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Introductory Metas for new solvers?
Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 4:14 pm
by tonyrobots
Hello Muggles! I often find myself singing the praises of metas to fellow crossword solvers who have not yet heard of, or taken the plunge into, meta puzzles. I wanted to put together a small packet of 2-3 puzzles to share as a gentle introduction to the form. Any suggestions? I think I'd want to include at least one week 2 or 3 MGWCC-level entry so it's not all just the very simplest stuff.
(Apologies if this has already been covered before -- if so, will happily take pointers to past threads instead.)
Thanks in advance.
Re: Introductory Metas for new solvers?
Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 5:35 pm
by SReh26
Thats a great idea! Like the bunny slope in skiing. As a 6 week newbie, I wouldn’t mind seeing those either.
Re: Introductory Metas for new solvers?
Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 6:54 am
by Cindy
tonyrobots wrote: ↑Wed May 26, 2021 4:14 pm
Hello Muggles! I often find myself singing the praises of metas to fellow crossword solvers who have not yet heard of, or taken the plunge into, meta puzzles. I wanted to put together a small packet of 2-3 puzzles to share as a gentle introduction to the form. Any suggestions? I think I'd want to include at least one week 2 or 3 MGWCC-level entry so it's not all just the very simplest stuff.
(Apologies if this has already been covered before -- if so, will happily take pointers to past threads instead.)
Thanks in advance.
All WSJ from the beginning are available on the WSJ site. I went back and worked all of the old puzzles to learn. Then you can look at the solutions and crosswordfiend.com explanations if needed.
Re: Introductory Metas for new solvers?
Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 11:24 am
by tonyrobots
Cindy wrote: ↑Thu May 27, 2021 6:54 am
All WSJ from the beginning are available on the WSJ site. I went back and worked all of the old puzzles to learn. Then you can look at the solutions and crosswordfiend.com explanations if needed.
Yes, of course. This isn't for me. I'm hoping to put together a few excellent puzzles that gently ramp in difficulty from easy to medium, and that this community might have a couple of favorites they wanted to share. It would seem my situation would be a pretty common one for people here, and it might be handy to have a go-to "so you're interested in seeing what a meta is all about?" packet.
Maybe will comb through things and make my own stab at this later this afternoon.
Re: Introductory Metas for new solvers?
Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 2:33 pm
by Wendy Walker
Tony, back in February (I believe it was February) the WSJ posted a month of relatively easy puzzles to serve as an introduction to metas for newcomers. You might want to take a look at them. They offered a nice cross-section of common mechanisms.
Re: Introductory Metas for new solvers?
Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 1:33 pm
by tonyrobots
Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 2:33 pm
Tony, back in February (I believe it was February) the WSJ posted a month of relatively easy puzzles to serve as an introduction to metas for newcomers. You might want to take a look at them. They offered a nice cross-section of common mechanisms.
I hadn't realized those were meant to be easy! And here I thought I was just getting better
Thanks for the tip, will revisit those. In the meantime, I'm combing through the archives and will share a list soon...
Re: Introductory Metas for new solvers?
Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 1:58 pm
by Joe Ross
tonyrobots wrote: ↑Sat May 29, 2021 1:33 pm
Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 2:33 pm
Tony, back in February (I believe it was February) the WSJ posted a month of relatively easy puzzles to serve as an introduction to metas for newcomers. You might want to take a look at them. They offered a nice cross-section of common mechanisms.
I hadn't realized those were meant to be easy! And here I thought I was just getting better
Thanks for the tip, will revisit those. In the meantime, I'm combing through the archives and will share a list soon...
The WSJ Puzzle Team is putting together a beginners' tutorial based on the February metas. When will it be available? :::shrug:::