"Make Him From Them" - January 29, 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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Mister Squawk
Posts: 241
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2020 9:15 am
Location: Boston

#401

Post by Mister Squawk »

I'm so glad not to be the only person who spends Mondays hoping against hope for "the call."
otlaolap
Posts: 245
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:48 am
Location: Palo Alto, California

#402

Post by otlaolap »

I googled one-named singers and got a list with over a hundred (of which I'd heard of only three or four). Usher was one of the names, but when I considered it, looking at the grid, it just seemed too slap-dash and casual (us her and a glissando noise u - us -she - her) to be an answer. The puzzles heretofore have had elegance (especially last week and the "I'm Surrounded" Tennessee), and this had none of the punch of the earlier puzzles. Thought about a hail Mary, but I didn't have any feeling of "solving" anything. Even after the formal solution explanation, I still think this was light. Nothing really locked it in as a good tight solution -- it was just sort of meh, the best you could find, might be in the ballpark. "U" is not a pronoun; "oneofus" is unbalanced with respect to answer lengths (you could say that "pronoun" is a theme answer and balances it, but it does not to me). This puzzle would not have caused me, during my twelve-week trial subscription, to actually subscribe to the WSJ. The other puzzles would, and did. (Of course the WSJ articles and writing also played a part in that.) Still glad to be here, though.
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ReB
Posts: 667
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:34 pm
Location: East Tennessee

#403

Post by ReB »

mheberlingx100 wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:28 am
Tony S wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:49 pm
Notbitter wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 7:33 pm

I won the mug on the very first answer I ever submitted. At the time I thought they must just give away a bunch of mugs. Don’t hate me. Little did I know...
I don't hate you. I won the Financial Times Saturday prize contest the first time I entered back in 2019 --- and it was also the first time I ever completed that puzzle without resorting to references. My prize was a copy of Simon Winchester's The Meaning of Everything --- The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary. (It's a great book by the way.)
I have been working on winning a mug for 3 years and still no success. I have had to cup my hands and drink my coffee like that. That’s painful enough, but murder when I try to make Irish coffee - so sticky! I’m hopeful of winning soon so I can drink my coffee in the morning burn-free and with dignity.
You're one-up on the Frozen Logger - but have you found your true love yet?
As I sat down one evening within a small cafe,
A forty year old waitress to me these words did say:

"I see that you are a logger, and not just a common bum,
'Cause nobody but a logger stirs his coffee with is thumb.

My lover was a logger, there's none like him today;
If you'd pour whiskey on it he could eat a bale of hay

He never shaved his whiskers from off of his horny hide;
He'd just drive them in with a hammer and bite them off inside.

My lover came to see me upon one freezing day;
He held me in his fond embrace which broke three vertebrae.

He kissed me when we parted, so hard that he broke my jaw;
I could not speak to tell him he'd forgot his mackinaw.

I saw my lover leaving, sauntering through the snow,
Going gaily homeward at forty-eight below.

The weather it tried to freeze him, it tried its level best;
At a hundred degrees below zero, he buttoned up his vest.

It froze clean through to China, it froze to the stars above;
At a thousand degrees below zero, it froze my logger love.

They tried in vain to thaw him, and would you believe me, sir
They made him into axeblades, to chop the Douglas fir.

And so I lost my lover, and to this cafe I come,
And here I wait till someone stirs his coffee with his thumb."
Lyrics from https://www.elyrics.net/read/j/johnny-c ... yrics.html
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ardentgailla
Posts: 14
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Location: West Virginia

#404

Post by ardentgailla »

otlaolap wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 11:55 am I googled one-named singers and got a list with over a hundred (of which I'd heard of only three or four).
I did the same thing and still did not come up with Usher. The best I could do was Cher.
Aspiring MUGgle
I don't want to be "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth." 2 Tim 3:7
SarasotaSun
Posts: 103
Joined: Mon Sep 16, 2019 7:53 am

#405

Post by SarasotaSun »

Still no announcement about this week's winner? Either they haven't found any entry with the correct answer yet, or the "winner" isn't checking his/her emails often enough.
MikeMillerwsj
Posts: 286
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:46 pm

#406

Post by MikeMillerwsj »

Hello, we are still waiting for confirmation of our winner (check your mailboxes! check your spam filters!), but here's a preliminary report. A sizeable and successful turnout: 2557 entries, about 86% correct. CHER (71) topped the list of incorrect mononyms, which also included STING (33), BONO (25), EMINEM (23), LIBERACE (4), RUPAUL (3) and several others.

