"Squeeze Play" - September 6, 2019

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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Bob cruise director
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#181

Post by Bob cruise director »

BethA wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:43 am I found the “helpful hint” at 48D very ambiguous, causing me lots of flailing around! Should I start with Maris, home runs, or grid square 61??? Spent a lot of time researching HOME towns and teams for Maris, Matsui, Hershiser, and Teheran. Then reviewing all of the abbreviations like HR used in 14A aBOX scores, 15A ERR, 30D ERA. Another start was seeing CRESCENT (wrench) which could squeeze something as it’s tightened, and SLEDGE (hammer), giving me a W and H, but couldn’t find any more tools. On a different tack, noticed the I squeezed out of MARINER 16A, and the R from ASTRO 68A.

Friday night, rewatching Guardians of the Galaxy II with plenty of Merlot, helped my brain shake off all of the above nonsense! Noticed CUBS on the diagonal from square 61. A fresh look Saturday morning revealed the other teams in the diamond! Still did my due diligence to check the team cities and field names, where they PLAY, to avoid a PAGEANT situation. Nope, it must be CRAM.

Embarrassing how long it took me to scour the diagonals, since that’s something I routinely do when flailing about for a meta!
We all went through some level of sour searching to get the meta.

After last night are you going to change your avatar?
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Jim and Anita
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#182

Post by Jim and Anita »

Since the clue for 48 down should have ended with the words “single season home runs” Jim took this as a lead to other players who have broken the single season home run record starting with Maris. Since there were only 3 others (Sossa, McGuire and Bonds) that made 4 names including Maris and the solution required a 4-letter verb. So Jim worked all combinations of those players first and last names and teams and ballparks (everything but their mothers’ maiden names) but no cigar.

Anita meanwhile squeezed every discovery from googling squeeze. Who knew there was squeeze poker or a British rock band named Squeeze or an individual rock artist nicknamed “Loco” (1 across) who did an album named Squeeze. Now she has all those facts taking up her rapidly diminishing brain cells so to excise them she submitted the word “rock” knowing it was a wild pitch.
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BethA
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#183

Post by BethA »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:00 am
After last night are you going to change your avatar?
Ouch! I should work on that soon. It was a bad weekend for my college team the Cincy Bearcats as well as the Steelers! Good thing I solved my metas!! 😀
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HowardHuddleston
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#184

Post by HowardHuddleston »

Colin wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:58 am Ouch, ouch, ouch, and ouch!
Very nice meta and a learning experience for me.
As a supply chain consultant and engineer, I would love WSJ to make a short video documentary on the process Mike and Matt take to create such a puzzle.
And a magician is going to tell you how he did the trick?
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Eric Porter
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#185

Post by Eric Porter »

BethA wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:43 am I found the “helpful hint” at 48D very ambiguous, causing me lots of flailing around! Should I start with Maris, home runs, or grid square 61??? Spent a lot of time researching HOME towns and teams for Maris, Matsui, Hershiser, and Teheran. Then reviewing all of the abbreviations like HR used in 14A aBOX scores, 15A ERR, 30D ERA. Another start was seeing CRESCENT (wrench) which could squeeze something as it’s tightened, and SLEDGE (hammer), giving me a W and H, but couldn’t find any more tools. On a different tack, noticed the I squeezed out of MARINER 16A, and the R from ASTRO 68A.
I had a similar thought process, but I found METS while doing the grid. When I saw that it was baseball-related, my first thought was that MLB team names would probably be hidden somewhere. Before I figured out the 'BASEBALL DIAMOND' and 48D clues, I went down that MARINER / ASTRO rabbit hole for a short time. I was slightly unsure because CRAM has nothing to do with baseball, but when I realized that it was a synonym for squeeze, I submitted.

I admired the construction of this one.
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#186

Post by Tony S »

FrankieHeck wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:08 am I feel silly for not even noticing the helpful clue! Pretty sure my husband, who found the actual diamond, didn't either.

I was so sure when I saw ASTO and MARNER that I was on the right track. The only good thing to come of that was that I then looked up all the teams and wrote them down, so now I'm all ready for another baseball puzzle. When squeezing in an extra letter didn't work anywhere else, I squeezed some out of METALS, REDOES, and ASS. Three teams there. I could not get off the idea of team names, but I still didn't see the diagonal ones.

I squeezed OREL and RIO together and got Oriole, out of order, plus a letter. Spent another ten years looking at other combinations.

I abandoned baseball and tried looking for plays. Found STEM squeezed with PEST gives Tempest with an extra letter. Googled every play ever made. Really wanted to find Damn Yankees in there.

