"Swap Meet" - April 16, 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.
Locked
User avatar
John77
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:09 pm
Location: New Jersey

#401

Post by John77 »

I don't feel too bad not getting this one. It was way too much like work.

Very nice design, though.
Wir sind zu früh alt und zu spät schlau.
User avatar
TeaJenny
Posts: 271
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:44 am
Location: Stamford, CT

#402

Post by TeaJenny »

DrTom wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 12:06 am Loved this meta (well mainly because I got it) but I have to admit I tried LOTS of combinations of what the numbers might stand for before finally hitting the magic formula. I had the alternate "phrases" early but it was quite some time before i arrived at the "deal", Monty Hall would be proud.
I put the cart before the horse and spent way too much time playing around with various letter/number combinations before I caught on to the alternate phrases. Once I found those, everything clicked.

At the Risk of starting a War, I tip both my hat and my teacup to a fellow punster. Very well played, sir. Clever word play has always been one of my favorite things. Probably the result of watching too many Marx Brothers movies as a kid.
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~C.S. Lewis
User avatar
HunterX
Posts: 1163
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 9:17 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

#403

Post by HunterX »

whimsy wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 9:36 am
DrTom wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:44 pm
HunterX wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 5:22 pm

"Calling Dr. Tom... Calling Dr. Tom... You're needed in the Muggles wing, STAT!"
Here as paged! I was playing Hide and Seek with a drug rep....... Plus I was also busy trying to counsel a patient with bladder control issues, seems he cannot always control his elimination and sometimes manages to wet his hand, he called it his pee knuckle.....
To paraphrase Sam Cooke -- Don't know much about urology, but in my amateur opinion, this could be a symptom of the problematic results of holding back too long......
Judging from post 370 followed quickly by post 372, I'd say those flood gates opened wide!

Hey, I love a good pun-pot-shot (and not just on 4/20) as much as the next guy (okay, more), but when the pun-typhoon hits... RUN FOR THE HILLS!
User avatar
HunterX
Posts: 1163
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 9:17 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

#404

Post by HunterX »

I loved this meta too. Finding the replacement words for the second word of each phrase was fun. Then realizing you could do it for ALL of the words made it more fun.

My only quibble was the numbers. I've got nothing against numbers, per se, mind you. It's just that it adds a little inelegance, albeit probably necessary with this particular meta. It's always great when the mechanism extends itself into the words you find, instead of just basically giving you which letter to use. Though I can't imagine a construction like this, with 8 substitute phrases-and-words, that you could do without the help of the numbers!
User avatar
Bird Lives
Posts: 2607
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:43 pm
Location: NYC
Contact:

#405

Post by Bird Lives »

WSJ 4-16 850.jpg
Jay
User avatar
auee89
Posts: 1069
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:55 am
Location: Indiana

#406

Post by auee89 »

Bird Lives wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 1:14 pm WSJ 4-16 850.jpg
Nice! Even when looking at the solution, I still have trouble seeing it :-). Glad I didn't spend too much time working on the meta and enjoyed Isaac's company.
Kevin
User avatar
SusieG
Posts: 431
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:20 pm
Location: Arkansas

#407

Post by SusieG »

My hang up was that I saw way more alternatives (probably nonsense if said them out loud), and then thought the SWAPS would MEET - meaning the meta would be composed of where the words intersected. Once I went back to only having one alternative, it worked perfectly. Very fun.
User avatar
whimsy
Posts: 2718
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
Location: Hopkinton MA

#408

Post by whimsy »

Seeing VINEGAR right smack dab in the middle was what got me started on my way.
User avatar
jrdad
Posts: 194
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2020 8:42 am

#409

Post by jrdad »

Whimsy, me too. A constructor like PB doesn't put a word in the center like that and not have it mean something; like Chekhov's gun.
User avatar
boharr
Moderator
Posts: 3182
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
Location: Westchester, NY

#410

Post by boharr »

whimsy wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 2:04 pm Seeing VINEGAR right smack dab in the middle was what got me started on my way.
Funny. I had all the others before I slapped my head and saw VINEGAR right in front of my eyes.
User avatar
TPS
Posts: 721
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:19 pm
Location: Florida

#411

Post by TPS »

whimsy wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 2:04 pm Seeing VINEGAR right smack dab in the middle was what got me started on my way.
Same...And I’d be willing to bet that if the middle clue hadn’t been one of the swaps I wouldn’t have solved this puzzle.
User avatar
LadyBird
Posts: 872
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:20 pm
Location: Chicagoland

#412

Post by LadyBird »

Given that each of the theme answers was x AND y, I thought it was a bit of a cruel rabbit hole to have two identical clues of trials AND tribulations. I, too, wandered down a few numerical rabbit holes until the word VINEGAR clicked.
User avatar
Kas
Posts: 265
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:23 pm
Location: Usually in a rabbit hole.

