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.
BarbaraK wrote: Sat Apr 08, 2023 7:45 pm
With the passage of time, I'm becoming more confident that the apparent answer is in fact the answer, simply because, with all the smart people here, if there were something else, someone would have found it by now.
I wasn’t on the forum back in 2017.
Assuming there was a forum back then, Do any members recall if there were any postings with advice to dig a little deeper during PAGEANT weekend?
Or was mum the word?
Do you think protocol has changed over the years in that regard?
BarbaraK wrote: Sat Apr 08, 2023 7:45 pm
With the passage of time, I'm becoming more confident that the apparent answer is in fact the answer, simply because, with all the smart people here, if there were something else, someone would have found it by now.
I wasn’t on the forum back in in 2017.
Do any members from back then recall if there were any postings with advice to dig a little deeper during PAGEANT weekend?
Or was mum the word?
Do you think protocol has changed over the years in that regard?
Oh yes, and much of it was from me. People kept saying it was super easy but they were unsure about how to phrase the answer. I’d found pageant and didn’t understand that comment. Thought maybe since I’m not a sports fan there was some specific bowl game related pageant and I was l missing the next step. Finally talked to a friend (a big difference back then was that there were no site PMs; you could only talk to people whose contact info you had) and realized people were stopping too soon. I posted a suggestion to look harder, and soon others were posting that they’d found the next step.
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.)
I wasn't on the forums when I did it but I got it and I didn't think "bowl games" was satisfying.
I guess I felt the Initial "bowl words" were too obvious and not hidden and if it were "bowl game" it'd be like a meta where the themers were things like "Horse Power" and "Dog Days" and "Bird Brain" and "Cattle Call" and assuming the answer is "Animals"
Still, it's had to say when it *can't* be an answer. Why wouldn't "animals" be a valid answer to "Horse Power, Dog Day, Bird Brain, Cattle Call"?
I guess I don't really like metas where the answer is "it follows an example". I prefer there to be a point where you have to solve some puzzle.
GUAVA is not an anagram of VAGUE and PEPPER is not a palindrome.
I soon got an answer, but still had some doubt,
And decided to see if Mr. G could help out.
Well the more that I searched, the more addled I got.
Were these things I found part of the meta or not?
It could maybe make sense if my brain cells weren't shot,
So with a sigh I sent in my original thought.
Way back in the beginning of meta-time, I would have been so proud to come up with this answer, but today I am with all those who feel there must be more to this--perhaps a second step or some confirmation--which i cannot find. I finally decided to go with it but then as I read through all the posts here, I got worried again because unless all the strict spoiler police have gone on vacation, my answer cannot be the one.
I too have submitted an answer I fear is a step or two short, so I’m floating on a raft with my feet touching the sand, ready to be blown back to the ship.
BarbaraK wrote: Sat Apr 08, 2023 7:45 pm
With the passage of time, I'm becoming more confident that the apparent answer is in fact the answer, simply because, with all the smart people here, if there were something else, someone would have found it by now.
I wasn’t on the forum back in 2017.
Assuming there was a forum back then, Do any members recall if there were any postings with advice to dig a little deeper during PAGEANT weekend?
Or was mum the word?
Do you think protocol has changed over the years in that regard?
@michaelm It is difficult to make a comparison with Pageant. The contest which was called Play Grounds was on December 29, 2017 and the forum did not come into existence until March or April 2019. All communication between muggles regarding the Pageant meta was done either after the contest closed or off line which was very difficult.
Things have not changed with the uncertainty in the answer by many muggles so if a muggle has an answer but is unsure I am still counting that muggle on the shore even if they want to go back to the ship.
And we have our newest muggle - Clark E. Tripp. Welcome to the clan and we hope to see a lot of you.
We have 3 in the bar with Isaac with Janet joining the party and 199 on the shore.
New to the shore since yesterday are
MikeyG
VanVeen
mikeB
chatger
Cindy N
Ben B and son
Dickie_Dunn
Crest
JAQT
Colin
Notbitter
diplomatt
DapperDan
SusieG
Inca
Joes and Natasha
Samantha
Clark E. Tripp
Collegetowngirl
Bill
Miki
And don't forget the "Last Call" zoom session tonight at 8 ET.
