"Squeeze Play" - September 6, 2019

[31 Down]

Scored! This one took a while as there are many rabbits on the field.

Very clever as usual - a home run.

[billkatz]

I stared at this one a while, and upon further reflection, I am safely on shore. MGWCC is back to week one tomorrow, so I'm not too worried.

Next week will mark the 4th anniversary of the puzzle contest. I didn't have a correct submission until the 5th week. During that time I've missed 25, and with some helpful nudges along the way, I haven't missed any since the infamous PAGEANT.

[oldjudge]

Got a late start because I was attending the penultimate Sparks game of the regular season (Go Sparks!). Hopefully, there will be a long playoff run. Done and done. I found the meta very inventive. This might be considered the Mike Trout of Contest Crosswords. Hats off to Bill for his streak. Although I did solve the infamous Pageant puzzle I have missed four this year despite a really good start. I was starting to think about going through the year undefeated, but Matt knocked me back to reality some time in April.

[FrankieHeck]

It's a nice day for a drink at the bar, so I'm staying on the ship for now. I'm confident that I'll get this...I tried my first WSJ meta on 3/28. Didn't get that one, but got the next 22, and I'm not going to let this darn thing end my streak! I had a nice aha moment and was all excited to solve it, but apparently it was an empty rabbit hole, and you know how hard it is to tear yourself away from those...

Anyway, count me with Isaac for now, having a few drinks and staring at the puzzle.

[LesY]

It's a nice day for a drink at the bar, so I'm staying on the ship for now. I'm confident that I'll get this...I tried my first WSJ meta on 3/28. Didn't get that one, but got the next 22, and I'm not going to let this darn thing end my streak! I had a nice aha moment and was all excited to solve it, but apparently it was an empty rabbit hole, and you know how hard it is to tear yourself away from those...

Anyway, count me with Isaac for now, having a few drinks and staring at the puzzle.

Frankie, I'm super confident you'll get this with more time, but if you'd like a nudge send me a PM. Feeling empathetic about your note b/c I had a streak of 20+ end last week.

Think the odds will be a bit long for a mug this week so hoping friendly group solves aren't frowned upon!

[Bob cruise director]

BTW, Maris's 61 homers in '61 remains the AMERICAN LEAGUE record for dingers in a season -- and is therefore, in my estimation, the TRUE record!

Heheheheh.

I can remember my youthful days, while clipping baseball cards to the spokes of our bikes, where we really did argue about things like this.

And you had boxes of cards to trade.

[FrankieHeck]

It's a nice day for a drink at the bar, so I'm staying on the ship for now. I'm confident that I'll get this...I tried my first WSJ meta on 3/28. Didn't get that one, but got the next 22, and I'm not going to let this darn thing end my streak! I had a nice aha moment and was all excited to solve it, but apparently it was an empty rabbit hole, and you know how hard it is to tear yourself away from those...

Anyway, count me with Isaac for now, having a few drinks and staring at the puzzle.

Frankie, I'm super confident you'll get this with more time, but if you'd like a nudge send me a PM. Feeling empathetic about your note b/c I had a streak of 20+ end last week.

Think the odds will be a bit long for a mug this week so hoping friendly group solves aren't frowned upon!

Aw, thanks so much! I'm determined not to take a nudge on this, even if I have to humbly lose my streak. (Though my attitude could change by the end of the weekend...) I'd been trying to avoid printing this puzzle, but I just printed it and filled it out again. The ones that keep me busy for a couple days are actually my favorites, as long as I eventually figure them out! Folks on shore, keep an eye out for me!

[Bob cruise director]

Ashore. Appreciate the contrarian approach of the baseball theme on NFL Opening Day. Will be at Fenway on Saturday and Foxboro on Sunday, so I've got it covered!

Good luck with both games. Hopefully the result for Fenway will be better than last night

[MaineMarge]

Signing in from out in left field. Looks like I may be tending the stern garden today with appropriate Isaac breaks. Night game of Bingo here again tonight, fans.

[Tom Shea]

Heading into town to see Bob's baseball team lose to the Yankees.

Hope to see Isaac at Eastern Standard, as I am no where near the beach and donning rain gear for the game.

