#675 - “Sporting Chance”

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
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Cinny
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#41

Post by Cinny »

Beam me up!
I don't even get this printed and done before a few hundred names are on the leaderboard. Last week was the first and probably the last time I will be in the top 50. I'm always just happy if I get my name up there!! 🤣
Cindy Heisler
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#42

Post by MaineMarge »

I’m beamed up at #366. Too bad this isn’t a leap year or I could leap right up.
And Matt, no use trying to pull a fast one like this by a gal whose dairy farming father was president of this Maine State Association!
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Joe
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#43

Post by Joe »

Just for kicks, I thought I'd race to see how quickly I could solve. Went to the Patreon site, where someone said the puzzle appears before the email alert goes out, refreshed, refreshed, then got the puzzle, started solving (I am NOT a speed solver), glanced at the prompt, figured out what the answer must be before I got even halfway through the puzzle, raced over to Matt's site, entered my stuff, and scored the #5 slot. Impressive to me and only me, I'm aware, but confirmed the fact that I will never ever ever get that last "achievement" of being first to solve. Oh well! Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Happy to give nudges. If you notice I've solved, please tell me about avenues you've explored so I can nudge you in the right direction and not off a cliff.
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cbarbee002
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#44

Post by cbarbee002 »

Energize.
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Bob cruise director
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#45

Post by Bob cruise director »

Joe wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 10:35 am Just for kicks, I thought I'd race to see how quickly I could solve. Went to the Patreon site, where someone said the puzzle appears before the email alert goes out, refreshed, refreshed, then got the puzzle, started solving (I am NOT a speed solver), glanced at the prompt, figured out what the answer must be before I got even halfway through the puzzle, raced over to Matt's site, entered my stuff, and scored the #5 slot. Impressive to me and only me, I'm aware, but confirmed the fact that I will never ever ever get that last "achievement" of being first to solve. Oh well! Hope everyone has a great weekend.
I did not get it right away but had the answer before I was half way through the grid. That being said, I have no idea how someone solved it in 2 minutes
Bob Stevens
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KayW
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#46

Post by KayW »

Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 1:29 pm
Joe wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 10:35 am Just for kicks, I thought I'd race to see how quickly I could solve. Went to the Patreon site, where someone said the puzzle appears before the email alert goes out, refreshed, refreshed, then got the puzzle, started solving (I am NOT a speed solver), glanced at the prompt, figured out what the answer must be before I got even halfway through the puzzle, raced over to Matt's site, entered my stuff, and scored the #5 slot. Impressive to me and only me, I'm aware, but confirmed the fact that I will never ever ever get that last "achievement" of being first to solve. Oh well! Hope everyone has a great weekend.
I did not get it right away but had the answer before I was half way through the grid. That being said, I have no idea how someone solved it in 2 minutes
I "guessed" what turned out to be the correct answer with very little of the grid completed and could have submitted about as quickly. But unless I do something really stoopid, that little magic number next to my name is going to change from a 10 to a 50 next week. And IMHO, that would have been a really stoopid risk to take.

A few solvers seem to like to take a quick stab at the solve, e.a. in particular (this week's 2-minute wonder). But you'll notice his/her current streak is "1" and only has 10 correct solves for the year (out of a max of 19).

EDIT: and did I just jinx myself, or what ;)
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.
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Bob cruise director
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#47

Post by Bob cruise director »

KayW wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 2:55 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 1:29 pm
Joe wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 10:35 am Just for kicks, I thought I'd race to see how quickly I could solve. Went to the Patreon site, where someone said the puzzle appears before the email alert goes out, refreshed, refreshed, then got the puzzle, started solving (I am NOT a speed solver), glanced at the prompt, figured out what the answer must be before I got even halfway through the puzzle, raced over to Matt's site, entered my stuff, and scored the #5 slot. Impressive to me and only me, I'm aware, but confirmed the fact that I will never ever ever get that last "achievement" of being first to solve. Oh well! Hope everyone has a great weekend.
I did not get it right away but had the answer before I was half way through the grid. That being said, I have no idea how someone solved it in 2 minutes
I "guessed" what turned out to be the correct answer with very little of the grid completed and could have submitted about as quickly. But unless I do something really stoopid, that little magic number next to my name is going to change from a 10 to a 50 next week. And IMHO, that would have been a really stoopid risk to take.

