"Looking for that Spark" - February 12, 2021

[flyingMoose]

Anybody else bothered by RABBIT RUN / CHARACTER? Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is a fifth Harry without a Sally. I solved the meta in 2 minutes and looked for Sally 5 for many hours.

I inferred from 39A and its four-letter answer that there would be four instances of Harry/Sally.

[Martin]

Anybody else bothered by RABBIT RUN / CHARACTER? Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is a fifth Harry without a Sally. I solved the meta in 2 minutes and looked for Sally 5 for many hours.

I inferred from 39A and its four-letter answer that there would be four instances of Harry/Sally.

Yes, the meta was clear. But is Harry 5 an Easter Egg (a literal rabbit hole), an additional theme element that we haven't cracked, or a flaw?

Edit: Matt says it was not intentional.

[oldjudge]

Also, (FI)eld+(RE)id=FIRE. I’m still trying to visualize that pair.

[Tom Shea]

Have eaten many times at Hula Grill, which is a solid backup to good-luck-getting-a-table Duke’s.

Duke's at lunch and Hula for dinner for us. If you can plan ahead it's not so hard getting a table at either place. Knowing the bartenders helps also.

Edit:
Need to mention the best line of the movie was uttered by Carl Reiner's wife (and Rob's mother) - "I'll have what she's having."

[Bob Kerfuffle]

According to numerous references, the title of the movie is "When Harry Met Sally...", including the dot dot dot. That's what I submitted. Does it matter?

[mheberlingx100]

Anybody else bothered by RABBIT RUN / CHARACTER? Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is a fifth Harry without a Sally. I solved the meta in 2 minutes and looked for Sally 5 for many hours.

I saw it but wasn’t bothered, as I thought the confirmation of the crossing letters spelling FIRE was good enough for me.

[Colin]

I really wanted it to be The Loooooove Boat with Adam and Isaac in the grid. But as an engineer, I had to solve the reverse-engineering-style meta and only the Harry/Sally connections could do that. Nice one Matt!

[debbierudy]

Have eaten many times at Hula Grill, which is a solid backup to good-luck-getting-a-table Duke’s.

Duke's at lunch and Hula for dinner for us. If you can plan ahead it's not so hard getting a table at either place. Knowing the bartenders helps also. :lol:

Edit:
Need to mention the best line of the movie was uttered by Carl Reiner's wife (and Rob's mother) - "I'll have what she's having."

I was just describing that scene to a friend who (amazingly) hadn't seen the movie. So good. The context was the lengths people will go in an effort to spare someone's feelings!

[Wendy Walker]

According to numerous references, the title of the movie is "When Harry Met Sally...", including the dot dot dot. That's what I submitted. Does it matter?

I submitted the title with the three dots, too, but I don't think it matters.

[LadyBird]

Have eaten many times at Hula Grill, which is a solid backup to good-luck-getting-a-table Duke’s.

Duke's at lunch and Hula for dinner for us. If you can plan ahead it's not so hard getting a table at either place. Knowing the bartenders helps also.

Edit:
Need to mention the best line of the movie was uttered by Carl Reiner's wife (and Rob's mother) - "I'll have what she's having."

When putting in my order earlier at the Tiki Bar, I so wanted to say "I'll have what she's having", but too much of a spoiler!

We watched it again last night. What fun. Based on when it came out, we probably first saw it when we were dating.

[boharr]

Anybody else bothered by RABBIT RUN / CHARACTER? Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is a fifth Harry without a Sally. I solved the meta in 2 minutes and looked for Sally 5 for many hours.

I inferred from 39A and its four-letter answer that there would be four instances of Harry/Sally.

Yes, the meta was clear. But is Harry 5 an Easter Egg (a literal rabbit hole), an additional theme element that we haven't cracked, or a flaw?

Edit: Matt says it was not intentional.

