"Build Your Brand" - May 8, 2020

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.
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MikeMillerwsj
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#501

Post by MikeMillerwsj »

Here I am (and thanks for the sympathetic explanation, Bob).

This was one of our toughest contests in a while! An ingenious Matt Gaffney multi-step treasure hunt that wound through some tricky thickets along the way. We had 802 entries, with an unusually low 37% success rate. A big response (144) for COSTCO (because they sell curtains and toasters and cereal? or some other reason?). Plus some other big box stores (same reason?): WALMART (49), HOME DEPOT (13), TARGET (12), and LOWES (5). Also TESLA (8), LEGO (6), GENERAL MOTORS (5), and many many others.

Congrats to this week's winner: Suzanne Condron of Pearland, Tex.! Stay safe, solvers!
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Wendy Walker
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#502

Post by Wendy Walker »

MikeMillerwsj wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:50 am A big response (144) for COSTCO (because they sell curtains and toasters and cereal? or some other reason?).
Mike, COSTCO was going to be my WAG if I didn't find the meta. 4D, INN, could be converted into a company name, CNN, by adding a C. 18D, UPA --> UPS. 7D, ART --> ATT. 8D, RIA --> RCA. That made CSTC, and believe me I spent hours trying to find the missing "o's!
Huge congrats to our winner Suzanne!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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TPS
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#503

Post by TPS »

MikeMillerwsj wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:50 am We had 802 entries, with an unusually low 37% success rate.

Congrats to this week's winner: Suzanne Condron of Pearland, Tex.
What I take from this is that for all the hullabaloo about nudges only about 250 people submitted the correct answer and the winner isn’t even someone I recognize from this site. So what that tells me is that the people who are getting nudges and saying they are not submitting - probably aren’t. And even with the low turnout and low % correct your odds of winning the Mug still aren’t very good.

So maybe everyone should just have fun with it.
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Bob cruise director
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#504

Post by Bob cruise director »

TPS wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 11:10 am
MikeMillerwsj wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:50 am We had 802 entries, with an unusually low 37% success rate.

Congrats to this week's winner: Suzanne Condron of Pearland, Tex.
What I take from this is that for all the hullabaloo about nudges only about 250 people submitted the correct answer and the winner isn’t even someone I recognize from this site. So what that tells me is that the people who are getting nudges and saying they are not submitting - probably aren’t. And even with the low turnout and low % correct your odds of winning the Mug still aren’t very good.

So maybe everyone should just have fun with it.
Congratulations to Suzanne. I do not have her in my muggles list as either a WSJ subscriber or having her name as a blog name, however there are a growing number of muggles who I don't have their real name.
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TPS
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#505

Post by TPS »

Well hopefully someone tells her about the site and she creates an account to at least take a bow!
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BarbaraK
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#506

Post by BarbaraK »

Joepickett wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:00 am Did I miss the winner and results for last week? I thought they are posted here by some time on Monday. I searched the posts but could not find anything.
Last week's results were posted earlier that usual. Here they are:

forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=381&p=19816#p19816

(I didn't actually scroll through all of that topic; I took a shortcut by looking up Mike Miller and his post.)
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LadyBird
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#507

Post by LadyBird »

I see that the difficulty rating on this puzzle is a 4. If this one is a 4, then I'm not sure that I want to see a 5!
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Wendy Walker
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#508

Post by Wendy Walker »

LadyBird wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:43 pm I see that the difficulty rating on this puzzle is a 4. If this one is a 4, then I'm not sure that I want to see a 5!
"5" for me was the one where you had to know that dollar bills had letters on them that indicated at which mint they were printed.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Joe Ross
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#509

Post by Joe Ross »

Wendy Walker wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:49 pm ...dollar bills had letters on them that indicated at which mint they were printed.
FWIW, coins do, too!
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TPS
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#510

Post by TPS »

^^^ I knew this but if this was somehow the key to solving a meta there is no way I would ever get it. The limit of my range when it comes to solving metas extends about as far as knowing state capitals.
Nlobb
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#511

Post by Nlobb »

Yma sumac was definitely a 5
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Cindy
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#512

Post by Cindy »

Wendy Walker wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:49 pm
LadyBird wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:43 pm I see that the difficulty rating on this puzzle is a 4. If this one is a 4, then I'm not sure that I want to see a 5!
"5" for me was the one where you had to know that dollar bills had letters on them that indicated at which mint they were printed.
I know exactly where I was sitting when I solved the dollar bill one. I doubt if I know where I was for any of the others.
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Bird Lives
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#513

Post by Bird Lives »

LadyBird wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:43 pm I see that the difficulty rating on this puzzle is a 4. If this one is a 4, then I'm not sure that I want to see a 5!
I went back and checked.

