"This, That, and The Other Thing" - April 23, 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
Limerick Savant
Posts: 220
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2019 12:22 am
Location: Mobile, AL
Contact:

#401

Post by Limerick Savant »

Wow, I had it this week for all the right reasons, having discerned the missing other word to finish the 5 phrases that would also answer the starred clues and realizing their first letters spelled MATCH I immediately thought of game, set and match because it fit the pattern of the other phrases. 8A also seemed like a hint. I did not submit, however, because my poor eyesight mistook the quotes (“j at the beginning of 16A for an asterisk (*) and because the clue was OTHERwise it seemed relevant too. That caused me to believe I needed 2 more words from the grid that would complete a 6th phrase in the same THIS, THAT AND OTHER pattern. That rabbit hole of my own making left me questioning my logic and feeling a lot less certain than I would like.

Never really found time to return to the puzzle or I might have caught my unforced error. Lessons learned: 1. Submit my best guess. And 2. Use the magnifier on my phone. 🔍
Dedicated to no nonsense nonsense
User avatar
BrennerTJ
Posts: 433
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2021 2:54 pm
Location: Chicago suburbs

#402

Post by BrennerTJ »

I thought 6D Comparable thing/Analogue was a good indication that solution in the form of A, B and C was called for. Alternate answers on 20A Up for something and 33A Style fancily plus tennis reference solidified for me.
-Tamara
User avatar
ChrisKochmanski
Posts: 2157
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:51 pm
Location: Saline, Michigan

#403

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

I submitted THREE ON A MATCH, but when presented with GAME, SET, AND MATCH soon after, I thought, "That must be it. I'm wrong. 'Three on a Match' is an ancient phrase -- would Matt G. even know of it? -- and 'Game, Set, and Match' fits the format of the puzzle's title. Oh, well."

Funny, though, that when I related this to my wife (she's not a puzzler, but she'll occasionally entertain my puzzle ramblings), she said, "Yes, but isn't the phrase GAME, SET, MATCH? No 'and'. That's three words, not four." So I'd have felt some uncertainty even if I had entered correctly.
User avatar
Gman
Posts: 349
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2020 2:47 pm
Location: Encinitas CA

#404

Post by Gman »

While GAME, SET AND MATCH was the first thing that occurred to me, I went with THAT IS MATCH POINT, because THAT IS appeared in the grid, and keeping with the pattern of two answers plus the missing word, I could only come up with THAT IS MATCH POINT as a valid expression. One could argue from the title that the word THAT was just as important as the word AND, and unlike GAME and SET, it actually appears in the grid. Moreover, both answers refer to tennis, with the confirmatory word LOBBER in the grid. I think this one should go to instant replay 😀. Oh well, 30 in a row down the drain.
User avatar
Tom Shea
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 6:37 am
Location: Freedonia, NH/VT/HI/Earth

#405

Post by Tom Shea »

Once again, when I thought I was on shore, I met Papillon on the beach after midnight. Turns out, it was reaalllllyy the wrong shore.
Rufus T. Firefly
BeTheLight
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:39 pm

#406

Post by BeTheLight »

I have never heard of Three On A Match! I submitted Game, Set and Match after some debate about the word 'and' which is not typically part of the expression, which led me to Google for other expressions. But every expression followed the same pattern of this, that AND the other thing so I figured one of the four words must be 'and'. The two clues I found supporting it were the tennis clue others have mentioned and 55 down (Complete and total). Game, set and match means a complete and total win over the opposition, and having a clue with a one word answer that means the same thing as the three part expression also seemed fitting! But I mentioned confirmation bias in my last post because we always look for ways to support our answer rather than ways to refute it.
User avatar
pookie
Posts: 137
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2019 5:46 pm

#407

Post by pookie »

I think Matt Gaffney has jumped the shark.
User avatar
Joe Ross
Moderator
Posts: 4999
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
Location: Cincinnati

#408

Post by Joe Ross »

steveb wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:01 am
Homer Buckle wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:52 am Fans of the Oxford comma are very disappointed in the final answer.
I actually thought about that (!) and decided to submit my answer with the Oxford comma, although I don't usually use one. Do you think it will disqualify me? :lol: :lol: :lol:
The unofficial 'official' answer has the Oxford comma. 😁
debbierudy
Posts: 141
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 4:57 pm

#409

Post by debbierudy »

It happens when Gaffney is tricky
That muggles can tend to get picky
In good-natured battle
Our sabers we rattle
Along with Tom, Harry and Dicky.

So now I will argue my case
Hoping to do so with grace
As sometimes arises
There should be two prizes
The mugs that we eagerly chase!

The answer I’m sure that is right
Gives the last one an unhappy plight
Because it is thought
To get a man shot
If he is the third on the light.

Or his sad fate may extend
To a more unsavory end
His death (the poor fellow)
Inside a bordello
THREE ON A MATCH will portend.
User avatar
Joepickett
Posts: 401
Joined: Sat May 09, 2020 5:38 pm
Location: Virginia

#410

Post by Joepickett »

I went with "Two out of three" once I found match and saw the tennis reference in 8A.
That answer made sense to me since we were given two out of three words for the other phrases and you win a tennis match by winning two out of three sets.
Scraps
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 9:15 pm
Location: Gulf Coast of Florida

#411

Post by Scraps »

Re: “Game, set and match” vs. “Game. Set. Match.”

The four-word phrase is how I’ve almost always heard it used. The “and,” slightly drawn out when spoken, adds a bit of pregnancy before the door is slammed with “match.” The three-word version is functional, but said across a net does not have the same soul-crushing effect.

