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.
Abide wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 8:57 pm
For those in need of a less challenging fix. And there will be a pop quiz on this meta at tomorrow's Zoom meet-up.
Abide wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 8:52 am
Good morning and welcome to the latest installment of Muggle Meta Monday!
Feel free to PM me with your answer. Hope to see you off the couch soon!
-Peter
Ftr I'm not finding this week's MMM less challenging than the WSJ...
Me either. Grid was tough. Finally got it done, seeing candidates for theme answers and meta mechanism, but not clicking. And I don’t have time in my life for two of these challenges every week!
Abide wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 8:57 pm
For those in need of a less challenging fix. And there will be a pop quiz on this meta at tomorrow's Zoom meet-up.
Ftr I'm not finding this week's MMM less challenging than the WSJ...
Me either. Grid was tough. Finally got it done, seeing candidates for theme answers and meta mechanism, but not clicking. And I don’t have time in my life for two of these challenges every week!
We all said that early on. Now we have time for five or more!
Tom Shea wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 6:32 pm
Glad I didn't spend too much time this weekend. Never would have happened for me. However......... I do need to snap my streak of weekly dates with Isaac. People are starting to talk.
That's the most unheard of thing I ever heard of..
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
femullen wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 11:04 am
I still go with Wonder Twins. Utterly obscure. Who on earth (besides Wendy, apparently) ever heard of Wonder Twins?
I would be very surprised of anyone between the age of 35 - 45 who didn’t know of the Wonder Twins - it’s definitely a child of the 1980’s specific reference.
Also little known fact the characters names were based on Tarzan and Jane but they modeled their voices and personalities off the Osmonds!
Wonder Twin powers activate!
I fall right in the middle of that age range, but I'd never heard of them until I solved that meta. My parents didn't let me watch much TV when I was a kid.
To me the Wonder Twins were two pieces of bread, but then I'm a food oriented kind of guy.
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
Ftr I'm not finding this week's MMM less challenging than the WSJ...
Me either. Grid was tough. Finally got it done, seeing candidates for theme answers and meta mechanism, but not clicking. And I don’t have time in my life for two of these challenges every week!
We all said that early on. Now we have time for five or more!
...ah, slight correction, we do not have time for them, we make time for them by sidelining such things as family, yard-work, sleep. Thankfully one can eat and drink while doing a crossword so those have not suffered (though I recommend against too much drink or the answers end up looking funny or x-rated).
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
Greetings--this was a brilliant and challenging puzzle!
We had 720 entries, only about 53% correct. Lots of guesses drawing multiple submissions including REPEATED (32), MISHEARD (26), HEAVENLY (23), ROMANTIC (18), RHYTHMIC (12), REFRAINS (12) and many many others.
How do you come up with a puzzle like this? It turns out Matt has help from a valuable accomplice, as he explained to us in an email: "I have a three-year-old son and it’s amazing how many meta themes I’ve come up with just hanging out with him in the nursery. The different ways that objects/numbers/letters/sets of things are presented for babies and toddlers has been a secret source for me."
And congrats to this week's winner: Suzanna Sherry of Nashville, Tenn.!
I previously posted that I thought this one came quickly to me because I have a 3 yo running around the house. Turns out that I was on exactly the same wavelength as Matt. I fully expect my struggles to resume once the puzzle returns to adult themes.
Me either. Grid was tough. Finally got it done, seeing candidates for theme answers and meta mechanism, but not clicking. And I don’t have time in my life for two of these challenges every week!
We all said that early on. Now we have time for five or more!
...ah, slight correction, we do not have time for them, we make time for them by sidelining such things as family, yard-work, sleep. Thankfully one can eat and drink while doing a crossword so those have not suffered (though I recommend against too much drink or the answers end up looking funny or x-rated).
Now there's an idea... I should try to do one of these sober. Interesting concept.
MikeMillerwsj wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:04 pm
How do you come up with a puzzle like this? It turns out Matt has help from a valuable accomplice, as he explained to us in an email: "I have a three-year-old son and it’s amazing how many meta themes I’ve come up with just hanging out with him in the nursery. The different ways that objects/numbers/letters/sets of things are presented for babies and toddlers has been a secret source for me."
