XWord Muggles Forum

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I think Matt Gaffney has jumped the shark.

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?

The unofficial 'official' answer has the Oxford comma.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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!

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. )

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.