"Out Of Bounds" - December 13, 2019

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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FKelly
Posts: 315
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 9:09 pm

#141

Post by FKelly »

Got it. Not a fan of this type of mechanism. It leaves one with a MEH feeling instead of an AHA.
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BarbaraK
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#142

Post by BarbaraK »

Bob cruise director wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 4:50 pm
Monday's are great because everyone talks about what the did and how they got there. The wrong turns are much better than the right ones.
And sometimes this week’s wrong turn ends up being the key to a future meta.
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MajordomoTom
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Location: St. Louis, MO

#143

Post by MajordomoTom »

FKelly wrote: Sat Dec 14, 2019 5:52 pm Got it. Not a fan of this type of mechanism. It leaves one with a MEH feeling instead of an AHA.
Disagree - very satisfied with this type of mechanism.

Bought Gaffney's book and am working through the one star puzzles. So far, so good.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
JimmyJam
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri May 03, 2019 6:38 pm

#144

Post by JimmyJam »

I’m on A shore. Mr. G assures me it’s THE shore, so I’ve submitted, but I’m missing a tiny sliver of the meta that would give me the reassurance I crave. Whether right or wrong, though, I enjoyed the swim this week!
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Colin
Posts: 546
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:57 pm

#145

Post by Colin »

Still on the ship...plenty of time tomorrow.
One world. One planet. One future.
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Joe Ross
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#146

Post by Joe Ross »

This puzzle had to wait for the Presidents Cup.

Safely ashore. Glenfiddich, neat, and water back, please.

Going to watch Bob's Patriots play live in several hours. Leave the bottle.
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

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grwinski
Posts: 211
Joined: Sat May 18, 2019 2:39 pm
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

#147

Post by grwinski »

Ashore! A combination of easy and difficult parts, in our opinion! But glad to be back after missing the last several weeks (some due to traveling to remote parts of the country and not able to access the puzzle, but last weeks!?!? Felt like the joke with the physics professor and multiple boards of equations, and down in the lower right corner 'and then a miracle happens'. Then again, we haven't been paying attention to the cartoons for a number of years).

George and Rita
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Colin
Posts: 546
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:57 pm

#148

Post by Colin »

On shore with a perfect answer... perfect to me, that is! My doubts lie in the numerous other decoys, but my fingers are crossed. Now, back to decking the halls.
One world. One planet. One future.
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pddigi
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 5:57 pm

#149

Post by pddigi »

I had one error in the grid fill which left me high and dry. Dom gave me a kick-start (even though he had the mechanism but not the answer), and as often happens with us, the one who helps the other one watches with envy as the one receiving help solves. So it was again with this one: Dom gave me the mechanism and I got the answer before him. We are both on shore.

Synchronicity: for reasons I can’t remember, I think having to do with the answer’s alma mater being the answer to a trivia question, we talked about him just last weekend while watching football!
LaceyK
Posts: 127
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2019 5:10 pm
Location: San Diego

#150

Post by LaceyK »

An error in the grid also kept me stumped for a while. Then I 4D'd most of yesterday trying to get past my 80% hunch. Finally solved that last bit today for 100% on shore.
I look forward to Monday's discussion of the decoys that led me astray!
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Bob cruise director
Cruise Director
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Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA

#151

Post by Bob cruise director »

I hope that everyone is ready for a day of NFL watching today

We have 5 on the ship and 103 on the shore.

DrTom has joined Isaac in the ship's bar for a while

And we have set up more big screens on the shore for the crowd there

Since yesterday we have had the following make it to the shore
MaryCC
Peter L
Fred
Nalugirl
Rad26
Joe Ross
Colin
Jimmyjam
Rita and George
Cynthia J
Paul D
and Dominic
and LaceyK

Good luck to you and your teams today (except for the Bengals because the Pats are playing them) and good luck winning the mug
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
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EdStrong
Posts: 155
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:37 pm

#152

Post by EdStrong »

Finally ashore.
howardl
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2019 10:19 pm

#153

Post by howardl »

I'm on shore. I had enough to submit what I'm sure is the right answer, but I spent more time thinking I would get confirmation from additional efforts along lines suggested by the title. I'll be disappointed if I was on the right track for this additional confirmation which I failed to find, even if my answer is correct.
AnnP
Posts: 52
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2019 8:47 pm

#154

Post by AnnP »

I'm letting this one go by. Got a late start, the grid is done but anything NFL is out of bounds for me. I'm learning not to let things make me crazy, especially 10 days before Christmas! Looking forward to seeing the solution. Good luck to you all on winning the mug!
steveb
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Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:25 pm
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

#155

Post by steveb »

Count me on shore. I'm looking forward to either confirmation or further enlightenment tonight.
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BarbaraK
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#156

Post by BarbaraK »

Eric Porter wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:45 pm I'm finally 14A!

From the moment I saw the puzzle, I generally knew what I needed to do, but I had a few false starts. The red herrings probably weren't put there intentionally, but I got tripped up.

Even if someone doesn't figure it out, there are a very limited number of players who fit the criteria in the clues. I won't say exactly how many, but I found all of them last night hoping that it would help me solve the puzzle.
I hope you'll post the number and/or list them tomorrow. I wonder if some people did "solve" it that way - either guessing from the pool or finding one person who fit and then not looking for others. A few of the comments here sound like people didn't actually get the meta part of this.
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Bob cruise director
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#157

Post by Bob cruise director »

BarbaraK wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:58 pm
Eric Porter wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:45 pm I'm finally 14A!

From the moment I saw the puzzle, I generally knew what I needed to do, but I had a few false starts. The red herrings probably weren't put there intentionally, but I got tripped up.

Even if someone doesn't figure it out, there are a very limited number of players who fit the criteria in the clues. I won't say exactly how many, but I found all of them last night hoping that it would help me solve the puzzle.
I hope you'll post the number and/or list them tomorrow. I wonder if some people did "solve" it that way - either guessing from the pool or finding one person who fit and then not looking for others. A few of the comments here sound like people didn't actually get the meta part of this.
I have the list and if Eric does not post it, I will
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
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Colin
Posts: 546
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:57 pm

#158

Post by Colin »

Eric Porter wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:45 pm From the moment I saw the puzzle, I generally knew what I needed to do, but I had a few false starts. The red herrings probably weren't put there intentionally, but I got tripped up.
Oh Eric, I think those red herrings (decoys) are very much intentional!
“Only the paranoid survive!” (Andy Grove)
“I used to be paranoid, but now I know everyone is out to get me!” (Unknown)
:)
One world. One planet. One future.
DaveWa
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:43 pm
Location: Lincoln, NE

#159

Post by DaveWa »

I'm safely ashore, unlike last week when I was carried out to sea by the rip tide!
bobbydeee
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2019 12:24 pm

#160

Post by bobbydeee »

On shore! Or is it in bounds? The meta was pretty easy to solve but a lot of fun!
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