"The Drive To Succeed" April 18, 2025

[Richard]

Several years ago there was a meta titled Eagle Scout and the answer was a famous athlete. Two rows below the PAR letters in the crossword were the letters that spelled out ARNOLD PALMER. I actually had the ha ha moment eating dinner and then checked and sure enough there was Arnie. It is what got me hooked on these.

[Cindy N]

I found everything, but took RARE BIRD ENCOUNTERS to be directing us to EAGLES, especially since it has already been mentioned, that there is another rare bird in golf. Gaffney has violated his "no red herrings in the puzzle" and "no answers in the title" in recent puzzles, as well as some other misdirections in recent puzzles, so I submitted EAGLES instead.

[Tom Shea]

I had Par 6, since there were 6 par's in the grid.

extremely elegant construction with the answer being two under the pars.

I still like my answer!

[Faust]

Those were all reasonable possibilities, plus a few more, that I was considering until a helpful nudge:

-Hole in one
-Breaking par
-Albatross
-Eagles
-Par 6
-6 Pars
-Par for the course
-2 under par
-2 over par
-Consecutive pars

[foiledthrice]

Thought it might have been double par, but I suppose I see the logic here. Don't really care for the prompt though, there's a high dependency on where you go golfing, not just the fact that you are

[mitchel674]

Thought it might have been double par, but I suppose I see the logic here. Don't really care for the prompt though, there's a high dependency on where you go golfing, not just the fact that you are

Tough crowd!

[Kas]

I rate this one a “Kas 4.” It was right there in front of me, and I am face-palming myself repeatedly. In a word, “D’Oh!”

Well…I suppose I’ll enjoy the week at the bar with Isaac. Hope you are all enjoying Spring—which *finally* appears to have arrived here in New England (it snowed last week).

[debbierudy]

Ashore! This was a fun one.
Just got back from an eventful sail. As we were about to leave the dock my phone slipped out of my pocket and into the water. My husband secured the boat and waded into the cold water after it, dove down and came up with it in his hand.
Happy Easter, everyone!

And,...? Does the phone still work?

Mostly! As he handed it to me a text from my nephew popped up. But the battery is compromised so I'll get it replaced today.

[Craven_Mug_Craver]

Hmmm...not a fan of this one. I was 99.9% convinced it was ALBATROSS. Two under is an eagle...but EAGLES (note plural) had already been mentioned so that clearly wasn't it; which suggested a multiple EAGLE so the only possible choice was DOUBLE-EAGLE which is, of course, ALBATROSS.

Meh. Fun to find the mech but this particular click did not really work for me.

(And the hell of it is that I am 100% sure that I would have gotten the mug!! Ha ha ha.)

[Craven_Mug_Craver]

I found everything, but took RARE BIRD ENCOUNTERS to be directing us to EAGLES, especially since it has already been mentioned, that there is another rare bird in golf. Gaffney has violated his "no red herrings in the puzzle" and "no answers in the title" in recent puzzles, as well as some other misdirections in recent puzzles, so I submitted EAGLES instead.

I did not think it could be EAGLES so went with multiple eagles which gets you to ALBATROSS. Or, possibly CONDOR though that is effectively impossible in the real game.

[Plymouthrock]

Did anyone else notice how many car names there were in this puzzle, starting with Bronco? Loved this one.

[Yoda66]

I found everything, but took RARE BIRD ENCOUNTERS to be directing us to EAGLES, especially since it has already been mentioned, that there is another rare bird in golf. Gaffney has violated his "no red herrings in the puzzle" and "no answers in the title" in recent puzzles, as well as some other misdirections in recent puzzles, so I submitted EAGLES instead.

I did not think it could be EAGLES so went with multiple eagles which gets you to ALBATROSS. Or, possibly CONDOR though that is effectively impossible in the real game.

I debated for a while on the same thing and the AI overview feature on chrome search seemed to support that since it stated: "In golf, "rare bird encounters" doesn't refer to actual wildlife sightings. It's a way of referring to rare scores on the course, specifically a score of three strokes under par, which is called an albatross."

But the more I thought about it (especially since MG used the word "occasionally" in the clue) the more the rare bird answer was the right one, since the chances of hitting an albatross in a round are 6 million to 1. So on average, a golfer would need to play millions of holes before making an albatross (not quite the occasional experience). The Rara Avis was another confirmation for me.

