"Double Trouble" March 24, 2023

[mbryant]

Still stormy here in central Alabama. We lost our home to a tornado here in 2011. Here’s hoping double trouble doesn’t come our way. Prayers to those that have been affected.

I cannot imagine what it is like to lose your home. My thoughts and hopes are with you and all in the region - stay safe!

Thanks. Had a scare last night as alarms sounded. Turned on the Montgomery news and weatherman was talking about our neighborhood. Fortunately missed us but touched down just east of us. Before and after 2011. Don’t want to go through that again.

[Dplass]

This was a fun puzzle! And I love how the second word of the answer was also a plural letter of the alphabet. I realize that having the first word of the answer also be a “plural letter” was probably impossible from a grid standpoint (and I stand in awe of all meta creaters—Matt and Mike and our own Muggles—who can create these puzzles). But I thought it would be fun to offer up a few alternative first words of the answer:

DESE CUES—said in a disgusted tone of voice while shaking your head
GEEZ (!) CUES (?)—wow, there are cues in here!
JAYS CUES—hints offered up by @Bird Lives
KAYS CUES—nudges by @KayW
‘ELLS CUES—devilish tips offered up by a Brit
ARRS CUES—helpful hints from @Commodore (at least while flying the Skull & Crossbones)
WISE CUES—the very best kind!

" I realize that having the first word of the answer also be a “plural letter” was probably impossible from a grid standpoint" <<< This is my big complaint. As John Green says, "You should commit to the bit", which Matt did not.

[DebbieC]

This was a fun puzzle! And I love how the second word of the answer was also a plural letter of the alphabet. I realize that having the first word of the answer also be a “plural letter” was probably impossible from a grid standpoint (and I stand in awe of all meta creaters—Matt and Mike and our own Muggles—who can create these puzzles). But I thought it would be fun to offer up a few alternative first words of the answer:

DESE CUES—said in a disgusted tone of voice while shaking your head
GEEZ (!) CUES (?)—wow, there are cues in here!
JAYS CUES—hints offered up by @Bird Lives
KAYS CUES—nudges by @KayW
‘ELLS CUES—devilish tips offered up by a Brit
ARRS CUES—helpful hints from @Commodore (at least while flying the Skull & Crossbones)
WISE CUES—the very best kind!

I actually went down this track before reaching the correct solution. USE CUES was my first solution, before taking a closer look at the DOUBLE hint more closely.

[aaugusti]

We are on vacation in Florida this week so didn’t submit. Completed the grid and figured out the letters, but didn’t hav3 the time to really look at it. Fun puzzle though!

[mikeB]

I finally had to resort to the wisdom of Yogi Berra in deciding what to submit. Early on, the pairs of voiced letter names and the “Double” in the title steered me to TAKE CUES. I was pretty sure that was the answer, but I didn’t like that it didn’t mimic the structure of the themed entries. Leery of a pageant, I sought to match the structure of those four entries, and I came up with USE CUES, as others here have done. It fits the prompt like a glove, it matches the structure of those four key entries, and I couldn’t have gotten to CUES without identifying the mechanism. Thus a conundrum: The themed entries give me letters, but they also give me structure, and I can’t have both. Which one do I submit? It wasn’t really a rabbit hole, but more of a fork in the road. Aha, a fork in the road! I went with the advice of Yogi Berra: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” He said “take it”, not “use it”, so I submitted TAKE CUES. Thank you, Yogi, for the advice – and Mr. Gaffney, for this added tidbit of challenge in a very enjoyable meta.

[Gman]

The good news in doing lots of meta puzzles is that you learn a wide range of ways to look at the cues. The bad news is that you can spend WAY too much time on a rabbit that looks promising, and you forego the easy ones. In my case, I used to always look at double letters. Over time, I found this rarely meant anything, so I stopped paying much attention to them. Of course, the title in this case should have immediately sent me to the right path, but instead I spent a ton of time noticing words that had both of the letters in the theme clue phonetics plus an extra letter (e.g. E,I was in IBE and REI). Oh well. It came to me eventually. Now I will spend the next year or two paying too much attention to the double letters.

[Flying_Burrito]

I came up with USE CUES, as others here have done. It fits the prompt like a glove, it matches the structure of those four key entries, and I couldn’t have gotten to CUES without identifying the mechanism.

