XWord Muggles Forum

Hi! I'm Laura-Leigh. I grew up in Charlotte, NC, but moved to the Winston-Salem area 13 years ago. I started solving crosswords as a middle schooler in the 80s. My mom subscribed to Games Magazine and we'd do the puzzles together. I really caught the bug when I was a student at UNC and did the crossword in The Daily Tar Heel regularly. My favorite puzzles are acrostics, but since they are few and far between compared to regular crosswords, I settle for the daily NYT crosswords, as well as WSJ and other online puzzles. I've just started doing metas, and I am loving the challenge! I teach second grade, and I enjoy introducing my students to all kinds of puzzles. At their age, they enjoy word searches the most, but a few of them like kid-friendly crosswords, too. None of my friends or family members really get my enthusiasm for puzzles, but they listen patiently as I tell them about something new I learned from a puzzle and congratulate me when I beat my best time. I look forward to being a part of this group!

LLinNC wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 4:26 pm Hi! I'm Laura-Leigh. I grew up in Charlotte, NC, but moved to the Winston-Salem area 13 years ago. I started solving crosswords as a middle schooler in the 80s. My mom subscribed to Games Magazine and we'd do the puzzles together. I really caught the bug when I was a student at UNC and did the crossword in The Daily Tar Heel regularly. My favorite puzzles are acrostics, but since they are few and far between compared to regular crosswords, I settle for the daily NYT crosswords, as well as WSJ and other online puzzles. I've just started doing metas, and I am loving the challenge! I teach second grade, and I enjoy introducing my students to all kinds of puzzles. At their age, they enjoy word searches the most, but a few of them like kid-friendly crosswords, too. None of my friends or family members really get my enthusiasm for puzzles, but they listen patiently as I tell them about something new I learned from a puzzle and congratulate me when I beat my best time. I look forward to being a part of this group!

Welcome to the group. Most of us have the same experience with our family or friends not understanding our enthusiasm. We all get the eye roll of "here we go again". One victory I have is that my family now uses the word ORT.

LLinNC wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 4:26 pm Hi! I'm Laura-Leigh. I grew up in Charlotte, NC, but moved to the Winston-Salem area 13 years ago. I started solving crosswords as a middle schooler in the 80s. My mom subscribed to Games Magazine and we'd do the puzzles together. I really caught the bug when I was a student at UNC and did the crossword in The Daily Tar Heel regularly. My favorite puzzles are acrostics, but since they are few and far between compared to regular crosswords, I settle for the daily NYT crosswords, as well as WSJ and other online puzzles. I've just started doing metas, and I am loving the challenge! I teach second grade, and I enjoy introducing my students to all kinds of puzzles. At their age, they enjoy word searches the most, but a few of them like kid-friendly crosswords, too. None of my friends or family members really get my enthusiasm for puzzles, but they listen patiently as I tell them about something new I learned from a puzzle and congratulate me when I beat my best time. I look forward to being a part of this group!

Welcome to a fellow North Carolinian.

Hi, I’ve lurked around the WSJ blogs for years, desperately trying to solve WSJ cryptics and metas weeks after the solutions were due/posted, and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who posts!

My name is Jill and I am mild mannered civil servant based in the Atlanta GA area - Busy with many many things but always eager for the refuge of a good puzzle!

So I just discovered this forum (Thanks!!!) but am sad to realize that my chances of winning a mug are really much slimmer than I had hoped (you mean multiple people get the answer every week??!?). How do they pick it? Is it a special mug? Can I fool my husband by sending myself a cheap knockoff in the mail? What the heck is the “leaderboard”?

Jill B wrote: Mon Jul 29, 2019 8:50 am Hi, I’ve lurked around the WSJ blogs for years, desperately trying to solve WSJ cryptics and metas weeks after the solutions were due/posted, and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who posts!

My name is Jill and I am mild mannered civil servant based in the Atlanta GA area - Busy with many many things but always eager for the refuge of a good puzzle!

So I just discovered this forum (Thanks!!!) but am sad to realize that my chances of winning a mug are really much slimmer than I had hoped (you mean multiple people get the answer every week??!?). How do they pick it? Is it a special mug? Can I fool my husband by sending myself a cheap knockoff in the mail? What the heck is the “leaderboard”?

Jill
One winner is picked out every week from the correct submissions. Typically there are about 1000 correct submissions so your odds are pretty slim but someone has to win. The mug is special from the WSJ. A couple people have posted pictures of the mug here. Can you fool your husband - maybe. Take a picture of the mug from somewhere on the blog, take it to someplace to make up a special mug. Then put it in a box and mail it to yourself - hopefully from some remote place - best if you know someone in New York. Then open the box in front of your husband with the appropriate amount of surprise and awe.

