"Consider the Alternative" October 6, 2022

A place to discuss the weekly Wall Street Journal Crossword Puzzle Contest, starting every Thursday around 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please do not post any answers or hints before the contest deadline which is midnight Sunday Eastern time.
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kawaja
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#341

Post by kawaja »

TeaJenny wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:06 pm
Dplass wrote: ↑Mon Oct 10, 2022 9:39 am
boharr wrote: ↑Mon Oct 10, 2022 9:20 am

Lesson: Beware anagramming unless clued or directed to do so.
Except when you're required to anagram because the only rule of Club Team is that there are no rules of Meta Club.
They're more like guidelines, anyway.
Ghostbusters or Pirates? :D
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HunterX
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#342

Post by HunterX »

Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 3:40 pm
HunterX wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 2:19 pm I bet they are relieved that they didn't have to adjudicate that one! At least they considered it.
Not a chance.

What we got was lip service to calm the waters.
I won't argue with that. And it's why I think they breathed a huge "Phew!" when they picked the "OPTION" email first.

(Or second, or third.... "That one didn't count because I coughed when I hit the button. Try again!")
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 3:40 pm Read @MattGaffney's replies to THE OTHERS on crosswordfiend. He correctly and firmly defended OTHELLO & debunked THE TEMPEST. Matt may not be a part of the selection process, but there's no way @MikeMillerwsj & Mike Shenk are going to go against his emphatic & repeated objection to a bad answer.
Saw. And agree with his defense. (How could I not? It's his puzzle after all!)
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HunterX
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#343

Post by HunterX »

MMe wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 4:49 pm
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 3:40 pm
HunterX wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 2:19 pm I bet they are relieved that they didn't have to adjudicate that one! At least they considered it.
Not a chance.

What we got was lip service to calm the waters.
Hee hee, they always seem to luck out and not have to adjudicate these controversies.
Yeah. Funny how it always works that way... :roll:
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kurtalert
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Location: Chicagoland

#344

Post by kurtalert »

DAMN… got close. Obviously way late, for some reason I didn’t start this one until today. I figured out the alternatives- Eisenhower, Saturday, October, Othello, Rhode Island, Harvard… but couldn’t figure out how to make those into a word. I don’t think I would have managed to figure out the next step- taking the first letter of the real, plus the alternative, and finding a 3 letter grid entry that started with those 2. Oh well. At least I got halfway there!
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boharr
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#345

Post by boharr »

HunterX wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:43 pm
MMe wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 4:49 pm
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 3:40 pm

Not a chance.

What we got was lip service to calm the waters.
Hee hee, they always seem to luck out and not have to adjudicate these controversies.
Yeah. Funny how it always works that way... :roll:
Is there an implication there? :D
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TeaJenny
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Location: Stamford, CT

#346

Post by TeaJenny »

kawaja wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:40 pm
TeaJenny wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:06 pm
Dplass wrote: ↑Mon Oct 10, 2022 9:39 am

Except when you're required to anagram because the only rule of Club Team is that there are no rules of Meta Club.
They're more like guidelines, anyway.
Ghostbusters or Pirates? :D
Pirates. Savvy?
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~C.S. Lewis
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Streroto
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Location: Newtown Square, PA

#347

Post by Streroto »

Well as a Lost fan I am not sure if I am happy to be with the OTHERS or not and I appreciate the nuances re play titles and anagramming. This was a truly elegant meta even for Matt who is at the top of the game. That said I wonder if we might be ready to add a new term alongside being PAGEANTed given the stats. I will propose that a result like this where the incorrect but identical answers outnumber the correct (and yes more elegant) one be referred to as anOTHER (or something like that-you all are far more clever than I am) and I for one will now occasionally sweat not only being PAGEANTed but anOTHER of “those” metas.

I learned a lot from this discussion thank you all. And thanks Matt, as always. stay well all. Tomorrow is another Thursday.
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Limerick Savant
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#348

Post by Limerick Savant »

kurtalert wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:28 pm DAMN… got close. Obviously way late, for some reason I didn’t start this one until today. I figured out the alternatives- Eisenhower, Saturday, October, Othello, Rhode Island, Harvard… but couldn’t figure out how to make those into a word. I don’t think I would have managed to figure out the next step- taking the first letter of the real, plus the alternative, and finding a 3 letter grid entry that started with those 2. Oh well. At least I got halfway there!
In the case of these puzzles it seems that Occam's Razor does not always apply.
Dedicated to no nonsense nonsense
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kawaja
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Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2022 4:38 pm
Location: Aggieland

#349

Post by kawaja »

TeaJenny wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 7:44 pm
kawaja wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:40 pm
TeaJenny wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:06 pm

They're more like guidelines, anyway.
Ghostbusters or Pirates? :D
Pirates. Savvy?
Si
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HeadinHome
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Location: Charlotte, NC

#350

Post by HeadinHome »

Merest of nudges got me to the full beach… thanks to @Wendy Walker and the gang! I think I would have seen this tonight if I had the freedom to sit and look at it, but 3 little granddaughters are about all Nana can handle today! ( :
The other Wendy. :roll:
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Cruciverbalisticexpi
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:31 pm

#351

Post by Cruciverbalisticexpi »

Why did the rating system go away?
flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:41 am
MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:34 am We had 881 entries, with only 35% correct.
A 4 in the olden days based on the rated metas of yore.
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flyingMoose
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Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2020 2:35 pm

#352

Post by flyingMoose »

Cruciverbalisticexpi wrote: ↑Fri Oct 14, 2022 7:39 pm Why did the rating system go away?
flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:41 am
MikeMillerwsj wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:34 am We had 881 entries, with only 35% correct.
A 4 in the olden days based on the rated metas of yore.
When Muggledom moved to a bigger, better server, the rating system could not go with it for some reason. That is my understanding.
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Cruciverbalisticexpi
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Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:31 pm

#353

Post by Cruciverbalisticexpi »

That makes sense. Appreciate the quick response!
flyingMoose wrote: ↑Fri Oct 14, 2022 7:49 pm
Cruciverbalisticexpi wrote: ↑Fri Oct 14, 2022 7:39 pm Why did the rating system go away?
flyingMoose wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 11:41 am
A 4 in the olden days based on the rated metas of yore.
When Muggledom moved to a bigger, better server, the rating system could not go with it for some reason. That is my understanding.
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