If you went down the RabbitRun rabbit hole looking or a fifth Harry, you could find a Sally (if you pushed it) to go with him. Yeats, who/which crosses RabbitRun, wrote a poem called Down by the Salley Garden. And if you wanted to go all phonetic (as these constructers often do), looking at 21D Yeats, you could arrive at Sally Yates, the former deputy attorney general.

[Jace54]

Regarding the Rabbit Run answer, I read that book last year as part of pandemic reading of some classic fiction. I enjoyed it but not enough to read the remaining Rabbit books. Am I missing much by not finishing the series?

[boharr]

Regarding the Rabbit Run answer, I read that book last year as part of pandemic reading of some classic fiction. I enjoyed it but not enough to read the remaining Rabbit books. Am I missing much by not finishing the series?

The Rabbit books are terrific. Things change as Rabbit ages. That said, if Rabbit Run didn't really float your boat, I'm not sure the others would. Still, that leaves plenty of other books to read.

[Dplass]

What was the point of the FIRE? It was completely inconsequential with respect to getting the name of the movie. It kind of made me feel that the setter was showing off their mad meta construction skillz.

[Annabelle]

Have eaten many times at Hula Grill, which is a solid backup to good-luck-getting-a-table Duke’s.

Duke's at lunch and Hula for dinner for us. If you can plan ahead it's not so hard getting a table at either place. Knowing the bartenders helps also.

Edit:
Need to mention the best line of the movie was uttered by Carl Reiner's wife (and Rob's mother) - "I'll have what she's having."

When putting in my order earlier at the Tiki Bar, I so wanted to say "I'll have what she's having", but too much of a spoiler!

We watched it again last night. What fun. Based on when it came out, we probably first saw it when we were dating.

I had the same urge with my order at the bar, but also resisted. Very fun movie and THE classic line!

[HunterX]

Also, (FI)eld+(RE)id=FIRE. I’m still trying to visualize that pair.

I wouldn't go there. Though... easier to imagine than Sally Field and Harry Houdini!

[HunterX]

According to numerous references, the title of the movie is "When Harry Met Sally...", including the dot dot dot. That's what I submitted. Does it matter?

I submitted the title with the three dots, too, but I don't think it matters.

I did not submit with the dots. But I agree that it shouldn't matter, based on what we've read here in the past about the method of determining the winner. (I used to wonder whether things like an apostrophe, which can't be used in the on-line submission, or ALL CAPS mattered.)

[MikeM000]

What was the point of the FIRE? It was completely inconsequential with respect to getting the name of the movie. It kind of made me feel that the setter was showing off their mad meta construction skillz.

I think it makes sense especially from the POV of using these as introductory metas to show new solvers the different ways puzzle elements interact and provide the confirming 'click'. With just Harry/Sally crossings, it looks more like a themed crossword. By taking the crossing letters and making a grid entry that fits thematically with a 2nd definition of a title word, it adds fullness and confirmation to the meta and familiarizes people to matching up the grid, clues, and title.

The only odd thing to me was that FIRE wasn't in the bottom right...

[ky-mike]

What was the point of the FIRE? It was completely inconsequential with respect to getting the name of the movie. It kind of made me feel that the setter was showing off their mad meta construction skillz.

Since this is part of a series of puzzles to help bring new meta solvers into the fold, it is demonstrating one technique of a meta construction. This one was pretty easy for seasoned solvers, but may not have been quite as easy for those newer to meta-land.

[otlaolap]

What was the point of the FIRE? It was completely inconsequential with respect to getting the name of the movie. It kind of made me feel that the setter was showing off their mad meta construction skillz.

Like many here, I had the answer before fully understanding the mechanism being discussed in recent posts. If you get that, you'll have even less doubt.

I pondered whether Matt had that mind for the actual answer but dumbed the meta down a little because as Mike Miller explained, this month's puzzles are tailored to beginners.

I think Mr Porter nailed it. And if so I would never have gotten the right answer.