We do not have a leaderboard here. As you probably know, I keep track of the people on shore and ship each week but decisions on right and wrong are left to the individual.

On Matt Gaffney's subscription page https://xwordcontest.com/ he has a bunch of leaderboard lists that are on the tab about 10 percent down the page on the left. Some of the times and streaks are impressive (359 in a row is about 7 years).

A couple years ago, someone’s wife custom ordered him a mug that said “WSJ Wannabe Crossword Champion” for Christmas.

Thanks but I was just kidding! If I ever get the mug it will be the official way! Better chances than the lottery... except I have to get the right answer, so maybe it evens out

Hi! Nick here.

I've lurked on the site for months while following the weekly crossword contests, trying desperately to figure out how metas work. I've started getting a little more consistent with solving them (usually can get two in a row and then miss one) so wanted to join in on the fun of the forum.

I live in Portland, ME as a recent college grad. After doing the WSJ daily crossword over lunch one day at work, I fell in love and have yet to miss (at least attempting) one over the past several months. Right now I'm strictly doing the WSJ.

Nick wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 10:47 am Hi! Nick here.

I've lurked on the site for months while following the weekly crossword contests, trying desperately to figure out how metas work. I've started getting a little more consistent with solving them (usually can get two in a row and then miss one) so wanted to join in on the fun of the forum.

I live in Portland, ME as a recent college grad. After doing the WSJ daily crossword over lunch one day at work, I fell in love and have yet to miss (at least attempting) one over the past several months. Right now I'm strictly doing the WSJ.

Nick
Welcome to our clan of muggles. Good luck winning the elusive mug

Hi - I have enjoyed the WSJ puzzles since they started and was in the original WSJ forum for a while - may have used the name G P Burdell, but I can't remember for sure. The WSJ puzzles are cleverer and more fun than LA or NY Times. Usually just do Wed - Sat. I tried doing them on my phone or computer once or twice, but I prefer to do them on paper.

My favorite thing to do on airplanes is to work the WSJ puzzles - I'll save up 2 or 3 or more of the Saturday puzzles and take them with me. The time flies (there's a pun in there somewhere).

The Friday contests seem incredibly difficult to me. I'm amazed that anyone can solve most of them. I figured out one of the first ones but only after a weekend of agony.


There are several electrical engineers in this forum. I am one more and am a couple of years away from retirement. The wife and I have always lived in Georgia.

- Randy

Randy wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 1:58 pm Hi - I have enjoyed the WSJ puzzles since they started and was in the original WSJ forum for a while - may have used the name G P Burdell, but I can't remember for sure. The WSJ puzzles are cleverer and more fun than LA or NY Times. Usually just do Wed - Sat. I tried doing them on my phone or computer once or twice, but I prefer to do them on paper.

My favorite thing to do on airplanes is to work the WSJ puzzles - I'll save up 2 or 3 or more of the Saturday puzzles and take them with me. The time flies (there's a pun in there somewhere).

The Friday contests seem incredibly difficult to me. I'm amazed that anyone can solve most of them. I figured out one of the first ones but only after a weekend of agony.


There are several electrical engineers in this forum. I am one more and am a couple of years away from retirement. The wife and I have always lived in Georgia.

- Randy

Welcome (back?) to the clan. Good luck on the meta. After a while you start to get the hang of them. Look at the hints in Come Aboard/ FAQ-Community for suggestions on how to go about them.

I wish that EE's had an edge in solving these but alas, speaking for my self, we do not. The spectrum of backgrounds in this group is amazing.

I'm Glenn. Found out about this place and decided to join. Been solving the WSJ stuff and trying at the meta contest almost since inception (a few months past September 2015) and a few others, but haven't won, save a simple one-off the New Yorker did last year. Other than that, I've been at this for about 4 or 5 years now, generally have crossword exposure to almost everything of note, and have been trying to figure out how to do some other things that are crossword related past all the other stressors I have going in life. Not too sure about any other stuff to include, but I thought I'd announce my presence here.

GlennG wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2019 12:57 am I'm Glenn. Found out about this place and decided to join. Been solving the WSJ stuff and trying at the meta contest almost since inception (a few months past September 2015) and a few others, but haven't won, save a simple one-off the New Yorker did last year. Other than that, I've been at this for about 4 or 5 years now, generally have crossword exposure to almost everything of note, and have been trying to figure out how to do some other things that are crossword related past all the other stressors I have going in life. Not too sure about any other stuff to include, but I thought I'd announce my presence here.

