"Shamrocks" March 17, 2023

[Commodore]

Aargh. 'Tis Mrs. C's maiden name. All is not well aboard our vessel today.

[Darth]

Dear Rabbit X (aka @The XWord Rabbit),

Spring Break. No Thursday classes. I can actually start the puzzle on time instead of a half hour behind those others who are chomping at the bit to have the glory of being on page 1. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.

Ok, a 7-minute delay. Let's go...I read the title. Shamrocks. My intuition already tells me the answer is BONO. It’s dangerous to start at intuition and backsolve, I know, but I do it all the time and it somehow works. Yes, famous Irish person. It’s gotta be BONO!

Why? Because it's a four-letter word (and a shamrock has four petals, of course!) and BONO has a sham "rock" feel to it.

Yes, ENYA is legendary, too, but Celtic music is less ROCK-y! I do love her song “Only Time” … Oh, I see my ADHD is starting to get me off task now, and speaking of time, we’re not gonna get to shore fast enough for page 1.

Well, I see no secret messages in the grid. Should I care about those four long answers?

Does LAB MICE in the center mean anything? What about those two Xs in the puzzle? Do they mark Start to Finish? But the placement doesn’t make sense unless it’s a very convoluted maze.

I see ERIN AER KILDARE MAYO LACE EURO as Irish clues. Do I need to Google all things Irish?

Do I need to Google a list of famous Irish people? Who’s in the Top Ten? Enya, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce (hmm…some real meta contenders here), Mary Robinson (Ireland’s first female president), Katie Taylor (inspiring female boxer), Maureen O’hara (I didn’t know she was Irish!), Michael Collins (revolutionary leader)…

Wait, are these people even famous?...Liam Neeson (Now, we’re talking!), Conor McGregor (Another fighter? What is it with the Irish and fighting?... Don’t know this guy, but Wow! Look at those beautiful tats!)…

and there HE IS, in the #1 spot, of course… BONO!

What?... We’re on Page 2 already and someone said the E-word and got their comment redacted for inappropriacy. Oops. Others are saying it’s gonna be a crowded beach – isn’t that the same as saying the E-word? … Why am I not seeing it?

The answer is BONO! It’s just GOTTA be! Not to mention that some of the first solvers on the beach know their music! They would be quick to spot whatever it is that points to BONO! Now, what can it be?

Ah, U2! Maybe there are two big U shapes hidden somewhere in the puzzle?! Yes, if I were the constructor, that’s how I would do it! (Well, there’s probably good reason why I’m not the constructor!)

Wait, maybe I should be looking in a shamrock pattern? That’s it. I step back. The grid looks like a giant shamrock to me. Yes, I see it! It’s clearly a Rorschach test!

I Google. Nope, Hermann Rorschach was Swiss German – not Irish! I didn't think so, but it never hurts to check.

Shamrock shapes…. Shamrock shakes? My ADHD wonders if McDonald’s still does those. I loved those as a kid…. Ok, now back to 4-leaf clovers! My ADHD tempts me to reminisce about first experiences eating Lucky Charms, but I resist. Instead, I search the four corners and I start to see things:

In the left top corner, there’s RUSE (sounds like a “sham” to me), top right corner IMPS (leprechauns maybe?) or KIMPSST (maybe that’s some sort of Gaelic hidden here? I don’t know Gaelic, and I’m not sure I can backsolve anything with a Google Gaelic translator. Should I bother?)

At the bottom left corner I see ODD AGE (13 maybe? The start of teenage angst and a sign of being unlucky, not at all like what a shamrock represents but in some odd way still on the theme!) and in the bottom right we have…?? ALT-X (Are we doing something with keyboard shortcuts now?)

At my ADHD’s bidding, I Google Alt-X just to be sure and while it does nothing to help me solve the meta, I learn that I can type 1F923 then Alt + X to get the Rolling on Floor laughing emoji! 🤣

Page 3….Ok, I'm obviously not at the top of my game here. I go back and frantically search the grid for clues. I return to those corners again… RUSE, IMPS… oh, at the bottom left, I now find GEM (ahhh, yes, emeralds! Something green -- that’s a more likely hit on the theme!).

…And GEM is a kind of ROCK…like a… (my eyes scan the grid)…like a… SPICE RUBS?... like a RUBY! If I just switch the S to Y…

Wait, so obvious, how could I have missed it?! Well, now I see where the E-rating is coming from…
There’s the rest of them popping out: SLAT(E), MIC(A), SCHIS(T), (S)HALE… YEATS!

Google Yeats Irish poet to confirm. Yep, it's YEATS. Not BONO.

I shoulda got it much sooner. Well, I can order a Guinness at least, and tell it to the rabbit.

