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.
patpatchica wrote: Fri Jan 07, 2022 5:52 pm
Still on the ship. I see lots of things and nothing at all at the same time. Anyone in the same boat as me? (pun intended)
Still on the ship with ya. Just started working the meta today. Two wabbit holes so far. Not seeing much in the way of legit pointers, but will keep looking.
Best of luck to you solving this one.
Good luck to all for a successful solve. If you see that I'm ashore - rare occasion of late - message me if you'd like a nudge. Be sure to include your progress so I can know better how to assist.
mitchel674 wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 8:32 am
Joe, can you post a link to the infamous SAD meta? I don't remember that one.
There are several SAD metas. A SAD (Simple An Difficult) meta was coined by @MattGaffney who defines it as just that: simple and difficult. The mechanism is straightforward (in that it doesn't have multiple steps nor based on arcane anagramming, language, ultra-specific references, etc.) but can be devilishly hard to spot.
This meta may not be SAD according to Mr. Gaffney, but it fills the bill, IMStoopidO. To me, a sign of a SAD meta is the solving rate of muggles. Some get it right away (& may think it "easy"), then other solvers trickle in, slapping foreheads.
Quoted below is my referenced post linking only one of Matt's puzzle solutions which he deemed as SAD.
Joe Ross wrote: Fri Jan 07, 2022 11:28 am
Inspired by @Bob cruise director's current avatar, I am rededicating efforts to solve this apparent, classic SAD puzzle, to earn the right to beg for a tall mug.
There was definitely much SAD slapping on my forehead when it finally clicked.
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~C.S. Lewis
Alice and I have become fast friends as we drift in and out of various rabbit holes. I have a fresh appreciation for the depth of basketball statistics, it certainly rivals my quantum physics classes in complexity. But the bar is a nice safe place to be, even though i have watched many a dear friend drift off to shore. But Isaac will never desert me, nor will this bourbon and water. I applaud those of you intrepid souls that have dared the waters and made the journey to shore. Perhaps I will join you next time. Au revoir!
Finally ! Honestly spent too much time on this, but previous posts suggested the moment would come, and it finally did, although late in the game. On shore, favoring the pink sands of Bermuda today.
Jim
You can count me on shore. I threw the unsolved puzzle into the recycling bin on Friday night, proud of myself for not obsessing over it too much. Then just ten minutes ago, I decided to dig it out of the bin for one more look. Amazingly, I found the answer.
I'm on shore now, after a nudge. It's right there in the how-did-I-miss-it category, but for all the staring I did this weekend, I might have stared for the next week and never got there on my own. I'm not submitting my answer.
LadyBird wrote: Sat Jan 08, 2022 1:12 pm
Making my report while I still have internet--I am at sea both figuratively and literally. I haven't had a lot of time, but haven't even found a rabbit hole to WANDER through. I grew up a Hoosier so it's not like basketball hasn't been my thING. I'm at a totAL loss do far. Sitting at the ship's BAr watching the peaks and TROughs of the waves. I will continue to preSS on.
20220108_112729_capture.jpg
View of the Southern Ocean on the way to South Georgia and then Antarctica!
Having been away, I too just got to this today, thinking perhaps those early in the year metas would be kind. I’ll stick with it until quitting time, but not feeling hopeful. So, I’m at the bar with Isaac and the rabbits.
