Ahhh! Much better than having to slog through all the other puzzles - I *think*. Thank you!
"A Sail of Two Cities" - June 18, 2021
- mntlblok
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- SReh26
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AH ha ha ha ha ha!mntlblok wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:58 pmOne can expect these things to go to those kinds of bizarre lengths???HunterX wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:07 am Before I finally figured out the correct second step, I got caught up in the "Find an anagram of the [word] in other clues with one letter extra/off" rabbit hole. I noticed that there are anagrams of 'SEA' and 'LAKE' with one letter to change, and 3 for 'OCEAN'. Kept searching for 'CANAL' and 'RIVER' until my eyes went blurry.
Then tried looking for alternate bodies of water for each of the types. 'APIAN ANTICLIMAX' kept making me see 'ATLANTIC' as well as a broken up 'PANAMA'.
Also found the SE(L)INE river, NILE backwards, Lake (Loch) NESS.... And so much more.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
![Twisted Evil :twisted:](./images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif)
- mntlblok
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That's somewhere between very helpful (thank you) and enough to make me give up. Afraid my mind *automatically* looks for such things on its own even when *not* doing puzzles! I'm a walking red herring! It's that same "thinking in puns" thing. I now finally see that it's the same mechanism that has me constantly wise-cracking (or seeking out things on which to crack wise). Just a sick puppy. . .CPJohnson wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:13 pmOnly my personal list, as far as I know. I haven't fully explored all the posts in the Come Aboard/FAQs/Hints for Solving section. Here are some of the entries in my list:
Complete the theme (or a set)
* in clues
(1,2,3, etc.) Some variation of numbers in parentheses after some clues
Center grid word or some other grid word is a clue
Commonality in theme answers
Hidden words in theme answers
[First or last] [words or syllables] of theme answers
Parts of meta are positional in grid
Something similar in many clues
meaningful words all over the grid
Change one letter or drop one letter or add one letter
Anagramming needed
Meaningful words cross each other in grid, leading to meta answer
"Sounds like"
Missing things
- mntlblok
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This is "catching on"??! Was born without the patience gene. . .SReh26 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:25 pmYou are catching on quickly! Much quicker than I did btw.
The above is exactly the sort of -reasoning- that makes sense in this Alice in Wonderland illogical metaverse we have energized into.
One more thing— there’s no escape, ah ha ha...!
(Ive tried)
![Sad :-(](./images/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif)
- Joe Ross
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- John77
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The Basel-Bonn mileage was the one that forced me to realize that the travel route was the Rhine River, and not plane/train/automobile. The segments of the Erie Canal between Utica and Rome pretty straight and the distance short, so the waterway distance isn't far off the straight-line distance.Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:35 am I move that in addition to the usual matters on the Zoom agenda we add a discussion point: "Omitting the mileage information would have simplified/complicated the puzzle."
The other three are great circle routes.
Wir sind zu früh alt und zu spät schlau.
- John77
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I did the same, and even wrote the list RR, PO, ... And STILL didn't notice their appearance in the 3LW.hoover wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:44 pm Looking at the answer and how it was obtained ... I had all of the cities correct, and I had gone as far as writing out the body of water that connected each, but didn't get to step 3 of finding their initials in the 3LW. Even if I had, I may not have gotten to the answer because I had Mohawk River connecting Utica and Rome.
Rabbit holes:
- I tried playing with the directions (N, E, NW, NNW, NE) and that went nowhere.
- I found a sort of a word ladder in SCARFS SCARES SCALES SCALP (missing its S)
Maddening. Much like my golf game.
Wir sind zu früh alt und zu spät schlau.
- mntlblok
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Well, the wifey got home from her long drive. After her little nap, she blew through the grid and immediately found the cities and got all over the distances between them. Google quickly got her to Apia and Oran, too. Properly noted the names of the bodies of water. She's slept on it, now, without success, and refuses any hints, whatsoever. Liable to figure it out before she returns from her 4 mile run. All I got was a sneer when I pointed out that 81 is 9 squared and that seventeen squared came sorta close to one of the distances. Same with all my other simpleton rabbit hole scrambles. Guess I'll remain the junior solver.
Wait, she *did* stub her toe on "sml" possibly suggesting "ordering" the bodies of water by size.
