"Three Little Words" - August 6, 2021

A place to discuss the weekly Wall Street Journal Crossword Puzzle Contest, starting every Thursday around 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please do not post any answers or hints before the contest deadline which is midnight Sunday Eastern time.
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amheissan
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#381

Post by amheissan »

Don’t see it.

Edit: it’s there now :D
littlepigeon
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#382

Post by littlepigeon »

ok I’m finally ashore but only because I came crawling up onto it out of the sea thanks to a nudge I honestly cannot believe I needed.

Also, how have so many people not heard of this song before?? It’s so great. An immediate earworm, but great nonetheless.
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TeaJenny
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#383

Post by TeaJenny »

LadyBird wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:59 pm
TeaJenny wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:38 pm
DrTom wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:31 pm

90's. 90's - huh late comer!!! No Coke, Pepsi darn it!
Cheeburger! Cheeburger!
Considering our location, we should probably be wary of Land Sharks! Anyone for a Candygram?
I'm going to pick up something from the Samurai Delicatessen. You want anything?
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~C.S. Lewis
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JordanianTomlinson
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#384

Post by JordanianTomlinson »

I paused a bit before submission thinking “I’m pretty sure that was ‘90s.” Janet Jackson. Not Sister Hazel.
hoover
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#385

Post by hoover »

ajk wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:22 pm Also on shore (post #283, sorry if I missed an earlier update).
Me too, post #288, shortly after yours.
Laura M
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#386

Post by Laura M »

JordanianTomlinson wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:25 am I paused a bit before submission thinking “I’m pretty sure that was ‘90s.” Janet Jackson. Not Sister Hazel.
I didn't remember the Janet Jackson song until I Googled "All for You 2000s" and okay, that seems vaguely familiar. But the Sister Hazel song from 1994 made way more of an impression on me, although apparently it peaked at #11.

(For some reason, the actual first song I thought of was "All of Me" - the jazz standard, not the John Legend song, although that's a good song too. But two of the wrong title words, either way...)
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escapeartist
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#387

Post by escapeartist »

I filled this grid out twice because the first one had circles around all the "DO RE MI FA SO LA TI DO's" that I tried to play on the piano - disaster

Still never noticed the mechanism on the second time around.

And then, using the rule I imposed on myself, looking back at the clues provided a pathway to the answer. :D
* 2022 WSJ Mug Winner - I bask in its Glory *
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escapeartist
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#388

Post by escapeartist »

Gimme that MUG!
* 2022 WSJ Mug Winner - I bask in its Glory *
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woozy
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#389

Post by woozy »

Oh, I notice they were mono-syllabic (little) but not three lettered (three little/letter).

But first time I got so stuck in Rabbit holes. (Not the first time I saw rabbit holes ... often after the fact... but first time I get so stuck....)

HEarth, SHEars, WEar, YOUthful,

pronouns.

But there *was* MElodies so I *can't* claim the answer is "It Wasn't Me" because there was a ME.

I'm sure that was deliberate.

Also "As "one club" as in.... "In Da Club"....?

Also some of the clues were ... extreme.... "Cry out for" of "Lack"? But "Yell" is a better answer. So "(B)Lack" and "Yell(OW)" ... oh, don't be silly.

But maybe the three word answer have tie to other things "Palindromic Pacific islander" if Yoko ONO is from Japan could that count???? That'd be *really* weird.

It's got to have something to do with the three word clues but what probably cause they have words formed with ARS, EAR or HEAR, or HEART or EARTH or something except there was no consistancy. But what can I do with the the three word clues.

I mean... scoff... obviously it won't be enough to take the first letters of the answer... not when trying things like tying clues to words and pronouns and other answers to don't work... I mean get real.... Oh, all right I take the first letters...
Latest meta: Never forget... and never mind (A WSJ retaliation)
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mheberlingx100
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#390

Post by mheberlingx100 »

I had to consult Mr. G to confirm that the song was in the 2000’s, and then I remembered — the company I worked for sponsored Janet Jackson’s All For You World Tour in 2001. Who knows, I may still have an “All For You” tote bag in the attic.
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KayW
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#391

Post by KayW »

woozy wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:33 pm
littlepigeon wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 7:41 pm .....
AND YET. After finishing *this* grid, I couldn’t detect anything—literally anything—useful to run with after going through all the usual meta-solving strategies; the few connections I noticed that I thought might matter were tenuous at best, so I decided just to put a pin in that route. I then thought of approximately 30 three-word song titles from the 2000s that I then cross-checked to determine which ones were truly #1s (hah). Based on comments from a couple of y’all’s posts, I can now safely throw out at least half my list, but I’m mostly hating that this CC is apparently one of those “right in your face” metas and I’m still failing to see it.

...
Hopefully at this late date, it's not giving too much away to say, that sometimes its just a matter of breaking a code and knowledge of a subject is immaterial.
Given my very limited scope of knowledge. I’m happy to say I’ve found that’s generally the case with metas. I think constructors build metas with that in mind - that even if the solver doesn’t happen to know “X”, either the answer is literally spelled out or it’s very clear what you need to google to find it.