[otlaolap]

Never heard of an albatross in the context of golf until this page of this forum. You learn something every day. Fortunately therefore I was not confused by the prompt or the puzzle once I'd found the (intended) answer.

[Eric Porter]

I was surprised that this one caused people problems. I saw that the prompt mentioned golf, knew from 4A that an eagle was 2 under PAR and it was meta-related. I didn't know what to do exactly until I had both 17A & 54A where I could see that 2 under PAR didn't hit any black squares.

Unlike 8 Mile where I called myself on shore despite only seeing 4 of them, I waited until I had enough of the middle to get the full answer, which caused me to miss page 1.

Sometimes my first thought is correct, sometimes it isn't, but I never had any doubt on this one. The Umiak / Alaska one was far more of a stretch in my opinion.

[Craven_Mug_Craver]

I found everything, but took RARE BIRD ENCOUNTERS to be directing us to EAGLES, especially since it has already been mentioned, that there is another rare bird in golf. Gaffney has violated his "no red herrings in the puzzle" and "no answers in the title" in recent puzzles, as well as some other misdirections in recent puzzles, so I submitted EAGLES instead.

I did not think it could be EAGLES so went with multiple eagles which gets you to ALBATROSS. Or, possibly CONDOR though that is effectively impossible in the real game.

I debated for a while on the same thing and the AI overview feature on chrome search seemed to support that since it stated: "In golf, "rare bird encounters" doesn't refer to actual wildlife sightings. It's a way of referring to rare scores on the course, specifically a score of three strokes under par, which is called an albatross."

But the more I thought about it (especially since MG used the word "occasionally" in the clue) the more the rare bird answer was the right one, since the chances of hitting an albatross in a round are 6 million to 1. So on average, a golfer would need to play millions of holes before making an albatross (not quite the occasional experience). The Rara Avis was another confirmation for me.

Yes...I hear you. Maybe over-thought this one after watching The Masters. But, you can look up PGA Albatrosses on Youtube. There are some!! I wonder if anybody has ever scored a Condor?

Anyway...waiting for Thursday. Can't let a crossword meta ruin my week. That NEVER happens. No, SIr. Never! Never get frustrated, irritated, exasperated...would like a mug but can't say that I CRAVE one, of course...no no no!! Just my usual calm and good-natured self...

[Craven_Mug_Craver]

Did anyone else notice how many car names there were in this puzzle, starting with Bronco? Loved this one.

I did!! And that was the first DRIVE I was focused on!! Luckily I made the necessary adjustment but that was a very very very clever bit of misdirection.

[woozy]

Well, I did wonder if RARE BIRD ENCOUNTERS was far enough, but I assumed if it didn't go far enough that "rare bird encounters" might have a specific meaning in golf talk I had never heard of. Googling I figured it didn't. Vague references back to EAGLES (which was key in doing the meta in the first place) or to non-specific birds EAGLE, ALBATROSS, or CONDOR would not be valid and I never considered them.

[Penny_Keatley]

I clearly under-thought this one and went with “double par”, which sadly happens with some frequency when I play golf.

[Bob cruise director]

Our own @minimuggle Marie is off and running the Boston Marathon. Her 5K split was 30 minutes and 24 seconds.

10K in 1 hour 2 minutes and 4 seconds - 5.89 miles/hour - sensational

Marie reached the halfway mark in 2 hours 11 minutes and 29 seconds. And not slowing down.

25K done out of 42.2 in the race. Completed in 2 hours 36 minutes and 29 seconds. 5.82 miles/hour

Keep it up Marie - great job


Marie finished in 4 hours 25 minutes and 53 seconds. Excellent job She finished 16th in her division.

We are all proud of you!!!

[boharr]

Well, I did wonder if RARE BIRD ENCOUNTERS was far enough, but I assumed if it didn't go far enough that "rare bird encounters" might have a specific meaning in golf talk I had never heard of. Googling I figured it didn't. Vague references back to EAGLES (which was key in doing the meta in the first place) or to non-specific birds EAGLE, ALBATROSS, or CONDOR would not be valid and I never considered them.

In golf, an albatross, also known as a double eagle, is a score of three under par on a single hole. This is typically achieved by completing a par-5 hole in two strokes or holing out a par-4 in one. It is considered a rare and impressive feat.