"Party Places" February 7, 2025

[BigPear]

Laurab and I are both ashore! And Happy B-Day, Laurab! Time for a bottle of bubbly bundled in a basketful of blankets!

[Laurab]

Thank you Big Pear!!!

[Ben B]

Nothing better than being on shore Saturday morning! Fun one.

[rjy]

Saturday morning trek to shore… a wee bit early for a cocktail, sad to say, so a cappuccino it is!

[jrdad]

Got it! Very elegant.

[jmorgie7]

Ashore. Went from WTF to OK in a heartbeat. need a hot toddy

[whimsy]

Next time I go to my daughter's HS bball game and the ref makes the wrong call I will yell "Stop thinking about the meta, ref". Who knows, we may meet.

I've been the PA announcer... for dozens or hundreds of high school basketball games and often wondered what the refs were sharing.... arms crossed, one hand in front of mouths...

Never once did I imagine they were working over contest crosswords together.

Huh.

It's mostly important stuff -- like whether the concession stand will have any popcorn left after the game.

Whenever I see that while watching sports I'll say -- There they go again, the cool kids -- talking about that party that not all of us are invited to!

[JaneGummy]

On shore, just as I wrote up a request for a nudge the meta jumped out of the grid. My favorite type of AHA. As always s so clever!

[Aragorn]

Ah, I get it! When solving there were a handful of superfluous letters I had to ignore (that looked suspiciously like they meant something). After reading the forum and scratching my head over a number of posts the lightbulb clicked on, and I see what they mean and the tie back to the theme. Very clever!!

[Adajeo]

I'm SO late to the party beach. I was fighting with the grid again.

[RVAtoOBX]

I'm excited to say I solved this one with no outside help. I went down a couple of rabbit holes until a thought occured to me and presto, the answer. I'll take a glass of Merlot later today.

[Hank37]

Finally got on shore - with a gentle nudge or two.

Tried to make it too complicated, but about the third look it all became clear.

Hank

[Jarrod]

Ashore! Tried a local dark lager (Dunkel) at a local brewery - very tasty!

[IAmForeverAhab]

I would love a nudge in the right direction if someone could help me

[Onaquest]

We’re ashore. We just arrived in Bristol from Ireland but on the Guinness nonetheless.

[Penny_Keatley]

Beach! Nice to be back on dry land after several weeks at sea.

[Bob cruise director]

Good evening

My daughter's lighting problems are resolved. Her mirror is up on an uneven wall surface, the snowblower is gassed up for the 10 inches of snow we are going to get, extra gas on hand for the generator and a few other issues resolved so I finally got time to do my cruise director duties before dinner.

First welcome to our two newest muggles @Hank37 and @foiledthrice (most of us wish we are only foiled thrice). Great to have more muggles

We have 197 on the shore so this list will be very long. Let me know if I missed anyone

MikeyG
mattythewsjpuzzler
docison
Wendy
paige
MatthewL
bagman
SJMck
oldjudge
Meg
charliewentling
ArthurD and MrsD
Joe R
jhseeman
scott
D B Miller
Lee-Ann
flepper
Georgeall
Cindy
Kay
ky-mike
Schmeel
ladybird
michaelm
JimJim
Eric P
pjc
RDaleHall
Sheila
dpl11
escapeartist
hoover
DaveG
VanVeen
will j
NebFaninCA
AaronT
Tmart
Merry Potter
straffin
Peter
boharr
Anita
whimsy
Flying_Burrito
DCBilly
HeadinHome
Don and Cynthia
sjm
woozy
Beth T
Guffman
Heidi
Al Laubenstein
Beth A
Homer
Laura
clonefitz
darth
Jace54
Wescovington
MajorDomoTom
Les
H and J
elvanya
benchen71
mlvilv
Birdbrain
Brian K
LittleGood
Dave C
milaniatl and brothers and sister
tonearm
streroto
Mike H
Harbo
ajk
Bird Lives
Joepickett
BrennerTJ
Barbara K
joe
Jeremy
Don and Lisa
Tina
newbymar and brothers
krf
Tom Wi
MarkWoychick
Ron
diplomatt
Mikey and puzzle buddy Jane
TeaJenny
shalmanezer
Cinny
scrabbler
Acarl
TeamDoubleTow
Chris
Miki
HunterX
Berto
Beccabecca
olev
EVJ
Beth C
M and M
lymanrpaden
Kevin L
Fred
Faust
Sleepy
Ergcat
Al
Bob B
chopkins828
Beleaguered Castle
vandono
Wdunbar
Gman
Laurab
PQ63
BigPear
MileHighSolver
Ann
Alvibu67
Henry Paul
Blair
Char
Steveb
Jean
ImOnToo
mommyX4
BoomerBanker
Steve M
SamKat9
BisbeeTam
DrTom
Scott M
JRS51
otlaolap
JeanneC
TheCatt
batfella
Mister and Mrs. Squawk
kurtalert
InAJelly
Aragorn
rjy
jash
Bill
altosax
minimuggle
Cruise Director
Katiedid
turbotron
JoDave
Bobj
Franky_T
Libbypibby
geipey
Nlobb
Adajeo
lxpeterson
RVAtoOBX
Ben B and son
Dickie_Dunn
jrdad
Yoda66
ZooAnimalsOnWheels
Tcassutt
relic (and Maggie)
Janet
Mbutterfly
b4alltime
Belle
Trey , Jill, Marion and Mitch
Jarrod
Jayboy1
Kaykay
flandangle
halseymac
Hidden in 3D
Grover
Deb
Fogway
JaneGummy
jmorgie7
Red Inker
Lucas
moron
ignatiusJ
mcdonaldhotcakes
Lacern
Hank37
foiledthrice

See you tomorrow after the clearing of snow

[LeslieO]

Whew. Think I finally reached the beach after multiple sandbars that didn't quite do it.

[Byrdy]

No one here needs a hint, but let's say you wanted one, you can head over to TikTok and enjoy my new #1 "hint song"

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2kj4xA9/

Whoa, that was really cool. How did you do that?

[Byrdy]

This is my first WSJ meta. I solved the puzzle OK, but then had no idea where to find something politicians do. Eventually got there, but I think I now owe Relic a milkshake. I still haven't figured out the swimming and the beach and the drinks, but it all sounds pretty fun.

I'll be in Stamford in April for the first time in over a decade, so maybe I'll see some of you there.