XWord Muggles Forum

pizzapizza123 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 2:34 pm

Al Laubenstein wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 12:30 pm Ok, hear me out. If Sacagawea were spelled correctly, it leads to designer genes instead of designer jeans, and the missing letters spell THREE D. Clearly the movie is DREDD, no?

If Sacagawea were spelled correctly, yes it leads to designer genes, yes it leads to 3D, and it leads to BLACK PANTHER. It is 3D, an Academy Award nominee, and it won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. I'm shaken that this isn't the correct answer.

Franklin.Bluth wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 3:10 pm

pizzapizza123 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 2:34 pm

Al Laubenstein wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 12:30 pm Ok, hear me out. If Sacagawea were spelled correctly, it leads to designer genes instead of designer jeans, and the missing letters spell THREE D. Clearly the movie is DREDD, no?

If Sacagawea were spelled correctly, yes it leads to designer genes, yes it leads to 3D, and it leads to BLACK PANTHER. It is 3D, an Academy Award nominee, and it won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. I'm shaken that this isn't the correct answer.

So it wasn't just my imagination then! As I completed it, I thought aloud: Is THAT how it's always been spelled?? I got the J via the association with Jens Psaki and Aniston, but it was a puzzle.

Edited to note that Hardcore History podcaster Dan Carlin pronounces it with a hard G as suh-cah-ghuh-WEE-uh (versus how I used to hear it as sah-cah-juh-WEE-uh).

Screenshot_20210830-151026.png

Joe Ross wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 8:29 am

Franklin.Bluth wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 8:08 am

hoover wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 1:12 am I got PAGEANTed. The instructions didn't specify Academy Award nomination, just "Best Picture."

Thread (2016) was nominated for Best Film at the 2017 Hellenic Film Academy Awards.

"Best Picture" is a category that is, if not exclusive to the Oscars, highly associated with them. Most other awards use "Best Film", or some specific appellation (Palme d'Or, Grand Prix, etc.). Even the Golden Globes say "Best Motion Picture".

I was PAGEANTed, too, in this exact way & was told by the puzzle's creator Franklin's explanation, which is fair. (The Hellenic Film Society's Academy Awards aren't global news.)

Like others, my initial IMDB interwebbing did not yield PHANTOM THREAD, or I ignored it. Antiundisfortunately and less better, along with solving early (due to WSJ's mistake), I also submitted early & incorrectly when copying Mike Miller to alert him of the early posting of the contest's PDF.

Hidden in 3D wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 9:53 am I had seen Phantom Thread during a special event that AMC Theatres used to host just before the Academy Awards presentation in pre-COVID days. The Best Picture nominated films were shown back-to-back on the two Saturdays just prior to the Oscars presentation for those who bought the package ahead of time.

Randy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:48 am Is just one WSJ coffee mug awarded to a randomly drawn name ? We should take up a collection to do better than that. Do you announce who the random selectee is?

Randy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:48 am Is just one WSJ coffee mug awarded to a randomly drawn name ? We should take up a collection to do better than that. Do you announce who the random selectee is?

Franklin.Bluth wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 3:10 pm

pizzapizza123 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 2:34 pm

Al Laubenstein wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 12:30 pm Ok, hear me out. If Sacagawea were spelled correctly, it leads to designer genes instead of designer jeans, and the missing letters spell THREE D. Clearly the movie is DREDD, no?

If Sacagawea were spelled correctly, yes it leads to designer genes, yes it leads to 3D, and it leads to BLACK PANTHER. It is 3D, an Academy Award nominee, and it won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. I'm shaken that this isn't the correct answer.

So it wasn't just my imagination then! As I completed it, I thought aloud: Is THAT how it's always been spelled?? I got the J via the association with Jens Psaki and Aniston, but it was a puzzle.

Edited to note that Hardcore History podcaster Dan Carlin pronounces it with a hard G as suh-cah-ghuh-WEE-uh (versus how I used to hear it as -cah-juh-WEE-uh).

Screenshot_20210830-151026.png

SReh26 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 12:00 pm

Randy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:48 am Is just one WSJ coffee mug awarded to a randomly drawn name ? We should take up a collection to do better than that. Do you announce who the random selectee is?