That's when my husband came into the kitchen and asked me to name a famous George Thorogood song. I said "Bad to the Bone?" He said no, "Who Do You Love?" Then he flipped over his tablet where he had outlined the diamond and found CRAM. After I realized George Thorogood had nothing to do with the answer, I told him I loved him.

Sorry if this post is too rambling. It's 2 a.m. and I just woke up and thought I'd make sure CRAM was right. I woke up when I heard my husband whisper "Someone's in the driveway." I whispered back "What?" And then I remembered my husband is out of town. So something tells me I'm not getting back to sleep any time soon. :?
Your "rambling " post saved me from saying the same things. I too went down the Astro, Mariner, Oriole rabbit hole --- while there I also saw Marlins (MARIS + LN.) I tried in vain to make something with all the "squeezed out" letters and there I stopped. I didn't think to look diagonally --- there was a another meta recently that used a diagonal approach (anyone remember which one?) and I missed that one as well. Next time (hopefully) I'll know better.
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#187

Post by Wendy Walker »

How did Mike know that I turned 61 this past week?! I SOOOO deserve the mug!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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#188

Post by Inca »

BethA wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:43 am

Embarrassing how long it took me to scour the diagonals, since that’s something I routinely do when flailing about for a meta!
Like I said, as soon as I saw all the baseball references I knew that my mind wouldn't let me accept the idea that I should work on the meta for more than 5 or 10 minutes. When I saw the answer and realized I would have had to notice things on the diagonal, I felt double vindicated since I knew I was right that I would never have gotten it. For some reason, I never notice words on the diagonal. I think it was actually a very nicely constructed meta but I don't feel that need to bang myself upside the head saying, "DOH!" for not getting it.
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#189

Post by Hector »

Happy birthday, Wendy!

I sat staring at the grid for too long before returning to the clues. I even briefly thought of a literal diamond in the grid, but didn't find it. I hadn't needed to read the clue for MARIS, getting all the crosses first, so it was a head-slapper to find "a good place to start." A reminder that fast-grid-solve mode is not really appropriate for metas.
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#190

Post by GlennG »

Colin wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:58 am As a supply chain consultant and engineer, I would love WSJ to make a short video documentary on the process Mike and Matt take to create such a puzzle.
It's like any other crossword puzzle. As a constructor you start in a blank grid by laying out the results you want (the theme entries or whatever else you want to be sure that exists in the grid, in this case the diamond and "MARIS"), and then develop whatever else that goes in the grid so it fits and follows the typical Farrar rule set.

There's no need for Mike and Matt to add to the numerous resources already out there that generically describe how a crossword is made. You can buy books aimed at teaching you how to do it (Patrick Berry's work is almost the go-to). Generically, the New York Times did a set of articles. And then Wired put out a video generically describing it. I'm pretty sure there's lots more out there.
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#191

Post by Bird Lives »

GlennG wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:54 am
Colin wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:58 am As a supply chain consultant and engineer, I would love WSJ to make a short video documentary on the process Mike and Matt take to create such a puzzle.
It's like any other crossword puzzle. As a constructor you start in a blank grid by laying out the results you want (the theme entries or whatever else you want to be sure that exists in the grid, in this case the diamond and "MARIS"), and then develop whatever else that goes in the grid so it fits and follows the typical Farrar rule set.

There's no need for Mike and Matt to add to the numerous resources already out there that generically describe how a crossword is made. You can buy books aimed at teaching you how to do it (Patrick Berry's work is almost the go-to). Generically, the New York Times did a set of articles. And then Wired put out a video generically describing it. I'm pretty sure there's lots more out there.
The hard part is coming up with the idea for the meta, and I'm not sure that this process can be systematized for purposes of an instructional video. But maybe it can. Filling in the grid is the easy part, especially now with Internet resources.
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Meg
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#192

Post by Meg »

To be pageanted means to miss the next step, to not see that there is something else to do. What could the next step be after CRAM? I was confused by people mentioning they were worried about being pageanted.
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#193

Post by GlennG »

Bird Lives wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:17 am The hard part is coming up with the idea for the meta, and I'm not sure that this process can be systematized for purposes of an instructional video. But maybe it can. Filling in the grid is the easy part, especially now with Internet resources.
Indeed. As any set of theme entries are. This is primarily where the real creative element happens within a crossword.

Spoiler: I went back and watched the Wired video I linked and got reminded it actually has a meta puzzle in it (more to the video and it's features, but same idea). So have fun, whoever wants to solve it!
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#194

Post by Alan H »

Meg wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:29 am To be pageanted means to miss the next step, to not see that there is something else to do. What could the next step be after CRAM? I was confused by people mentioning they were worried about being pageanted.
On the pageant potential, I can only answer for myself. I got CRAM, but thought that MARIS meant something more. 2 letters Squeezed out of MARLINS is Maris. 2 letters squeezed out of Astros is ASTO. 2 letters squeezed out of Mariners is Marner. I was looking for a fourth baseball team to find in that way and somehow relate to CRAM to get a different answer.

