#660 - "Opposites Attract"

An excellent puzzle written by one of the innovators of the meta crossword format. It comes out every Friday at noon and increases in difficulty throughout the month. Available for modest subscription (worth every cent) here: www.xwordcontest.com
photosurrealism
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#81

Post by photosurrealism »

Ack! I'm glad this wasn't due today because I've been busy with work, but I'm still clueless. I could use some guidance if anyone's still out there. [ Looks like I was on the right track but my bad vision has been slowing me down! ]
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MajordomoTom
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#82

Post by MajordomoTom »

Dplass wrote: โ†‘Sun Jan 24, 2021 9:11 pm
well, thanks for the 'nudge'. I was about 3 rabbit holes too deep for this one. You helped me back up a bit and then suddenly, BAM, I had the answer.

And Matt's website apparently "thinks" the deadline was noon today, so I've emailed him my solve.

That's 11 in a row, including now 3 week four puzzles ... shuddering to think what this weekend is going to do to my brain.

At least the Superb Owl isn't this coming weekend ...
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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ajk
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#83

Post by ajk »

I definitely submitted after noon Eastern (or Mountain for that matter). And looks like there was one submitted about 90 min ago. Strange.
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MajordomoTom
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#84

Post by MajordomoTom »

he just responded to my email, that sometimes the gremlins in the website fight these when the deadlines move around, he's having me added to the website manually. So ... on the beach.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
EmilyW
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#85

Post by EmilyW »

The gremlins got me too, but after emailing I am beamed up and beaming. Earlier today I was convinced I wouldn't even make it through the grid but gave it another shot and figured it out. I'm having 2 celebratory beers, one for the grid ,Deschuttes Abyss, and one for the meta, Martin City Mexican Spice Stout. Cheers!
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Cinny
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#86

Post by Cinny »

I believe the deadline is today at noon. Is that correct? If so, I still have time to dig myself out of this mess, but not without a nudge, if some kindhearted soul would be willing to help!??!
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lbray53
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#87

Post by lbray53 »

I noticed some patterns and lots of repetitions. After highlighting my grid looks like a โ€œclown threw up on itโ€, to quote a solving hint I read somewhere. Unfortunately that is not the name of a movie.

I could use a nudge.
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cbarbee002
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#88

Post by cbarbee002 »

All I can say is WOW. Simply brilliant.
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Joe Ross
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#89

Post by Joe Ross »

For anyone still wanting to enter before the extended deadline & the webform at xwordcontest.com isn't working, email Mat Gaffney with your entry & posting name:

crosswordcontest@gmail.com
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PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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BarbaraK
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#90

Post by BarbaraK »

Joe Ross wrote: โ†‘Wed Jan 27, 2021 10:45 am For anyone still wanting to enter before the extended deadline & the webform at xwordcontest.com isn't working, email Mat Gaffney with your entry & posting name:

crosswordcontest@gmail.com
And be careful that your autocomplete doesnโ€™t send it to WSJ. Or send the next WSJ answer to Matt.
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MikeM000
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#91

Post by MikeM000 »

46 minutes to spare. Quite a dent I left in the couch when I got off it....
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JordanianTomlinson
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#92

Post by JordanianTomlinson »

Anyone fancy a last minute nudge? This one is killing me!
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Bird Lives
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#93

Post by Bird Lives »

1. The first letters of the entries include all 26 letters.

2. The first letter of the clue for each entry is the opposite of the first letter of the entry (A/Z, B/Y), except for eight clue-entry combinations.

3. The first letter of those eight clues in order (Across then Down) spell out the answer.

ZOOTOPIA, a title whose initial and final letters are opposites.

.
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ReB
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#94

Post by ReB »

I was quite sure that the meta had to do with opposite letters A-Z, B-Y etc, but I just struggled with the grid and got nowhere. I never thought to look at the clues. Should have reviewed the meta-solving basics...
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Jacksull
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#95

Post by Jacksull »

I saw the mechanism right away, and had a scrambled set of letters. The correct order eluded me ( left to right by column, top to bottom by row, clue number โ€” nothing worked). I didnโ€™t try anagramming since thatโ€™s NEVER the answer, and set off to find other eight letter sets. Two days later, I noticed the across/down order which led to the answer.

Two takeaways: 1. When there are no obvious theme entries, go right to the clues, and 2) sometimes anagrams help (see WSJ contest).
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ajk
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#96

Post by ajk »

For some reason clue order rather than grid order was not in my toolbox (a fact which seems bizarre in hindsight). I had PIZOAOTO sitting on my scratch pad from very early on, but never thought to order them differently (and didn't really know the movie so didn't spot it via anagram). Thankful once again for the assist I got!
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MikeM000
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#97

Post by MikeM000 »

It didn't take long to figure there was something pangramic going on, and the placement of ZXQ in the grid as starters for both Across & Down answers made me think that the significance was on letters that started an Across OR a Down answer, but not both.

I then used "opposites" in the sense of symmetrical placement on the grid, and hoo boy - the symmetrical square for the 4 letters that started only Down clues gave me (not in this order) STRY, which meant I was one letter off from Marriage or Toy 4 or some other STORY of the past decade. But...the Acrosses didn't give me anything good (and a couple letters started 2 Across answers, which potentially made a mess of things).

I had had the A/Z, B/Y thing in the back of my head the whole time (Note: there is no recent movie called "NICOLE MILLER, ZEALOT AT REST"), and a kind nudge to include the clues made it pop out in no time once I looked again with an hour to go this morning.
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MikeyG
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#98

Post by MikeyG »

MikeM000 wrote: โ†‘Wed Jan 27, 2021 2:56 pm It didn't take long to figure there was something pangramic going on, and the placement of ZXQ in the grid as starters for both Across & Down answers made me think that the significance was on letters that started an Across OR a Down answer, but not both.

I then used "opposites" in the sense of symmetrical placement on the grid, and hoo boy - the symmetrical square for the 4 letters that started only Down clues gave me (not in this order) STRY, which meant I was one letter off from Marriage or Toy 4 or some other STORY of the past decade. But...the Acrosses didn't give me anything good (and a couple letters started 2 Across answers, which potentially made a mess of things).

I had had the A/Z, B/Y thing in the back of my head the whole time (Note: there is no recent movie called "NICOLE MILLER, ZEALOT AT REST"), and a kind nudge to include the clues made it pop out in no time once I looked again with an hour to go this morning.
Yeah, I caught the ZXQ right away as well but wasn't sure what was going on there. I thought maybe it had to do with opposite placement in the grid and then saw Z/A and X/C in the first part of the clues. And I was like, "No, that wouldn't keep up for the whole grid."

Oh, it definitely kept up with the whole grid, haha. I got the eight that didn't work and was led down a couple of mini-rabbit holes until I was like, "Oh. It is that obvious."

Probably intentional as well: ZOOTOPIA (which was fantastic, as a sidenote) is probably the most famous movie to either start with a Z and end with an A or vice-versa! I'm learning my best in the meta world that theme and mechanism and title and answer are all intertwined in varying degrees.
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Joe Ross
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#99

Post by Joe Ross »

Is it noon, yet?
๐Ÿฆˆ
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PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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Joe Ross
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#100

Post by Joe Ross »

It was quiet.

Maybe a little too quiet...
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PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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