Puzzle People (aka Yma Sumac) had 96 correct entries out of 357 -- 27%.
Build Your Brand 297 of 802 -- 36%.

Looks like there are a lot more meta-heads around now than a year and a half ago.
Jay
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Wendy Walker
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#514

Post by Wendy Walker »

Cindy wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 1:32 pm
Wendy Walker wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:49 pm
LadyBird wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:43 pm I see that the difficulty rating on this puzzle is a 4. If this one is a 4, then I'm not sure that I want to see a 5!
"5" for me was the one where you had to know that dollar bills had letters on them that indicated at which mint they were printed.
I know exactly where I was sitting when I solved the dollar bill one. I doubt if I know where I was for any of the others.
Cindy, I am LOL-ing because I know EXACTLY how you feel! That divine moment when it all comes together!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Bob cruise director
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#515

Post by Bob cruise director »

Bird Lives wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 2:14 pm
LadyBird wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:43 pm I see that the difficulty rating on this puzzle is a 4. If this one is a 4, then I'm not sure that I want to see a 5!
I went back and checked.

Puzzle People (aka Yma Sumac) had 96 correct entries out of 357 -- 27%.
Build Your Brand 297 of 802 -- 36%.

Looks like there are a lot more meta-heads around now than a year and a half ago.
The all time low was our famous Pageant (Play Grounds) in December 2017 at 13% (242 out of 1863)
That was followed by
Puzzle People as you mentioned
Mismatch in August 2017 at 33% (337 out of 1022)
Toybox in December 2017 at 33% (98 out of 296)
What Not to Do in March 2020 at 36% (571 out of 1587) lots of hail Mary's there
Go Down For the Count in March 2017 at 37% (334 out of 907)
Marking Time in July 2018 at 37% (130 out of 352)
This week as you mentioned
Sound Investment in February 2017 at 38% (212 out of 558)

And there were 11 more below 50%

That is 21 out of 211 where we scored below 50%. So it is not uncommon for Matt/Mike/Marie to throw a toughie at us about every 10 weeks. They would have to indicate whether it is planned or not.

And yes, there are a lot more of us crazies around. The number of submissions has increased from 700 per week four years ago to 1500 per week now. However the percentage correct has stayed around 75% (long term average) pretty consistently.
Bob Stevens
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BarbaraK
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#516

Post by BarbaraK »

Cindy wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 1:32 pm
Wendy Walker wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:49 pm
"5" for me was the one where you had to know that dollar bills had letters on them that indicated at which mint they were printed.
I know exactly where I was sitting when I solved the dollar bill one. I doubt if I know where I was for any of the others.
And? Do tell. Don’t leave us hanging:)

I actually remember that one too for some reason. I was on an airliner. I made my husband pull out his wallet so I could look at his bills. Still had to wait til I got home and could google to finish it though.
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Bob cruise director
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#517

Post by Bob cruise director »

And also some more useless factoids about the metas

Total submissions to WSJ for 211 weeks

226,049

Total number correct for 211 weeks

177,421

Highest percentages correct (note that we only get percentages to the nearest whole number and not the exact number correct unless the percentage is to a decimal)
September 2016 Title search 98.9% (1380 out of 1395)
February 2019 Just Say the word 98%
February 2018 What's The Difference 98%
October 2018 No Presents, Please 98%
August 2018 Mind the Gap 98%
November 2019 That's A Plus 97%
June 2017 One, Two, Three Four 97%
December 2017 Connect the Dots 97%

And the longest answer was (note, I have as the answer for December 15, 2017 "Sue Grafton, Peril, Wasted" - does anyone remember what that means?)
August 2019 - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

Second place tie
October 2019 Molten Lava Cake (including spaces)
August 2016 Ice Cream Sundae


The shortest answer was

November 2018 - W - a record that won't be broken

Second Place Tie
November 2016 - Ale
January 2019 - QED
June 2016 - BLT
Bob Stevens
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Cindy
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#518

Post by Cindy »

BarbaraK wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 4:49 pm
Cindy wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 1:32 pm
Wendy Walker wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:49 pm
"5" for me was the one where you had to know that dollar bills had letters on them that indicated at which mint they were printed.
I know exactly where I was sitting when I solved the dollar bill one. I doubt if I know where I was for any of the others.
And? Do tell. Don’t leave us hanging:)

I actually remember that one too for some reason. I was on an airliner. I made my husband pull out his wallet so I could look at his bills. Still had to wait til I got home and could google to finish it though.

I was in a restaurant and I made Rick take out his wallet.
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CPJohnson
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#519

Post by CPJohnson »

SueGrafton.png
Here's the official explanation for the Sue Grafton puzzle. (I didn't solve that one.) Cynthia J
Cynthia
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MajordomoTom
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#520

Post by MajordomoTom »

but why was Humphrey Bogart in that restaurant?
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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