"Shifty Schemers" November 11, 2022

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is PLAN. In each of four eight-letter answers, you can shift one letter to get the name of a person who fits the category of the other answer in the same row (PTOMAINE > TOM PAINE, BIKE LANE > BIL KEANE, ROAD CREW > ROD CAREW, LACE INTO > LANCE ITO). The shifted letters, in order, spell the contest answer.

Another incredibly ingenious one, right? And challenging: we had 882 entries, a bit lower than usual. About 75% correct which is right at the average level. Incorrect answers included CONS (24), PICK (21, partway down the trail, the 4 people's last initials), GEAR (6), SCAM (3) and various others.

Congrats to this week's winner: Michael Popik of Westminster, MA!

[whimsy]

Ooh, ooh! I got another better one --
as long as you don't mind a silly but fun 8-letter entry.

"Job description" clue: Youthful aviator, for example >> FLIER (Sorry, only 5 letters rather than 6)

8-letter entry clue: Heavy breathing in the House of Lords >> PEER PANT = Peter Pan

[The XWord Rabbit]

Your XWord Rabbit is happy to announce that we’re back to the serious business of Muggles gone awry this week.

“Shifty Schemers” was a masterfully constructed challenge from Mr. Shenk. Step #1 required recognizing the occupations in four rows. Step #2 was tougher: Each of those same rows had an 8-letter across entry in which a single letter needed to be shifted, creating a notable name with that occupation. The shifted letters spelled out the meta: P-L-A-N.

And off we go, Alice, down a couple of rabbit holes, both of which resulted from misinterpreting the word “shifty” in the title.

ZooAnimalsonWheels took a road trip...

“Maybe it was having AUTOS, ROAD, and BIKE in the grid, but I began the solve thinking about gearshifts. As we were looking for a four-letter word, I thought that could correspond to Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Drive. Scanning the grid, I see ATPAR: Hey, that's 'Park' with the K taking off! We've got NEWT in the lower right. Well, that's the first syllable of 'Neutral'. There must be a ROLE or something like it in the grid! No? Hmm. Well, I see ERR and VEE in a column, and those anagram to 'Reverse' with the S missing. And then you have ARRIVE, which is pretty close to 'Drive'! OK, those are all stretches, and they are stretching in different directions. But what about 'Low' for a gear? There's BELOW sitting smack dab in the middle! One of these must be leading to a gearshift themed mechanism..."

That’s the second nomination for ZooAnimalsonWheels. The Rabbit truly appreciates you going the extra mile, if only to spin your wheels.

And then we have a truly remarkable achievement. A worthy entry from the very first post by a new Muggle, Erk070, who thought “shifty” was a typing reference.

I went down what I thought was a very convincing rabbit hole and never came out. CAPS on the far left and ENTER on the far right mirror a computer or typewriter keyboard. To make it worse, the left and right Shift keys are BELOW those. I spent many hours creating nonsense by shifting grid answers one letter to the left and to the right on the keyboard.

My other rabbit hole was to shift the letter E (shifty) around in various answers. Hope I'm a better schemer next week!

The XWord Rabbit hopes you have as much success solving metas as not solving them, Erk070.

Finally, evoking last week’s post, your Rabbit will depart, but not before reading you your Carmen Miranda Rights:

“You have the right to sing.
Anything you can’t sing can be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to play the castanets.
You have the right to wear a tutti-frutti hat.
If you cannot afford one, it will be provided to you by the court.”

[Bird Lives]

Finally, evoking last week’s post, your Rabbit will depart, but not before reading you your Carmen Miranda Rights:

The Miranda warning: You have the right to remain silent, but any fresh fruit you're wearing on your head may be used against you.

[Joe Ross]

That was @DrTom's fault.

[Bob cruise director]

The contest answer is PLAN. In each of four eight-letter answers, you can shift one letter to get the name of a person who fits the category of the other answer in the same row (PTOMAINE > TOM PAINE, BIKE LANE > BIL KEANE, ROAD CREW > ROD CAREW, LACE INTO > LANCE ITO). The shifted letters, in order, spell the contest answer.

Another incredibly ingenious one, right? And challenging: we had 882 entries, a bit lower than usual. About 75% correct which is right at the average level. Incorrect answers included CONS (24), PICK (21, partway down the trail, the 4 people's last initials), GEAR (6), SCAM (3) and various others.

Congrats to this week's winner: Michael Popik of Westminster, MA!

@MikeMillerwsj Congratulations to Michael. Now all the WSJ has to do is move about 25 miles east down Route 2.

[SReh26]

Boston in the Fall
Boston in November
Love casts a Pall
But it’s what I will remember

New England woods
New England in October
Quaint neighborhoods
Friendliness winning me over

Twilight by the Shore
Anticipatory joy of the season
His smiles making me hope for more
Beyond all reason

[mheberlingx100]

Refresh- refresh- refresh…

[pjc]

Refresh- refresh- refresh…

Somebody at the WSJ is being a shifty schemer

[Georgeall]

Hope nobody forgot about daylight saving time ending.

[Bob cruise director]

Who knows, maybe the meta is coming out of Buffalo with their predictions of feet of snow.

[jhseeman]

this reminds me of driving by a farm back in NJ....the cows would be lined up waiting for the farmer to open the gate to let them head back to the barn...nothing funnier than them their an hour early looking around like...hey....where's farmboy?....

[Georgeall]

this reminds me of driving by a farm back in NJ....the cows would be lined up waiting for the farmer to open the gate to let them head back to the barn...nothing funnier than them their an hour early looking around like...hey....where's farmboy?....

Moooooo

[mattythewsjpuzzler]

15 minutes and the professor isn't here. We all get a mug.

[Scott M]

C'mon folks! Bourbon Club (the fellas' counter-event during the wives' Book Club) start's at 6:30!

[Joe Ross]

C'mon folks! Bourbon Club (the fellas' counter-event during the wives' Book Club) start's at 6:30!

Forms are available.

[michaelm]

35 minutes and the professor isn't here. Now a slight blip in 4Q22 US worker productivity.

[Joe Ross]

35 minutes and the professor isn't here. Now a slight blip in 4Q22 US worker productivity.

C'mon folks! Bourbon Club (the fellas' counter-event during the wives' Book Club) start's at 6:30!

Forms are available.