"Accentuate the Negative" -- June 16, 2023

[Berto]

I rushed this one, and didn’t feel good about the un-un-listed answer, but didn’t see the final steps.
I was thinking of A-list celebrities - a reason a celebrity might want to be listed, and I also thought it would be a compilers dream to have their meta creations listed in some sense (as a new subsection in this forum maybe?!)
And given there are national Do Not Call lists, it seems most un-celebs seek to not have their number listed!
But the metanism was too clever for me. Bravo.

[halseymac]

Thanks for a great explanation Mike! This is a great example of a Meta that looks very easy at first only to reveal another step. On Thursday evening, I found LISTED right away, then considered UNLISTED by itself, but neither was sitting well with me. Wasn't until Friday evening, after a nagging feeling I was missing something, I discovered the final UN and saw the NUMBER for UNLISTED NUMBER. Great puzzle!

[HellZiggy]

So excited! This is the first complicated Meta I've solved since joining the insanity! This forum going through the steps to answers after the solution is announced the last few weeks definitely helped give me the tools for this one.
The six UN---ED words jumped right out at me, so I tried figuring something out using just the rest of the word. Then gave up for the night.
The next day I was back looking at the 6 theme clues and caught a glimpse of the word bread at the beginning of 43A, which triggered the next connection for me, because I've pretty much only ever heard the word unleavened in connection with bread. That made the jump to get the six words that spelled LISTED pretty easy, and of course UN would need to be in front. Knowing that it had to be a "something" had me looking at 71A which gave me NUMBER.

[woozy]

. . .”. How do you get from UNLISTED to a noun phrase? It is the same way the six theme answers are combined with their second halves. All you need is a noun that goes with UNLISTED. ...

D'ph! Never thought of it that way, but ... of course. That pushes my evaluation of 93% up to ... oh, give it an even 100%. Okay, it doesn't have the lock clasp loud "click" but that's not a requirement.

[EmilyW]

Dang it! I put UNLEADED with Oil from the TULSA clue and never saw Gas. That left me with LISTTD which didn't mean anything so I thought I needed some more steps. I did not even realize how close I was to LISTED. D'oh!

[hcbirker]

[whimsy]

I initially missed "business" for UNFINISHED, and latched onto "surface." Like @EmilyW I didn't appreciate or recognize what I had and thought I'd be looking for more.
Later, while chit-chatting with my husband about the puzzle and testing a little word-association on him, he, of course, immediately announced "Business" when I said UNFINISHED. So that sent me back to the drawing board to get the answer fairly quickly.
We had happened to catch the tail end of "My Cousin Vinny" (for probably the umpteenth time) just the evening before, most likey in between innings or during a rain delay or something.
So I was then able to say to him a la Marisa Tomei, "Just think -- I'm gonna win mug, after mug, after mug, after mug, and I'm gonna have to come up to you and say 'Thank You!' OMG! What a nightmare!"

[Annabelle]

Undoubtably a fun challenge! I did finish it, but too late to be among the shore crowd. Hope all Muggles are enjoying the double holiday weekend!

[BethA]

Nothing to do with anything…
Savannah has recently moved from the basement yoga/workout area to the garden! Newly-planted flowers surround her today

[Flamel616]

Throw me out, I was on the wrong beach with the "UNLISTED" (no "NUMBER") crew

[MaineMarge]

Looks like some of us did get pageanted after all

Gets lighter as she ages

[Mister Squawk]

I submitted AN UNLISTED NUMBER because grammar. Hope that doesn't disqualify me from the mug, he said without a trace of irony.

[kfahey714]

I also struggled briefly with whether “unlisted” could be its own submission. I actually missed the 71A clue-connection but submitted “Unlisted Number” by going with a “finish this phrase” them along with the other clues.

So excited! This is the first complicated Meta I've solved since joining the insanity! This forum going through the steps to answers after the solution is announced the last few weeks definitely helped give me the tools for this one.
The six UN---ED words jumped right out at me, so I tried figuring something out using just the rest of the word. Then gave up for the night.
The next day I was back looking at the 6 theme clues and caught a glimpse of the word bread at the beginning of 43A, which triggered the next connection for me, because I've pretty much only ever heard the word unleavened in connection with bread. That made the jump to get the six words that spelled LISTED pretty easy, and of course UN would need to be in front. Knowing that it had to be a "something" had me looking at 71A which gave me NUMBER.

