Q&A With Matt Gaffney June 29

This is a place to learn about the Muggles community and some of the terminology we use. It also contains suggested strategies for solving meta crosswords, as well as a repository of all past WSJ crossword contests and solutions.
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whimsy
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#61

Post by whimsy »

That's ^^^^ just gross! :cry:
I'm going with 122.
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whimsy
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#62

Post by whimsy »

Hector wrote: โ†‘Thu Jun 24, 2021 8:57 pm
Does this have Price is Right rules? (BTW Bob Barker is apparently still alive.)

Edit: and is apparently a HUGE animal welfare supporter. Who (not me) knew.
Well that makes sense -- I know a dachshund named Bob Barker.
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BarbaraK
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#63

Post by BarbaraK »

300. Zoom room full and people waiting to get it. You heard it here first.
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Joe Ross
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#64

Post by Joe Ross »

whimsy wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 10:13 am I know a dachshund named Bob Barker.
Does it float?
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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KayW
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#65

Post by KayW »

I say we max out at least at some point during the presentation - 300.
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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Larrry
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#66

Post by Larrry »

99. And if the prize is jellybeans they obviously should be in some sort of mug.
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BrianMac
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#67

Post by BrianMac »

181 (my favorite number on account of its being symmetrical horizontally and vertically. And prime.)
Larrry wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:59 pmAnd if the prize is jellybeans they obviously should be in some sort of mug.
We're all about the mug!! I picked this up a while ago thinking it would make a nice prize for something on the forum. This seems as good a reason to award it as any.

mugfront.png
mugback.png

The mug will go to whomever is closest to the number of participants on the Zoom call at 7:35, with any tie being determined by coin toss or dice roll.
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Joe Ross
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#68

Post by Joe Ross »

BrianMac wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:31 pm 181 (my favorite number on account of its being symmetrical horizontally and vertically. And prime.)
Get out of my head, Brian!

I chose 163 because it is a strong prime number, a lucky prime number, it is a fortunate number, it is a strictly non-palindromic number (since it is not palindromic in any base between base 2 and base 161), it returns 0 in the Mertens function, it is the largest of the nine Heegner numbers, it is the number of Z-independent McKay-Thompson series for the monster group and might be a clue for understanding monstrous moonshine, it is a permutable prime in base 12 (which it is written as 117, the permutations of its digits are 171 and 711, the two numbers in base 12 is 229 and 1021 in base 10, both of them are primes), and it is the lowest number that cannot be shot with three darts on a standard dart board.
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
Dplass
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#69

Post by Dplass »

Joe Ross wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 3:13 pm
BrianMac wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:31 pm 181 (my favorite number on account of its being symmetrical horizontally and vertically. And prime.)
Get out of my head, Brian!

I chose 163 because it is a strong prime number, a lucky prime number, it is a fortunate number, it is a strictly non-palindromic number (since it is not palindromic in any base between base 2 and base 161), it returns 0 in the Mertens function, it is the largest of the nine Heegner numbers, it is the number of Z-independent McKay-Thompson series for the monster group and might be a clue for understanding monstrous moonshine, it is a permutable prime in base 12 (which it is written as 117, the permutations of its digits are 171 and 711, the two numbers in base 12 is 229 and 1021 in base 10, both of them are primes), and it is the lowest number that cannot be shot with three darts on a standard dart board.
This explains a lot. I am definitely in the wrong league.
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Joe Ross
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#70

Post by Joe Ross »

Dplass wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 3:37 pm This explains a lot. I am definitely in the wrong league.
I have a friend named Google McKnowsallthatstuff.
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BrianMac
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#71

Post by BrianMac »

Joe Ross wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 3:13 pm
BrianMac wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:31 pm 181 (my favorite number on account of its being symmetrical horizontally and vertically. And prime.)
Get out of my head, Brian!

I chose 163 because it is a strong prime number, a lucky prime number, it is a fortunate number, it is a strictly non-palindromic number (since it is not palindromic in any base between base 2 and base 161), it returns 0 in the Mertens function, it is the largest of the nine Heegner numbers, it is the number of Z-independent McKay-Thompson series for the monster group and might be a clue for understanding monstrous moonshine, it is a permutable prime in base 12 (which it is written as 117, the permutations of its digits are 171 and 711, the two numbers in base 12 is 229 and 1021 in base 10, both of them are primes), and it is the lowest number that cannot be shot with three darts on a standard dart board.
OK, you win the nerd contest. :P
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Bob cruise director
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#72

Post by Bob cruise director »

BrianMac wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:31 pm 181 (my favorite number on account of its being symmetrical horizontally and vertically. And prime.)
Larrry wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:59 pmAnd if the prize is jellybeans they obviously should be in some sort of mug.
We're all about the mug!! I picked this up a while ago thinking it would make a nice prize for something on the forum. This seems as good a reason to award it as any.


mugfront.png mugback.png

The mug will go to whomever is closest to the number of participants on the Zoom call at 7:35, with any tie being determined by coin toss or dice roll.
One of the reports I will get is a list of any participant, how long they were on and when they joined and left. With that I can probably provide the data to verify who won (and I am definitely open to skewing the data to the highest bidder - LOL)
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Hector
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#73

Post by Hector »

57.
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Cindy
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#74

Post by Cindy »

Al Sisti wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:21 am144.
Thatโ€™s just gross!
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boharr
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#75

Post by boharr »

I'll venture in tomorrow. I want to wait and see if my MegaMillions numbers come in tonight.
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TeamDoubleTow
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#76

Post by TeamDoubleTow »

Oooh! A mug I might have a shot at! I will throw in 201.
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FrankieHeck
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#77

Post by FrankieHeck »

I come out of the woodwork for prizes! I'll say 156. Fifty-six has been my favorite number since 1977, for the embarrassing reason that Robby Benson was born in 1956. But 56 seems too low, and though my heart says to go with 256, the other guesses are making me doubt myself. So 156 it is.
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jhseeman
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#78

Post by jhseeman »

138
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boharr
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#79

Post by boharr »

For some odd reason my MegaMillions numbers did not come in. So, after taking into account all of the analysis offered by @Joe Ross,
I will have to go with 100. Or should it be styled as (100), without being negative of course.
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KayW
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#80

Post by KayW »

BarbaraK wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 11:26 am 300. Zoom room full and people waiting to get it. You heard it here first.
KayW wrote: โ†‘Fri Jun 25, 2021 12:25 pm I say we max out at least at some point during the presentation - 300.

Since @BarbaraK beat me to the punch on 300, do I have to step my guess down to 299? I'd hate for Brian to have to saw that mug in half. :)
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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