"Backdrops" - November 1, 2019

[Bob cruise director]

I'm not yet on the beach, I'm tumbling in the surf, struggling to get dry.

Sorry I misinterpreted your comment. Fear not, Isaac delivers to the surf with no problem.

Under any circumstances, welcome to the clan.

[Beth C]

Done and done. Good puzzle, clever meta. Good luck Muggles.

[jag]

Grid seemed tougher than usual!
Lost at sea. I see a couple rabbit holes, but they were dead ends (or perhaps I haven't dug deeply enough).

[GlennG]

I've solved the puzzle, but have no idea how "Backdrops" and the five letter noun part of the "meta" works. Any help?

Not really. Actually for doing these for four years, I've gotten worse over time. Main thing I can say: Don't expect any logical connection or even any sense to be made out of these things. I describe meta puzzles as "in-jokes" for that reason: You'll either get it or you won't and there's no rhyme or reason behind it.

Like this one, there's (hopefully) some logical extension between "Backdrops" and "Five letter noun" that is supposed to let me know what to look for in the grid, but there's no connection that prompts me anywhere in the grid. Meanwhile, there's others where I see something in the grid, but there's no logical connection from that into the answer. How to solve a meta: Step 1: Do the puzzle. Step 2: ? Step 3: Solution! Or to follow a meme: How to draw an owl. Draw a circle, then draw the rest of the owl. A few can figure out how to get to the owl, others will never be able to do so.

If you get the "joke" on these things, congratulations. If you get made to be the butt of the "joke" like I get to be week after week, well ... there's always a less than par puzzle that just got solved.

[Commodore]

Our noble Cruise Director showed confidence in me, putting me ashore, afore I arrived.
No worries, good Sir. I am there now. I thank you for inspiring me to accomplish that which I hadn't in several weeks.

Bo'sun! A round for the Tiki Bar:

[dmorack]

Made it to shore after spending a short time with Isaac. Tough grid for me this week.

[MarkL]

Good Saturday morning muggles.

First a welcome to our two newest muggles: rollas and MajorDomoTom.

We have 7 of us on the ship who apparently can't see what others are seeing clearly as there are 68 on the shore. But that is the way the meta crumbles.

Keeping Isaac in business are
sharkicicles
GlennG
Barry
Deb F
Janet P
Olaf
and your humble cruise director

On the shore are
Hector
Al
Les Y
Frankie
Meg
Tmart
Eric P
Brian M
Scott M
Wendy
Darryl
Cindy
ky-mike
BarbaraK
Julie O
streroto
Jazzvibist
joequavis
Cynthia J
Beth T
Tina
docison
Mike H
Chris
31 down
darthdriessen
troysail
Brian
burd
Heidi
Bird Lives
ImOnToo
marl
Ed S
damefox
Fred
Tom Shea
ALS
Frank
oldjudge
MaineMarge
Leslie
tim1217
Juliet
Jeanrosz
Paul
John V
Tom Wilson
Beth A
inca
Laura M
DBMiller
JakeorJacob
Commodore
spotter
Jacksull
the Thurman8er
David R
Kay
Billkatz
Trey and Marion
David K
CallMeshane
rolias
MajorodomoTom
LLinNC
and Howard H

Good luck to all in winning the mug and stay safe if you are in California

Bob, I am ashore. Maybe the new avatar threw you off.

[Bob cruise director]

Mark
I had you on shore. Typo after ImOnToo and before Ed S came out as marl and it should have been Mark

Sorry

[AnnP]

Lost at sea, again! Lots of rabbit holes that hold up for some of the theme answers but never for all five.

[MarkL]

Mark
I had you on shore. Typo after ImOnToo and before Ed S came out as marl and it should have been Mark

Sorry

No worries. CHEERS!

[elan]

Hi, I'm new here... having just stumbled onto your lovely community when I came ashore this time. Cute puzzle and a relief for me after last week when I was shipwrecked for the first time in months.

[MajordomoTom]

I've solved the puzzle, but have no idea how "Backdrops" and the five letter noun part of the "meta" works. Any help?

Not really. Actually for doing these for four years, I've gotten worse over time. Main thing I can say: Don't expect any logical connection or even any sense to be made out of these things. I describe meta puzzles as "in-jokes" for that reason: You'll either get it or you won't and there's no rhyme or reason behind it.

