"Trade-Ins" - April 1, 2022

[Janet P]

KAS 5; streak broken.
Oh well, Thursday is quite near.
A new streak starts then!

[Bonnibel]

20220401 WSJCC Trade-Ins reveal.png


EDIT: I missed that the synonyms for the new words via swapped letters have synonyms on same line.

That was the beauty of it! Visages & faces did it for me!

[JeanneC]

Saw the four vehicles, but I have a 14-year old Acura in the garage and once I saw Aura, my brain became stuck on adding letters (like C to Aura) to make car models. I moved on from that but my friend in England has a Triumph Stag so I went down that hole too. The good news: woke up to a lovely sunny morning today… first daylight I’ve seen since starting the grid on Saturday!
Nice meta though!

Saturn put out an Aura before it stopped doing business. There was (or is) a Smart car that is manufactured. I sent down those holes for awhile too.

[flyingMoose]

... car models ...

Apologies if already mentioned and I missed it, but I thought 43A: ALEXIS was kind of nifty.

[otlaolap]

Was also trying to trade INs all over the place but finally thought of single letters and then viasages and countenances clicked.

[Colin]

... car models ...

Apologies if already mentioned and I missed it, but I thought 43A: ALEXIS was kind of nifty.

Yep - did that too!

[Barney]

Curious how many people just guessed “swap,” or, like Conrad on Crossword Fiend, guessed and backsolved?

I managed to do neither. Very clever (the puzzle; obviously not me. )

[Streroto]

Saw the vehicles immediately, and in what I guess can simply be described as a stroke of dumb luck, saw the connections right away. A rare page 1 showing for me. I think it’s so interesting how with some of these metas you either get it right away or you struggle for hours and hours, sometimes finding it eventually and sometimes not. Anyway, it was certainly a fun grid and highly satisfying meta; yet another great one from Mike.

And yes the poem is outright amazing.

Stay well all

[Cruciverbalisticexpi]

Should be "Lexus" though unfortunately. Almost went down that same rabbit hole.

... car models ...

Apologies if already mentioned and I missed it, but I thought 43A: ALEXIS was kind of nifty.

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

4 clues start with "Ins"

My brother started down that road with INScription, INSensitive, INquisitive, INStrument, INStructions, and INtuitively, as well as a couple other clues that simply INcluded 'IN'. With 8 clues and a 4-letter word, it was easy to take this rabbit hole.

He eventually came around to the correct mechanism, but couldn't help but think this was INtentional on Mike Shenk's part.

[Richard]

I started with the ins and then stumbled across truck.
Then car and at car saw that I could take out car and get visages with an s.
For some reason as I found the others the swapped in letters were way.
(actually first was F and FISH but nothing I know starts sf)
So I had SWAP which fit the clue.

Did not see that similar word on the same row but did submit SWAP.

[iggystan]

20220401 WSJCC Trade-Ins reveal.png


EDIT: I missed that the synonyms for the new words via swapped letters have synonyms on same line.

That was the beauty of it! Visages & faces did it for me!

I got SWAP, but was uncertain until I looked at the puzzle again and saw the synonyms which clinched it.

[DBMiller]

I am ashore--thanks to Mr. LadyBird. I tossed my papers to him and asked him to take a look before I started soliciting nudges. He had it 75% figured out in 30 seconds. I wish he'd had that same flash of inspiration earlier in the weekend when I showed it to him!

Shouldn’t his moniker be GentlemanBird?

I think it would be LordBird. You always hear m'lord and m'lady, right?

[Gman]

4 clues start with "Ins"

And each of these had a S word answer! Given the exactly 4 words that contained IN in the grid, there were a huge number of clue, answer and IN versus INS combinations to explore. MS clearly meant to send many of us down insufferable bunny holes to nowhere. Fortunately I was rescued by a fellow muggle to see the 4 modes of transportation, and once I saw VI_AGES and FACES, I was home free.

[mheberlingx100]

4 clues start with "Ins"

And each of these had a S word answer! Given the exactly 4 words that contained IN in the grid, there were a huge number of clue, answer and IN versus INS combinations to explore. MS clearly meant to send many of us down insufferable bunny holes to nowhere. Fortunately I was rescued by a fellow muggle to see the 4 modes of transportation, and once I saw VI_AGES and FACES, I was home free.

I’ve been studying French for a few years, and “visages” stood out for me as well, as that is French for “faces”.

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is SWAP. Four Across answers contain a vehicle (VICARAGES, VANISH, GO BUST, STRUCK OUT). Trading the vehicle for a single letter gives a synonym of the neighboring word in the row of the grid (VISAGES for FACES, WISH for LONGING, GOAT for FALL GUY, SPOUT for ERUPT). The replacement letters, in order, spell the contest answer.

An extremely clever puzzle that ensnared quite a few solvers that only got partway to the solution. We had quite a good turnout -- 1298 entries, just short of 80% correct. 73 submissions for AUTO (presumably solvers who saw the four hidden vehicles) and 43 for USED (ditto). Plus CARS (6), SELL (4), DEAL (3) and several others.

Congratulations to this week's winner: Cathy Scheffers of Sarasota, Fla.!

[JetStream]

Nice one. I was about 1/2 way there but didn't have time this weekend. Probably a good thing since I doubt I would have solved it. Congrats to those who made it.

[JaneGummy]

First rabbit hole, lots of TR and IN occurrences in the grid

Second rabbit hole, above BUS, was LO AL, missing the C to make local bus. Below VAN, ASTO, missing the R to make ASTRO VAN.

fortunately my meta mentor dragged me know that cking and screaming away from the Warren.

Very clever meta, as always. I wonder if they place some of these rabbit holes intentionally?

[Ergcat]

The contest answer is SWAP. Four Across answers contain a vehicle (VICARAGES, VANISH, GO BUST, STRUCK OUT). Trading the vehicle for a single letter gives a synonym of the neighboring word in the row of the grid (VISAGES for FACES, WISH for LONGING, GOAT for FALL GUY, SPOUT for ERUPT). The replacement letters, in order, spell the contest answer.

An extremely clever puzzle that ensnared quite a few solvers that only got partway to the solution. We had quite a good turnout -- 1298 entries, just short of 80% correct. 73 submissions for AUTO (presumably solvers who saw the four hidden vehicles) and 43 for USED (ditto). Plus CARS (6), SELL (4), DEAL (3) and several others.

Congratulations to this week's winner: Cathy Scheffers of Sarasota, Fla.!

And we are vacationing in Sarasota this week…. So close to a mug!!! But alas, no win!

[JeanneC]

If the WSJ can just move that mug award a little more east, Dr. Tom and I may stand a better chance in the future.
Congrats to a fellow Floridian!