"Seeking Answers" - October 8, 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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kfahey714
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#361

Post by kfahey714 »

Curious as to whether anyone ever actually gets a mug.
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RPardoe
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#362

Post by RPardoe »

kfahey714 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:04 pm Curious as to whether anyone ever actually gets a mug.
Yes...in fact there is a whole thread allowing mug winners to shout out.
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JAQT
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#363

Post by JAQT »

I saw ESSAY and TEST was the only other entry that made any sense to me -- but I didn't love it and saw no clear confirmation that TEST was correct. I didn't notice that the theme clues were in the form of a question, but even if I had it probably wouldn't have done it for me. The only "confirmation" that came close for me at the time was the SAT which had the needed SA and supplied the word TEST.
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ship4u
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#364

Post by ship4u »

No sooner had the ink dried on the grid when I was convinced that the first word of the solution must begin with an S and the second word begin with an A. So, I proceded, cocksure and full of enthusiasm, to dig myself deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole. Also lurking in the back of my mind was a memory of a meta produced by Matt Gaffney involving spanish translation.

A Seer is someone who is suppossed to be able to see the future (hence, seeking) and Atari is a Japanese word meaning "to hit a target" (the answer). I can hauntingly hear Wolfgang on the Laugh-In TV show, "Verrrrry interesting, but shtupid."

But, thankfully, some wonderful muggles saved me from drowning in that hole.
Last edited by ship4u on Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don & Cynthia

We are always happy to get to know other muggles and help in any way! PM's are always welcome. The next best thing to winning a mug is helping a fellow muggle win a mug!
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ship4u
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#365

Post by ship4u »

kfahey714 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:04 pm Curious as to whether anyone ever actually gets a mug.
I have wondered the same thing, as I am sceptical that anyone actually wins the Publisher's Clearinghouse mega check. Oh, wait a minute, the mug is only worth $4. I suppose the WSJ can afford it.......
Don & Cynthia

We are always happy to get to know other muggles and help in any way! PM's are always welcome. The next best thing to winning a mug is helping a fellow muggle win a mug!
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DannyWalter
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#366

Post by DannyWalter »

Blind squirrel here. This acorn fell right into my lap. Did not submit right away as it felt "too easy". Spent a bit of time yesterday trying to discern if "combine" might have a different meaning. But I quickly thought "to hell with that" and submitted :)
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mheberlingx100
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#367

Post by mheberlingx100 »

RPardoe wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:15 pm
kfahey714 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:04 pm Curious as to whether anyone ever actually gets a mug.
Yes...in fact there is a whole thread allowing mug winners to shout out.
My sister-in-law won a mug. She’s gunning for another mug, but I hope to win my first mug before she wins her second.
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TeamDoubleTow
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#368

Post by TeamDoubleTow »

HunterX wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:02 am
boharr wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 10:37 am
jh773 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 1:26 am
My reasoning for choosing “test” rather than “set” was because test is a synonym for “assay” which sounds like “s-a”… Funny that there was really no explicit reason for “test” to be the correct second part.
From post #325:
Given that the clues were all in the form of a possible test question, Essay Test is the obvious answer.
Well, they are in the form of test questions. None are in the form of an Essay Test question.
That exactly explains my hesitancy. I would have loved the answer to have been Short Answer! The title and hint would have to be changed too but I don't think that is too much to ask😆
Team DoubleTow=Ali who posts here, Alex & Maya the hound(with occasional assistance from son)
michaelm
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#369

Post by michaelm »

DrTom wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:47 am
Sara Dacus wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:09 am I submitted ESSAY SET. Anyone else do this? I didn't look far enough to consider TEST. Should have spent more time on it.
Oh yes, I submitted ESSAY SET based on (1) a "set" of SAs and (2) the SET Question was "In need of nothing further", obviously a refence to the last part of the two word phrase I needed. Perfect, made sense, and the clue confirmed it....

THAT my friends is how you rush to an answer and then simultaneously use you addled mind to confirm your mistake.

I predict there will be quite a bit of ESSAY SETS, but as someone else pointed out, have you ever heard someone say "lets look at the ESSAY SET (well other than me of course). I can blame nobody but myself.

AH, but wait, the all powerful Internet can justify ANYTHING:

WIKI NOOKIEPEDIA (which just sounds wrong!)
The Essay Set is a miscellaneous furniture item in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. As a miscellaneous item, it can be placed on either the ground or on top of a tabletop. The Essay Set can be obtained from Nook's Cranny for 650 Bells.