In the end i couldn't find anything more so i went with cram and was not pageanted, unlike in that puzzle when i submitted bowl games or something and i was pageanted.
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#195

Post by Inca »

Wendy Walker wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:24 am How did Mike know that I turned 61 this past week?! I SOOOO deserve the mug!
I'm definitely rooting for you to win a Birthday Present Mug! (especially since I didn't solve so I'm not in the running....j/k)
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#196

Post by Bob cruise director »

Meg wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:29 am To be pageanted means to miss the next step, to not see that there is something else to do. What could the next step be after CRAM? I was confused by people mentioning they were worried about being pageanted.
Meg
My concern was not that there was a next step but that there was a different step which resulted in a baseball verb vs something that related to the title but had nothing to do with baseball
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#197

Post by MarkL »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:42 am I got CRAM but the reservation I had was

The title is a baseball term
There were 11 clues and answers that had to do with baseball
There was the baseball diamond in the middle
There were the four baseball teams forming the diamond

yet - the answer had nothing at all to do with baseball
Fast ball, fast ball, fast ball, fast ball, Change up!
'tis... A lovely day for a Guinness!
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#198

Post by Julie O »

BethA wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:43 am I found the “helpful hint” at 48D very ambiguous, causing me lots of flailing around! Should I start with Maris, home runs, or grid square 61???
Yes, me too! I even looked at expansion teams since '61 (name & city), american league only expansion teams since '61, Astros, Marlins, Mariners, The teams the players mentioned in the clues & grid played for, if the were inducted into the hall of fame & which team they were inducted under, players who broke the home run record after Maris, the teams they were player for at the time. And I probably shouldn't get started on the googling I did of shapes, crescent, diamond, conversion from 3D to 2D and their different names, etc.....

Fairly early on, I saw Cubs, and finally got back around to realizing that the C was in square 61. Glad I made it home and didn't get stranded on one of the bases, or worse yet caught on the base path somewhere.
Last edited by Julie O on Mon Sep 09, 2019 5:41 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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#199

Post by MarkL »

Colin wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:58 am Ouch, ouch, ouch, and ouch!
Very nice meta and a learning experience for me.
As a supply chain consultant and engineer, I would love WSJ to make a short video documentary on the process Mike and Matt take to create such a puzzle.
Are you familiar with: https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/wordplay/film.html ?
'tis... A lovely day for a Guinness!
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#200

Post by CPJohnson »

Tony S wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:19 am
FrankieHeck wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:08 am I feel silly for not even noticing the helpful clue! Pretty sure my husband, who found the actual diamond, didn't either.

I was so sure when I saw ASTO and MARNER that I was on the right track. The only good thing to come of that was that I then looked up all the teams and wrote them down, so now I'm all ready for another baseball puzzle. When squeezing in an extra letter didn't work anywhere else, I squeezed some out of METALS, REDOES, and ASS. Three teams there. I could not get off the idea of team names, but I still didn't see the diagonal ones.

I squeezed OREL and RIO together and got Oriole, out of order, plus a letter. Spent another ten years looking at other combinations.

I abandoned baseball and tried looking for plays. Found STEM squeezed with PEST gives Tempest with an extra letter. Googled every play ever made. Really wanted to find Damn Yankees in there.

That's when my husband came into the kitchen and asked me to name a famous George Thorogood song. I said "Bad to the Bone?" He said no, "Who Do You Love?" Then he flipped over his tablet where he had outlined the diamond and found CRAM. After I realized George Thorogood had nothing to do with the answer, I told him I loved him.

Sorry if this post is too rambling. It's 2 a.m. and I just woke up and thought I'd make sure CRAM was right. I woke up when I heard my husband whisper "Someone's in the driveway." I whispered back "What?" And then I remembered my husband is out of town. So something tells me I'm not getting back to sleep any time soon. :?
Your "rambling " post saved me from saying the same things. I too went down the Astro, Mariner, Oriole rabbit hole --- while there I also saw Marlins (MARIS + LN.) I tried in vain to make something with all the "squeezed out" letters and there I stopped. I didn't think to look diagonally --- there was a another meta recently that used a diagonal approach (anyone remember which one?) and I missed that one as well. Next time (hopefully) I'll know better.
I think it was the 6/14/19 puzzle, Lean Meat. The animals (deer, pig, etc.) crossed diagonal meats (venison, pork, etc.)
Cynthia
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