Like this one, there's (hopefully) some logical extension between "Backdrops" and "Five letter noun" that is supposed to let me know what to look for in the grid, but there's no connection that prompts me anywhere in the grid. Meanwhile, there's others where I see something in the grid, but there's no logical connection from that into the answer. How to solve a meta: Step 1: Do the puzzle. Step 2: ? Step 3: Solution! Or to follow a meme: How to draw an owl. Draw a circle, then draw the rest of the owl. A few can figure out how to get to the owl, others will never be able to do so.

If you get the "joke" on these things, congratulations. If you get made to be the butt of the "joke" like I get to be week after week, well ... there's always a less than par puzzle that just got solved.

I've looked at some of his prior puzzles and the explanations of the meta, the number of steps taken to get to the correct answer ... this stuff is daunting.

I mean, I look at this one, there are five clues. Four of them are 10 letter compound words, the 5th, the middle one, is ... different. It's 7 letters, it's in the exact middle of the puzzle, it's not the same type of compound word, and it has a weird "xy" in the middle of it.

So I'm convincing myself that this word is a key, perhaps the key, but at least a key, to the puzzle.

And then I just can't get any further. I'm not a good anagrammer, and I know this builder uses those, so that's not going to be a productive path for me to attempt. I've played with words and letters. I guess I just have to wait another 24.5 hours to find out what you all have seen.

[Scott M]

I've solved the puzzle, but have no idea how "Backdrops" and the five letter noun part of the "meta" works. Any help?

Not really. Actually for doing these for four years, I've gotten worse over time. Main thing I can say: Don't expect any logical connection or even any sense to be made out of these things. I describe meta puzzles as "in-jokes" for that reason: You'll either get it or you won't and there's no rhyme or reason behind it.

Like this one, there's (hopefully) some logical extension between "Backdrops" and "Five letter noun" that is supposed to let me know what to look for in the grid, but there's no connection that prompts me anywhere in the grid. Meanwhile, there's others where I see something in the grid, but there's no logical connection from that into the answer. How to solve a meta: Step 1: Do the puzzle. Step 2: ? Step 3: Solution! Or to follow a meme: How to draw an owl. Draw a circle, then draw the rest of the owl. A few can figure out how to get to the owl, others will never be able to do so.

If you get the "joke" on these things, congratulations. If you get made to be the butt of the "joke" like I get to be week after week, well ... there's always a less than par puzzle that just got solved.

I've looked at some of his prior puzzles and the explanations of the meta, the number of steps taken to get to the correct answer ... this stuff is daunting.

I mean, I look at this one, there are five clues. Four of them are 10 letter compound words, the 5th, the middle one, is ... different. It's 7 letters, it's in the exact middle of the puzzle, it's not the same type of compound word, and it has a weird "xy" in the middle of it.

So I'm convincing myself that this word is a key, perhaps the key, but at least a key, to the puzzle.

And then I just can't get any further. I'm not a good anagrammer, and I know this builder uses those, so that's not going to be a productive path for me to attempt. I've played with words and letters. I guess I just have to wait another 24.5 hours to find out what you all have seen.

I actually think this puzzle is an excellent example of a meta that fits the title perfectly. The title provides a hint to the method for finding those five pesky letters, and also for what those letters spell out. I won't go any further to avoid a potential spoiler.

[DaveKennison]

I didn't start doing the WSJ crosswords until late June, 2016, so I missed the first 40 weeks of daily puzzles. Two months ago, in hopes of getting better at doing the metas, I printed out all 230-odd puzzles that I had missed and started doing them in chronological order. I have now finished them all, including 38 metas. (Two Fridays fell on holidays.) I have succeeded in getting all but three of the metas: I got the wrong answer for one because some facts had changed since it was published; I made a really stupid mistake on another; and I'm still working on one from March 4, 2016, titled "A. Crossword Puzzle", which, so far, has me totally stymied. A lot of the early metas were extremely easy, easing the learning curve a bit, and I think that the whole exercise has really paid off. The metas definitely require a different kind of thinking and you have to be very patient with the hard ones, walking away as often as necessary to let your subconscious mind notice what you need to notice to succeed. (Earlier today, I finally got the meta from May 13, 2016, titled "Sea Change", after a full month of being totally mystified by it.) So ... if you're retired, like me, and have nothing better to do, you might want to try some of the older metas. (I'm never going to be an Al Sisti, but I'm a lot better off than I was ... .)