Well, then if it is worth 650 bells, it MUST be a legitimate answer. :lol:
I had time to do at 4pm Thursday and did come up with ESSAY TEST and submitted for a rare page 1.
Didn't love it, started feeling guilty about POE, looked and looked but couldn't find anything better.
Then saw DrTom's posts over the weekend and absolutely thought I had settled for level one thinking while clearly this was at least a level two/three.
Looked some more, but still couldn't find anything better.
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mydogsam
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#370

Post by mydogsam »

As usual, there were multiple very good answers to this weeks contest puzzle. I still think awarding a mug to someone who comes up with the particular answer that the creator of the puzzle INTENDED is valid. However, it seems to me since there are multiple good answers in many of these contests that the coffee mugs should be designed accordingly. For example, having holes in the bottom of the mug. The number of which depends on how many other good answers were found...
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ReB
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#371

Post by ReB »

As many have said, ESSAY came out quickly from the theme answers. TEST seemed like the most likely second word, and the two items that gave me confidence were (1) the theme clues were questions (as others previously have pointed out) and (2) what a test does in essence is SEEKING ANSWERS to questions. Especially since nothing else in the grid seemed apropos.
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katnahat
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#372

Post by katnahat »

I found the SA and thus Essay as the first word pretty quickly, but had trouble coming up with a second word that made sense. I finally settled on ESSAY SEER. Wasn't really happy with it but there was a lot going on here, so I submitted so I wouldn't be tempted to stare at it all weekend. Asked a friendly Cruise Director, who set me straight, and I floated back out to the ship. It's hard to get back up on that big ship from down in the waves. If I had been putting the emphasis on the first word as I was reading through the grid to see what might go with essay, I would have found test. ESSAY test is a no brainer, but I blew right past essay TEST. What did I learn this week? Don't be lazy; stay with it if the answer doesn't really resonate.
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MajordomoTom
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#373

Post by MajordomoTom »

I'm on island ESSAY SET.

Essay Test - answers the question.

Essay Set includes the title of the puzzle in the meta answer. (it's in effect a meta-meta answer)

I see both being acceptable - once you're on ESSAY, you clearly understood what Matt wanted as the answer. The fact that both SET and TEST were in the grid - I blame on Mike S - he should have edited that out (somehow).
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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Richard
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#374

Post by Richard »

I saw Essay when I was about half way through the grid but did not see Test.

Convinced myself that the words would start S and A but found men that worked.

Another mugger confirmed that Essay was one of the words, looked harder and found Test.

Hardly an AHA moment for me.
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lbray53
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#375

Post by lbray53 »

I found an interesting cryptic answer during my wanderings. And I am terrible at cryptic puzzles.

SEEKING ANSWERS or SEE KING ANSWERS

Your Kingdom = ANIMALIA

ANIMALIA MINOT

ANIMAL I. AM I NOT?
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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mntlblok
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#376

Post by mntlblok »

I'm so *confused*. Replied to a PM this morning. Sez I sent it. "Sent: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:19 am by mntlblok", but it also says that it's in my "outbox" and *doesn't* show it in my "sent" box.

Don't want to pester him with multiple notes. . . Help!
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boharr
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#377

Post by boharr »

mntlblok wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:35 pm I'm so *confused*. Replied to a PM this morning. Sez I sent it. "Sent: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:19 am by mntlblok", but it also says that it's in my "outbox" and *doesn't* show it in my "sent" box.

Don't want to pester him with multiple notes. . . Help!
PM's remain in your Outbox until the person messaged reads the PM.
BeTheLight
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Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:39 pm

#378

Post by BeTheLight »

Got this at the last minute after trying all the above mentioned rabbit holes of combining S and A words from the grid. Finally it occurred to me that SA sounds like the word Essay which was in the grid. Then it was just literally running through every combo of Essay plus another grid entry. Test was a very soft click but I had nothing else so I submitted it ten minutes before the deadline.
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mntlblok
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#379

Post by mntlblok »

boharr wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:39 pm
mntlblok wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:35 pm I'm so *confused*. Replied to a PM this morning. Sez I sent it. "Sent: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:19 am by mntlblok", but it also says that it's in my "outbox" and *doesn't* show it in my "sent" box.

Don't want to pester him with multiple notes. . . Help!
PM's remain in your Outbox until the person messaged reads the PM.
Ahhh. That helps. Thank you!
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Kris Zacharias
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#380

Post by Kris Zacharias »

The meta made me laugh. I wish I had had essay tests with two-word answers while in college.
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