#682 - "Minty Fresh"
- ricky
- Posts: 472
- Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 3:47 pm
- Contact:
I caught the theme immediately as I was solving back on Friday. Two days later, I still have no idea what to do with it!
No nudge requested yet. But I do have a Q: do only solo solves count towards streaks / leaderboard etc?
(I have no streak ATM, as I haven't gotten a MGWCC right since June 3)
No nudge requested yet. But I do have a Q: do only solo solves count towards streaks / leaderboard etc?
(I have no streak ATM, as I haven't gotten a MGWCC right since June 3)
Check out the meta challenge at Lexicon Devil
Latest puzzle: "Start the Day Off Right," June 27, 2024
Deadline: Tuesday, July 2, 2024, 12 pm EST
Latest puzzle: "Start the Day Off Right," June 27, 2024
Deadline: Tuesday, July 2, 2024, 12 pm EST
- Meg
- Posts: 2293
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
All solves count on the leaderboard and the streak leaderboard. The difference is the swag and notoriety at year's end.ricky wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 5:17 pm I caught the theme immediately as I was solving back on Friday. Two days later, I still have no idea what to do with it!
No nudge requested yet. But I do have a Q: do only solo solves count towards streaks / leaderboard etc?
(I have no streak ATM, as I haven't gotten a MGWCC right since June 3)
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
- ajk
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
- Location: Colorado
Beamed up (or rather will be, once the board updates) thanks to a couple of kindly nudges that allowed me to climb out of the deep rabbit warren I was busy exploring.
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
- BrianMac
- Site Admin
- Posts: 787
- Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 11:45 pm
- Location: Connecticut
- Bird Lives
- Posts: 3115
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:43 pm
- Location: NYC
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is it a solo solve if someone tells you that the road you have taken that doesn't seem to lead anywhere is indeed a dead end?
Is it a solo solve if they tell you that about two dead-end roads? Three?
How many such roads must man walk down, before it's not a solo solve? (Do I get a Nobel for asking?)
Is it a solo solve if they tell you that about two dead-end roads? Three?
How many such roads must man walk down, before it's not a solo solve? (Do I get a Nobel for asking?)
Jay
- cbarbee002
- Posts: 619
- Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:02 pm
- Location: Philly Area
Beamed up. Had the "pieces" quickly, but couldn't assemble without a meta whisperer. Clever, as always.
- BarbaraK
- Posts: 2769
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
Back when Matt added the solo solve question, he posted a bunch of info about it. It basically amounted to if anyone tells you anything, it's not a solo solve.Bird Lives wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:46 pm is it a solo solve if someone tells you that the road you have taken that doesn't seem to lead anywhere is indeed a dead end?
Is it a solo solve if they tell you that about two dead-end roads? Three?
How many such roads must man walk down, before it's not a solo solve? (Do I get a Nobel for asking?)
But that never made it into the FAQ, so anyone who signed up in the last 2.5 years didn't have any easy way to know that. So much as I love having another column in my spreadsheet to track the solos each week, I do wonder how meaningful it really is.
- HeadinHome
- Posts: 1234
- Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 9:06 am
- Location: Charlotte, NC
Beamed up here too, but not without a patient, careful nudger eliminating false lights and flashing the right one so I could pick it out! (Thank you!)
Is there a button for 5+ ? Diabolical. The obfuscations! The one-way signs posted the wrong way!
Based on comments above and the fact that others who were nudged did post a solve, I shall post mine too (not solo).. but not without a tinge of sheepishness.
Is there a button for 5+ ? Diabolical. The obfuscations! The one-way signs posted the wrong way!
Based on comments above and the fact that others who were nudged did post a solve, I shall post mine too (not solo).. but not without a tinge of sheepishness.
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The other Wendy.
- ricky
- Posts: 472
- Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 3:47 pm
- Contact:
Officially requesting a nudge. Happy to lay out the pieces I already have / strategies I've already tried.
Check out the meta challenge at Lexicon Devil
Latest puzzle: "Start the Day Off Right," June 27, 2024
Deadline: Tuesday, July 2, 2024, 12 pm EST
Latest puzzle: "Start the Day Off Right," June 27, 2024
Deadline: Tuesday, July 2, 2024, 12 pm EST
-
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:21 pm
Good morning All,
If any kindly souls out there see this in the next hour or two I too would greatly appreciate a nudge. I’ve been down many a promising rabbit hole but nothing has quite worked. I’m also happy to share my progress and what I’ve tried.
Thanks in advance!
If any kindly souls out there see this in the next hour or two I too would greatly appreciate a nudge. I’ve been down many a promising rabbit hole but nothing has quite worked. I’m also happy to share my progress and what I’ve tried.
Thanks in advance!
