"In Character" - February 19, 2021

[Wendy Walker]

Agree, an excellent series! I gave up on The Wire and haven't heard of The Leftovers; sounds like I have some catching up to do...

The Wire is my favorite show ever - amazing characterization IMO the best on TV ever. The Leftovers was an HBO show and ran 3 seasons - the first was based on the book of the same name (It was the worst IMO) and created by Damon Lindelof (Lost, Watchmen). At its core it is a meditation on faith. It is a trippy show at times without much explanation so in some ways not dissimilar from say Twin Peaks or Atlanta.

TPS, you are the reason we started watching Halt -- so thank you! Mark loves the hardware and gaming storylines, and the late 1970s/early 80s music and decor are a total nostalgia-fest for me. The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, and Six Feet Under are high on my list; I really wanted to like Breaking Bad and Peaky Blinders but just couldn't.

[TeaJenny]

Ashore! Easy one this week.

[Brandon W]

Ashore, first time poster, long time follower.

All this talk about the Wire and Breaking Bad reminds of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4LhXycJ7rI

[Tripod]

Ashore.

[Tony S]

Ashore. Got the meta a third of the way through the easier-than-usual grid. I thought USHER, TRIAL JUDGE, and WHEN HARRY MET SALLY were kindergarten level --- this one is pre-school.

[norrin2]

Ashore.

[Jeanrosz]

On shore again! I’m sad I have to wait another whole week for the next one...

You don't! Check out the Other Meta Crossword Puzzles section on the Board Index. Many are free.

Oh I have done a few of those too!

[TPS]

Ashore, first time poster, long time follower.

All this talk about the Wire and Breaking Bad reminds of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4LhXycJ7rI

I’m not going to click this link - I am just going to presume it’s from Family Guy.

[TPS]

TPS, you are the reason we started watching Halt -- so thank you! Mark loves the hardware and gaming storylines, and the late 1970s/early 80s music and decor are a total nostalgia-fest for me. The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, and Six Feet Under are high on my list; I really wanted to like Breaking Bad and Peaky Blinders but just couldn't.

You are welcome - I do my best Breaking Bad and The Wire are pretty dark shows so I can get why they might not be in some people’s wheelhouse - although I feel like if you could handle and enjoyed The Sopranos then most people should be able to do BB & The Wire. I watched Boardwalk Empire and felt it was ok - not top 10 for me. I really liked Six Feet Under - best end to a show ever - I was literally fighting back tears - it’s probably a top 10 show for me. I have not watched Peaky Blinders - it’s been recommended but I haven’t felt the urge to commit to it yet.

[RDaleHall]

Fun, enjoyable and quick swim to shore. Contest answer is by far a family favorite here. Goose Island Next Coast IPA ready to go.

[spotter]

I'm on shore

[ky-mike]

On shore. Haven't read the book.

Is that a new avatar with your collection?

Yes. The smaller mug is from 2017.

[RichA2]

Ashore. Looks like it might be another record week.

[BrianMac]

Ashore! Again, I wait until Friday mornings to start and that's when the puzzle is loaded on the WSJ iPad app anyway. Makes Fridays even more enjoyable!

I see posts saying the construction was elegant. Not sure I am tracking. As a newer solver of the WSJ Thursday and Friday puzzles (I am now addicted!), I would love to have a conversation with folks about your perspectives. February has been a good training ground as I now go back and work through the 2020 Friday puzzles. Feel free to message me if you want to have the conversation. Thanks!

Welcome to the group! The more metas you solve, the more you will come to appreciate the "elegance." To me, an elegant puzzle is devoid of bad fill, meaning abbreviations, partial phrases, obscure foreign language words, prefixes, etc. Constructing a "clean" crossword puzzle is challenging enough when you're not trying to include a meta mechanism. Sometimes the meta mechanism requires the trade-off of some bad fill, so if you can include a lot of meta material in your grid without resorting to OMOO, NNE, ANIL or CCVII, that's one aspect of elegance.

There may be hints or "easter eggs" hidden in the grid that you don't recognize when solving. Realizing that the constructor included that without you even noticing makes you appreciate the elegance...thoughtful aspects of the construction you didn't even notice. I'll send you a PM with an example relating to this week's puzzle.

Another aspect of elegance is the solving experience. Is the meta mechanism consistent across all its steps or components? Do the steps unfold in a logical manner that leads to a solution that is absolutely, unequivocally, definitively, 100%, without-a-doubt the one and only possible solution to the meta? Elegant! Maybe most importantly, is the meta mechanism clever and original? This standard has been going up, in my opinion, over the few years I've been doing these.

Opinions vary of course. Someone might think that a meta that requires you to Google something is, per se, inelegant. Others, such as myself, are not bothered by that. I could go on longer, but need to run. I'm sure others will chime in (without giving spoilers!)

[iggystan]

Ashore.

[Joedbee]

On shore!

[Dennis]

Wow! It's a personal-best: less than two hours from printing to solving! Now I will have time for chipping and shoveling sleet, snow, and ice from the storm here in Baltimore yesterday.

[bread-girl]

On shore! I’m expecting the crosswords in the coming weeks will be super difficult because we’ve had some easy weeks.

[TheCatt]

On shore, four (easy) weeks in a row!

Which beats our previous best of 1 week in a row

[Powers2020]

Ashore! Alright Mike, let's turn the heat back up already! I'm getting a big head!