Curly Quote: WSJ, 01/22/21, by PB

[ChrisKochmanski]

Big fun!

In a Curly Quote, does PB always tell you that the top and bottom rows use exactly the same sequence of letters? Because that helped me A LOT. I got this one in less than an hour -- about 45 or 50 minutes. I'd normally take longer.

[Meg]

For a Patrick Berry, this one was on the easy side IMHO.

[Wendy Walker]

I agree, Meg.

[Richard B.]

In a Curly Quote, does PB always tell you that the top and bottom rows use exactly the same sequence of letters?

Looks like the answer is yes. I found a few Curly Quote puzzles in the WSJ from prior years and the instructions, including the upper and lower row solving aid, are the same as this one.

I always get turned around every which way with the 4 ways to enter each answer into the grid. Even when you already have a couple of letters you may not have nailed it down.

[ChrisKochmanski]

One thing that I often DON'T like all that much about a Curly Quote -- and other sorts of puzzles that involve a lot of this way and that around a center space, with interlocking words -- is that they can involve so much trial and error. Which so often goes wrong! But this one, for me, zipped right along.