Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:11 am
I'm so glad not to be the only person who spends Mondays hoping against hope for "the call."
XWord Muggles Forum
A place to discuss the WSJ Weekly Crossword Contest and other "meta"-style crosswords
https://www.xword-muggles.com/
"Make Him From Them" - January 29, 2021
Page 21 of 22
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: 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). 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.
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:13 pm
You're one-up on the Frozen Logger - but have you found your true love yet?mheberlingx100 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:28 amI 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.Tony S wrote: ↑Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:49 pmI 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.)
Lyrics from https://www.elyrics.net/read/j/johnny-c ... yrics.htmlAs 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."
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 1:39 pm
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: 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...
Stay tuned for an update on this week's winner...
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:17 pm
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.
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 8:38 am
Huh! A bug in your phone won't let you listen about bugs on your phone - how buzzare!
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 8:51 am
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.....
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 8:56 am
I graciously volunteer to be the chosen one this weekMikeMillerwsj 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...
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 9:02 am
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).
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).
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:39 am
We now have a winner: Jim Burger of Huntersville, NC. Congrats!
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:45 am
To quote Hall & Oates:MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:39 am We now have a winner: Jim Burger of Huntersville, NC. Congrats!
So close, yet so far away.
So close, yet so far away.
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:52 am
Less than 30 minutes away! The mug is coming ever-closer. (Congrats, Jim!)MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:39 am We now have a winner: Jim Burger of Huntersville, NC. Congrats!
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: 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...
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 11:36 am
Aw man, so close; only missed my name by 8 letters!MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:39 am We now have a winner: Jim Burger of Huntersville, NC. Congrats!
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 11:50 am
Eguinan and I resemble that remark!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...
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 1:33 pm
Heeyy - Jim Burger of NC - is this an inside job?
Just kidding of course, Great Job Jim and congratulations!!!
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 3:50 pm
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”!
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”!
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:23 pm
Me three!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...
Re: "Make Him From Them" January 29, 2021
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 9:03 am
Me five! (POWERS2020 got the fourth spot)KscX wrote: ↑Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:23 pmMe three!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...