#413

Post by Kas »

Oh hi, Isaac.

Yep. Me again.
User avatar
Joe Ross
Moderator
Posts: 4999
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
Location: Cincinnati

#414

Post by Joe Ross »

User avatar
Al Sisti
Posts: 2037
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Whitesboro NY

#415

Post by Al Sisti »

Joe Ross wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 4:00 pm LINK to Tuesday Night Muggle Zoom Meeting, starting at 7:30 PM ET, 4:30 PM PT

If pw needed, use muggle
Any chance we can put that link in our calendar?
User avatar
Joe Ross
Moderator
Posts: 4999
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
Location: Cincinnati

#416

Post by Joe Ross »

Al Sisti wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 6:50 pm
Joe Ross wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 4:00 pm LINK to Tuesday Night Muggle Zoom Meeting, starting at 7:30 PM ET, 4:30 PM PT

If pw needed, use muggle
Any chance we can put that link in our calendar?
Excellent idea!
User avatar
Limerick Savant
Posts: 220
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2019 12:22 am
Location: Mobile, AL
Contact:

#417

Post by Limerick Savant »

SusieG wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 1:54 pm My hang up was that I saw way more alternatives (probably nonsense if said them out loud), and then thought the SWAPS would MEET - meaning the meta would be composed of where the words intersected. Once I went back to only having one alternative, it worked perfectly. Very fun.
Similarly I was hung up for way too long with the notion that something needed to MEET and noticed that there is a 5 letter section in the grid where 16A and 20A MEET and the same for 56A and 65A. The fact none of the parenthetical numbers was greater than 5 seemed confirmation that the mechanism involved SWAPPING letters between or within the two abutting sections. After trying every possible permutation of that MEET SWAP and getting only gibberish, I was at a loss. It was only when Wendy Walker nudged me out of that rabbit hole that I was able to see the much simpler word swap that was necessary for the solution.

There lies my beef with this otherwise very clever puzzle. We are so often reminded of the importance of the title when solving the meta yet a full 50% of this title was a misleading red herring. I fail to see any significance of the word MEET. I would have preferred the title STOCK EXCHANGE making reference to the exchange of words in the stock phrases used in the mechanism.

Just my halfpenny’s worth.
Dedicated to no nonsense nonsense
User avatar
CPJohnson
Posts: 1078
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:38 pm
Location: Kingsport, TN

#418

Post by CPJohnson »

Limerick Savant wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:06 am
SusieG wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 1:54 pm My hang up was that I saw way more alternatives (probably nonsense if said them out loud), and then thought the SWAPS would MEET - meaning the meta would be composed of where the words intersected. Once I went back to only having one alternative, it worked perfectly. Very fun.
Similarly I was hung up for way too long with the notion that something needed to MEET and noticed that there is a 5 letter section in the grid where 16A and 20A MEET and the same for 56A and 65A. The fact none of the parenthetical numbers was greater than 5 seemed confirmation that the mechanism involved SWAPPING letters between or within the two abutting sections. After trying every possible permutation of that MEET SWAP and getting only gibberish, I was at a loss. It was only when Wendy Walker nudged me out of that rabbit hole that I was able to see the much simpler word swap that was necessary for the solution.

There lies my beef with this otherwise very clever puzzle. We are so often reminded of the importance of the title when solving the meta yet a full 50% of this title was a misleading red herring. I fail to see any significance of the word MEET. I would have preferred the title STOCK EXCHANGE making reference to the exchange of words in the stock phrases used in the mechanism.

Just my halfpenny’s worth.
I thought that was part of the meta-solving process.....figuring out which part or parts of the title apply to the meta. Sometimes it's the whole title, and sometimes it's just one word.
Cynthia
User avatar
Gman
Posts: 349
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 2:47 pm
Location: Encinitas CA

#419

Post by Gman »

No word yet on the winner this week. Therefore, I will once again graciously volunteer to receive the mug. 😀

IT'S A DEAL?
User avatar
mheberlingx100
Posts: 516
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:39 am

#420

Post by mheberlingx100 »

Gman wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:59 pm No word yet on the winner this week. Therefore, I will once again graciously volunteer to receive the mug. 😀

IT'S A DEAL?
Anagram of this week’s answer: SAID LATE.
Locked