MGWCC #739 — “My Cup Runneth Over” by Will Nediger

[wnediger]

I think the rules Nediger set required that L and I be the only letters not in the grid. Every opther letter is there at least once. TAWA/THAWS is the only W.

Exactly - since the first insight for most solvers would be the lack of L's and I's in the grid, I thought it would be inelegant to have any other letters that incidentally didn't appear in the grid.

Re: the 16-wide grid, it was just the only way I could comfortably get the theme to work under the various constraints. In a 15x15 grid, I was running out of spaces to place UNFAZED, so I stuck it next to HARANGUE in a 16x15 grid instead.

[MajordomoTom]

my appreciation runneth over on this one, just ... wow

[NoFeetMcGee]

I think the rules Nediger set required that L and I be the only letters not in the grid. Every opther letter is there at least once. TAWA/THAWS is the only W.

Exactly - since the first insight for most solvers would be the lack of L's and I's in the grid, I thought it would be inelegant to have any other letters that incidentally didn't appear in the grid.

Re: the 16-wide grid, it was just the only way I could comfortably get the theme to work under the various constraints. In a 15x15 grid, I was running out of spaces to place UNFAZED, so I stuck it next to HARANGUE in a 16x15 grid instead.

Actually, the first things I noticed were the X, Q, Z, J... I thought you were just doing what I often do and making the grid a pangram as a little extra challenge for yourself while constructing. Unfortunately, I never thought to actually check and made sure, which would have helped me see the absence of I's and L's...

[MikeyG]

I think the rules Nediger set required that L and I be the only letters not in the grid. Every opther letter is there at least once. TAWA/THAWS is the only W.

Exactly - since the first insight for most solvers would be the lack of L's and I's in the grid, I thought it would be inelegant to have any other letters that incidentally didn't appear in the grid.

Re: the 16-wide grid, it was just the only way I could comfortably get the theme to work under the various constraints. In a 15x15 grid, I was running out of spaces to place UNFAZED, so I stuck it next to HARANGUE in a 16x15 grid instead.

I always get a little suspect on non 15-by-15 (the title also being 16 characters long threw me a bit), but I recognize now that sometimes it just happens.

Unforgettable puzzle!

[TeamDoubleTow]

Wow! Was never going to get this but I can definitely appreciate some of the material in hindsight! Very impressive!

[minimuggle]

Wow, You guys are so impressive. I never would have gotten there. But it was fun trying. My cup did runneth over but I'm not crying over spilt milk

[HeadinHome]

I have started doing about all my scritch-scratching on paint app. Less paper, more color, lots of editing, no eraser dust.

[Joe Ross]

I have started doing about all my scritch-scratching on paint app. Less paper, more color, lots of editing, no eraser dust.

Similarly, I use the Snip & Sketch feature on PCs. One day I'll use the stylus in lieu of my mouse.

[HeadinHome]

i just use my finger on iPad!

[HunterX]

For the WSJ, I use a stylus on my iPad, as shown here.

For the MGWCC, I put the pdf version on my remarkable reMarkable 2 pad. It has replaced all my pads of paper and the need for a pen. It actually feels like real writing, very much UN-like using a stylus on an iPad. Yet you can undo, erase, set up multiple layers on a page which you can choose to show or hide. There are different pen styles and highlighter. No color, which is a little bit of a drawback. But the reMarkable 2 is like carrying around a thin, light pad of paper that never runs out of paper, keeps all your notes, organizes them into folders, links with your computer, iPad, phone or the like so you can have your notes everywhere. And, while it has no web capabilities (haven't missed them), it can email your documents either as a pdf or can even translate your handwriting.

Waiting for my endorsement check after that plug...

[BrennerTJ]

Gray = grid words for the six clues containing words with I-I or I-L
Yellow = words from the gray word clues with the I-I or I-L removed
Dark blue borders = conversion of the I/I and I/L to parts of cups
Blue with directional red arrow = reading 6 letter words from the cups - up / over / down
Purple = grid words that correspond to the blue words as clues
Red borders = letters of the answer, read in grid order

[SJMcK]

Actually, the first things I noticed were the X, Q, Z, J... I thought you were just doing what I often do and making the grid a pangram as a little extra challenge for yourself while constructing. Unfortunately, I never thought to actually check and made sure, which would have helped me see the absence of I's and L's...

Same, except that I did check to see if it was a true pangram and figured out that I and L were both missing. I almost ran into a dead end at that point, because when I looked at the clues to see if they were also missing I and L, I stopped when I saw both letters represented in both 1a and 1d and decided that there was probably nothing unusual about the clues after all. Thankfully, I look a second look at the clues later on.

Marvelous puzzle, marvelous construction. I am amazed I was able to work through every step without getting too bogged down and giving up. Kudos!

[Wendy Walker]

34D was new to me. I can't count how many times I have now watched it, laughing like an idiot every time!