XWord Muggles Forum

OK, my first contest try, got it wrong. But licking my wounds and wondering if I can take advantage of the forum I just joined to get a little constructive criticism.

USHER is now obvious, I get it 100%. My answer was: BONO. You see folks: I got 'U2' in my head, then one-named singer ....see what I did there? So would you say 'oh yeah, you're wrong but I can kind of see how one might arrive at Bono';...or 'nope, hopelessly off the rails thinking like that'

Thank you in advance......

anaerobe wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:27 am OK, my first contest try, got it wrong. But licking my wounds and wondering if I can take advantage of the forum I just joined to get a little constructive criticism.

USHER is now obvious, I get it 100%. My answer was: BONO. You see folks: I got 'U2' in my head, then one-named singer ....see what I did there? So would you say 'oh yeah, you're wrong but I can kind of see how one might arrive at Bono';...or 'nope, hopelessly off the rails thinking like that'

Thank you in advance......

Welcome, anaerobe! Although sometimes people comment that they have thought of the answer just by working the puzzle, the more common method to the correct solution involves a path of some sort that leads you in the right direction. Frequently, the path is in the longest grid entries.

anaerobe wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:27 am OK, my first contest try, got it wrong. But licking my wounds and wondering if I can take advantage of the forum I just joined to get a little constructive criticism.

USHER is now obvious, I get it 100%. My answer was: BONO. You see folks: I got 'U2' in my head, then one-named singer ....see what I did there? So would you say 'oh yeah, you're wrong but I can kind of see how one might arrive at Bono';...or 'nope, hopelessly off the rails thinking like that'

Thank you in advance......

Hi and welcome! I’ve only been in the group since last year but I find that the explanations offered by my colleagues on Monday morning really help me understand where I may have gone astray. Take a look at the prior comments in this site. You’ll see how to get to “Usher”.

Hang in and enjoy!

How I arrived at it:

1) We're looking for a singer, and there are five song related clues
2) Those five answers are symmetrical in the grid with the addition of the answer PRONOUN
3) Each of the five song titles contains a pronoun. Coincidence? I think not
4) As there were only five song related clues, and everything was nice and symmetrical, I felt no need to look at other pronouns in any other answers.
5) Laying out the pronouns, you get a nice little ladder that each contained the previous letter: Usher seemed pretty obvious at that point.

(Edited to get the letters to line up properly)

anaerobe wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:27 am OK, my first contest try, got it wrong. But licking my wounds and wondering if I can take advantage of the forum I just joined to get a little constructive criticism.

USHER is now obvious, I get it 100%. My answer was: BONO. You see folks: I got 'U2' in my head, then one-named singer ....see what I did there? So would you say 'oh yeah, you're wrong but I can kind of see how one might arrive at Bono';...or 'nope, hopelessly off the rails thinking like that'

Thank you in advance......

There are resources in the Come Aboard forum that will help you. Probably the best tip is to not get fixated on an answer early unless you can back check it and it fits with the title and other hints hidden in the puzzle. A key will be learning to use the puzzle title, theme answers, and other hints that are sometimes placed in the clues/answers.

This puzzle was an example of one I probably wouldn’t have solved 18 months ago but now solved in under 10 minutes before I even finished working the grid because I knew what to look for. Good Luck!

I saw USHER early on, but was missing the proper conflation of the pronouns, and couldn't define the mechanism to my liking, so I abandoned that idea and looked for others. I spent far too long trying to fill the black squares by the theme answers with letters and going from there. Thought 28D might have been a hint towards this mechanism. And it looked like it was going to spell SEAL, but didnt. The idea made sense but didn't pan out

LOOK(S)FIT
US(E)ONE
WAS(A)BABE
STILL(S)HE GOT
RAN(G)BELLS

SEASG? I think not, and boharr USHERed me along in the correct direction.

Also chuckled at seeing HEGOTGAME in another one. Somebody must really like that film.

Every Monday morning after a successful solve, I immediately check my emails - searching frantically for the WSJ to tell me I’ve won the mug. And then... the disappointment. However, hope springs eternal. There is always next week!

Well I got this one fairly quickly. I missed the "pronoun" hint somehow but saw that Them and Him were pronouns and found the pronouns in the song titles.
However I thought there was something more. Finding nothing submitted Usher and checked with someone who also had Usher.

whimsy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:33 am

HunterX wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 8:24 am

DrTom wrote: ↑Sun Jan 31, 2021 10:23 pm

J'espere que vous etes a le meme temp le chat et ne pas le chat de M. Schrodinger, seulement parce que le chat est peut etre mort et j'aime toutes les monde mieux que cinquante pour cent!

But did "le chat" "mieux"?

Uh-oh -- here they go -- only in French this time!

To use a (homonym of a) pronoun that wasn't used in the meta this week... Mai oui!

Hey Dr. Tom, do you have a story about the time you were in France and met a man with his little daughter, June, who looked up at her dad, pointed at him and said "Pa"? I'll bet when your wife asked you what the girl said, you shrugged and responded... (wait for it) "June say pa."

