"Winter Fall" - December 17, 2021

[mrmd]

On the shore both in terms of the puzzle and for a 5-day jaunt to Okinawa. Enjoyed the meta!

[Chantellebeal]

On shore! This was a fun meta. The light clicked on last night, and after double checking I submitted my answer. I'll have another cup of freshly ground coffee. Is there anyway to find out how many correct answers there are for each contest puzzle? It would be fun to know. Thanks!

[Joe Ross]

On shore! This was a fun meta. The light clicked on last night, and after double checking I submitted my answer. I'll have another cup of freshly ground coffee. Is there anyway to find out how many correct answers there are for each contest puzzle? It would be fun to know. Thanks!

HERE you go!

[Katiedid]

Got it. That was fun!

[Chantellebeal]

On shore! This was a fun meta. The light clicked on last night, and after double checking I submitted my answer. I'll have another cup of freshly ground coffee. Is there anyway to find out how many correct answers there are for each contest puzzle? It would be fun to know. Thanks!

HERE you go!

Thanks! I am just wondering about the odds of ever winning a mug.....

[drbockel2]

By gosh, I think I might actually be building a sandcastle! My first meta--with a little bit of a nudge. Fun!

[regfish7]

Ashore! Fun one this week! Now if only my grading was as fun…

[Bob cruise director]

On shore! This was a fun meta. The light clicked on last night, and after double checking I submitted my answer. I'll have another cup of freshly ground coffee. Is there anyway to find out how many correct answers there are for each contest puzzle? It would be fun to know. Thanks!

@Chantellebeal I have the results from all the contests both for the WSJ (submissions and correct) and the muggles (ship and shore). If you are a data wonk, I can email you the spreadsheet. If there is something specific, let me know. Either way PM me.

[gdshort]

On shore.

[Bill_Swerski_13]

On shore! Fun and mercifully straightforward mechanism

[HunterX]

On shore.

Great construction! As I often ask (to myself), "How in the world did they come up with that???"

Solved with kids, as usual. Couple rabbit holes that deadended pretty quickly. Then daughter saw the light.

And my son was actually in the room with me, having traveled across the country (Seattle to Philly) to visit for the first time in 2 years! Daughter was able to participate as well, while visiting partner's family. They arrive in only 5 days. Next week we will be able to do our team-meta IN PERSON for the FIRST time! Can NOT wait...

[HunterX]

Need to stock up on Green Chartreuse

Do you have some sort of death wish, or you just have a bunch of rusty boat parts that need cleaning, or what? That stuff is nasty (IMHO).

The fabulously named "Oxford Comma" -- Gin, Dry Vermouth, Green Chartreuse, Luxardo, and Celery Bitters (made my own this year). Loads of depth of flavors (if that's the flavor profile you're going for!)

Interesting. Shaken or stirred?

Perhaps this drink will start a new Muggle debate:
- Those who refuse to like the Oxford Comma on grounds of antiquated tradition vs.
- Those who feel we should all hitch our wagon to it because of the clarity it can bring, vs.
- Those who feel it has it's place at times when it can provide clarity, can sometimes cause ambiguity, but in all non-ambiguous situations leaving it to the individual's personal preference without worrying about whether they are "right" or not.

[camandsampowercouple]

is anyone around that could give me a nudge? i'm almost on shore and i can't take it!


Edit:

Nudge received and I'm on shore now. Crisis averted.

[ship4u]

I am just wondering about the odds of ever winning a mug.....

Pretty bleak, IMHO. So, the real fun is interacting with this group!

[Prozach]

On shore!

[Bob cruise director]

Good Saturday morning muggles

another fun challenge from Mr. Gaffney.

A warm welcome to our newest muggle - csbysam1. Great to have more muggles

So far we have 11 keeping Isaac company on the ship and 159 on the shore.

On the ship are:

NuYear68
Kas
SewYoung
pjc
barney
FatJack
SReh26
relic (and Maggie)
Deb
femullen
Scott L

And on the shore are

oldjudge
docison
RPardoe
Al
joe
Wendy
Beth A
Kay
Peter
Meg
benchen71
streroto
BEACHEDWHALE
MikeM000
sanmilton
Cap'n Rick
stmv
C=64
Tom Wi
hoover
Tom S
John77
Heidi
Jace54
Toby
Barbara K
DrTom
ladybird
Chris
HeadinHome
MajorDomoTom
ajk
mntlblok
RobM
escapeartist
Andrew B
copperriver
Laura
Scott M
Joe R
darth
Beth T
woozy
boharr
M and M
ky-mike
Zagman49
Hammertime
BrennerTJ
Homer
Commodore
Les
Georgeall
MatthewL
Tomgebhard
GTIJohnny
LittleGood
Mike H
TeaJenny
dplass
Jean
Cindy
Tina
Moi
dudeski
TeamDoubleTow
Miki
Jeremy
mbryant
cbarbee
whimsy
CPJohnson
ImOnToo
Bill
Omnibus
Shirley
Dave C
Lube On
Dow Jones
meowmiao71
Lacangah
MaineMarge
otlaolap
higgysue
Ron
EmilyW
Jack
ReB
NDStegs
Laurab
rjy
Zach
dk letter
RDaleHall
Schmeel
lbray
Josh
b4alltime
JennyByrd
Flying_Burrito
DCBilly
Steveb
Rita and George
Guy L
Guffman
CAe39
mattythewsjpuzzler
David K
Beth C
D B Miller
Bonnibel
Plymouth Rock
ADS
Hidden in 3D
RichA2
cinny
Henry Paul
SamanthaA
joequavis
David Wi
Barry
Lee-Ann
SusieG
James D
czeemuggle
joes
Cindy N
Katiedid
michaelm
auee89
hayburner
Jackie88
PQ63
Ergcat
ALS
Chantellebeal
Susan G
Janet
Harbo
mrmd
bread-girl
patpatchica
Ben B and son
Debbie
Richard
Glorfindel
Lyman
Hamrock
BreeZynCO
mlvilv
eagle1279
csbysam1
drbockel2
HunterX
regfish
Glyn
Prozach
Bill Swerski 13
samandcam


