"Bit Parts" - May 7, 2021

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.
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Joe Ross
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#401

Post by Joe Ross »

Scott Lindholm wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:03 am Back in the day, AOL had a very vibrant trivia board. Scheduled daily games on various themes were held, with a very active and participating crowd. I wrote a couple of those games, and the community was amazing. Scheduled meet-ups occurred around the country, and it was pretty cool.

That was back in the day. This community is as close to anything I've seen like it since...back in the day. It's pretty cool.
Yes! FunkyPHD usually hosted the noon games.

Someone of the same screenname posts on MGWCC & MMMM. I'm guessing it has to be the same person. Are you FunkyPHD, Scott? 🙂
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wordsmith
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#402

Post by wordsmith »

There's an interesting backstory...for a while, Reese Witherspoon was the only person Reese's candy followed on Instagram (still only one of two with Sonic Drive-In added to the mix!) And in 2016, Reese W gave an Instagram shout-out to "her" candy!

https://www.today.com/food/reese-s-foll ... am-t128536
Bill Bovard
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#403

Post by Bill Bovard »

Jace54 wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 10:11 pm
Omnibus wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 10:00 pm I’m good with this puzzle and meta, but am stumped by the theme of the WSJ Saturday puzzle “Bands on the Run”. The words in the paired sets of lights don’t appear to have anything to do with each other. What am I missing?
The top set includes the name of a band. That band sits on top of a word associated with a run, like “ski” run or “beer” run.
OK, but I thought this was the lamest theme ever.
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DannyWalter
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#404

Post by DannyWalter »

Haha. SMH, should have got this one. Looking at my notes I was closer than I thought. I had toyed with all the intermediate answers, for whatever reason I never put them together. I couldn't get past the title. I was trying to make "bit parts" from the answers. But of course we all know what Turnin's River is, and Perched Atop is ON, that should have told me how to proceed with the rest, but it didn't. Excellent puzzle, I just whiffed.

Hearty thanks to Mr. Gaffney and the rest who put these incredible puzzles together. Most enjoyable.
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HunterX
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#405

Post by HunterX »

anaerobe wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 8:28 pm
HunterX wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 7:57 pm
DrTom wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 3:49 pm
... If the nudge/check moved you 180 degrees or more then no because submitting at that point doesn’t really represent your thoughts but rather your budgers thoughts, if you Do submit you must include THAT you got help though not WHO helped.
So, more than 180 degrees, don't submit? What if... um... that 'more' made it 360 and you're right back where you started?
You would return 'right back where you started' only if we exist in a hypertoros universe (see image). I believe the consensus is that the universe does not exhibit such a closed hypersurface topology, rather it is likely flat and extends to infinity.
I could go on, but I seem to have developed a sudden, inexplicable craving for some Dunkin'.....
Sooooo..... when my car does a 360 on ice, you're saying I'm NOT heading in the same direction I was going in before? Guess that would explain the feeling I've been having since early 2020. Must've done a 360 then. Because this sure feels like a different universe than the one just over a year ago!
Inca
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#406

Post by Inca »

Scott Lindholm wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 12:03 am Back in the day, AOL had a very vibrant trivia board. Scheduled daily games on various themes were held, with a very active and participating crowd. I wrote a couple of those games, and the community was amazing. Scheduled meet-ups occurred around the country, and it was pretty cool.

That was back in the day. This community is as close to anything I've seen like it since...back in the day. It's pretty cool.
I don't remember if it was AOL or not, but I remember being addicted to a game called Word Riot
SewYoung
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#407

Post by SewYoung »

Smacking myself in the head. Surely should have gotten this one.
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Gman
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#408

Post by Gman »

There were hundreds of rabbits to chase this week. PO is a river, but also a character in Mulan (a bit role) and Kung Fu Panda (the lead role). A funny person is a WIT, but could have been ALI Wong or TIM Curry or TIM Conway. An ORIOLE is a perching bird (perhaps a nod to the many birders on this blog?). TYRA Banks played EVE as an early role in her career. Peter Pan's rival is JIF, but also Captain Hook, once played by TIM Curry. GENE Hackman has a filmography that is pages long. MOSDEF has a similarly long list of cameos, etc. There were also lots of weird words and awkward phrases (THATFEMALES?), which are normally where parts of the meta answer can found. Alas, this was a straightforward acrostic that required a second step to derive the implied answer, but I was completely down these other bunny trails. Even 72A made me think to chase the small rabbit trails! Oh, and did I mention that parentheses are my Meta nemesis?!
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Mister Squawk
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#409

Post by Mister Squawk »