Love, Darth

[MikeM000]

I think it was 24 hours after I submitted YEATS that I realized that the S came from SHALE. Since the first 4 were all last-letter based, I was googling "rock whals" and "rock hals" and being asked if I meant to search for "Rock walls" and "rock hall".

Before I figured out what was going on, I was trying to retrofit "Bono" in there as a misinterpretation of the "rocks" part of the title.

[SusieG]

I got a late start and ran out of time. Not sure I would have solved it even with another day, though. I also distracted myself with the Irish downs.

[ship4u]

I also distracted myself with the Irish downs.

Interesting phraseology, "Irish downs." In England, "downs" are gentle rolling hills. I would be distracted by them also, in a very pleasant way!

[mheberlingx100]

Saw schist pretty quickly, then hunted for the rest. Finally got some use out of that college geology class. That was so long ago that plate tectonics theory was still somewhat new and not fully accepted.

[Joe]

As the person who used the E word and got it redacted with prejudice, I just want to say I'm sorry!!! In my defense I waited until page 2 and I hadn't solved yet. I was just frustrated with myself and was surprised at all the early solves. Also, I didn't know it was a forbidden word. I'll be more mindful moving forward.

[EdStrong]

Submitted WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS and am curious if this would count. Does anyone have a rule of thumb on when to use a full name vs initials (i.e. W.B. Yeats) vs just the last name?

[Bird Lives]

She bid me take life easy
As the grass grows on the weirs
But I was young and foolish
And now am full of tears

- Yeats (an end to one of his poems)

She bid me take it easy
“Don’t get upset by SHALE.
“The letter changed is first
“Not last – a small detail.”

I heeded her wise counsel,
And left the grassy weirs.
I came ashore where Muggles
Downed Guinnesses and beers.

-- Yeats (an end to none of his poems)

(If only there were someone at Hallmark who could get this onto a greeting card.)

[rjy]

The answer is BONO! It’s just GOTTA be!

Same! Until I course-corrected, but I could actually make it work: 1st letter of BLUEWHALES, 2nd of WOODENSLATS, 3rd of RANAGROUND, 4th of IDIOTPROOF……………. BONO!

[Joe Ross]

As the person who used the E word and got it redacted with prejudice, I just want to say I'm sorry!!! In my defense I waited until page 2 and I hadn't solved yet. I was just frustrated with myself and was surprised at all the early solves. Also, I didn't know it was a forbidden word. I'll be more mindful moving forward.

It was & will be REDACTED in fun but get used to seeing it going forward. 🙂🤬

[Joe Ross]

Remained on board (and unaccounted for). I was looking for sham rocks as the title suggested, and the closest I got was a sham pumice-labmice connection.

I saw Shamrocks as sham ROCKS, also, and SCHISM as SCHIST. It fell quickly.

[Merry Potter]

I also distracted myself with the Irish downs.

Interesting phraseology, "Irish downs." In England, "downs" are gentle rolling hills. I would be distracted by them also, in a very pleasant way!

"Down" is also one of the counties in Northern Ireland coincidentally... Eiderdown is the most prized softest duck down feathers but it's from the other "I" country mostly from Iceland

[Ergcat]

As soon as I saw the title I had an Idea what to look for Based on a St Patrick’s joke I used last year… “ what do they call fake gems in Ireland ??” . I looked at the long themers, saw RUBS and thought RUBY! It was a quick swim from there !

[HunterX]

Speaking of the NCAAs, anyone else with Princeton bragging rights? #15 > #2 ...

I actually spent two semesters officially on the faculty (what a joke) not too many years post-Bradley, so I was rooting for them but foolishly didn't take the money line.

Well, I guess I could brag, though I don't follow basketball at all, much less March Madness. But I had a couple of people text me to tell me the news. (Had to respond, "Is this something about sports?")

I was there during the days of Pete Carril...

Did those Tigers win again? Brackets must be falling...

I'd brag but I don't think I know anyone at Old Nassau anymore, never played basketball when there, and don't follow basketball now anyway.

Okay, okay... They won by 15 points. I'll brag! (For one more week.)

[ship4u]

I didn't know it was a forbidden word. I'll be more mindful moving forward.

Yea, easy for you to say.....

[Barney]

Submitted WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS and am curious if this would count. Does anyone have a rule of thumb on when to use a full name vs initials (i.e. W.B. Yeats) vs just the last name?

It would be accepted.

My distant solving partner and I made no headway on this puzzle. Neither of us had ever heard of “schist.”

I was stuck on “lab mice” being lab *rats* and looking for comparable switcheroos in the other long answers to be matched, a la Mr Shenk’s common MO, with other grid entries. Such — along with the solve— were not to be found.

[Joe Ross]

[drbockel2]

I drowned at sea…again.

[SReh26]

I went with lab rats instead of lab mice so that tripped me up a little.