Good luck to all and stay safe, especially if you are in the area with tornados

[ky-mike]

On shore! This was a fun meta. The light clicked on last night, and after double checking I submitted my answer. I'll have another cup of freshly ground coffee. Is there anyway to find out how many correct answers there are for each contest puzzle? It would be fun to know. Thanks!

HERE you go!

Thanks! I am just wondering about the odds of ever winning a mug.....

Better than the odds of winning the Powerball. Think about that when you see how few on here have a mug and you are tempted to buy that Powerball ticket.

[Bob cruise director]

On shore! This was a fun meta. The light clicked on last night, and after double checking I submitted my answer. I'll have another cup of freshly ground coffee. Is there anyway to find out how many correct answers there are for each contest puzzle? It would be fun to know. Thanks!

HERE you go!

Thanks! I am just wondering about the odds of ever winning a mug.....

@Chantellebeal Your odds are better than winning the lottery but don't plan on having a mug for the holidays. And they are not getting better because the WSJ has more submissions. From the beginning of the contests the average number of correct answers is 992. Over the past 52 weeks, the average number of correct answers is 1181.

So ballpark, your odds are about 1 in 1000. Given that there are 52 contests in a year, that means that might win a mug every 20 years (not mathematically rigorous but good enough)

[Barney]

Good Saturday morning muggles

another fun challenge from Mr. Gaffney.

A warm welcome to our newest muggle - csbysam1. Great to have more muggles

So far we have 11 keeping Isaac company on the ship and 159 on the shore.

On the ship are:

NuYear68
Kas
SewYoung
pjc
barney
FatJack
SReh26
relic (and Maggie)
Deb
femullen
Scott L

And on the shore are

oldjudge
docison
RPardoe
Al
joe
Wendy
Beth A
Kay
Peter
Meg
benchen71
streroto
BEACHEDWHALE
MikeM000
sanmilton
Cap'n Rick
stmv
C=64
Tom Wi
hoover
Tom S
John77
Heidi
Jace54
Toby
Barbara K
DrTom
ladybird
Chris
HeadinHome
MajorDomoTom
ajk
mntlblok
RobM
escapeartist
Andrew B
copperriver
Laura
Scott M
Joe R
darth
Beth T
woozy
boharr
M and M
ky-mike
Zagman49
Hammertime
BrennerTJ
Homer
Commodore
Les
Georgeall
MatthewL
Tomgebhard
GTIJohnny
LittleGood
Mike H
TeaJenny
dplass
Jean
Cindy
Tina
Moi
dudeski
TeamDoubleTow
Miki
Jeremy
mbryant
cbarbee
whimsy
CPJohnson
ImOnToo
Bill
Omnibus
Shirley
Dave C
Lube On
Dow Jones
meowmiao71
Lacangah
MaineMarge
otlaolap
higgysue
Ron
EmilyW
Jack
ReB
NDStegs
Laurab
rjy
Zach
dk letter
RDaleHall
Schmeel
lbray
Josh
b4alltime
JennyByrd
Flying_Burrito
DCBilly
Steveb
Rita and George
Guy L
Guffman
CAe39
mattythewsjpuzzler
David K
Beth C
D B Miller
Bonnibel
Plymouth Rock
ADS
Hidden in 3D
RichA2
cinny
Henry Paul
SamanthaA
joequavis
David Wi
Barry
Lee-Ann
SusieG
James D
czeemuggle
joes
Cindy N
Katiedid
michaelm
auee89
hayburner
Jackie88
PQ63
Ergcat
ALS
Chantellebeal
Susan G
Janet
Harbo
mrmd
bread-girl
patpatchica
Ben B and son
Debbie
Richard
Glorfindel
Lyman
Hamrock
BreeZynCO
mlvilv
eagle1279
csbysam1
drbockel2
HunterX
regfish
Glyn
Prozach
Bill Swerski 13
samandcam


Good luck to all and stay safe, especially if you are in the area with tornados

I don’t blame you for assuming my usual position on a barstool, but I actually solved this one, reported yesterday. Yes we were all surprised.

[Relic]

On shore and submitted with plenty of time left to enjoy the weekend! Very satisfying AHA moment, and so relieved it wasn't just a rabbit hole!

Thanks for the fun meta Mr. Gaffney. Well done sir!