[The XWord Rabbit]

There’s already been multiple posts explaining the methodology behind successfully solving Mr. Gaffney’s “Accentuate the Negative” puzzle, so your Rabbit won’t bore you with the details. Suffice it to say we have six anchor entries all beginning with UN, eventually leading to the meta: “UN”-LISTED NUMBER.

With a distinct lack of stories of roads leading nowhere – and no nominees again– this seems like an excellent time to remind you Muggles that the one-year anniversary of the creation of The Golden Rabbit Hole Award is fast approaching.

To those few of you who are still a stranger to your Rabbit, consider this:

Each week The XWord Rabbit reviews your stories of meta frustrations, as you try to solve the weekly WSJ puzzle. The most deserving of these long and winding tales of woe are given nomination awards. Finalists are announced twice a year -- all leading up to a GOLDEN RABBIT HOLE TROPHY -- awarded to the most deserving Muggle. Keep in mind finalists are also winners, as they each receive a lovely mug bearing the likeness of yours truly, the XWord Rabbit.

Nominations and finalists are based upon the following:

The uniqueness and futility of the method. Your Rabbit is looking for stories of conviction and extremes taken by would-be solvers who have wandered deep into the forest, turned around, and found themselves all alone.

Neither the length of your story nor the time you have been registered on the Forum are considered in nominations. Eloquence is appreciated, but not mandatory. Your Rabbit is particularly fond of stories that build on erroneous thinking.

Finally, humor. Humor is very important. Remember: we’re not laughing at you; we’re laughing with you.

Until next week, then …

[Elizabeyth]

:Ashore! This was an oddly quick one for me, must have just been in the zone. Celebrating with a glass of Costco margarita (don't judge, it's delish )

Do you have a new avatar or have I just not noticed this cutie before? Introductions, please!

LOL I do, this is Baz, my black lab puppy! That pic is about 6 months ago so he is a bit bigger now (and by a bit i mean huge) but still just as cute, to this dog mom, anyway

[whimsy]

@The XWord Rabbit, here's a tidbit for you so you don't lose faith in the muggle ability to muddle --

I had LISSED and didn't even notice the possibility of LISTED as a starting point. (I had mistakenly linked UNFINISHED with Surface instead of Business. Thus, got an S instead of a T.)
So, obviously we needed to add another step in order to not be pageanted.
I continued to accentuate the negative by looking for opposites of what I had -- So UNABRIDGED became DECREASES, UNREQUITED became BEFRIENDS, and UNFINISHED became (Martin) SHEEN.
That's as far as I got. I knew it didn't really make sense and it wasn't going anywhere, but bunnies pay no attention to logic.
Maybe this should be described as being Un-Pageanted.

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is UNLISTED NUMBER. The first word of a clue can form a phrase with each theme entries: UNLEAVENED Bread, UNFORCED Error, UNABRIDGED Dictionary, UNFINISHED Business, UNLEADED Gas and UNREQUITED Love. The first letters of those clues’ answers (LOAF, ICING, SEE, TECH, ESSO, DATE) spell LISTED, which, with the puzzle theme and the last Across clue starting with “Number,” suggest the contest answer.

So many of you followed the twists and turns that led to this answer! We had 1839 entries, with about 80% correct, an impressive percentage. Plus quite a few that made it partway down the trail: LISTED (120), UNLISTED (108), and NUMBER (5), plus another 7 for A-LISTED.

We are still waiting to confirm our winner so stay tuned...

[LadyBird]

We are still waiting to confirm our winner so stay tuned...

Checked my junk folder and found the usual solicitations from lonely ladies (but never lonely men) and warnings about various hacking attempts. But I also found a legit email that needed attention, so that was good.

[JRS51]

So many of you followed the twists and turns that led to this answer! We had 1839 entries, with about 80% correct, an impressive percentage. Plus quite a few that made it partway down the trail: LISTED (120), UNLISTED (108), and NUMBER (5), plus another 7 for A-LISTED.

I considered A-LISTED for a minute or two but quickly saw the path to the correct answer and discarded that one.
But I don't see any email from Mike Miller yet . . .

[mheberlingx100]

Just phishing attempts in my spam folder. Well, maybe this week I’ll be luckier …