HunterX wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 11:31 am

whimsy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:33 am

HunterX wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 8:24 am

But did "le chat" "mieux"?

Uh-oh -- here they go -- only in French this time!

To use a (homonym of a) pronoun that wasn't used in the meta this week... Mai oui!

Hey Dr. Tom, do you have a story about the time you were in France and met a man with his little daughter, June, who looked up at her dad, pointed at him and said "Pa"? I'll bet when your wife asked you what the girl said, you shrugged and responded... (wait for it) "June say pa."

Oh great. Now we'll get to hear about the two cats swimming across the English Channel. The first was an English cat that started in England and began counting how long it was taking him. The other was a French cat that started in France and also began counting how long it would take.

The French cat didn't make it very far. "Un, deux, trois..." Cat sank.

You're all banned.

anaerobe wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:27 am OK, my first contest try, got it wrong. But licking my wounds and wondering if I can take advantage of the forum I just joined to get a little constructive criticism.

USHER is now obvious, I get it 100%. My answer was: BONO. You see folks: I got 'U2' in my head, then one-named singer ....see what I did there? So would you say 'oh yeah, you're wrong but I can kind of see how one might arrive at Bono';...or 'nope, hopelessly off the rails thinking like that'

Thank you in advance......

Welcome!

Can you explain how you arrived at BONO? I mean other than the fact the he is a one named singer (which would just be guessing).

mitchel674 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:40 pm

anaerobe wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:27 am OK, my first contest try, got it wrong. But licking my wounds and wondering if I can take advantage of the forum I just joined to get a little constructive criticism.

USHER is now obvious, I get it 100%. My answer was: BONO. You see folks: I got 'U2' in my head, then one-named singer ....see what I did there? So would you say 'oh yeah, you're wrong but I can kind of see how one might arrive at Bono';...or 'nope, hopelessly off the rails thinking like that'

Thank you in advance......

Welcome!

Can you explain how you arrived at BONO? I mean other than the fact the he is a one named singer (which would just be guessing).

Only thing I saw re Bono was NO between US in one answer. Looked hard for BO in similar spot, but never found. Guess you could say he was ushered out of the building for me.

anaerobe wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:27 am OK, my first contest try, got it wrong. But licking my wounds and wondering if I can take advantage of the forum I just joined to get a little constructive criticism.

USHER is now obvious, I get it 100%. My answer was: BONO. You see folks: I got 'U2' in my head, then one-named singer ....see what I did there? So would you say 'oh yeah, you're wrong but I can kind of see how one might arrive at Bono';...or 'nope, hopelessly off the rails thinking like that'

Thank you in advance......

Also in most weeks, the paths that even experienced muggles take down the wrong rabbit holes is both instructive and also makes you feel that your wrong turns were not unique.

Nlobb wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:07 am I used to have a student I taught braille. He was lived with his grandma because his mom had him at age 12 so grandma was raising both of them. Anyway, the family didn't have much, but the boy was a happy child because he had two things he loved: Usher and grandma's biscuits. And he talked about both every day!!!! Always with a huge smile on his face!!!! (I still haven't heard any of Ushers music though.)

How do you know braille?

Count me among those who submitted USHER but wasn't exactly satisfied --- it seemed too obvious. I wondered if anyone flirted with CHER, one of the most famous one-named singers in crossword land; her moniker is 75% pronoun. Close, but no mug.

mitchel674 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:40 pm

anaerobe wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:27 am OK, my first contest try, got it wrong. But licking my wounds and wondering if I can take advantage of the forum I just joined to get a little constructive criticism.

USHER is now obvious, I get it 100%. My answer was: BONO. You see folks: I got 'U2' in my head, then one-named singer ....see what I did there? So would you say 'oh yeah, you're wrong but I can kind of see how one might arrive at Bono';...or 'nope, hopelessly off the rails thinking like that'

Thank you in advance......

Welcome!

Can you explain how you arrived at BONO? I mean other than the fact the he is a one named singer (which would just be guessing).

Haven't seen Mike Miller's summary post, but I would be extremely surprised if that isn't the wrong answer with the most submissions...

I know braille because I am a teacher of the blind and the deaf (nationally certified) and taught at a school for the deaf and blind for many years. Now retired! But I do miss my students...

Nlobb wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 2:01 pm I know braille because I am a teacher of the blind and the deaf (nationally certified) and taught at a school for the deaf and blind for many years. Now retired! But I do miss my students...

Wonderful.

I'm one who submitted USHER but was not satisfied by the answer, which seemed to pick one letter at random from each of theme answers. I partially rationalized it with the idea that the title includes two accusative pronouns (using grammar terms I learned in long-ago HS German classes) and only two of the pronouns in the theme answers are accusative (well, exclusively accusative, since you/u is both nominative and accusative), and if you put those two together, you get US HER. I do like the "diagonal solution" in some of the comments above as being a more elegant solution.