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.
Relic wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:26 am
Not meaning to be a sore loser but in my opinion the AR to complete "year" comes from Ash ram, which is why I submitted the clue for 47D placid retreat as my solution.
I guess I've been pageanted. Not amused.
I'm on that same beach. I I wasn't enthralled with my submission as ASHRAM is one word (i looked everywhere), and the Clue PLACID RETREAT didn't fit the theme. That being said, i missed the flip-flop in the directions....just assumed Matt was throwing a bone to keep us from answering wrong.
But i still like ASHRAM as a serious red herring...no other answer does the trick....
ASH RAM CAN be two words (ok, it's charcoal. Close enough?)
Taking his cue from the heart of Friday’s “It’s That Time Again” puzzle, your X-Word Rabbit begins this week’s report by wishing everyone a “HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
As to the method of Mr. Gaffney’s madness, we begin by looking at the five anchor entries (HANG AROUND, PEACE PIPE, YANNICK NOAH, EGG WHITES and YOU’RE EARLY). Reduce each to their start letters and you get H-A, P-P, Y-N, E-W and Y-E. That leaves solvers to find the two-word clue at 70A (“Au revoir!”) providing the necessary A-R to complete the phrase and thus, the meta. (Don’t you love it when the Rabbit uses highfalutin words like “thus”?)
A few hapless Muggles lost their way, looking for an A-R in the grid and not the clues, believing ASHRAM was the answer. ‘Tis a pity. (“‘Tis” and “thus” in the same report? Your Rabbit is on a roll.)
michaelm suggested that all the numbers from 10 – 1 were in the clues (either in number form, hidden in other words or in homonyms), but alas, did not provide the necessary details.
In the end, though, it’s the third Rabbit Hole nomination for DBMiller who is likely clearing his cupboard for a set of mug trophies by now.
I mentioned earlier that my free associations can take me far astray. As promised, here's this week's stroll down rabbit path lane that Herr Hase (Is the XWord Rabbit German?) should find amusing.
My first instinct as to what the puzzle was going to be about would ultimately turn out to be right, but I got distracted when the clue for 1A was "Time out?" This must be a hint/indicator clue.
Did the grid quickly and we had 5 starred clues, so can I apply "Time" and/or "Out" to these?
Hang Around: Well, there is "hang time" and you can "hang out".
Peace Pipe: Again, there is "peace time" and you can "peace out"
YannickNoah: Hmmm... Not quite the same as the first two when it was the beginning, but there is "Nick of time", "No time", and the poker term "No outs", or in general "No way out".
EggWhites: There is an "egg timer" and you can buy "White Out" (Thank you, Michael Nesmith's mother).
YoureEarly: There is "Your/our time" and an umpire often says "You're out"
So do any of the 2-word clues take "time" and/or "out" in a similar fashion?
16a) Ancient times?
21a) Beat time, Beat out
25a) You can fall on Dark times
66a) Miller Time!!! How does Matt know my home WiFi name!?!?!?
3d) Get OUT!
8d) Goes out, Go time?
26d) Flipped out (Entire clue?)
36d) Lab time
52d) Farm out
Way too many choices, and quite a few stretches. So is there a 2-word clue that leads to a grid answer that would take time and/or out?
26d) Flipped out -> Had a cow -> If I had time? Out in the clue, time in the additive? Seems a stretch. And no relation back to the title.
8d) Goes wild -> Runs Amok -> Movies have a "run time" and you can "run out" of something. But again, no connection with the title.
I can't get time/out out of my head, and am unable to stop chasing it. I know this *has* to deal with the new year, but it just isn't coming to me. Countdown? HangAround has 10-letters, PeacePipe has 9... and another dead end.
Carmen Miranda will have to wait, DB. But Your Rabbit has found something better. Another one of his idols from a bygone era, Spike Jones. All the best in 2023!
I'm guessing the main reason for not constructing the "AR" as a grid entry is that there are not enough options to make the answer not obvious. Much easier to include it as a clue where there are many more opportunities to use two words.
Streroto wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 7:34 pm
As noted above I too refrained from wishing everyone Happy New Year lest I post a spoiler. I laughed as I saw all the posts with HNY in them!!
Anyway I too will say it now: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Yes, my thought exactly. I was quite surprised with all the posts that included a Happy New Year message!
clonefitz wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:49 pm
I'm guessing the main reason for not constructing the "AR" as a grid entry is that there are not enough options to make the answer not obvious. Much easier to include it as a clue where there are many more opportunities to use two words.
I circled the number of every 2 word clue - there were a lot of them!
Like @chart and others, I was circling around the 'time' theme for WAY too long.
I actually solved it (well, I figured out HAPPY NEW YE) when I was nowhere near the puzzle. I was watching a movie when it all fell into place in the back of my head. When I finally got to my laptop again, I searched for an "AR" clue - and there it was. Solved!
This ties my best-ever streak (7) - and am hoping to extend that this week.
Yeah, but actually *not* wishing Happy New Year would be suspicious wouldn't it?
Funny story. I was all set to enter Par for the course for the CrossHare midi contest for April but I mistakenly thought midi meant 7x 7 and not 11 x 11. Oops. Well.... Here's a complex but **small** meta on the subject of golf.
Yeah, that was a fine line to walk, and I thought the moderators and posters handled it perfectly.
If you want help with a meta, feel free to PM me. The more specific you are about what you have and what you want, the more likely I can help without spoiling.
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
(ok, it's charcoal. Close enough?)
