"You Don't Say" - January 21, 2022

[Bob cruise director]

Whew - I think that I have worn out the SHORE keys on my keyboard this week.

First welcome to our newest muggle - Florida_manatee. As always, great to have new muggles

And we have two on the ship and 175 on the shore. And don't worry, Isaac is sending more ice, beer and olives with the next tender.

[turbotron]

Wow, my first shore landing on Friday morning! I probably better work for a few hours, so I'll have a Rockstar.

[hunkra]

Happily ashore this week and ready for a birthday libation! I can’t believe I missed last week’s soooo easy meta Back in the saddle this week and treating myself to these AMAZING vegan donuts. If this is what veganism looks like… count me in!!

[Tom Shea]

Sideways delivered quite a blow,
To a lovely wine, Merlot
His rants filled up with expletives,
Showed he did not know how to live
It's really funny in the end
When his angst with wine he tried to mend
The wine he swore he never drank
Is more than half of Cheval Blanc
So I'd tell this flighty Papillion
"Then don't drink St. Emilion"

Those who disparage Merlot probably aren't old enough to have aged it for 20 years in the cellar. Sorry for them, but leaves more for me.

[Tom Shea]

Ah... from the classic Dr. Seuss book, "One drink, Two drinks, I'm not as thunk as you drink!"

Or that old classic:

I will drink Gewürzt with Ham,
I'll drink it I don't give a damn,
but then I'd drink some Riesling too,
I'd even drink it from my shoe.
I'd drink it off the tabletop,
I wouldn't even try to stop

But what would you then have with game?
Why a Cote du Rhône if its all the same.

I'd have it in a pretty mug,
I'd drink it right out of a jug.
I'd drink it from a cardboard box,
I'd love to drink it with a fox

Dr. Souse

Ah yes. And there was the adaptation of the movie Sideways by Dr. Souse:

I will not drink them here or there,
I will not drink them anywhere.
I do not like Merlot or Chard,
I do not like them Sam the bard.

I'll quote that well known poet Dorothy Parker:
I like a martini,
Two at the most.
Three, I'm under the table.
Four, I'm under the host.

[Puzzle mom]

I’m ashore! Can’t decide what to drink…
What’s the most topical drink in existence that will make this freezing day fade to the background?

[Grover]

On the beach. Who are all these people??

[Dplass]

Oh, this puzzle is going to make me sound so smart some day on Jeopardy. I'll blurt out the answer and my wife will do her "What, did you see this one before?" like she does whenever I manage to get a really odd question. I cannot tell you how many times my crossword addiction has given me the answer.

time-knowledge-jeopardy-thegentlemansarmchair-980860.jpeg

This happened to me last night - I knew the answer to "20 years before commanding a raid on Tokyo he made the first U.S. coast-to-coast flight in under a day" because I had seen the moderately awfully acted movie "Pearl Harbor". My spouse missed hearing the question or my answer, though...no glory there.

[GTIJohnny]

I'm ashore after a troubling time with the grid.

[Geezer Weezer]

Even lacking puzzle solving skills as me, I got it. Count me among them ashore.

[vandono]

This Meta is lovely and friendly but it is NOT easy. It does not have as many steps as some, and the mechanism - once you see it - is indeed pretty much of a "DOH!". But until you do, and believe me a year or two ago I would not have because I was not attuned to the ways of the Meta gods, it is as hard as any Week 5 MGWCC. I mean driving in rush hour traffic on an intercity Interstate is easy now, but you would not want to have been with me the first time I tried it (well actually my wife STILL does not want to be with me when I do it...).

So to those out there still struggling, keep at it the light will come on in time, there are plenty of opportunities for enlightenment. As for me, as a constructor and a solver, I'm just happy I didn't end up in the weeds somewhere and count ANY solve as a good one. I am more often than not the one saying "Easy, how can this be EASY!!!"

Thanks, Doc. I was starting to feel like the village idiot. On the bright side, the line at Isaac's is really short.

[HunterX]

Sideways delivered quite a blow,
To a lovely wine, Merlot
His rants filled up with expletives,
Showed he did not know how to live
It's really funny in the end
When his angst with wine he tried to mend
The wine he swore he never drank
Is more than half of Cheval Blanc
So I'd tell this flighty Papillion
"Then don't drink St. Emilion"

Those who disparage Merlot probably aren't old enough to have aged it for 20 years in the cellar. Sorry for them, but leaves more for me.

While I agree entirely, I'm guessing the line was just a commentary on the generally poor quality of the Merlot that was being mass produced at the time. As I recall, it was somewhat "in" for awhile. So mass producers were releasing a ton of mediocre stuff to take advantage of the market.

Also, Miles, in the movie, talks about a 1961 Chateau Cheval Blanc he's been saving. So yeah, he likes it in the right wines! And isn't his love-hate relationship with Merlot somewhat like his love-hate relationship with his friend Jack? Is Jack the Merlot of friends? Hmmm....

[michaelm]

This Meta is lovely and friendly but it is NOT easy. It does not have as many steps as some, and the mechanism - once you see it - is indeed pretty much of a "DOH!". But until you do, and believe me a year or two ago I would not have because I was not attuned to the ways of the Meta gods, it is as hard as any Week 5 MGWCC. I mean driving in rush hour traffic on an intercity Interstate is easy now, but you would not want to have been with me the first time I tried it (well actually my wife STILL does not want to be with me when I do it...).

So to those out there still struggling, keep at it the light will come on in time, there are plenty of opportunities for enlightenment. As for me, as a constructor and a solver, I'm just happy I didn't end up in the weeds somewhere and count ANY solve as a good one. I am more often than not the one saying "Easy, how can this be EASY!!!"

Great summary by Dr. Tom of the potential drama that plays out every week.
Lesson I've learned: try never to mistake easy (or hard) for elegant.

[DBMiller]

Haven't always been reporting lately, but I suspect we may approach a record, so I'll say that I'm done and done.

[Relic]

On shore. Lots of folks here. Asked about ordering a Velvet Hammer, and politely told to take a number. Wha, is this the DMV? Regardless, happy to be here on a Friday rather than a Sunday evening.

Challenging grid from Mr. Schenk, but a fun/satisfying META. Came very close to a fatal error, but corrected it before submitting. Only caught it because I finished the META out. I'll be interested in reading the post reveal comments to see if anyone else almost tripped over this as well.

[LadyBird]

I am on shore, although I would prefer to still be CHILling in Antarctica (instead of sitting in the steamy Buenos Aries airport). I quickly glEANed the 8 letters I needed, although my SKills in completing the grid were pretty rocky. I don't have a usUAl drink--this time I'll have a whiskey sour.

[CPJohnson]

Ashore, after being in only 1 rabbit hole. Learned a new word.

[Susan Goldberg]

Ashore! Happy weekend! Day 20 of dry January! Will join you all for a bevvie in two more puzzles!

Good luck! I did dry January last year! Maybe I’ll try a shorter month this year!

[Janet]

I do say, that I am ashore! I forgot to post last week that I was ashore too. I think that was a nice tribute to Betty, and close to her 100th birthday too.

[Susan Goldberg]

Too easy. The water was not even ankle deep.

What's going on? A friend just ask me if the puzzles are easy in January and get harder towards the end of the year.

It’s random.

It is. And there was one this month that was quite a challenge as I recall.