Great. Reduced to a quivering mass of jelly by Matt Jr!
Well, I would have been on the "board" with RHYTHMIC had I submitted my #2 s.w.a.g. My other total s.w.a.g. was going to be EMBEDDED - lyrics and large number of smaller words hidden throughout grid answers; but had nothing to do with renaming, etc.
Again, hats off to Matt, Matt Jr, and all the Beachcombers!
'til Thursday, be Safe and be Good. And, think more like a three-year old!!
Last edited by MarkL on Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MikeMillerwsj wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:04 pm
Greetings--this was a brilliant and challenging puzzle!
We had 720 entries, only about 53% correct. Lots of guesses drawing multiple submissions including REPEATED (32), MISHEARD (26), HEAVENLY (23), ROMANTIC (18), RHYTHMIC (12), REFRAINS (12) and many many others.
How do you come up with a puzzle like this? It turns out Matt has help from a valuable accomplice, as he explained to us in an email: "I have a three-year-old son and it’s amazing how many meta themes I’ve come up with just hanging out with him in the nursery. The different ways that objects/numbers/letters/sets of things are presented for babies and toddlers has been a secret source for me."
And congrats to this week's winner: Suzanna Sherry of Nashville, Tenn.!
That was the lowest number of submissions and correct answers since January 31, 2020 - Parting The Waters with the answer Spring Rolls by Mr. Nefarious.
whimsy wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:02 pm
Reading all the entries since post-midnite has been at least as much fun as working on the puzzle ---
I fully agree, Whimsy!!
This definitely has been a meta that keeps on giving.. giving us all the pleasure of being in the midst of such an intelligent creative group of addicts.
Here’s my final worksheet, printed semi-legibly with right hand. Like many of you, it took some doing to get past the LMNOP and the W stumbling blocks.
Note the “and” after letter S and W- the only way I’ve sung it since being Matt Jr.’s age.
Always ending up with
Now I’ve said my ABC’s
Tell me what you think of me!
Probably one could come up with 2 more appropriate ending lines now..
whimsy wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:02 pm
Reading all the entries since post-midnite has been at least as much fun as working on the puzzle ---
I fully agree, Whimsy!!
This definitely has been a meta that keeps on giving.. giving us all the pleasure of being in the midst of such an intelligent creative group of addicts.
Here’s my final worksheet, printed semi-legibly with right hand. Like many of you, it took some doing to get past the LMNOP and the W stumbling blocks.
EECAD517-5515-487B-B698-CD4F91A1EAA5.jpeg
Note the “and” after letter S and W- the only way I’ve sung it since being Matt Jr.’s age.
Always ending up with
Now I’ve said my ABC’s
Tell me what you think of me!
Probably one could come up with 2 more appropriate ending lines now..
Now I’ve sung my ABC’s
Next time won't you sing with me?
whimsy wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:02 pm
Reading all the entries since post-midnite has been at least as much fun as working on the puzzle ---
I fully agree, Whimsy!!
This definitely has been a meta that keeps on giving.. giving us all the pleasure of being in the midst of such an intelligent creative group of addicts.
Here’s my final worksheet, printed semi-legibly with right hand. Like many of you, it took some doing to get past the LMNOP and the W stumbling blocks.
EECAD517-5515-487B-B698-CD4F91A1EAA5.jpeg
Note the “and” after letter S and W- the only way I’ve sung it since being Matt Jr.’s age.
Always ending up with
Now I’ve said my ABC’s
Tell me what you think of me!
Probably one could come up with 2 more appropriate ending lines now..
Now I’ve sung my ABC’s
Next time won't you sing with me?
Mine always was:
Now I know my ABCs
So there's no more school for me!
Nice to see everyone who attended the zoom! Here's that crossword-based theater piece I heard about. My wife attended with friends celebrating a birthday while I was out of town and all said it was super-entertaining: https://www.crosswordshow.com
I know, I know. I'll be there tomorrow afternoon as well and would surely miss the Muggle clan. Either these have gotten more convoluted or I have just totally lost my ability to see through them. Who knows? Maybe a combination. See you all this weekend.