Hoping for the best to those suffering from gray Dorian.

[tim1217]

It was a long swim ashore but I finally made it. I was almost there but was too focused in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, the answer was right there on my worksheet staring me in the face. A real "DOH!" moment.

[slurmin8or]

I feel like I've got one foot ashore, but that may just be a turtle I'm standing on. Maybe he'll give me a ride to shore.

[Eric Porter]

When doing the grid, I thought of a solution method and started down that rabbit hole.
I switched to something else I saw, but then realized I was on the right track the first time!
I'm on shore. I enjoyed this one. I think it's the right level of difficulty.

Edit: When I first got my answer, I was afraid of being pageanted. I held off for a few minutes, but after thinking about it, I do have a 4 letter verb and a good reason to believe it's correct.

[juliet]

It's a nice day for a drink at the bar, so I'm staying on the ship for now. I'm confident that I'll get this...I tried my first WSJ meta on 3/28. Didn't get that one, but got the next 22, and I'm not going to let this darn thing end my streak! I had a nice aha moment and was all excited to solve it, but apparently it was an empty rabbit hole, and you know how hard it is to tear yourself away from those...

Anyway, count me with Isaac for now, having a few drinks and staring at the puzzle.

Frankie, I'm super confident you'll get this with more time, but if you'd like a nudge send me a PM. Feeling empathetic about your note b/c I had a streak of 20+ end last week.

Think the odds will be a bit long for a mug this week so hoping friendly group solves aren't frowned upon!

Aw, thanks so much! I'm determined not to take a nudge on this, even if I have to humbly lose my streak. (Though my attitude could change by the end of the weekend...) I'd been trying to avoid printing this puzzle, but I just printed it and filled it out again. The ones that keep me busy for a couple days are actually my favorites, as long as I eventually figure them out! Folks on shore, keep an eye out for me!

I also enjoy a meta that sticks around and keeps me company for a few days (if not the whole weekend) and "Squeeze Play" appears to be one that will be keeping me on ship for a while!

[31 Down]

I also enjoy a meta that sticks around and keeps me company for a few days (if not the whole weekend) and "Squeeze Play" appears to be one that will be keeping me on ship for a while!

I'm from the opposite school. After too long, my head overheats from all that wheel spinning and the grid starts looking like alphabet soup. But I'm usually too stubborn to wave the white flag.

[itsgioyall]

Finished the grid... Now I'm hopping you don't need to know much about baseball for this one. I'm from Argentina, so my knowledge of the sport is very limited

[Bob cruise director]

Heading into town to see Bob's baseball team lose to the Yankees.

Hope to see Isaac at Eastern Standard, as I am no where near the beach and donning rain gear for the game.

Hoping for the best to those suffering from gray Dorian.

Tom
Make sure you wear your Yankee jersey so you can get it washed in beer

Games like this are great as you get all the students from the surrounding colleges that come from Boston and NY at the games. I hope you do not have sensitive ears as the crowds can get pretty rowdy.

[Bob cruise director]

Heading into town to see Bob's baseball team lose to the Yankees.

Hope to see Isaac at Eastern Standard, as I am no where near the beach and donning rain gear for the game.

Hoping for the best to those suffering from gray Dorian.

Tom
Make sure you wear your Yankee jersey so you can get it washed in beer

Games like this are great as you get all the students from the surrounding colleges that come from Boston and NY at the games. I hope you do not have sensitive ears as the crowds can get pretty rowdy.

[Bob cruise director]

Good afternoon fellow muggles and a slightly belated status

First welcome to our newest muggles the slumin8or from our blog and Ryan Landers from the WSJ page. And the WSJ is accepting comments however there are not many these days.

We have 7 on the ship and 34 on the shore. Several on the ship and some on the shore are in the same situation as I am. We have a very well defined path to the shore which hangs together except for one aspect which gives us some pause. So while I am counting myself on shore, I have not sent in the answer but will try to dig for a while to ensure that we have not been pageant'ed again.

And in honor of Al, my avatar this week is the last drop of Guinness going into the glass before being consumed.

[JPMalone]

Feel like I have the first step or so but can't finish it off... hmm...