![Sad :-(](./images/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif)
- CPJohnson
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You will fit right in to the Muggles community.mntlblok wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:35 pmThat's somewhere between very helpful (thank you) and enough to make me give up. Afraid my mind *automatically* looks for such things on its own even when *not* doing puzzles! I'm a walking red herring! It's that same "thinking in puns" thing. I now finally see that it's the same mechanism that has me constantly wise-cracking (or seeking out things on which to crack wise). Just a sick puppy. . .CPJohnson wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:13 pmOnly my personal list, as far as I know. I haven't fully explored all the posts in the Come Aboard/FAQs/Hints for Solving section. Here are some of the entries in my list:
Complete the theme (or a set)
* in clues
(1,2,3, etc.) Some variation of numbers in parentheses after some clues
Center grid word or some other grid word is a clue
Commonality in theme answers
Hidden words in theme answers
[First or last] [words or syllables] of theme answers
Parts of meta are positional in grid
Something similar in many clues
meaningful words all over the grid
Change one letter or drop one letter or add one letter
Anagramming needed
Meaningful words cross each other in grid, leading to meta answer
"Sounds like"
Missing things
Cynthia
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Great cartoon!!! Anybody have a WSJ mug I could put on my shelves ??? sure to impress and make a great Zoom background!Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 5:56 am NEW LINK TO TUESDAY MUGGLE MEET UP
PLEASE JOIN IN, TONIGHT!
![]()
- Bob cruise director
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Complicated it by a lot - NIce, Rome, Oran(ge), probably a few others.Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:35 am I move that in addition to the usual matters on the Zoom agenda we add a discussion point: "Omitting the mileage information would have simplified/complicated the puzzle."
Bob Stevens
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Yeah, I probably don’t get this one without the mileage. It was a nice check to know I was 100% on which hidden things to look at in the theme answers.
- femullen
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Complicated, I think. I used the milage for disambiguation. For example, Orange, California to Nice, California was same order of magnitude as Oran to Nice, so could have derailed me.Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:35 am I move that in addition to the usual matters on the Zoom agenda we add a discussion point: "Omitting the mileage information would have simplified/complicated the puzzle."
I was surprised, though, that the numbers came identified as distances right off the bat. I'm more used to getting just the raw numbers and having to figger out what they mean.
For nudges, feel free to PM me. I won't have a clue how to help you, but you might shove me ashore.
- Bob cruise director
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Hello all
The Matt Gaffney Q&A is coming along nicely. In the link Come Aboard/FAQ-community/Solving Resources/ Q&Q with Matt Gaffney, there is one of Matt's MGWCC's from 2010 for everyone to do and be a focus to ask Matt about any aspect of it.
The Matt Gaffney Q&A is coming along nicely. In the link Come Aboard/FAQ-community/Solving Resources/ Q&Q with Matt Gaffney, there is one of Matt's MGWCC's from 2010 for everyone to do and be a focus to ask Matt about any aspect of it.
Bob Stevens
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- Bob cruise director
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A few clarifications and some guidance for the Q&A with Matt Gaffney on June 29
1) I do not know how many people will be attending. The Zoom system can handle 300 users. However I want to make sure that Matt Gaffney, Mike Shenk and Mike Miller are among the 300.
2) You do not have to download anything from Zoom to participate however if you download the free Zoom app it seems to work better. Zoom works on all platforms.
3) I will be opening the Zoom site at 7:20 pm EDT.
4) My preference is to have everyone enable your video so we can see you but this is not mandatory
5) My preference is to have everyone give their real name and their blog name on the screen. To change your name in the upper right hand corner of your picture when you are on line, there is a little blue box with three dots. In that box you can change your name.
6) When you come in, I will have you muted. If you are not muted, please mute yourself.
7) I will be recording our session when we start so you will get a box that pops up to tell you that it is being recorded and you have to confirm that.
8) The day after the Q&A, I will be posting a link to the recording on my Dropbox account. You may have to download the recording to play it. I don’t know. The recording will typically use up about 600 Mbytes of memory if you download.
9) At the beginning I will introduce Matt and he may make some comments and then we will start the Q&A
10) To ask a question, we will do it three ways. Zoom has a feature where you can electronically raise your hand or you can ask a question in the chat or you can send me a question via a PM beforehand. I will explain electronically raising your hand and the chat below. I will be alternating between the three question methods.
11) A typical Zoom computer screen shows 25 participants. Other platforms show either smaller pictures or fewer pictures. The rest are not shown but you can scroll to them.
12) The “Raise your hand” feature (on a PC, I am not sure about phones or tablets), is under “Reactions” which is at the bottom of the screen WHEN YOU MOVE YOUR CURSOR TO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN. When you electronically raise your hand, you go to the first screen at the upper right on my host screen. That way, I know who has raised your hand. Waving your hand on your camera will not work as unless you are among the 25 on my screen, I won’t be able to see you.
13) When I call on you to ask your question, YOU WILL HAVE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
14) The Chat box is also at the bottom of the screen. When you click on it a window will open and you can type your question. You can either send your question to “everyone” or only to me.