Stay tuned for an update on this week's winner...
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KscX
Posts: 234
Joined: Sat May 02, 2020 12:09 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC

#407

Post by KscX »

I just told my friends who solve and submit but aren’t here to check the inbox and spam. No dice. Me neither. But we’re less than 48 hours away for another chance. In the meantime, I NYT Daily & Mini, and work. And read. And all of those other “hobbies”. But we all know this is the real deal.
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DrTom
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

#408

Post by DrTom »

LadyBird wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 10:24 pm Hey Dr. Tom--Stuff You Should Know just released a new podcast on Maggots and Healing. Unfortunately, I can't listen to it because my phone updated yesterday and now my Podcast Addict app doesn't work. Darn technology!
Huh! A bug in your phone won't let you listen about bugs on your phone - how buzzare!
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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DrTom
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

#409

Post by DrTom »

BrianMac wrote: Mon Feb 01, 2021 11:45 am You're all banned.
Brian, Brian, Brian....first off the Meta was about a one named singer, not a whole band. Additionally, you spelled band wrong and I believe it should be "you are all A band."

As for the French connection, it is nice to have a place where we can all chat or even discuss our daily pain (which I fully support being part of the conjugation of the verb "pun")

I am sorry I missed all that fun, I was strangely busy last week and will probably be so next week. Although we MAY finally be starting to gain ground there are still a lot of sick people. Unfortunately, in Florida, Duval county is one of the hot spots and although thankfully the rate is not going up, it is stable. We are getting a lot of folks vaccinated and, hopefully, turning that corner that was so often referred to.

All that darn healthcare eats in to my meta and goofy comment time - inconsiderate little virus.....
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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Gman
Posts: 349
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 2:47 pm
Location: Encinitas CA

#410

Post by Gman »

MikeMillerwsj wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:35 pm Hello, we are still waiting for confirmation of our winner (check your mailboxes! check your spam filters!), but here's a preliminary report. A sizeable and successful turnout: 2557 entries, about 86% correct. CHER (71) topped the list of incorrect mononyms, which also included STING (33), BONO (25), EMINEM (23), LIBERACE (4), RUPAUL (3) and several others.

Stay tuned for an update on this week's winner...
I graciously volunteer to be the chosen one this week :D
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Joe Ross
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Location: Cincinnati

#411

Post by Joe Ross »

This person who isn't checking their mail brings up a point:

Email your answer & include your name, address, & phone number, so that they either don't have to contact you (since they have an address), or they have another means of reaching you (if you don't check all folders of your email & don't reply in a timely manner).
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
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𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
MikeMillerwsj
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Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:46 pm

#412

Post by MikeMillerwsj »

We now have a winner: Jim Burger of Huntersville, NC. Congrats!
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Cindy
Posts: 1247
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:39 pm
Location: Matthews

#413

Post by Cindy »

MikeMillerwsj wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:39 am We now have a winner: Jim Burger of Huntersville, NC. Congrats!
To quote Hall & Oates:

So close, yet so far away.
So close, yet so far away.
Hidden in 3D
Posts: 379
Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2019 11:42 pm

#414

Post by Hidden in 3D »

MikeMillerwsj wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:39 am We now have a winner: Jim Burger of Huntersville, NC. Congrats!
Less than 30 minutes away! The mug is coming ever-closer. (Congrats, Jim!)
Sara
Hidden in 3D
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Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2019 11:42 pm

#415

Post by Hidden in 3D »

Haha! Cindy and I think alike. I suspect all of us in the Charlotte area are a little jealous right now...
Sara
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Al Sisti
Posts: 2037
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Location: Whitesboro NY

#416

Post by Al Sisti »

MikeMillerwsj wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:39 am We now have a winner: Jim Burger of Huntersville, NC. Congrats!
Aw man, so close; only missed my name by 8 letters!
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Powers2020
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2020 6:05 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC

#417

Post by Powers2020 »

Hidden in 3D wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:59 am Haha! Cindy and I think alike. I suspect all of us in the Charlotte area are a little jealous right now...
Eguinan and I resemble that remark! :lol:
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DrTom
Posts: 3765
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
Location: Jacksonville, FL

#418

Post by DrTom »

Heeyy - Jim Burger of NC - is this an inside job?
CWBURGER 2.jpg
Just kidding of course, Great Job Jim and congratulations!!!
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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BethA
Posts: 624
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:44 pm
Location: Beaver, PA

#419

Post by BethA »

Speaking of food, here’s the belated Male Chauvinist Chili report.

Both Dan and I liked it, would have it again. It made about 3 quarts, so we ate it for two meals and put the third quart in the freezer for a future easy meta day meal. I don’t think there were any spoilers, but it ended up having a little tie-in to the meta, “Make HIM from Them”!
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KscX
Posts: 234
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Location: Charlotte, NC

#420

Post by KscX »

Hidden in 3D wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:59 am Haha! Cindy and I think alike. I suspect all of us in the Charlotte area are a little jealous right now...
Me three!
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