[jag]

Ashore! After spending too much time stuck in a hole with 4 rabbits, trying to force the mechanics onto the 5th, I extricated myself and found the correct path to the beach!

[CPJohnson]

I've solved the puzzle, but have no idea how "Backdrops" and the five letter noun part of the "meta" works. Any help?

Not really. Actually for doing these for four years, I've gotten worse over time. Main thing I can say: Don't expect any logical connection or even any sense to be made out of these things. I describe meta puzzles as "in-jokes" for that reason: You'll either get it or you won't and there's no rhyme or reason behind it.

Like this one, there's (hopefully) some logical extension between "Backdrops" and "Five letter noun" that is supposed to let me know what to look for in the grid, but there's no connection that prompts me anywhere in the grid. Meanwhile, there's others where I see something in the grid, but there's no logical connection from that into the answer. How to solve a meta: Step 1: Do the puzzle. Step 2: ? Step 3: Solution! Or to follow a meme: How to draw an owl. Draw a circle, then draw the rest of the owl. A few can figure out how to get to the owl, others will never be able to do so.

If you get the "joke" on these things, congratulations. If you get made to be the butt of the "joke" like I get to be week after week, well ... there's always a less than par puzzle that just got solved.

I've looked at some of his prior puzzles and the explanations of the meta, the number of steps taken to get to the correct answer ... this stuff is daunting.

I mean, I look at this one, there are five clues. Four of them are 10 letter compound words, the 5th, the middle one, is ... different. It's 7 letters, it's in the exact middle of the puzzle, it's not the same type of compound word, and it has a weird "xy" in the middle of it.

So I'm convincing myself that this word is a key, perhaps the key, but at least a key, to the puzzle.

And then I just can't get any further. I'm not a good anagrammer, and I know this builder uses those, so that's not going to be a productive path for me to attempt. I've played with words and letters. I guess I just have to wait another 24.5 hours to find out what you all have seen.

I feel like I always spend a lot of time trying to figure out what the meaning of “is” is. The title is nearly always some type of play on words....some weeks I see the play, and some I don’t. Good luck.

[Cindy]

I've solved the puzzle, but have no idea how "Backdrops" and the five letter noun part of the "meta" works. Any help?

Not really. Actually for doing these for four years, I've gotten worse over time. Main thing I can say: Don't expect any logical connection or even any sense to be made out of these things. I describe meta puzzles as "in-jokes" for that reason: You'll either get it or you won't and there's no rhyme or reason behind it.

Like this one, there's (hopefully) some logical extension between "Backdrops" and "Five letter noun" that is supposed to let me know what to look for in the grid, but there's no connection that prompts me anywhere in the grid. Meanwhile, there's others where I see something in the grid, but there's no logical connection from that into the answer. How to solve a meta: Step 1: Do the puzzle. Step 2: ? Step 3: Solution! Or to follow a meme: How to draw an owl. Draw a circle, then draw the rest of the owl. A few can figure out how to get to the owl, others will never be able to do so.

If you get the "joke" on these things, congratulations. If you get made to be the butt of the "joke" like I get to be week after week, well ... there's always a less than par puzzle that just got solved.

I've looked at some of his prior puzzles and the explanations of the meta, the number of steps taken to get to the correct answer ... this stuff is daunting.

I mean, I look at this one, there are five clues. Four of them are 10 letter compound words, the 5th, the middle one, is ... different. It's 7 letters, it's in the exact middle of the puzzle, it's not the same type of compound word, and it has a weird "xy" in the middle of it.

So I'm convincing myself that this word is a key, perhaps the key, but at least a key, to the puzzle.

And then I just can't get any further. I'm not a good anagrammer, and I know this builder uses those, so that's not going to be a productive path for me to attempt. I've played with words and letters. I guess I just have to wait another 24.5 hours to find out what you all have seen.

See PM.

[Cindy]

For those who are new to this there are plenty of online anagram solvers.

[Orsys]

Finally. Finally. Something I always forget to do. But done and done.

[Bob cruise director]

Hi, I'm new here... having just stumbled onto your lovely community when I came ashore this time. Cute puzzle and a relief for me after last week when I was shipwrecked for the first time in months.

Welcome to our happy clan. I gather you have been watching our antics from afar (which we love) and have joined the group (which we love even more). If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Good luck winning the mug