"Think Of A Number" - June 10, 2022

[WSJosh]

Ashore, after finally having a free moment this weekend to look at the meta.

[otlaolap]

Well, now it is midnight in Tadoussac.

[Joe Ross]

[Joe Ross]

[escapeartist]

This was the first time since I started the Friday Contests that the meta helped me solve the grid!

[31 Down]

Just noted our newest esteemed member - crossword constructor par excellence Evan Birnholz. Rarified company! What am I doing here???

[DrTom]

I'm in my favorite grocery store the other day and there was this lovely display of herbs; "Nothing beats herbs fresh cut for your cooking" the sign proclaimed. "Put in a sunny place and water every few days for a continual supply of cooking goodness"

So, I buy them, select a sunny place on the porch away from grazing cats, water and wait for the promised bounty.....5 days later:

thyme.JPG

A complete waste of thyme! There was also a dillemma that soured me, but there was not even anything to photograph. I'm obviously going to have to talk to my gardener, Basil although it is parsley my fault for not adjusting for Florida sun.

Now I feel like Scarlet O'Hara who, when she learned finally that her ancestral home was sold, said TARA GONE?

Um, was it like that when you bought it or did it take five days for you to kill it? I've had no luck with herbs inside or even on a porch. Mine like direct sun at least part of the day and enough water to stay damp. At least this experience gave you some good fodder for puns. Don't give up, Tom!

No, it was a slow and painful death over 5 days....is that herbicide?

[DrTom]

My tale of woe...

I figured that I had this one nailed:

So "Think of a number" and "between"...

OK, five ONEs and four TENs = FIVE AND FORTY = 12 letters. I probably would have submitted but I have had such trouble with "inference" answers that I thought "better check". So I "phoned a friend" and they said "disregard the vertical ONE. Of course the minute I did that it became patently obvious (1) what the answer was (2) that I was again way too sure of my powers of deduction. I did not submit of course, but if I had I might have argued for FIVE AND FORTY

[ship4u]

The first of the photos from today's amazing Muggle Meet-up at The Whip Tavern are trickling in ... more to come. Here are Cynthia, Don, and Chris!

Oh wow. A very favorite spot of mine. Hope someone had the Welsh Rarebit!!! Sorry I missed it!

@cbarbee002 recommended the Welsh Rarebit, which we never had prior to then(despite our many trips to the UK). He ordered some for all of us to share. It was fantastic! A great time was had by all!

[JerryF]

5 "one's", 4 "ten's" so I figured TEN TO ONE ODDS (odd number of 'one's"). Oh well.

[minimuggle]

I saw "think of a number" and immediately saw the "one's and "ten's. And I thought "from one to ten" was 12 letters and made sense but that just didn't sit right with me. So I kept looking and it jumped out at me. What a relief after last week's swim to the wrong shore. So bummed Whip Tavern isn't closer to me. Sounded amazing!

[Richard]

The ONE in 15 down threw me off for a minute or so, but when everything else fell into place I just ignored it.

[DBMiller]

I had to put "ashore" on my earlier reply as I was tempted to put in something like "done as intended" instead of my usual "done and done".

[Flying_Burrito]

I had to put "ashore" on my earlier reply as I was tempted to put in something like "done as intended" instead of my usual "done and done".

bravo DB, very subtle and dry!

[Deb F]

The first of the photos from today's amazing Muggle Meet-up at The Whip Tavern are trickling in ... more to come. Here are Cynthia, Don, and Chris!

Oh wow. A very favorite spot of mine. Hope someone had the Welsh Rarebit!!! Sorry I missed it!

@cbarbee002 recommended the Welsh Rarebit, which we never had prior to then(despite our many trips to the UK). He ordered some for all of us to share. It was fantastic! A great time was had by all!

Now you're making me mad. Not to mention envious and hungry!!! Delighted you enjoyed.

[OGuyDave]

This is the comic I wanted to attach to my post yesterday, but I think we can all agree that since the puzzle was still active, the censors would have nixed it in a heartbeat. Would you rather win the mug, or the lottery?

[mconte.wsj]

The contest answer is STATE LOTTERY. The clue for BETWEEN (“Word that often follows ‘Think of a number...’”) suggests thinking between ONE and TEN; there are four places in the grid where you can find ONE and TEN sandwiching three-letter strings, and those strings spell the contest answer.

Congratulations to this week's winner: Mike Gurley from Braintree, MA, whose correct solution was selected randomly from 2,689 entries.

[Tripod]

Braintree...so close! Congratulations, Mike (if you are out there).

[Colin]

Didn’t get to it over the weekend because it was my son’s and his lovely wife’s wedding celebration (delayed by COVID from last year) on their 1st anniversary. Friends and fam from far and near in Chicago. Fab weekend with a ton of free blues courtesy of The Chicago Blues Festival in Millennium Park, plus the obligatory trip to Kingston Mines. Pity that the trip home involved tornados, lost driving licenses and long delays, arriving in NJ as the sun came up today! Anyway, after a lazy day to recover, my wife and I decided to give the contest a go over dinner tonight and solved in about 90 mins. So we got to the beach but all we could see was a few abandoned towels, couple of empty cans (we put them in recycling) and a lottery ticket with several numbers between one and ten. Guess I’ll keep the ticket and if it comes up, will definitely buy an apartment in Chicago… what a great city!