- Meg
- Posts: 2293
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
I went looking for that specific information on Matt's site, and thought it interesting that I couldn’t find it. Matt has, however, put a link to our forum in his FAQs.BarbaraK wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:47 pmBack when Matt added the solo solve question, he posted a bunch of info about it. It basically amounted to if anyone tells you anything, it's not a solo solve.Bird Lives wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:46 pm is it a solo solve if someone tells you that the road you have taken that doesn't seem to lead anywhere is indeed a dead end?
Is it a solo solve if they tell you that about two dead-end roads? Three?
How many such roads must man walk down, before it's not a solo solve? (Do I get a Nobel for asking?)
But that never made it into the FAQ, so anyone who signed up in the last 2.5 years didn't have any easy way to know that. So much as I love having another column in my spreadsheet to track the solos each week, I do wonder how meaningful it really is.
Edit: either I missed it or Matt just put something in his FAQs about what a solo solve is.
Last edited by Meg on Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
- FrankieHeck
- Posts: 839
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 8:57 pm
- Location: West Virginia
Here's what Matt said on January 18, 2019:
3) Solo solve on a puzzle means that you got ZERO outside help. No nudges, no winks, no hints, not one little letter. [Clarification, 12:10 PM: This means no help from other HUMANS. You can Google anything you like.]
3) Solo solve on a puzzle means that you got ZERO outside help. No nudges, no winks, no hints, not one little letter. [Clarification, 12:10 PM: This means no help from other HUMANS. You can Google anything you like.]
- Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5497
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
FrankieHeck wrote: ↑Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:04 am Here's what Matt said on January 18, 2019:
3) Solo solve on a puzzle means that you got ZERO outside help. No nudges, no winks, no hints, not one little letter. [Clarification, 12:10 PM: This means no help from other HUMANS. You can Google anything you like.]
- Good enough for Matt, good enough for me
- Good enough for MGWCC, good enough for WSJCC & muggles' ship/shore status
- On his entry form, Matt should change the default setting for "Solo solve?:" to "No"
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024
PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
𝟯𝟬% 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰,
𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
- RPardoe
- Posts: 736
- Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2019 4:09 pm
- Location: Houston, TX
This!
I explain I prefer to nudge in small doses rather than ruin the solve.
Always easier to nudge a bit more than to put the AHA! back in the puzzle.
- BarbaraK
- Posts: 2769
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
I can’t believe that I suggested that anything in or potentially in my meta spreadsheets might be meaningful and got no reaction. Are you all just humoring me?! Figure I’m too far gone to even be worth teasing about my nutty geekiness?
Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, so how about if I paraphrase that fount of wisdom, Mr. Ed:
A nudge is a nudge, of course, of course,
And no one is solo when nudged, of course,
Unless, of course, you have no chance of medaling anyway.
Because, as noted above, solo doesn’t affect anything except eligibility for year end prizes. (And data on meaningless spreadsheets:)
- ajk
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
- Location: Colorado
I did get burned by this recently -- was so happy to be unstuck (on a week 2 no less, IIRC) that I totally spaced checking the 'no' under solo solve. Sent a quick email telling Matt to reduce his solo count by one.
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
- HeadinHome
- Posts: 1234
- Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 9:06 am
- Location: Charlotte, NC
^ but I'm sure anyone winning a prize at year's end who failed to switch the button to NO would graciously defer their swag... right??
The other Wendy.
- HeadinHome
- Posts: 1234
- Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 9:06 am
- Location: Charlotte, NC
Yeah, too polite to say anything. One of my friends is an actuary who keeps excel charts on things such as baby gender guesses and the like. I try not to laugh where she can hear me.
Last edited by HeadinHome on Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The other Wendy.
- Hector
- Posts: 1297
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:15 pm
- Location: San Francisco
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It's impressive that well more than half of the solvers this week opted into the non-solo-solve button. This suggests that the typical meta solver is not reluctant to admit when we've had help, which squares with my experience around here, and so I think that Barbara's solo solves column probably does track something meaningful---certainly more meaningful than total solvers, which depends on how willing folks are to offer and seek help, and to submit when helped.
- MikeM000
- Posts: 579
- Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:31 am
- Location: Metro Detroit
As I mentioned to someone in PMs, one path that caught my eye was that 2 of the 4 coins are obliquely referenced in clues ("Ike" and "one-fourth") and I searched far and wide but couldn't find the other two... What really made me think I was onto something there was that their grid entries (ETO & DREI) weren't "real English words" and looked like, if I could find a penny & nickel clue, they might have 9 letters combined in their entries that when put together would spell something real (like the actual eventual answer did). I also thought the "template" could mean to use the symmetrical match of the grid entry, and the opposite-grid-locations for those 2 seemed plausible for that use (IDO / STET).