I confess that I am confUSEd by the statement that 'Use Cues' matches the structure of the 4 entries. All other obvious reasons aside, 7 letters from 4 clues?
I thought it was a pretty good meta (btw, that's his second Double Trouble meta), not his best (I also second a point from a previous poster about ' chumming up the waters' with more unrelated double letters), but a solid one. Some of the phonetics from the clues jumped early on and I thought off the bat that the answer was going to be along the lines of Qs and As (Cues and Ays): raise your hand if your family members hear you mumbling incoherent questions and answers to yourself when solving a meta???

[Richard]

I got this one pretty easily and without a nudge from anyone.

When I get a nudge I have a quandary - should I submit or not. Usually don't.

Was hoping for the email about winning the mug this week but I guess not.

[Greenlaud]

Hello all - Q: is there a more convenient way to access the solution than logging in and scrolling through this forum? I recently cancelled my print subscription, I am now digital only, and don’t find the solution anywhere in the WSJ digital edition. Thanks for any tips/suggestions.

[CAe39]

Greenlaud
open up pdf of Monday puzzle to see solution

[eisense]

Hello all - Q: is there a more convenient way to access the solution than logging in and scrolling through this forum? I recently cancelled my print subscription, I am now digital only, and don’t find the solution anywhere in the WSJ digital edition. Thanks for any tips/suggestions.

Look here on Monday morning: https://crosswordfiend.com/ for a discussion and solution to the WSJCC.

[The XWord Rabbit]

Hmmm …what’s all that happy humming, coming from the shore?

It’s the sound of all you contented solvers who are no doubt feeling pretty smug about not falling into any rabbit holes this week.

The “Double Trouble” puzzle from Mr. Gaffney was apparently not enough trouble to generate a meaningful tale or two of Muggles gone astray. Each of the four anchor entries contained a pair of sound-alike plurals of letters of the alphabet, i.e. EASEAYES translated to E’s and I’s and so forth. The eight letters found were doubled among entries elsewhere in the puzzle, the start letters of which spelled out the meta: TAKE CUES.

The only sad story of the week is from Mr. Guffman himself, your Rabbit’s alter ego, who fell into more of a worm hole than rabbit hole. His computer froze just as he was about to download the puzzle. He rebooted his machine, googled “Double Trouble WSJ Contest Puzzle”, followed the link and printed it out.

Except it wasn’t the March 24th puzzle. It was Mr. Gaffney’s “Double Trouble” puzzle from December 3rd, 2021. But Mr. Guffman didn’t recognize that. He blithely filled in the grid, arrived at the meta in short order and submitted. Only afterwards did he notice his solution, “A Day Late and a Dollar Short” didn’t jibe with the two-word phrase meaning “a good thing to do when solving contest crosswords.” Poor, Mr. Guffman.

As to the rest of you, rejoice - and grab your tutti frutti hat! It's time for Carmen Miranda!

[Joe Ross]

Hello all - Q: is there a more convenient way to access the solution than logging in and scrolling through this forum? I recently cancelled my print subscription, I am now digital only, and don’t find the solution anywhere in the WSJ digital edition. Thanks for any tips/suggestions.

Come here, click on the last page, then scroll backward until you reach this (it's rather easy to spot & is posted just after deadline:

[Sleepy]

I just checked all my email folders. It’s not me.

[Steve_S]

I guess it's not me, either but I'll volunteer to take the mug if the winner doesn't want it - I answer my email!

[Bird Lives]

<much snipped>
As to the rest of you, rejoice - and grab your tutti frutti hat! It's time for Carmen Miranda! [/b]

Who else remembers this from Radio Days?

[Flying_Burrito]

O Brother Mike Miller, where art thou?

[Bonnibel]

Who won the mug?

Any chance of increasing the number of winners? In view of the large number of correct entries...

Alas, my inbox came up empty again. Shucks.

[Cruciverbalisticexpi]

I nominate myself as mug winner. Please and thanks! Lol

[MikeMillerwsj]

Sorry for the delay! The contest answer is TAKE CUES.The four theme answers sound like plurals of letters: E’s I’s, T’s U’s, C’s P’s and O’s B’s. Find the one grid answer with each of those as a double letter: TEEN, ALII, KITT, EQUUS, COCCYX, UPPERCUT, EBOOKS, SUBBED. The first letters spell the contest answer.

Geez, this was a tricky puzzle--but lots of solvers cracked it. We had 1889 entries, about 90% correct, a much higher percentage than usual. We had 10 partial-credit votes for BE UTOPIC (rearranging the letters in the theme answers... not sure that's a word, though). Plus USE CUES (24), USE PENCIL (8), EASY PEASY (4), BE WISE, and several others.

Congrats to this week's winner: Sharon Mequet of San Marino, Calif.!