"Pre-Order Your Copy Now" - March 11, 2021

[CallMeShane]

A night's sleep revealed all.

On shore.

[MaineMarge]

Ashore. Great one, Matt. What a fun guy.

And speaking of fun guys, Cabana Boy gave me his cell #, so I preordered my . I headed for shore as soon as he replied “Copy that”.

[Prozach]

On Shore.

[JennyByrd]

Done! Have a great weekend everyone.

[Carter]

I'm new and I am frustrated. I have the grid done but now can't sleep because I am thinking of these odd combinations of words and trying to make a meal out of random scraps. I don't drink coffee so I don't really care about a mug, but I would like to be able to sleep again. Any nudges will be happily and unapologetically accepted. I, too, would like to declare the puzzle "elegant" and say that things "clicked" but I fear I will be treading water for a while and my legs are getting tired. Kudos to those on shore.

[DianeA]

Sadly, i've run through the entire Karaoke list at the bar. Isaac is not a fan of my singing, but he's polite, and keeps my glass filled. I'd hoped the distraction would let my mind work in another direction. I'm fixated on a route to the solution...which is obviously NOT the correct route. Will keep trying.

[Janet]

I'm new and I am frustrated. I have the grid done but now can't sleep because I am thinking of these odd combinations of words and trying to make a meal out of random scraps. I don't drink coffee so I don't really care about a mug, but I would like to be able to sleep again. Any nudges will be happily and unapologetically accepted. I, too, would like to declare the puzzle "elegant" and say that things "clicked" but I fear I will be treading water for a while and my legs are getting tired. Kudos to those on shore.

Carter, new to the muggles or to the puzzle contest? I started out by looking at past puzzles and solutions. It still took me quite a while before I could get the hang of it.

[Carter]

I'm new and I am frustrated. I have the grid done but now can't sleep because I am thinking of these odd combinations of words and trying to make a meal out of random scraps. I don't drink coffee so I don't really care about a mug, but I would like to be able to sleep again. Any nudges will be happily and unapologetically accepted. I, too, would like to declare the puzzle "elegant" and say that things "clicked" but I fear I will be treading water for a while and my legs are getting tired. Kudos to those on shore.

Carter, new to the muggles or to the puzzle contest? I started out by looking at past puzzles and solutions. It still took me quite a while before I could get the hang of it.

Both! The past few weeks' puzzles had me feeling like a smarty pants because I could solve them without sleep loss. I was feeling a tad cocky and here comes "Pre-Order Your Copy Now" and I have been properly humbled.

Are you just going back to the past Monday puzzles on WSJ and looking at the Friday solutions to learn patterns?

[auee89]

Hangin' in the bar now. Completed the grid this morning and I see something, but not the final click. Putting down for now. But will be back!

Still at the bar and Isaac won’t shut up! Very distracting. I am focused on something and would like confirmation that I am not buried in a deep rabbit hole. Thanks!
Kevin

[Horsesense]

On shore.

[Joe Ross]

I started out by looking at past puzzles and solutions. It still took me quite a while before I could get the hang of it.

Are you just going back to the past Monday puzzles on WSJ and looking at the Friday solutions to learn patterns?

Past WSJ Crossword Contests & Solutions

[Carter]

I started out by looking at past puzzles and solutions. It still took me quite a while before I could get the hang of it.

Are you just going back to the past Monday puzzles on WSJ and looking at the Friday solutions to learn patterns?

Past WSJ Crossword Contests & Solutions

THANK YOU!!

[TPS]

Both! The past few weeks' puzzles had me feeling like a smarty pants because I could solve them without sleep loss. I was feeling a tad cocky and here comes "Pre-Order Your Copy Now" and I have been properly humbled.

Hi Carter - I’ve been in your shoes. I’ve been doing these puzzles for two years and didn’t solve my first puzzle on my own for over a year. I’m still not good at them but the only way I got better was doing more of them. I would point out that the last 4-5 weeks have been puzzles w/ training wheels - that haven’t been overly complicated - so only one step and nothing overly complicated like homonyms, syllable counting, or musical notes.

