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

[hissongcle]

On shore. Liked this one. Guessed it before I finished the grid which rarely happens to me.

[hunkra]

Been dancing round the answer a bit, I think. I don't know who said it earlier, but I am one of those solvers who -- when I get an idea in my head -- I have a really hard time switching gears. Psyche? Personality Quirk? Brain Chemistry? Planning on opening a tab with Isaac until my stimulus check clears. May be a long night...

[Al Sisti]

Good Saturday morning


Missed me; I was post #5.

Must have been the Guinness last night. I remember seeing the post but not sure why I did not record it in the spread sheet.

Can't even begin to tell you how many apologies start with Guinness. You're obviously forgiven.

[TPS]

Can't even begin to tell you how many apologies start with Guinness.

Probably not as many as that start with Jameson though.

[KayW]

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. I'll also add - my can be pretty stubborn at times and has a hard time letting go of a particular bunny trail. Sometimes when that happens, I'll PM someone who's already solved and ask if they can my idea. If I get a , I can finally let go of it and try to move on to something else.

[Tom Shea]

Must have been the Guinness last night. I remember seeing the post but not sure why I did not record it in the spread sheet.

Can't even begin to tell you how many apologies start with Guinness. You're obviously forgiven.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUVwR0rw5fk

[Dow Jones]

I know it's a crowded beach, but I think you overlooked me. (Post #64)

[HunterX]

At long last! I think I've figured it out. I've missed (or haven't yet found) the elegance that others have mentioned, but I'm as sure as I can be that I'm on the right shore.

I agree. Not sure I see "elegance" so much as a good construction, albeit fairly straight-forward. But the answer seems very solid, fits well, and feels like a 100%-er.

Both Matt Gaffney and Mike Shenk have come up with far more elegant, clever, and (certainly) devious constructions. I remember being amazed and wondering how on earth Mike Shenk could have possibly built "King Me!" last May. (Definitely a favorite.) And Matt Gaffney's "Where's the Rest" from September blew my mind with all the steps and how you needed to apply the mechanism one last time to get the answer. (Another fav.) Simply brilliant!

Oh geeze... I just looked at the puzzle again, thinking "Maybe I did miss something," and found I did. Nice touch! Not really necessary, IMHO. But I like it! Hats off to Matt Gaffney!

[higgysue]

Wow. This took me a long time! I was deep in a hole. But I made it to shore. Nice puzzle!

[HunterX]

With the discussion of a leaderboard, I often wonder why we don't have one yet.
Is there any other crossword contest which gets as many entries for each puzzle? Matt would probably let the WSJ team use the code from his site, not that it's too hard to write. I'd be interested to see the stats like MGWCC has.

We don't' do a leaderboard because declaration of being on shore is not verified and would mean that after the end of the contest, someone would have to go back and find out who was really on the shore vs being on a deserted island. Plus it would raise the seriousness of this contest and forum to a level that we don't want it to go to.

Amen. Besides let's all remember who is doing all the work around here voluntarily.

Good point.

Also, some of us can't start the puzzle until Friday or later. (Serves me right for doing that "work" thing. Gotta figure a way to stop doing that somehow...) It's bad enough posting success on page 10 (or 15, or...). I wouldn't want to be ranked on a list. Some say I'm rank enough as is! (At least after working out or going for a run.)

[Bob cruise director]

I know it's a crowded beach, but I think you overlooked me. (Post #64)

OOPS - sorry

[JeanneC]

On the shore! Steak dinner will taste especially good tonight!

[LadyBird]

Bob--I was not on shore. I was hanging with Isaac and re-acquainting myself with all the bunnies. But NOW I am on shore. Your listing me ashore must have been pre-ordained. I wish that I could pre-order an on-shore status!

[eagle1279]

Still with Isaac, got a late start but I see something that should lead me to . . . oh wait, it’s the back end of a rabbit. Sigh.

[Michelle B]

Came ashore screaming for joy! Frozen margarita tastes much better than salt water!

[CPJohnson]

I am ashore, but only because puzzle-working daughter dragged me there, gasping for breath. I'm like Wendy; I saw a huge red herring that I thought MUST be the key. Alas, it wasn't, nor were several other strategies I tried.

[KayW]

On another topic, I was so excited and thankful to get my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine yesterday! Second shot already scheduled for 4/2 - Good Friday - which in my book will be EXCELLENT Friday this year.

And overly impressed with myself that this geezer managed to take a left-handed selfie while someone jabs a needle into my right (dominant) arm:

(I opted for shot in dominant arm because I usually sleep on my left side. But so far I haven't had any soreness or other side effects.)

[JeanneC]

On shore, but I won't lie, I'm nervous on this one. I can defend my answer, but still...

On an unrelated note, another encounter with nature from our younger daughter in the wilds of Chicago.

An almond?! Lucky squirrel! Mine get acorns.

[Richard]

Still hanging with Issac.

Some ideas but not getting very far.

[jhseeman]

COuld use a nudge please.