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Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:04 pm
by kfahey714
Curious as to whether anyone ever actually gets a mug.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:15 pm
by RPardoe
kfahey714 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:04 pm Curious as to whether anyone ever actually gets a mug.
Yes...in fact there is a whole thread allowing mug winners to shout out.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:18 pm
by JAQT
I saw ESSAY and TEST was the only other entry that made any sense to me -- but I didn't love it and saw no clear confirmation that TEST was correct. I didn't notice that the theme clues were in the form of a question, but even if I had it probably wouldn't have done it for me. The only "confirmation" that came close for me at the time was the SAT which had the needed SA and supplied the word TEST.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:26 pm
by ship4u
No sooner had the ink dried on the grid when I was convinced that the first word of the solution must begin with an S and the second word begin with an A. So, I proceded, cocksure and full of enthusiasm, to dig myself deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole. Also lurking in the back of my mind was a memory of a meta produced by Matt Gaffney involving spanish translation.

A Seer is someone who is suppossed to be able to see the future (hence, seeking) and Atari is a Japanese word meaning "to hit a target" (the answer). I can hauntingly hear Wolfgang on the Laugh-In TV show, "Verrrrry interesting, but shtupid."

But, thankfully, some wonderful muggles saved me from drowning in that hole.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:34 pm
by ship4u
kfahey714 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:04 pm Curious as to whether anyone ever actually gets a mug.
I have wondered the same thing, as I am sceptical that anyone actually wins the Publisher's Clearinghouse mega check. Oh, wait a minute, the mug is only worth $4. I suppose the WSJ can afford it.......

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:42 pm
by DannyWalter
Blind squirrel here. This acorn fell right into my lap. Did not submit right away as it felt "too easy". Spent a bit of time yesterday trying to discern if "combine" might have a different meaning. But I quickly thought "to hell with that" and submitted :)

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:54 pm
by mheberlingx100
RPardoe wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:15 pm
kfahey714 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:04 pm Curious as to whether anyone ever actually gets a mug.
Yes...in fact there is a whole thread allowing mug winners to shout out.
My sister-in-law won a mug. She’s gunning for another mug, but I hope to win my first mug before she wins her second.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:00 pm
by TeamDoubleTow
HunterX wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:02 am
boharr wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 10:37 am
jh773 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:26 am
My reasoning for choosing “test” rather than “set” was because test is a synonym for “assay” which sounds like “s-a”… Funny that there was really no explicit reason for “test” to be the correct second part.
From post #325:
Given that the clues were all in the form of a possible test question, Essay Test is the obvious answer.
Well, they are in the form of test questions. None are in the form of an Essay Test question.
That exactly explains my hesitancy. I would have loved the answer to have been Short Answer! The title and hint would have to be changed too but I don't think that is too much to ask😆

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:00 pm
by michaelm
DrTom wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:47 am
Sara Dacus wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:09 am I submitted ESSAY SET. Anyone else do this? I didn't look far enough to consider TEST. Should have spent more time on it.
Oh yes, I submitted ESSAY SET based on (1) a "set" of SAs and (2) the SET Question was "In need of nothing further", obviously a refence to the last part of the two word phrase I needed. Perfect, made sense, and the clue confirmed it....

THAT my friends is how you rush to an answer and then simultaneously use you addled mind to confirm your mistake.

I predict there will be quite a bit of ESSAY SETS, but as someone else pointed out, have you ever heard someone say "lets look at the ESSAY SET (well other than me of course). I can blame nobody but myself.

AH, but wait, the all powerful Internet can justify ANYTHING:

WIKI NOOKIEPEDIA (which just sounds wrong!)
The Essay Set is a miscellaneous furniture item in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. As a miscellaneous item, it can be placed on either the ground or on top of a tabletop. The Essay Set can be obtained from Nook's Cranny for 650 Bells.

