Variations on a theme

A place to hang out, get to know other Muggles and discuss everything under the sun.
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KayW
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#21

Post by KayW »

Very clever! So nice to have a bonus meta on top of that fabulous Q&A webinar.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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Wendy Walker
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#22

Post by Wendy Walker »

Oh, that was so much fun! Thank you, Matt!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Al Sisti
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#23

Post by Al Sisti »

...and then it hit me.
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BarbaraK
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#24

Post by BarbaraK »

Got it! I co-solved this one. Haven't been doing that much lately since Matt lay down the solo-solve challenge :) But it's fun on occasion to work with a friend and see the ideas flowing back and forth.
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Wendy Walker
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#25

Post by Wendy Walker »

Al Sisti wrote: Fri Sep 11, 2020 10:32 pm ...and then it hit me.
Thanks for the earworm, Al.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tAvug0Aoxk
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Joepickett
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#26

Post by Joepickett »

Struggling. What's new?
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Janet P
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#27

Post by Janet P »

Joepickett wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:04 pm Struggling. What's new?
I have got something.
Do not know how to proceed.
Stuck in rabbit hole.
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TPS
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#28

Post by TPS »

0-2 this week. This one definitely isn’t happening either. After having a pretty good run of 6-7 after a very long bad streak I’m thinking I need a new hobby.

Thankfully Joe put me out of my misery.

I definitely hated Friday’s WSJCC more but this was a close second. Never would have solved either - 5 hours on each and not only was I not even close to the same zip code - I wasn’t even in the same galaxy.
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whimsy
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#29

Post by whimsy »

Now this one I am not seeing, except for a rather obvious and appropriate thing.
But I am making no headway with that so far and am beginning to suspect crafty misdirection.
Once more unto.....
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ky-mike
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#30

Post by ky-mike »

Got the theme and variations (I think), but nothing past that. At least a few more days to play with it before the live cast to see if anything pops out at me.
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hcbirker
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#31

Post by hcbirker »

I'm not making any headway either. Going to keep trying different tactics. Lots of time until Thursday.
Heidi
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Wendy Walker
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#32

Post by Wendy Walker »

hcbirker wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 4:21 pm I'm not making any headway either. Going to keep trying different tactics. Lots of time until Thursday.
Heidi, you can get this. And there's a great, prolonged A-HA moment.
WLW.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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TPS
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#33

Post by TPS »

TPS wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 2:22 pm I definitely hated Friday’s WSJCC more but this was a close second. Never would have solved either - 5 hours on each and not only was I not even close to the same zip code - I wasn’t even in the same galaxy.
There is a saying in sports - "Don't let one bad game get you two losses." Meaning don't be so frustrated by a loss that it costs you your next game as well. I think that was advice I should have heeded before doing this puzzle today.

I was still so frustrated by the WSJCC that I think I went into this puzzle with such a negative out look that I couldn't see anything but my first idea and even though I had parts of worked out - I was NEVER going to solve it with the attitude I had going in. There were some fairly obvious things I missed that I think I've noticed before in other puzzles.
damefox
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#34

Post by damefox »

Finally got this one! Cindy was kind enough to send it to me. What is this Q&A webinar?
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TPS
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#35

Post by TPS »

damefox wrote: Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:18 am Finally got this one! Cindy was kind enough to send it to me. What is this Q&A webinar?
If you look on the Puzzles page of the WSJ there are links to two Q&A sessions with Matt & Mike. The first was last Thur where they went over basic puzzle construction techniques. You can watch a replay if you desire. The second is this Thur and will focus more on meta puzzle construction. This puzzle was created to go hand and hand with these events.
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Eric Porter
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#36

Post by Eric Porter »

ky-mike wrote: Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:54 pm Got the theme and variations (I think), but nothing past that. At least a few more days to play with it before the live cast to see if anything pops out at me.
I'm probably in the same place as you. I have what I think is the first part, but I can't figure out where to go from there. I've tried many things, but nothing's working.
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Joepickett
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#37

Post by Joepickett »

Got it after chasing many rabbits and some help.
Inca
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#38

Post by Inca »

Like others, I've got the first part and it's definitely variations on a theme. But the only solution I can think of is a phrase that I come up with on my own and I know that can't be it because I can come up with variations of that phrase as well and I think the answer to these metas is usually only one possibility. (Sorry for that run on sentence.)
Laura M
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#39

Post by Laura M »

Finally got to this one. Excellent!
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Eric Porter
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#40

Post by Eric Porter »

I found a few more rabbit holes, but nothing's working out. I don't know if it's a part of the solution, or just a coincidence.

I don't think I'm going to get this one without a pointer in the right direction.

Thanks Joe for giving me the nudge / spoiler. I had the right general idea, but I was missing one very critical part that I should have seen.
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