Tiffany & Co. has a beautiful, outrageously priced selection of coffee mugs - don’t ask me how I know, I had to get a retiring coworker a gift and I found out!.

Think what they could do to boost profits if one had a crossword puzzle image on the side.

But this group is too smart for such indulgence. Anyway, its not the cup per se we do it for the Glory!!

MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 2:36 pm We had 3563 entries--our statisticians can tell us whether that's a record or just close to one.

SReh26 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:53 pm

Billy M wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:29 am Despite still doing the daily wsj grids over a cup of coffee each morning, I've taken a few months off from the metas as I found it necessary with returning to full time work. Excited to dive in to what I've missed.

That being said I can confidently say that I'm both happy to be back and also to be on shore this fine Sunday morning with this quick one. Bloody Mary for me since it's Sunday and well before noon .

Congrats on returning to full time work, assuming congrats are in order, and welcome back!

Billy M wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:08 pm

SReh26 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:53 pm

Billy M wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:29 am Despite still doing the daily wsj grids over a cup of coffee each morning, I've taken a few months off from the metas as I found it necessary with returning to full time work. Excited to dive in to what I've missed.

That being said I can confidently say that I'm both happy to be back and also to be on shore this fine Sunday morning with this quick one. Bloody Mary for me since it's Sunday and well before noon .

Congrats on returning to full time work, assuming congrats are in order, and welcome back!

Thank you so much. Everyone's had it hard over the last year and a half, but I'd wager to say that those of us who find our financial sustenance in the restaurant world have had it particularly tough. I'm glad to be back "behind the stick," as us bartenders call it, and I'm glad to have time to work on the metas again. I've very much missed it.

SReh26 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:27 pm

Billy M wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 4:08 pm

SReh26 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:53 pm

Congrats on returning to full time work, assuming congrats are in order, and welcome back!

Thank you so much. Everyone's had it hard over the last year and a half, but I'd wager to say that those of us who find our financial sustenance in the restaurant world have had it particularly tough. I'm glad to be back "behind the stick," as us bartenders call it, and I'm glad to have time to work on the metas again. I've very much missed it.

Yes, congrats on getting through this terrible, godawful time. I agree restaurant and bars were among the hardest hit.

I’m always abashed around bartenders, who are always asking me things that stump me, like, “what’ll ya have” (I don’t drink very often, so I don’t really know) or “what kind of gin?” if I say gin and tonic (I don’t have a favorite brand).

BUT - I do know a few things: prosecco, sweet riesling, a watermelon drink with white rum, Chilean red, pomegranate margaritas and cider. And I had a mixed drink with grapefruit, strawberry and campari once. And I adore iced lattes with Baileys so I stopped.

Do you have a favorite?

mikeB wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:02 pm I got caught up in the premature publication frenzy. Saw the post about the pre-leak; looked for it Wednesday but I was too late. Concluded this might be a unique opportunity for some groundbreaking paranormal research. I picked a quiet time, darkened the room, and concentrated in silence – hoping to pick up emanations from among such a highly affinitized and focused group already occupied with the pre-leaked puzzle. Crickets, unfortunately. But then I had a very vivid dream Wednesday night: At least a dozen Muggles Forum avatars were zombie-walking toward me, moaning something in unison. I couldn’t make it out until they got closer, and then it was unmistakable – they were chanting “Thousand Island Dressing”. Aha! Come morning, I scrambled to confirm it on the web, but no movie by that name – at least not nominated for Best Picture. (And to think it appeared as such a robust consensus.) Flummoxed, I was forced to wait and solve after (re)publication, as so many others here were. It was a quick solve, but I was crestfallen not to have made paranormal history. Lesson learned: Ignore advice from visiting apparitions – lotto numbers and relationship guidance are okay, but not the important stuff like puzzle contest answers.

MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 2:36 pm This was a huge end-of-summer blockbuster! We had 3563 entries--our statisticians can tell us whether that's a record or just close to one. And a very high 90% success rate.

Also a big turnout for THREAD and THREADS (142), on the right trail but not quite. Plus THE BIG SHORT (funny idea, 12), JOKER (7), ARGO (4) and many others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Tim Boyle of Munhall, Penn.!