4” longer than knee breeches.
Loved that not all of the longest answers were involved in the meta. Point taken for meta toolbox. Thanks Mike- we needed that!
Wir sind zu früh alt und zu spät schlau.
- haari
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 1:07 pm
i gotta admit, i never saw the plus signs in the WSJ until after i did the NYT on Saturday.
an it harm none, do as thou wilt...
- DrTom
- Posts: 3781
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Maybe they are having a mug sale?
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!
- CPJohnson
- Posts: 1091
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:38 pm
- Location: Kingsport, TN
Symmetrically placed?flyingMoose wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 1:08 pm After finishing the grid on Thursday, the only "connections" I noticed among the long answers was THREEpeat and plusFOURS. The next day, the three pluses in the grid jumped out at me. The letters at the end of the plusses yielded gibberish, but the letters in the "notches" gave me the answer. Later, I decided I should have read THREE PLUS from the long answers, using the first word of each. That would have provided a "verbal" clue in addition to the "visual" clue of the black squares.
Hmm, the location of 15A and 63A in the grid are complementary? Congruent? Something. Help me, Wendy, et al.
Cynthia
- Al Sisti
- Posts: 2063
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
Never was a Braves fan growing up, as I was a Willie Mays/Giants fan -- BUT -- the star of the Atlanta Braves in the 1991 World Series -- Mark Lemke -- grew up a mile from my house. He would have been the World Series MVP had the Braves won it.
- boharr
- Moderator
- Posts: 3206
- Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
- Location: Westchester, NY
Forfend. Are we saying that the the NY Times offered a nudge?
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- Posts: 53
- Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:45 am
- Location: Washington, DC
I wrote down KNEE BREE CHES and didn't see the answer. I'd like to blame my age, but I doubt that any of us were alive when knee breeches were a thing. I tried to scramble up those letters a million different ways before finally coming here for a nudge, only to learn that I already had the answer... tough way to DNF, but there's always next week!
- Joe Ross
- Moderator
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- Location: Cincinnati
I don't recall the exact times I ran across "breeches" in books, but they were several and, I assume, in required reading. I do remember heeding Mom's & Dad's advice to "Look it up in the (unabridged) dictionary!" on untold occasions & did so with "breeches."
The etymology of "breeches" may be interesting. One definition of "breech" is "hind end" of the body, as in "breech birth." My guess would be that "leg coverings"/pants evolved from that, or the other way, then getting from "breeches" to "britches" was a matter of continual, repeated, & phonetic misspeeling of the word.
The etymology of "breeches" may be interesting. One definition of "breech" is "hind end" of the body, as in "breech birth." My guess would be that "leg coverings"/pants evolved from that, or the other way, then getting from "breeches" to "britches" was a matter of continual, repeated, & phonetic misspeeling of the word.
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!
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Somehow I also encountered "breeches" on more than one occasion that required looking it up.Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:35 am I don't recall the exact times I ran across "breeches" in books, but they were several and, I assume, in required reading. I do remember heeding Mom's & Dad's advice to "Look it up in the (unabridged) dictionary!" on untold occasions & did so with "breeches."
The etymology of "breeches" may be interesting. One definition of "breech" is "hind end" of the body, as in "breech birth." My guess would be that "leg coverings"/pants evolved from that, or the other way, then getting from "breeches" to "britches" was a matter of continual, repeated, & phonetic misspeeling of the word.
There's a lot, probably more than most anyone needs to know, that can be learned about breeches in Wikipedia (not that it's necessarily correct):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeches
Enjoy!
- SusieG
- Posts: 431
- Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:20 pm
- Location: Arkansas
As was I. Also tried 8’s because + 4’s is plural. My stubborn brain just wouldn’t move off the numbers, even though I knew the plus signs had to be signs to something.
- mheberlingx100
- Posts: 526
- Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:39 am
From now on, you can think of plus four pants as sons of breeches.cherikee wrote: ↑Tue Oct 20, 2020 8:59 am I wrote down KNEE BREE CHES and didn't see the answer. I'd like to blame my age, but I doubt that any of us were alive when knee breeches were a thing. I tried to scramble up those letters a million different ways before finally coming here for a nudge, only to learn that I already had the answer... tough way to DNF, but there's always next week!
- whimsy
- Posts: 2783
- Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
- Location: Hopkinton MA
I just realized this AM that there was another fun, number-related rabbit hole I wished I'd gone down:
One, Two, Three, Four --
Tell the people what she wore -- Anybody else see spots? --
One, Two, Three, Four --
Tell the people what she wore -- Anybody else see spots? --