Introduce Yourself

[Doug C]

Hi - I am Doug. Originally from MN but now live in Memphis TN with my wife and our 2 high-school age kids. Been doing crosswords for a few years and now the WSJ contest. This weekend is my first time to post after following the group for a few weeks on the old WSJ site. I have a pretty poor track record on solving the meta but always enjoy the challenge. When not struggling with WSJ contest I try to spend weekend free time on family, golfing and playing hockey.

[Bob cruise director]

Doug
A warm welcome to the Muggles. We all start out with a poor track record and get better. Look at the hints for suggestions about how to attach these contests.

And good luck winning the mug.

And good luck with your golf. And being from MN and playing hockey -not a big surprise.

[Al Sisti]

Hi Barbara! How fun!

My first love is classical piano, though I dabble with jazz here and there.

I also do some middle school choral accompanying and I teach. I used to sing a lot. Oh, and I played clarinet for Lady Di and Prince Charles once!!

So happy to connect with you via xwords.
Btw, do you ever do the music xwords? I'm scared to go over there because I will never get my practicing done.... lol

Bee

You need to try Pete Muller's "Muller Monthly Music Meta," which comes out the first Tuesday of every month. https://pmxwords.com/. Many/most of us muggles do it... Oh, and Lady Di? Sigh...

[BarbaraK]

...
Btw, do you ever do the music xwords? I'm scared to go over there because I will never get my practicing done.... lol

If you mean the Muller Monthly Music Meta, yes, I love those! The next one comes out on Tuesday. I'm counting down the days.

They're a good and humbling reminder though of just how broad a field music is, because there's a ton of stuff in them that I've never heard of.

His puzzles always start squeezy in January and get harder as the months progress, so if you want to ease your way into them, you can catch up on the 2019 ones.

[Cindy]

We do all the available metas. We are addicts. Lol.

[Orsys]

Hi I'm from Toronto. A friend introduced me to metas a few months ago, and I'm still not sure whether to hug her or never speak to her again. I find I spend many weekends on these things. But the satisfaction of a solve lasts the week!

[gamera13]

Hi Everyone,

Nice to meet you here! I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm a Stanford and Harvard trained psychologist with an undergraduate minor concentration in studio art. I noticed a lot of lawyers and engineers on this forum and not so many artists so I thought I'd add that detail for the ratio. I used to be a university professor but I have my own company doing consulting in digital health now.

I started doing the WSJ contest last year and I'm slowly getting the hang of it (e.g., don't think too hard and if you have to look things up to solve it then you're on the wrong track).

I look forward to struggling through the contests with everyone and getting used to the "cruise" lingo as a newbie.

Warm regards,
Gamera

[Toby]

You do sometimes have to look things up to solve. Over the years, I've had to look up atomic numbers, record songs, etc. I do prefer the puzzles I can solve using just my brain and a pen, but there are plenty that require googling to get the grid, the meta or both.

[Bob cruise director]

Hi Everyone,

Nice to meet you here! I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm a Stanford and Harvard trained psychologist with an undergraduate minor concentration in studio art. I noticed a lot of lawyers and engineers on this forum and not so many artists so I thought I'd add that detail for the ratio. I used to be a university professor but I have my own company doing consulting in digital health now.

I started doing the WSJ contest last year and I'm slowly getting the hang of it (e.g., don't think too hard and if you have to look things up to solve it then you're on the wrong track).

I look forward to struggling through the contests with everyone and getting used to the "cruise" lingo as a newbie.

Warm regards,
Gamera

Gamera
The backgrounds of the group are extremely diverse which is great and adds to the fun. Welcome here. Make sure you check out the hints for solving the puzzle and an explanation for the lingo that muggles have added under "Come Aboard/FAQ- Community"

[Bob cruise director]

You do sometimes have to look things up to solve. Over the years, I've had to look up atomic numbers, record songs, etc. I do prefer the puzzles I can solve using just my brain and a pen, but there are plenty that require googling to get the grid, the meta or both.

Movie and TV actors and actresses as well as authors are my downfall - that is where Google has to help me

[Joe Ross]

Long-time WSJ subscriber, wanting a well-written newspaper in the house for the benefit of children, who are now adults.

Relatively new to WSJ crosswords, having switched from years of the evilest Sudoku puzzles as a sleep aid. Solved Cryptoquips and other puzzle types regularly, in the past, but have had pillow time for one, lately.

Have received a lot of welcome & appreciated advice from regulars the past few weeks.