BTW at first I made (yet another) lame attempt at humor with my onshore post, but censored myself about 10 minutes later in case it was too much of a spoiler. My original post:

:desert_island: :tropical_drink: On the shore.

(I also didn’t want to strain the eyes of the ship/shore tallier)
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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mntlblok
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#392

Post by mntlblok »

littlepigeon wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 7:41 pm Hello all, I’m another new Muggle (to this forum, at least; I started doing the CCs at some point toward the end of 2020). My autocorrect just tried to change my greeting to “Help,” which I think is more appropriate.

I’ve so far gotten a decent number of the CC answers correct over the months I’ve been attempting them, but when I saw the hint for this week’s, I was certain I’d have no trouble solving it——I’m a peak millennial (born in ‘88), so the first half of the 2000s featured most of the music I grew up with (and still love, in some cases). The last time that I can recall the CC answer being something related to the 2000s, it was “Usher,” and I figured that one out in less than 10 seconds after finishing the grid.

AND YET. After finishing *this* grid, I couldn’t detect anything—literally anything—useful to run with after going through all the usual meta-solving strategies; the few connections I noticed that I thought might matter were tenuous at best, so I decided just to put a pin in that route. I then thought of approximately 30 three-word song titles from the 2000s that I then cross-checked to determine which ones were truly #1s (hah). Based on comments from a couple of y’all’s posts, I can now safely throw out at least half my list, but I’m mostly hating that this CC is apparently one of those “right in your face” metas and I’m still failing to see it.

TL;DR I should definitely know this one, but I’m so far just hanging out in open water way, way out at sea, dog paddling around in circles. (Also, I apologize in advance for how often I fall into the parenthetical. My ADHD mind has a hard time expressing one train of thought very linear-ly. Also also, my greatest fear in life is the ocean, the whole thing, but I guess specifically open water. Just a fun, unrelated fact about me. 🤡)
Your writing style made me think that it was something that *I* might have written. :-)
MaineMarge
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Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:57 pm

#393

Post by MaineMarge »

I got this fun one early on, as I always scour the clues shortly after finishing the grid. That’s doubly important with Mike’s metas. Great lesson for the noobs. And olds.

Now I have a garden photo for you all.
Let’s head to the compost pile to check on the 2 sets of 3 BIG plants there
67F7631A-AA46-4B69-A455-8119B0C67A88.jpeg
Yup, that’s only 3 red dahlias with gravity spreading their arms sideways. We do this every year. And Mother Nature always plants many sunflowers, as the 3 you see here.
August 3,2021
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mntlblok
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#394

Post by mntlblok »

DrTom wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:31 pm
Bill_Swerski_13 wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:07 pm
JAQT wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 6:58 pm
Welcome to "Da Muggles"!

(Hoping there are some fans out there of SNL from the 90s)
Three Little Words for you: "Ditka", "Ditka", and.... "Ditka"!
90's. 90's - huh late comer!!! No Coke, Pepsi darn it!
Heard it as "Petsi". :-)
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mntlblok
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#395

Post by mntlblok »

Joe Ross wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:00 am Image
That's *so* pretty!
Ergcat
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#396

Post by Ergcat »

MaineMarge wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:42 am I got this fun one early on, as I always scour the clues shortly after finishing the grid. That’s doubly important with Mike’s metas. Great lesson for the noobs. And olds.
Good tip for all of us!! Thankfully I did the same. I always stare at the grid first but when nothing jumps out ( except for a rabbit or two), I scour the clues next. And there they were... “3 little words “ clues! It was a swift swim to shore after that.
WSJosh
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#397

Post by WSJosh »

I almost guessed this song as a Hail Mary, but regardless I’m terrible at these metas where the mechanism resides in the clues rather than the grid.
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mntlblok
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#398

Post by mntlblok »

TeaJenny wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:38 pm
DrTom wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:31 pm
Bill_Swerski_13 wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 10:07 pm

Three Little Words for you: "Ditka", "Ditka", and.... "Ditka"!
90's. 90's - huh late comer!!! No Coke, Pepsi darn it!
Cheeburger! Cheeburger!
Some fun trivia. Most probably know that the title of the show *isn't* "Saturday Night Live", in spite of "SNL" being universally understood. But, I suspect that few remember that a different show came out in the fall of 1975 that *did* have that name. :-) Rather than post a spoiler, I'll ask how many here remember or know about it. Suspect this group would would have a much greater percentage who (that?) knows, but bet it's still a pretty small percentage.
Last edited by mntlblok on Mon Aug 09, 2021 10:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DianeA
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#399

Post by DianeA »

One of my rabbit holes started with 20A and 22A: Melodies Amidst, which i read as "Melody is amidst" and i tried too many of the longer words, and readings across the grid to find three little words inside. Not successful, of course.
WSJosh
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#400

Post by WSJosh »

DianeA wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:18 am One of my rabbit holes started with 20A and 22A: Melodies Amidst, which i read as "Melody is amidst" and i tried too many of the longer words, and readings across the grid to find three little words inside. Not successful, of course.
I did this one as well
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