15) Matt has sent a meta from 2010 for us to solve and we can use to talk about. To get to the meta, start at the Board Index, go to Come Aboard, then to FAQs-Community/Solving Resources and go to posting #19. The meta is downloadable in either pdf or puz formats. This meta is both for our enjoyment and a learning experience. So we won’t post any spoilers until after Friday (Saturday 12 am) and then we will open it up to comments.
16) We have two hours for the Q&A. If we don’t get to your question, put it in a PM to me and I will consolidate them and forward them to Matt.
17) If you are uncertain about Zoom and want a test run, please, please, contact me and we can set up a one on one training session.
1) I do not know how many people will be attending. The Zoom system can handle 300 users. However I want to make sure that Matt Gaffney, Mike Shenk and Mike Miller are among the 300.
2) You do not have to download anything from Zoom to participate however if you download the free Zoom app it seems to work better. Zoom works on all platforms.
3) I will be opening the Zoom site at 7:20 pm EDT.
4) My preference is to have everyone enable your video so we can see you but this is not mandatory
5) My preference is to have everyone give their real name and their blog name on the screen. To change your name in the upper right hand corner of your picture when you are on line, there is a little blue box with three dots. In that box you can change your name.
6) When you come in, I will have you muted. If you are not muted, please mute yourself.
7) I will be recording our session when we start so you will get a box that pops up to tell you that it is being recorded and you have to confirm that.
8) The day after the Q&A, I will be posting a link to the recording on my Dropbox account. You may have to download the recording to play it. I don’t know. The recording will typically use up about 600 Mbytes of memory if you download.
9) At the beginning I will introduce Matt and he may make some comments and then we will start the Q&A
10) To ask a question, we will do it three ways. Zoom has a feature where you can electronically raise your hand or you can ask a question in the chat or you can send me a question via a PM beforehand. I will explain electronically raising your hand and the chat below. I will be alternating between the three question methods.
11) A typical Zoom computer screen shows 25 participants. Other platforms show either smaller pictures or fewer pictures. The rest are not shown but you can scroll to them.
12) The “Raise your hand” feature (on a PC, I am not sure about phones or tablets), is under “Reactions” which is at the bottom of the screen WHEN YOU MOVE YOUR CURSOR TO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN. When you electronically raise your hand, you go to the first screen at the upper right on my host screen. That way, I know who has raised your hand. Waving your hand on your camera will not work as unless you are among the 25 on my screen, I won’t be able to see you.
13) When I call on you to ask your question, YOU WILL HAVE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
14) The Chat box is also at the bottom of the screen. When you click on it a window will open and you can type your question. You can either send your question to “everyone” or only to me.
15) Matt has sent a meta from 2010 for us to solve and we can use to talk about. To get to the meta, start at the Board Index, go to Come Aboard, then to FAQs-Community/Solving Resources and go to posting #19. The meta is downloadable in either pdf or puz formats. This meta is both for our enjoyment and a learning experience. So we won’t post any spoilers until after Friday (Saturday 12 am) and then we will open it up to comments.
16) We have two hours for the Q&A. If we don’t get to your question, put it in a PM to me and I will consolidate them and forward them to Matt.
17) If you are uncertain about Zoom and want a test run, please, please, contact me and we can set up a one on one training session.
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
Cruise Director
- SReh26
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I figured out that the cities were on the same body of water and thought maybe 'water' was the answer but it didn't seem right. I missed the part about the 3-letter answers. Anywho, I was on vacation with limited internet access so no harm done. Best luck to all this week.
- mntlblok
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mntlblok wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 6:45 pmWe actually saw some big, ocean racing boats heading south off the coast a few weeks back. Nautical daughter - who is currently sewing sails in Wilmington, NC - informed me that the huge, front sails on them that seemed a cross (to me) of a spinnaker and a jib, was, in fact, a GENOA.![]()
- Annabelle
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Sorry for the late reply. I think I said the boat might be sailing to a city, then said there were too many cities and too many numbers. Cities was in the title and the numbers were there to see in the clues, so I didn't think I was giving anything away. Never did get it, sigh.otlaolap wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 7:42 pmIn Post 41 this week I wrote "On Shore" followed by a one-sentence attempt at casual humor regarding this status. Sixty or so seconds later It hit me that my casual comment contained -- gasp! gasp! gasp! -- a completely inadvertent spoiler (or two?) and luckily I was able immediately to delete the added comment. I think one person may have seen it (since someone "liked" it and there is nothing in "On Shore" worth a like). It would be interesting on Monday to see what was redacted from your post.