"Cross Country" - March 4, 2022

[Limerick Savant]

Even after I got part of the mechanism (CY[P]RUS jumped out at me for some reason), I got waylaid by the mythical country of ANG[O]RA just to the left of it - somehow conflating Angola and Andorra. And Nauru... I had to go googling for that once I eventually noticed Iraq.

This, Globle and Worldle have exposed my geographical ignorance. The list of things about which I'm ignorant seems to be growing.

Cyprus, for me, was my last find after I realized that all the other Down countries shared a space with a crossing Across country and that Angora was not a country but simply a big furry rabbit, (w)hole. It does have a geographical connection, however, being the historical name for Ankara (from whence the rabbit but unfortunately still not a country)

[FuminCuban]

I sent the incorrect solution of Bulgaria and then this morning I sent the mechanism below. I thought some of you might like it

Do you think it's clever enough to get a coffee cup? All I want is a mug!

Try, try again on Friday!

B

[ReB]

Well, at least I fumbled at the 30 yard line rather than, as is my wont, at the 5 yard line. I saw GREECE, but couldn't find any other country from filling in the black squares and thus abandoned course. Had I looked more closely and seen YEMEN, it would have probably been a different story. Just too much else going on this past weekend.

[Dplass]

Even after I got part of the mechanism (CY[P]RUS jumped out at me for some reason), I got waylaid by the mythical country of ANG[O]RA just to the left of it - somehow conflating Angola and Andorra. And Nauru... I had to go googling for that once I eventually noticed Iraq.

This, Globle and Worldle have exposed my geographical ignorance. The list of things about which I'm ignorant seems to be growing.

I had never heard of NAURU but one of my solving parters is Australian and they immediately saw it, which was funny.

[Scott M]

I feel very fortunate that I saw the mechanism right away. There are definitely some interesting wrong turns that I might have taken if I didn't see CY(P)RUS right away,

[LadyBird]

Well, I went to my junk email folder in hopes that I would see an email from the WSJ. No such luck, but there was a notice from our local library. They had offered an adult reading program in February and I won a $50 gift card to one of our local restaurants. There is the occasional gem in the junk folder!

[woozy]

Worst (and shortest) Rabbit hole was Spanish for nothing is NADA and we repleace CERO with C-NADA it's Canada and that means a missing letter is A and .....

Fortunately I gave the rabbit hole exact the amount of time it deserved and no more.

[Jeanrosz]

Well, I went to my junk email folder in hopes that I would see an email from the WSJ. No such luck, but there was a notice from our local library. They had offered an adult reading program in February and I won a $50 gift card to one of our local restaurants. There is the occasional gem in the junk folder!

My library had a contest too for reading books in January and February. Each branch picked one winner..and I won a cozy 5x7 throw, a plastic sip cup, a crossword puzzle book, a mug with the county library name on it, and magnifying glass! What a deal!
But no wsj mug for me yet..but my day will come, I hope!

[Joepickett]

Even after I got part of the mechanism (CY[P]RUS jumped out at me for some reason), I got waylaid by the mythical country of ANG[O]RA just to the left of it - somehow conflating Angola and Andorra. And Nauru... I had to go googling for that once I eventually noticed Iraq.

This, Globle and Worldle have exposed my geographical ignorance. The list of things about which I'm ignorant seems to be growing.

I had never heard of NAURU but one of my solving parters is Australian and they immediately saw it, which was funny.

I'm used to NAURU appearing in crosswords now. So once I had found 3 letters of PERU and struggled to find the last, it dawned on me that NAURU was probably lurking.

[MikeMillerwsj]

We thought this was quite a tough one, but our readers came through in droves. We had 1,896 entries, with 88% correct (well above our usual level). Incorrect guesses included ITALY (30) plus lots of smaller clumps: ETHIOPIA (7), PORTUGAL (7), MADAGASCAR (6), GREENLAND (6), and GREECE (5) among others.

Congrats to this week's winner: Erik Thorell of Willow Springs, Ill.!

[CPJohnson]

This was a most interesting meta. I did not get it--got overly focused on the countries I could see on the board, not the invisible ones. Also the first time I've encountered a meta that used the blank spaces--a learning lesson that hopefully improves my skills going forward. Very creative!

I remember a WSJ puzzle named Broken Bottles, 3/11/16, that had a similar mechanism. There may have been others. (You can see it in the puzzle archives in Come Aboard.) So if they use this mechanism every 6 years or so, it's likely I'll have forgotten about it by the time I need to remember it. I can almost guarantee it won't be the first thing that comes to mind.

[escapeartist]

I was even looking at country flags on this one - sheesh!

*side eye at Switzerland*

[Bird Lives]

That tag expired in 2012. We're gonna need an updated photo

When my left knee started to go bad, I had to give up the stick shift. A 435i Beemer hardtop convertible custom built "Individual" with nutmeg Merino leather and Citrus Black exterior seemed a logical choice.

DSC_1113 (2).JPG

Citrus Black? Sounds like a character in Harry Potter. Either that or something you definitely don't want to see on your oranges and grapefruit.

[ship4u]

Citrus Black? Sounds like a character in Harry Potter. Either that or something you definitely don't want to see on your oranges and grapefruit.

Oooops, I meant Citrine Black, in German "Citrin Schwarz." In the sunlight, it appears to have tiny flecks of yellow quartz.

[yodarkrutch]

I'm glad we didn't waste a lot of time on this one.