#641 - "No-Win Situations"

An excellent puzzle written by one of the innovators of the meta crossword format. It comes out every Friday at noon and increases in difficulty throughout the month. Available for modest subscription (worth every cent) here: www.xwordcontest.com
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Hector
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#641 - "No-Win Situations"

#1

Post by Hector »

This weekโ€™s contest answer is an eight-letter word.
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docison
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#2

Post by docison »

Nice grid and meta. Though there's one thing that I found surprising/inelegant.
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RPardoe
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#3

Post by RPardoe »

Done and submitted.

@docison - think I see what you mean. PM sent to check.
Last edited by RPardoe on Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hector
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#4

Post by Hector »

I think I know what you mean, but it seems more elegant the more I look at it.
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Meg
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#5

Post by Meg »

Got the meta, but now I have to find the inelegance.
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paige11
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#6

Post by paige11 »

I was worried I was missing something, but looks like I got it!
Laura M
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#7

Post by Laura M »

Beam me up! Enjoyed it! At least I got this one, I may have to give up on MMM and PGWCC.

I do see a small inelegance, but <shrug>. (Maybe that's why the puzzle was late?)
pgw
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#8

Post by pgw »

Hector wrote: โ†‘Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:26 pm I think I know what you mean, but it seems more elegant the more I look at it.
I commented to Matt on what I thought was a small inelegance (which didn't bother me anyway) and he pointed out why it was less of an inelegance than I'd realized. Either way, I don't think it makes the solve any less solid.
stmv
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#9

Post by stmv »

Got it, on leaderboard. Unsure about inelegance, seemed pretty good to me; indeed, the one part of it that seemed arbitrary to me at first, I now see has a reasonably elegant explanation.
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hcbirker
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#10

Post by hcbirker »

Beam me up!
Heidi
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docison
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#11

Post by docison »

Sorry - didn't mean to quibble! Agree with PGW's comment, ultimately the solve wasn't in doubt. It just made me scratch my head for a minute.
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oldjudge
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#12

Post by oldjudge »

Nice puzzle-interesting concept
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ky-mike
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#13

Post by ky-mike »

Got it. What seemed like an inelegance at first sight really isn't if you think about how this came together and tie back in to the theme.
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Richard B.
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#14

Post by Richard B. »

Beam me up. I think there may be several layers of elegance here (which donโ€™t really affect the ultimate answer).
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Cindy
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#15

Post by Cindy »

Solved. Awaiting a board update
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sharkicicles
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#16

Post by sharkicicles »

On the board!
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Joe Ross
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#17

Post by Joe Ross »

Hoping others' inelegance is mine & that my submitted will be accepted... Confirmed!

I hate submitting when less than 90% sure. Time for that Evan Williams!

[Edit1: Agree with Hector on being more & more convinced of answer (esp. since it was accepted :roll: ), but agreeing with Hector is always the correct thing to do.]
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TMart
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#18

Post by TMart »

On the board. At first, I thought it was inelegant, and then I saw the elegance when I looked at it differently.
damefox
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#19

Post by damefox »

Got it, but I didn't even really understand the answer at the point I figured it out, and at this point I'm in the camp of people who don't see what "elegance" everyone else keeps talking about. It looks a little like a mess to me.
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Jeremy Smith
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#20

Post by Jeremy Smith »

On the board! Inelegance? I think not. However way you look at it, it works all the same.
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