Similarly, some chess players, especially after an extended end game with many close escapes, will say, “Check aaand mate” for the same effect. Yes, “mate” or “check mate” would suffice, but they lack the flourish that includes just that little hint of a taunt.

Re: The absence of GAME and SET from the grid.

This is a feature, not a defect.

The first part of the solution requires us to find C, given A and B.
The last part of the solution requires us to find A and B, given a C that is the distillation of the five “other things” found earlier.

I pageanted myself with the recent Hamlet puzzle. I immediately saw all the characters from other plays buried in the long answers and thought, “There’s only one character mentioned in Hamlet’ soliloquy.” So I submitted “Ophelia.” Oops. Too quick on the trigger.
Ergcat
Posts: 761
Joined: Mon Jun 22, 2020 8:12 pm
Location: Seneca SC

#412

Post by Ergcat »

steveb wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:01 am
Homer Buckle wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:52 am Fans of the Oxford comma are very disappointed in the final answer.
I actually thought about that (!) and decided to submit my answer with the Oxford comma, although I don't usually use one. Do you think it will disqualify me? :lol: :lol: :lol:
I,too, went back and forth... to use “Oxford comma or not”! Ultimately I chose not to and followed the construct of the title. But I doubt it matters! 😂
User avatar
Joe Ross
Moderator
Posts: 4999
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
Location: Cincinnati

#413

Post by Joe Ross »

Scraps wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:16 am Re: The absence of GAME and SET from the grid.

This is a feature, not a defect.

The first part of the solution requires us to find C, given A and B.
The last part of the solution requires us to find A and B, given a C that is the distillation of the five “other things” found earlier.
👍

( FWIW: Scraps isn't invited to the Muggles Golf Outing. ;) I'd play in fear of hearing, "JOE-KER! JOE-KER! a-a-a-nd JOE...!" on the 18th green, as my last desperate attempt at dignity rolls wayward from the cup. )
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
User avatar
TPS
Posts: 721
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:19 pm
Location: Florida

#414

Post by TPS »

This was a never for me. I got stuck on the fact there were names within what I thought were theme clues (Stan, Art, Ed, Joe, Bob). Then when I saw Paul and right next to Art I thought that was going to have something to do with it. Clearly I was wrong - I got a pretty big nudge but still couldn't figure it out. Then I got my second Moderna shot - so that was effectively the end of my weekend. Even if I have discovered Match - I doubt I would have put together Game, Set, and Match. While Game, Set, and Match is probably the correct verbiage - I've always heard it Game. Set. Match. - But since the puzzle title includes the "and" I do feel like that is probably the clue that it should be included - just the two cents from someone who NEVER would have solved this one.
User avatar
KayW
Moderator
Posts: 3126
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 12:10 am
Location: Chicago

#415

Post by KayW »

I submitted GAME SET AND MATCH (without any punctuation 😱). I saw LOBBER but delayed submission for a day. I hoped to find either 100% confirmation - maybe via some pseudo-synonym for the phrase like SWEEP in the grid - or the “other answers” that some found. UTTER was the closest thing to a synonym that I could see. I knew of the phrase THREE ON A MATCH but that one never occurred that me. So I crossed my fingers and sent in what I had.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
User avatar
Colin
Posts: 546
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:57 pm

#416

Post by Colin »

I missed the PETER, PAUL and MARY LINK, but instead saw BOB DYLAN (MR T(ambourine) MAN), so got to MATCH anyway. BUT.... I chose THE WHOLE SHOOTING MATCH over GAME, SET and MATCH (my wife’s choice) because I thought (and still think) it linked to the title more elegantly. [Edit: but it did not fit the meta mechanism as well as GAME, SET and MATCH]
My third choice was THE THRILLER IN MANILLA because of the Ali/Frazier links, but soon knocked that one out!
Last edited by Colin on Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
One world. One planet. One future.
PQ63
Posts: 138
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:17 pm

#417

Post by PQ63 »

I submitted the correct answer, but only after spending a considerable amount of time identifying ANALOGUEs (i.e. MATCHes) for MATCH - not in the grid- and then looking for a grid answer that would be the another one of three words that would then be used to follow the This, That and the Other Thing pattern. My head was spinning trying to accomplish that task and I finally surrendered.
Jackie88
Posts: 92
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2019 6:57 pm
Location: McKinney, TX

#418

Post by Jackie88 »

I submitted Three on a Match as well. Had I thought of the Game, Set and Match, I would have submitted it. Makes more sense. Having said that, while I only get about two thirds of the metas, I have never before submitted an incorrect answer. Drat.
User avatar
jenirvin
Posts: 205
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:05 pm
Location: Alexandria, VA

#419

Post by jenirvin »

Whew. Seems I landed on the right shore, after way too much angst over my initial thought. The only alternative I was pondering was Earth, Wind and Fire, as a match, you know, sets a fire... but it didn't fit the construct. I was really trying hard to find something in the grid or clues that would confirm (besides LOBBER). Maybe a word like "Victory" or a clue like "Decisive win." I figured I really missed something that was there. Glad to have solved correctly, but a tad unsatsified never having had that clear confirmation.
~ Jennifer/jenirvin
User avatar
Cap'n Rick
Posts: 1513
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:44 pm
Location: Nahant, MA

#420

Post by Cap'n Rick »

Cap'n Rick wrote: Sun Apr 25, 2021 9:48 am Edit: Well, I was quite pleased with my original answer, but then a couple of Muggles told me there was a better answer. Upon further reflection, I think they're right.
My original answer was "Three on a Match", but after comparing notes with @boharr and @hcbirker, I agreed that "Game, Set, and Match" better fit the format of the title and themers.
Last edited by Cap'n Rick on Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ahoy! Check out my meta puzzles here! Check out "Smooth Sailing Sundays" here!
Locked