I got it when I looked down at my notes and saw

HAM
HERS
PO
ON
Bob Kerfuffle
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#410

Post by Bob Kerfuffle »

I mentioned in my original post that I might have spotted a couple of Easter eggs in the grid. Probably mis-using that term, but what I meant was the entries at 1 D and 67 D , JIF, a Peanut Butter, and PEA, which if I recall the etymology correctly was originally PEASE, which could suggest Pieces. Ergo, another hint at Reese's Peanut Butter pieces! Matt often says that such items are just coincidental.Or possibly I am just delirious!
Scraps
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#411

Post by Scraps »

Of the first step answers, I solved PO first and HERS second. HERS puzzled me for a moment, but the implied apostrophe in TURINSRIVER helped me make sense of THATFEMALES.

Then I went down a rabbit hole because I was sure HERS was part of an answer that would include HERSHEYS. I looked for a HE somewhere, and, with the Say Hey kid's 90th birthday this weekend, I hoped HEY would be in there somewhere. This attempt to force an answer bogged me down for a few minutes before I got back to letting the puzzle lead me to the answer. Then it fell into place pretty quickly.
Last edited by Scraps on Mon May 10, 2021 7:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Memay131
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#412

Post by Memay131 »

I thought clues "Comedian Wong" and "Place for High Fliers" were nods to Funny Person and Perched Atop. Better luck next time
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SReh26
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#413

Post by SReh26 »

Bob Kerfuffle wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 6:31 am I mentioned in my original post that I might have spotted a couple of Easter eggs in the grid. Probably mis-using that term, but what I meant was the entries at 1 D and 67 D , JIF, a Peanut Butter, and PEA, which if I recall the etymology correctly was originally PEASE, which could suggest Pieces. Ergo, another hint at Reese's Peanut Butter pieces! Matt often says that such items are just coincidental.Or possibly I am just delirious!
PEA was the hint that clinched it for me too.
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DCBilly
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#414

Post by DCBilly »

This one had an element that reminded me of my first tournament (ACPT) a few years ago. I was amazed to learn that the super-fast solvers often fill in an entry without consulting the clue - a calculated risk to save precious seconds, and one that usually works based on their ability to spot patterns created by a few crossing letters. To the extent we filled in an unclued long themer in “Bit Parts” before getting all the crosses, we were kind of doing the same thing.
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Deb F
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#415

Post by Deb F »

This would have been a lot faster a solve for me had I not misread my own lovely penmanship. Though I had correctly entered JIF in 1D, when I completed the grid and was working on the meta, I read it as JIG. Hence, GUNNY PERSON, ergo NCO, SGT, etc. It finally did click but time was wasted by my own hand!! Happy to have arrived at the right conclusion. Good luck, Muggles.
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ky-mike
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#416

Post by ky-mike »

ky-mike wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:45 pm Late start. Quick finish. Toes in sand. Cold one in hand, but not what I usually have. I’ll say more on Monday.
My cold one on shore was a DQ Blizzard with the meta answer Reese's Pieces stirred in. Nice, sweet ending to the day (of course one can always mix a shot of bourbon in with the ice cream to make it more of an adult beverage).
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eagle1279
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#417

Post by eagle1279 »

Worst rabbit hole for me was while falling asleep on Friday night, I suddenly realized that Funny Person could mean the movie "Funny Girl" and that Barbra Streisand had been an answer to another clue in the grid! I resolved to look in the morning for Marlo Thomas who was "That Girl" (for That Females). Imagine my disappointment to wake and find that the Barbra Streisand answer I was remembering was in another puzzle I'd been working through the week. Back to the drawing board.
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KscX
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#418

Post by KscX »

FUNNYPERSON led me to Jolly Rancher and then I tried to wrangle Hot Tamales from THATFEMALES (substituting 4 letters?) but that did not make me Jolly. 🙄

How you all saw this as less than three stars escapes me.
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SReh26
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#419

Post by SReh26 »

KscX wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:50 am FUNNYPERSON led me to Jolly Rancher and then I tried to wrangle Hot Tamales from THATFEMALES (substituting 4 letters?) but that did not make me Jolly. 🙄

How you all saw this as less than three stars escapes me.
Bit Parts first led me to Charleston Chew, then Jelly Bellies. But PEA led me to pieces, and the rest is history.

When are we notified if we won the mug?
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John77
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#420

Post by John77 »

Mister Squawk wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 5:34 am I got it when I looked down at my notes and saw

HAM
HERS
PO
ON
Yeah, I had WAG HERS PO ON until the light came on.
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