Will solve Sat-Thu one-handed on phone as eyelids droop. See signature for Contest methodology, FWIW.

[NaluGirl]

Hi, Finally brave enough to join this awesome group of puzzlers! My evil son introduced me to meta puzzles and they are taking over my life. But always trying to swim to shore!

[Bob cruise director]

Hi, Finally brave enough to join this awesome group of puzzlers! My evil son introduced me to meta puzzles and they are taking over my life. But always trying to swim to shore!

Welcome to the group. This is a no judgment zone so you do not have to feel brave to join us. We all start out at some level and keep working on it. Look at the Come Aboard/ FAQ Community/Hints for solving Meta contests for some good advice on solving these.

And good luck.

[gfindli]

George Findling same user name as WSJ blog. Average crossword solver. Below average meta solver. Excellent cryptic solver.

[Robert]

Hi all! I'm Robert from Stow, MA, a small town west of Boston known for apple orchards and country clubs, where I've lived with my wife for 36 years. We're just a few miles due south of Cruise Director Bob! I've been doing crosswords regularly for, uhm... 57 years. Still can only finish about 1 out of 10 Saturday NYTs without looking something up. Have never considered looking things up to be "cheating". To me, it's "learning". I kinda miss the pre-Google/Wiki days when we would spend Sunday mornings puzzling on the sofa amidst heaps of reference books. Have been trying to solve MGWCC every week for 10 years, and the WSJ meta since it started. I'm wobbit on other Xword forums & leaderboards (I don't post much). Mom thought I was a weird kid 'cause I preferred carrots raw. So she called me Robert the rabbit. Somewhere along the line, that got ElmerFudderized, lol.

[Bob cruise director]

Hi all! I'm Robert from Stow, MA, a small town west of Boston known for apple orchards and country clubs, where I've lived with my wife for 36 years. We're just a few miles due south of Cruise Director Bob! I've been doing crosswords regularly for, uhm... 57 years. Still can only finish about 1 out of 10 Saturday NYTs without looking something up. Have never considered looking things up to be "cheating". To me, it's "learning". I kinda miss the pre-Google/Wiki days when we would spend Sunday mornings puzzling on the sofa amidst heaps of reference books. Have been trying to solve MGWCC every week for 10 years, and the WSJ meta since it started. I'm wobbit on other Xword forums & leaderboards (I don't post much). Mom thought I was a weird kid 'cause I preferred carrots raw. So she called me Robert the rabbit. Somewhere along the line, that got ElmerFudderized, lol.

Welcome to the group. Nice to have another muggle right around the corner. Good luck winning the mug

[SewYoung]

Hi All! I'm Bee from NC. I'm a Mom, musician, educator, and tennis enthusiast. I'm brand new to this world of Crosswords, and especially Metas! I've been trying to work through the old WSJ Metas and all of your coded comments. I'm not sure which I've enjoyed more. You are a great bunch! I appreciate the layout you've set up here. Thanks!

Hi Bee. Where in NC are you? I lived in Cary for three years before moving to MS 10 years ago. Right now I am working on bringing the Raleigh Ringers to Meridian for a concert at our beautiful performing arts center. They will be here in 4 weeks. I have been promoting it like crazy because only a handful of people here have ever heard of them, and most people would not think of a handbell concert as a particularly desirable outing. But the ones who do come will be delighted and amazed. If you are familiar with the RR and know anyone in MS, please get in touch with them to tell them what a wonderful experience it will be. Thanks. If I sell out, I might break even.

[Bee]

How exciting! I certainly will.
Good luck!
Bee

[grwinski]

Hi! We're Rita and George Winski from Fort Collins, Colorado. Have been doing the WSJ crosswords for several years, and continue to hope to one day win a WSJ mug with the Friday contest. We may expand into some of the other crosswords described here, but for now, one-a-day keeps us plenty busy!

Curious about assessing the 'fairness' of a crossword. We've seen some WSJ contest crosswords where we both thought the Meta was either very obscure or downright 'unfair', but we're not sure if we're just judging based on our limited skills. Sometimes, I've seen a solution described that, to my mind, even if I used the same pattern/algorithm, I wouldn't have any confidence that this was the appropriate path to take. On the other side, there are some metas that, when identified, you feel like 'there couldn't be any other answer'. Would be curious about others thoughts here (maybe this should be presented in one of the other threads).

Anyway, hello. Hope to spend some time here in the future.

[pkcx]

My name is Patrick. My wife and I have four kids and our own business to run. Crosswords help me relax as a fun diversion.