"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.
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Al Sisti
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#461

Post by Al Sisti »

shalmanezer wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:41 am My first rabbit hole was filled with 60s rock and folk: Like a Rolling Stone. Bob Dylan wrote it. The song's title could also allude to The Rolling Stones, who recorded a song called "Cool, Calm, and Collected." When Dylan recorded his song, he was famously accompanied by Al Kooper, a founding member of the band Blood, Sweat, and Tears. So "Like a Rolling Stone" connected 3 of the 5 starred answer/clue combos. But I never could get all 5 to connect.

Then I saw MATCH from "The Other Thing" in each trio, and the answer was obvious. Still, what are the odds a member of 40A worked with 17A to record a song title that refers to a band who recorded the 55A? One of my favorite wrong ways paths yet.
"Child Is the Father to the Man" is one of my all-time favorite albums. I've liked some other BS&T songs after this first album, but they're just different without Al Kooper.
MaineMarge
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#462

Post by MaineMarge »

Well, looks like we all put a lot of Blood, Sweat and Tears into this meta. Ready, willing and able(?) to give it our best shot, while staying (usually) cool, calm and collected.

Just like these 3- ( the ever present cat Louis is somewhere around)
A2EDA736-224D-4CDD-B997-7C1B02BC5512.jpeg
Eric and helper Buddy recently in performance of the annual cleaning of the lily pond. Not an average guy in sight.
April 2021
sf592000
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#463

Post by sf592000 »

I went with "Match Made in Heaven", as to me, the most common four word phrase associated with Match. I'm not aware of 'Three to a Match", and I've always heard "Game, Set, Match" without the 'and'. I was convinced after finding the mechanism, something in the realm of music was the final step, with Bob Dylan/Peter Paul & Mary with SINGSON, ONCDS, and RHYMED, but no such luck.

My newbie streak has ended, but feel somewhat satisfied I found the mechanism.
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MikeM000
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#464

Post by MikeM000 »

MaineMarge wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:17 pm
Eric and helper Buddy recently in performance of the annual cleaning of the lily pond. Not an average guy in sight.
April 2021
Is "helper Buddy" Buddy Poland of Heather Cox Richardson fame, or are there just tons of guys in Maine named "Buddy"?
EVJ
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#465

Post by EVJ »

Bob cruise director wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 12:26 am
One other option was Three on a Match as noted. But you could not link that back to the grid or clues any better. (the term comes from WWI where three soldiers lighting cigarettes' from the same match gave a sniper time to aim at the light).
I’ve never heard of Three on a Match.
Bob, thanks for explaining!
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Colin
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#466

Post by Colin »

steveb wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:46 am
Colin wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:56 am 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!
I believe the phrase was "THE THRILLA IN MANILA"
But that ain’t proper English, i’n’it? 😝 My misspell was coz I’m too young to remember. Or too old to remember? 🤔
One world. One planet. One future.
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Jeremy Smith
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#467

Post by Jeremy Smith »

Cindy N wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:23 am Like a number of other folks, I only knew the phrases as GAME, SET, AND MATCH (with or without the Oxford comma). I was surprised when someone used the "no AND" as a discussion point. I stayed with that and submitted - especially since this isn't the first time we've had a meta where the pattern is established with entries and the meta is the reverse.

Peter, Paul AND Mary
Ready, willing AND Able
Blood, Sweat AND Tears
Cool, calm AND Collected
Tom, Dick, AND Harry

They all matched the pattern of the title, so with MATCH, I needed the X, X AND to complete it and that was the answer phrase.
Exactly.
When I posted on Saturday (#279) that I believed I had the final two words of the answer, those two words were AND MATCH. I spent the rest of the time until the deadline trying to justify GAME and SET in the grid, and even in the clues. The closest I came was 6D-Comparable thing—ANALOGUE.

I never considered that the third word of the answer phrase was anything but AND.