Well, then if it is worth 650 bells, it MUST be a legitimate answer. :lol:
I had time to do at 4pm Thursday and did come up with ESSAY TEST and submitted for a rare page 1.
Didn't love it, started feeling guilty about POE, looked and looked but couldn't find anything better.
Then saw DrTom's posts over the weekend and absolutely thought I had settled for level one thinking while clearly this was at least a level two/three.
Looked some more, but still couldn't find anything better.
Small Achievement

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:04 pm
by mydogsam
As usual, there were multiple very good answers to this weeks contest puzzle. I still think awarding a mug to someone who comes up with the particular answer that the creator of the puzzle INTENDED is valid. However, it seems to me since there are multiple good answers in many of these contests that the coffee mugs should be designed accordingly. For example, having holes in the bottom of the mug. The number of which depends on how many other good answers were found...

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:05 pm
by ReB
As many have said, ESSAY came out quickly from the theme answers. TEST seemed like the most likely second word, and the two items that gave me confidence were (1) the theme clues were questions (as others previously have pointed out) and (2) what a test does in essence is SEEKING ANSWERS to questions. Especially since nothing else in the grid seemed apropos.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:14 pm
by katnahat
I found the SA and thus Essay as the first word pretty quickly, but had trouble coming up with a second word that made sense. I finally settled on ESSAY SEER. Wasn't really happy with it but there was a lot going on here, so I submitted so I wouldn't be tempted to stare at it all weekend. Asked a friendly Cruise Director, who set me straight, and I floated back out to the ship. It's hard to get back up on that big ship from down in the waves. If I had been putting the emphasis on the first word as I was reading through the grid to see what might go with essay, I would have found test. ESSAY test is a no brainer, but I blew right past essay TEST. What did I learn this week? Don't be lazy; stay with it if the answer doesn't really resonate.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:51 pm
by MajordomoTom
I'm on island ESSAY SET.

Essay Test - answers the question.

Essay Set includes the title of the puzzle in the meta answer. (it's in effect a meta-meta answer)

I see both being acceptable - once you're on ESSAY, you clearly understood what Matt wanted as the answer. The fact that both SET and TEST were in the grid - I blame on Mike S - he should have edited that out (somehow).

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 2:48 pm
by Richard
I saw Essay when I was about half way through the grid but did not see Test.

Convinced myself that the words would start S and A but found men that worked.

Another mugger confirmed that Essay was one of the words, looked harder and found Test.

Hardly an AHA moment for me.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:32 pm
by lbray53
I found an interesting cryptic answer during my wanderings. And I am terrible at cryptic puzzles.

SEEKING ANSWERS or SEE KING ANSWERS

Your Kingdom = ANIMALIA

ANIMALIA MINOT

ANIMAL I. AM I NOT?

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:35 pm
by mntlblok
I'm so *confused*. Replied to a PM this morning. Sez I sent it. "Sent: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:19 am by mntlblok", but it also says that it's in my "outbox" and *doesn't* show it in my "sent" box.

Don't want to pester him with multiple notes. . . Help!

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:39 pm
by boharr
mntlblok wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:35 pm I'm so *confused*. Replied to a PM this morning. Sez I sent it. "Sent: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:19 am by mntlblok", but it also says that it's in my "outbox" and *doesn't* show it in my "sent" box.

Don't want to pester him with multiple notes. . . Help!
PM's remain in your Outbox until the person messaged reads the PM.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:50 pm
by BeTheLight
Got this at the last minute after trying all the above mentioned rabbit holes of combining S and A words from the grid. Finally it occurred to me that SA sounds like the word Essay which was in the grid. Then it was just literally running through every combo of Essay plus another grid entry. Test was a very soft click but I had nothing else so I submitted it ten minutes before the deadline.

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:52 pm
by mntlblok
boharr wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:39 pm
mntlblok wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:35 pm I'm so *confused*. Replied to a PM this morning. Sez I sent it. "Sent: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:19 am by mntlblok", but it also says that it's in my "outbox" and *doesn't* show it in my "sent" box.

Don't want to pester him with multiple notes. . . Help!
PM's remain in your Outbox until the person messaged reads the PM.
Ahhh. That helps. Thank you!

Re: "Seeking Answers" - October 8, 2021

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 4:19 pm
by Kris Zacharias
The meta made me laugh. I wish I had had essay tests with two-word answers while in college.