#666 - "Play Me or Trade Me"

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
Dplass
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#81

Post by Dplass »

I have a theory as to why Matt published this as a week 1 even though many people thought it was closer to a week 2. If I remember I'll post after the deadline.
TRidgway
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#82

Post by TRidgway »

Dplass wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 9:40 pm I have a theory as to why Matt published this as a week 1 even though many people thought it was closer to a week 2. If I remember I'll post after the deadline.
I bet you're right.
I'm tardy, wig askew.
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Cindy
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#83

Post by Cindy »

chnest wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:07 pm I have been adrift since Friday, any suggestions :) ? I've tried anagrams, replacement, focusing on clues, etc.

Thanks,

Chris
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Bird Lives
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#84

Post by Bird Lives »

Dplass wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 9:40 pm I have a theory as to why Matt published this as a week 1 even though many people thought it was closer to a week 2. If I remember I'll post after the deadline.
The NBA trading deadline isn't till week 3 so I guess that's not what you're thinking of.
Jay
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Al Sisti
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#85

Post by Al Sisti »

Speaking of which, how about a huge hand for Matt's perfect title?
Dplass
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#86

Post by Dplass »

Bird Lives wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:27 am
Dplass wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 9:40 pm I have a theory as to why Matt published this as a week 1 even though many people thought it was closer to a week 2. If I remember I'll post after the deadline.
The NBA trading deadline isn't till week 3 so I guess that's not what you're thinking of.
Is that a sportsball thing? Then, no.
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Bird Lives
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#87

Post by Bird Lives »

Game.jpg
Last edited by Bird Lives on Tue Mar 09, 2021 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jay
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MikeM000
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#88

Post by MikeM000 »

I have fond 1970s childhood memories of playing Careers with my siblings but haven't thought of it in decades. They had different "career tracks" that gave fitting #s of money or happiness points. One of them was "Ecology", which either a) was very forward thinking, or b) not forward thinking enough in that it wasn't called "Environmental Science".

Anyone remember Bonkers? I loved that one and it doesn't seem to exist in the modern world in board game or app form....

My 1970s childhood also wishes there was a MAYDAY in the grid.
Dplass
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#89

Post by Dplass »

Dplass wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 9:40 pm I have a theory as to why Matt published this as a week 1 even though many people thought it was closer to a week 2. If I remember I'll post after the deadline.
It's the same exact mechanism as the WSJ "Chemical Changes" meta just a few weeks ago.
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ajk
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#90

Post by ajk »

Saw SCRABBLE pretty quickly, then noticed MARBLES underneath and the rest fell fast. Did backsolve FALLOUT and CAREERS (despite having played the latter a lot back in the day), though FALLOUT seemed pretty likely the only good option.
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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Bob cruise director
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#91

Post by Bob cruise director »

Al Sisti wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:37 am Speaking of which, how about a huge hand for Matt's perfect title?
My first thought was something to do with baseball because of the title and the start of spring training but quickly saw the scribble/scrabble and the rest came quickly
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