A few solvers seem to like to take a quick stab at the solve, e.a. in particular (this week's 2-minute wonder). But you'll notice his/her current streak is "1" and only has 10 correct solves for the year (out of a max of 19).

EDIT: and did I just jinx myself, or what ;)
Once you earn the 10 or 50, do you get to keep that forever, just one week or until you miss one? I only have 9 more to go to get to 10. And that includes two week 4's.
Bob Stevens
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KayW
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#48

Post by KayW »

Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 3:17 pm
KayW wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 2:55 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 1:29 pm

I did not get it right away but had the answer before I was half way through the grid. That being said, I have no idea how someone solved it in 2 minutes
I "guessed" what turned out to be the correct answer with very little of the grid completed and could have submitted about as quickly. But unless I do something really stoopid, that little magic number next to my name is going to change from a 10 to a 50 next week. And IMHO, that would have been a really stoopid risk to take.

A few solvers seem to like to take a quick stab at the solve, e.a. in particular (this week's 2-minute wonder). But you'll notice his/her current streak is "1" and only has 10 correct solves for the year (out of a max of 19).

EDIT: and did I just jinx myself, or what ;)
Once you earn the 10 or 50, do you get to keep that forever, just one week or until you miss one? I only have 9 more to go to get to 10. And that includes two week 4's.
I am 98% sure it only reflects your current streak. But I haven't personally tested that ... yet!
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.
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Bob cruise director
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#49

Post by Bob cruise director »

KayW wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 3:29 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 3:17 pm
KayW wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 2:55 pm

I "guessed" what turned out to be the correct answer with very little of the grid completed and could have submitted about as quickly. But unless I do something really stoopid, that little magic number next to my name is going to change from a 10 to a 50 next week. And IMHO, that would have been a really stoopid risk to take.

A few solvers seem to like to take a quick stab at the solve, e.a. in particular (this week's 2-minute wonder). But you'll notice his/her current streak is "1" and only has 10 correct solves for the year (out of a max of 19).

EDIT: and did I just jinx myself, or what ;)
Once you earn the 10 or 50, do you get to keep that forever, just one week or until you miss one? I only have 9 more to go to get to 10. And that includes two week 4's.
I am 98% sure it only reflects your current streak. But I haven't personally tested that ... yet!
Has your 10 been there for 39 weeks?
Bob Stevens
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ky-mike
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#50

Post by ky-mike »

Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 3:17 pm
KayW wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 2:55 pm
Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 1:29 pm

I did not get it right away but had the answer before I was half way through the grid. That being said, I have no idea how someone solved it in 2 minutes
I "guessed" what turned out to be the correct answer with very little of the grid completed and could have submitted about as quickly. But unless I do something really stoopid, that little magic number next to my name is going to change from a 10 to a 50 next week. And IMHO, that would have been a really stoopid risk to take.

A few solvers seem to like to take a quick stab at the solve, e.a. in particular (this week's 2-minute wonder). But you'll notice his/her current streak is "1" and only has 10 correct solves for the year (out of a max of 19).

EDIT: and did I just jinx myself, or what ;)
Once you earn the 10 or 50, do you get to keep that forever, just one week or until you miss one? I only have 9 more to go to get to 10. And that includes two week 4's.
Jangler has for certain had longer streaks, but does not currently have a streak designation next to his name (current streak of 6 for him). I guess that Kay doesn't need to test this out to satisfy your curiosity ;)
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KayW
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#51

Post by KayW »

Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 4:12 pm Has your 10 been there for 39 weeks?
40 :nerd_face: (if I did my math right, always a big IF.) But one way or the other, it's disappearing next week...
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.
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ajk
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#52

Post by ajk »

Bob cruise director wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 3:17 pm Once you earn the 10 or 50, do you get to keep that forever, just one week or until you miss one? I only have 9 more to go to get to 10. And that includes two week 4's.
I think the deal is that it stays up until you either earn the next one or blow the streak. Can personally confirm that blowing the streak removes the 10 :lol: :lol:
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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camandsampowercouple
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#53

Post by camandsampowercouple »

Beam me up. I haven't been able to finish the grid but this meta was pretty easy even for a week one.
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