Re: "Swap Meet" - April 16, 2021
Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 10:45 am
I don't feel too bad not getting this one. It was way too much like work.
Very nice design, though.
Very nice design, though.
A place to discuss the WSJ Weekly Crossword Contest and other "meta"-style crosswords
https://www.xword-muggles.com/
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.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.
Judging from post 370 followed quickly by post 372, I'd say those flood gates opened wide!whimsy wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 9:36 amTo 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......DrTom wrote: ↑Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:44 pmHere 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.....
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.
Any chance we can put that link in our calendar?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
Excellent idea!Al Sisti wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 6:50 pmAny chance we can put that link in our calendar?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
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.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.
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.Limerick Savant wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:06 amSimilarly 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.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.
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.