Just my 2 cents.
otlaolap
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#468

Post by otlaolap »

For the record, Three On A Match was what I submitted. GS&M is a more remote phrase to me, and having found the one I did I could not see any others. The observations about conformality with the title do, however, make it the better answer.
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Flying_Burrito
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#469

Post by Flying_Burrito »

Echoing what others wrote on finding "and match" relatively soon and then trying to understand how "game, set" fit in. Eventually it was just an exercise in deductive logic and that is what I surmised. I think it was far from being the perfect meta but nevertheless it was pretty good one (as long there are no parentheses I am good). My only suggestion would have been to provide some hint rather just telling us it was a 4-word phrase; something along the lines of "what Chrissy told Jimmy" or "what Rod told Ken" - for us older tennis players - would have closed that loop.
Senor Guaca Mole :mrgreen:
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ImOnToo
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#470

Post by ImOnToo »

Matt's "Pageant"? :lol:
Konnie
Barney
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#471

Post by Barney »

I was surprised to find that the title of The Rolling Stones song is Cool, Calm, and Collected. Because that is not how they sing it. There’s no AND. I well remember the song.

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mlvilv
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#472

Post by mlvilv »

Hidden in 3D wrote: Sat Apr 24, 2021 4:43 pm
mlvilv wrote: Sat Apr 24, 2021 4:33 pm omg. I may have spoken too soon. I've been sitting here going over and over this and I actually think I just solved it and am tentatively on shore. I submitted. Fingers crossed!
That's what we MUGgles call post-enlightenment! Welcome and congrats!
I got it right!
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JAQT
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#473

Post by JAQT »

Like others here, my red herring was music-related. I saw Bob Dylan and Heart, and the first two patterns of xy&z that I noticed were Peter, Paul & Mary and Blood, Sweat & Tears. I spent the next twenty minutes trying to find Earth, Wind & Fire, obviously to no avail, and wondered if there was some homonym thing going on with Lenin/Lennon. I finally saw Tom, Dick & Harry, and MATCH was quickly obtained.

I thought of both Game, Set & Match and Three on a Match, but rejected the latter for a few reasons: it didn't have the xy&z pattern and it didn't list "things", as mentioned in the title of the grid and as contained by the former. Plus I liked the complementary nature of "<given-x><given-y>&<omitted-z>" for step 1, and "<omitted-x><omitted-y>&<given-z>" for step 2.

Anyway, a fun solve, particularly because I haven't had time for it for the past few weekends. Do we know yet who won the mug?
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Bonnibel
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#474

Post by Bonnibel »

I also considered THREE ON A MATCH however it is a lesser known expression and didn't seem to have anything else in the grid related to it. Also it doesn't represent a "set" of three. Seeing 2 references to tennis in 8A and 23A I realized that the answer must be GAME SET AND MATCH. Even though the word AND is sometimes not used with the expression, I returned my focus to a set of three.

This was a fun grid! Seeing Peter & Paul without Mary was the key for me. Thanks Matt.
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John77
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#475

Post by John77 »

Bob, Stan, Art, Ed, And Joe were easy finds. I could make well-known comedians out of all of them.

Which got me....nowhere.

Beer me again, Isaac.
Wir sind zu früh alt und zu spät schlau.
Inca
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#476

Post by Inca »

BeTheLight wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:14 am I have never heard of Three On A Match! I submitted Game, Set and Match ....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.
that's what I saw too that made me feel a bit more sure
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JAQT
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#477

Post by JAQT »

Incidentally, on the topic of Oxford commas: there is a profane-laced rant about lack of Oxford commas in the names of bands over here: Do Any Bands Give a @#$% About the Oxford Comma?

It gives a nice list of three-name bands (how could I have forgotten about Emerson, Lake & Palmer) but be forewarned that it is profane.
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Bob cruise director
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#478

Post by Bob cruise director »

Was the Mad Hatter there?

or WSJosh or Josh Malone?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/josh-battl ... eatst_pos4
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JeanneC
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#479

Post by JeanneC »

JetStream wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 11:58 am Second week in a row that I feel like I'm in way over my head. Kudos to those that solved this one! The grids are trivial but the meta.....wowzer.
Hang in. The post puzzle recaps really help to develop your skill level. Last year I would never have seen the mechanism that gave us “match”. I didn’t “win” a chance at a mug this week but I did win in upping my skill.

This is a great group of people too. Very supportive and funny!
“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions”. Lillian Hellman
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Jeremy Smith
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#480

Post by Jeremy Smith »

Three on a Match was never a consideration for me, as I’ve never heard the term before today. My alternate answer was the volleyball (and apparently also tennis) expression “Point, SET AND MATCH.”

I heard it used in volleyball, but not in tennis.

https://pdf4pro.com/cdn/point-set-match ... -a6ead.pdf
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