MGWCC #786 — “Set Collection”

[Bird Lives]

As yet unconfirmed but 100%. I saw nothing when I finished the grid. I came back to it the next day. Still nothing. This evening when I looked, there it was.

[mkmf]

Submitted and awaiting confirmation.

I won't speculate on percentages after my post-DISenlightment on the WSJ this week.

Edit: Beamed.

[ricky]

I was in at 63. Stumped me for a while. I like a challenging grid but there was some head-scratching fill in this one.

[bflock]

Would any be willing to offer a shove or a nudge? Have tried a few things but nothing is panning out. TIA.

[cbarbee002]

Was on the right track but not executing correctly, until I was. Safely beamed.

[JonJonBovi]

I am completely baffled, trying all kinds of wild overcomplicated ideas that hit dead ends.

Anyone willing to offer a nudge?

[EmilyW]

Not to nit pick as I am still struggling but the term for 47A has not been used in 50 years.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboututc.shtml ... s%20(BIPM).

I was gifted the answer but still don't like it. Two thumbs down.

If it makes you feel any better, I work with a lot of people in that time zone and they all refer to it as 47A. That was one of the few grid answers that came easily to me. Still no idea on the meta, I'll take another look tonight.

[HoldThatThought]

As a useful reminder:

Appeals for a nudge, to the community, at large, are often ineffective. Many of the otherwise generous solvers assume -: especially after a few hours have passed - that requests have been responded to by others.

It's best to develop your own personal list of those who are always happy to help, or, at the very least, be sure to follow up your original request with a "thanks!" update, once you have received a nudge.

Good luck!

[HoldThatThought]

Don't tell these people that no one uses that abbreviation anymore. Entire programming teams, wandering the streets of somewhere, hungry, and homeless...a failed website in their wake, like a LinkedIn scar...

https://greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/gmt-plus-0/

Not to nit pick as I am still struggling but the term for 47A has not been used in 50 years.

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboututc.shtml ... s%20(BIPM).

I was gifted the answer but still don't like it. Two thumbs down.

If it makes you feel any better, I work with a lot of people in that time zone and they all refer to it as 47A. That was one of the few grid answers that came easily to me. Still no idea on the meta, I'll take another look tonight.

[TMart]

Beam me up, just under the wire. Maybe I’ll get last-across this week!

[BarbaraK]

This stuck me as a perfect example of Matt’s SAD (simple to explain and difficult to see) meta.

I’ve seen chemical elements and atomic numbers used before and couldn’t helped getting pulled down that rabbit hole when the full names were right there in front of me.

[ajk]

Very quickly saw that the ends could be extended to element names, but that alone doesn't yield a unique solution. Had to be nudged to also look at the beginnings of the themers, and then still took a few beats to figure it out.

Somewhat embarrassing to need a nudge, given that I teach chemistry. Though in my defense Cu is the only one of these elements that plays much of a role in organic (and it's more cameo than starring role).

[DrTom]

Very quickly saw that the ends could be extended to element names, but that alone doesn't yield a unique solution. Had to be nudged to also look at the beginnings of the themers, and then still took a few beats to figure it out.

Somewhat embarrassing to need a nudge, given that I teach chemistry. Though in my defense Cu is the only one of these elements that plays much of a role in organic (and it's more cameo than starring role).

Is a time piece with a copper body and movement a CU CU clock? Personally I zinc that copper comment took some brass.

[BarbaraK]

Well I was wrong. Checked the update and I do not appear so my informed guess was ill informed. I will now seek the wisdom of those who have solved to tell me what I should have done. Darn I was so close to 25, but you know, it is strangely liberating to be at zero.

So what was your answer? Did you try to talk Matt into it? Did it work?

[BrennerTJ]

Is it Tuesday already? So easy to lose track..

[Bird Lives]

I put this one to Chat GPT. Here's the response, which, whether you were on the board on not, should make you feel better.

To determine the Monopoly property that would be a fitting sixth theme entry in the given meta crossword, we can analyze the existing theme entries and look for a property that fits the established pattern.

Looking at the existing theme entries:

1. TEASER AD: This entry consists of two words, where the second word is "AD," which is short for "Advertisement."

2. ONE GOOD COP: This entry consists of three words, with the second word being "GOOD."

3. PERIODIC TABLE: This entry consists of two words, representing a well-known concept in science.

4. ADDRESS BAR: This entry consists of two words, with the second word being "BAR."

5. GONE LOCO: This entry consists of two words, where the second word is "LOCO," which means "crazy" or "insane."

Based on this pattern, the Monopoly property that would be a fitting sixth theme entry should consist of two words, where the second word aligns with the established pattern. One such property that matches this criteria is "PARK PLACE." The second word, "PLACE," maintains the consistency with the previous entries, and "PARK" is a common word used to describe a recreational area.

Therefore, "PARK PLACE" would be a fitting sixth theme entry for the meta crossword.

[DrTom]

Well I was wrong. Checked the update and I do not appear so my informed guess was ill informed. I will now seek the wisdom of those who have solved to tell me what I should have done. Darn I was so close to 25, but you know, it is strangely liberating to be at zero.

So what was your answer? Did you try to talk Matt into it? Did it work?

Based on the "rebusiness" of the themes and the two mentioned OAR and EYE I went with OAR EYE ENT AWL avenue. Didn't work and Matt, though he gave me a raised eyebrow, did not give me a solve...and for good reason. I took a simple mechanism and tried to complicate it.

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

I wasn't able to get this one on my own. Like @BarbaraK said, when I see the periodic table in a word puzzle, my mind goes straight to the abbreviations and I never thought of the full names. Also, I have a slight quibble with the title Set Collection. Where Monopoly has a bunch of properties and you endeavor to collect a set of the same color, there are also sets of elements within the periodic table like the noble gases or alkali metals which are "split across multiple rows". I kept thinking these might play a part, but they didn't. But it was mostly the focus on the shortened names.