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.
Kas wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 5:08 pm
And for the record:
a) We have 2 teenagers;
b) I therefore guessed, "Sex Drugs Rock-and-Roll; and
c) I would almost prefer that issue: This is 2020..."Too Much TV" is no longer the issue: It's "too much iPhone/iPad/iWhateverNotJustAppleProducts, and generally, "screen time."
Yes, this is all sour grapes...it is what it is. Hopefully, I'll be able to join you folks at the cabana again...someday...)
Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll was also my guess, and I kept trying to find a way to get that "X" in the middle involved!
Then figured it had something to do with the long answers (I tried dropping the double letters and anagramming). The simple approach eluded me!
I don't know if anybody already mentioned this, but Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest is free this week to non-subscribers. If you e-mail Matt at crosswordcontest@gmail.com he will send it to you. You won't have much time to solve the meta (deadline is noon Tuesday) but it is a fun one -- a guest crossword from a new constructor.
This week we offered parenting advice at no additional charge, and our solvers responded with unusual accuracy. We had 1405 entries, about 90% correct, well above our usual rate of about 75%. Incorrect answers were scattered all over the place, with a few multiple guesses including THE TERRIBLE TWOS (11), JUST SAY NO (3), TELL A LIE (2) and a few others.
Congrats to this week's winner: Nancy Lillydale of Beverly, MA!
I thought maybe the THEM THE in the title was a clue to the mechanism? Seems plausible
My main rabbit hole started with ACHT then I found SEPT and I thought hey that would be cool counting to 8 in 8 different languages... that would be enough!! The first three numbers are easy to find in most grids in some language or other but try as I might I could not make 4-5-6 work. Then after a little post enlightenment I realized I was digging way too deep and had it quickly.
MikeMillerwsj wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 6:21 pm
This week we offered parenting advice at no additional charge, and our solvers responded with unusual accuracy. We had 1405 entries, about 90% correct, well above our usual rate of about 75%. Incorrect answers were scattered all over the place, with a few multiple guesses including THE TERRIBLE TWOS (11), JUST SAY NO (3), TELL A LIE (2) and a few others.
Congrats to this week's winner: Nancy Lillydale of Beverly, MA!
This is a banner week for the Muggles. With the correct answers we just passed the 200,000 correct answer mark (200,893). Nest stop is 300,000 submissions. We are at 256,794
DBMiller wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 11:22 am
. . . I just had to bite my tongue (prick my fingers?) when I saw replies like, "Our family did not watch much TV" . . .
Did I write that? And fail so badly at the puzzle? Ouch.
DBMiller wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 11:22 am
. . . I just had to bite my tongue (prick my fingers?) when I saw replies like, "Our family did not watch much TV" . . .
Did I write that? And fail so badly at the puzzle? Ouch.
Perhaps that is the exact reason - you didn't get it because you didn't watch any TV.
My friends
Today I received a tremendous book about my other love - photography. And it was inscribed by the author "Your grateful muggle friends thought their cruise director might enjoy this book." He also adds "I'm not entirely sure what any of that means, but I do hope you enjoy the long and crazy journey north".
I am overwhelmed and can not thank all of you enough. The book looks great and the sentiment behind it even greater.
I love you all and enjoy muggledom from 4:00 on Thursday through the Zoom call on Tuesday.