There are lots of people on here who will give you helpful approaches but keep in mind that you will frequently come across a new method you haven’t seen before so there is a bit of skill that goes into these that even rote solving can’t develop. My biggest tip is don’t become married to an idea - it happens to us all - it sounds like it happened to one of our best and most consistent solvers for a while this week - if you try something and it isn’t working after a little bit - put the puzzle down and take a break and come back to it later. You have 3+ days to submit an answer and I know it can be frustrating - especially when you start - to come here and see people solving the puzzle in 10-15 minutes.

Good luck!

[PeterLeea1a]

On shore unless I've been Pageanted.

[Carter]

Both! The past few weeks' puzzles had me feeling like a smarty pants because I could solve them without sleep loss. I was feeling a tad cocky and here comes "Pre-Order Your Copy Now" and I have been properly humbled.

Hi Carter - I’ve been in your shoes. I’ve been doing these puzzles for two years and didn’t solve my first puzzle on my own for over a year. I’m still not good at them but the only way I got better was doing more of them. I would point out that the last 4-5 weeks have been puzzles w/ training wheels - that haven’t been overly complicated - so only one step and nothing overly complicated like homonyms, syllable counting, or musical notes.

There are lots of people on here who will give you helpful approaches but keep in mind that you will frequently come across a new method you haven’t seen before so there is a bit of skill that goes into these that even rote solving can’t develop. My biggest tip is don’t become married to an idea - it happens to us all - it sounds like it happened to one of our best and most consistent solvers for a while this week - if you try something and it isn’t working after a little bit - put the puzzle down and take a break and come back to it later. You have 3+ days to submit an answer and I know it can be frustrating - especially when you start - to come here and see people solving the puzzle in 10-15 minutes.

Good luck!

Thank you for the pep talk. Apparently I prefer training wheels! I am learning and that is a good thing!!

[Al Sisti]

Both! The past few weeks' puzzles had me feeling like a smarty pants because I could solve them without sleep loss. I was feeling a tad cocky and here comes "Pre-Order Your Copy Now" and I have been properly humbled.

Hi Carter - I’ve been in your shoes. I’ve been doing these puzzles for two years and didn’t solve my first puzzle on my own for over a year. I’m still not good at them but the only way I got better was doing more of them. I would point out that the last 4-5 weeks have been puzzles w/ training wheels - that haven’t been overly complicated - so only one step and nothing overly complicated like homonyms, syllable counting, or musical notes.

There are lots of people on here who will give you helpful approaches but keep in mind that you will frequently come across a new method you haven’t seen before so there is a bit of skill that goes into these that even rote solving can’t develop. My biggest tip is don’t become married to an idea - it happens to us all - it sounds like it happened to one of our best and most consistent solvers for a while this week - if you try something and it isn’t working after a little bit - put the puzzle down and take a break and come back to it later. You have 3+ days to submit an answer and I know it can be frustrating - especially when you start - to come here and see people solving the puzzle in 10-15 minutes.

Good luck!

Great advice!

[TPS]

Thank you for the pep talk. Apparently I prefer training wheels! I am learning and that is a good thing!!

You are welcome. And while I said these past few weeks (6 I believe) have been easier puzzles - I struggled w/ 2 of them and technically didn’t solve one of them (I threw up a Hail Mary and it happened to be right). And while I prefer puzzles a little more difficult than the past few weeks there are puzzles coming that I know there is no way I will solve.

Ideally, a fun puzzle for me doesn’t use any cute/niche/gimmicky method - e.g. homonyms, uses knowledge in the popular zeitgeist, and provides a 100% solution (I define a this as where a method exists that yields an answer that satisfies the title and any clues and couldn’t occur by a coincidence).

[auee89]

Hangin' in the bar now. Completed the grid this morning and I see something, but not the final click. Putting down for now. But will be back!

Still at the bar and Isaac won’t shut up! Very distracting. I am focused on something and would like confirmation that I am not buried in a deep rabbit hole. Thanks!
Kevin

Ashore with a little help from my friends - thanks Boharr! Advice for myself is to trust where you are and keep looking! Was so close to solving without needing the nudge.

[RDaleHall]

On shore. A really good puzzle. Many thumbs up!! Some longer staring this time before it all sunk in. Big Ten Final Four awaits today. Could be a precursor to the actual Final Four.

[Bob cruise director]

On shore. A really good puzzle. Many thumbs up!! Some longer staring this time before it all sunk in. Big Ten Final Four awaits today. Could be a precursor to the actual Final Four.

Covid dropouts not withstanding