Glenn
Welcome to the land of the muggles. A fun group that have a common interest in these puzzles. On the Come Aboard/FAQ-Community are some explanations about some of the comments you may see and also some very good tips for solving these contests. As you may have seen, I put out a status of the ship and shore on Friday/Saturday and Sunday noons. Also as you may have seen, most of us don't get the contest each week so the explanations on our wanderings that comes out on Monday is also amusing and instructive. if you have any questions please feel free to ask

Bob cruise director wrote: Thu Aug 08, 2019 1:12 pm Welcome to the land of the muggles. A fun group that have a common interest in these puzzles. On the Come Aboard/FAQ-Community are some explanations about some of the comments you may see and also some very good tips for solving these contests. As you may have seen, I put out a status of the ship and shore on Friday/Saturday and Sunday noons. Also as you may have seen, most of us don't get the contest each week so the explanations on our wanderings that comes out on Monday is also amusing and instructive. if you have any questions please feel free to ask

Thanks. I browsed the whole forum before I signed up and saw most of it.

It's not that I don't get them ever, it's often that I run into a number of them that I can solve, but some others I couldn't make a guess as to what to do with. But unlucky enough (or my e-mail gets blocked for not being a formal ISP addy, I don't know), that I haven't won in 4 years save what's in the pic to the right. But it's fun enough.

As far as solving metas go, I find often from seeing discussions that the process is Step #1: Solve puzzle. Step #2: ? Step #3: I solved the meta, yay me! ESP is something I don't possess and these meta puzzles often prove it.

Hi everyone! I've posted a couple of times without formally introducing myself. My name is Bob (you've probably figured that out) and I'm from the northern suburbs of NYC. I've been doing crosswords and all kinds of word, number and logic puzzles since my teens. I had gotten away from puzzle solving for many years until a few months ago when my sister told me about the WSJ contest puzzles, and now I'm rather hooked again. This is my first experience with metas and I'm generally very impressed with the construction and the cleverness. I don't have "aha" moments with these puzzles as much as "oh no, they didn't..." moments. Outside of puzzling, I'm a data analyst and a married father of two teens. I'm happy to join all of you on these weekly cruises, and a big thank you to Brian and Cruise Director Bob for creating such a welcoming cruise experience!

Hello impressive group of muggles. Your success in this endeavor is amazing. What valuable powers you possess to unravel these grids and metas. If we come together, the riddle solving abilities, the cleverness, and the cumulative sheer genius would surely dazzle us all. Perhaps this forum can shed light on that notion.

I’ve been a subscriber for almost 3 months now. I have been working on WSJ crossword puzzles for about half that time. It was initially my goal to win a mug, but I quickly realized how proud I would be to just safely get ashore with a first correct meta. I’m overjoyed to announce this finally occurred, after a half dozen other attempts, with “First and Foremost”. I have enjoyed being thoroughly challenged, rarely disappointed, and perhaps most notably, at times experiencing fascinating rabbit holes. My general knowledge base (and hopefully, my investing prowess) has improved by this exposure, and with the regular reading of the WSJ.

HONESTLY...It took me 4 times thinking I had arrived before actually getting ashore. (Mirages have been plentiful to this newbie.) To celebrate, I suppose it’s now time to introduce myself. I’m happily married for 37 years, father of 4 twenty-something’s, a former CPA, physician, and now proudly on shore. I have now arrived.

Emmaa wrote: Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:17 am Hello impressive group of muggles. Your success in this endeavor is amazing. What valuable powers you possess to unravel these grids and metas. If we come together, the riddle solving abilities, the cleverness, and the cumulative sheer genius would surely dazzle us all. Perhaps this forum can shed light on that notion.

I’ve been a subscriber for almost 3 months now. I have been working on WSJ crossword puzzles for about half that time. It was initially my goal to win a mug, but I quickly realized how proud I would be to just safely get ashore with a first correct meta. I’m overjoyed to announce this finally occurred, after a half dozen other attempts, with “First and Foremost”. I have enjoyed being thoroughly challenged, rarely disappointed, and perhaps most notably, at times experiencing fascinating rabbit holes. My general knowledge base (and hopefully, my investing prowess) has improved by this exposure, and with the regular reading of the WSJ.

HONESTLY...It took me 4 times thinking I had arrived before actually getting ashore. (Mirages have been plentiful to this newbie.) To celebrate, I suppose it’s now time to introduce myself. I’m happily married for 37 years, father of 4 twenty-something’s, a former CPA, physician, and now proudly on shore. I have now arrived.

Emmaa
There is definitely a learning curve for solving meta contests. If you look at the suggestions on Come Aboard/FAQ-Community/Hints for solving meta contests, many of our best solvers have given suggestions on how to attack these contests. First is not to get discouraged. Many of our muggles fall into the "elite" category but many of us are average. All are here to give encouragement to everyone who makes an attempt - successful or not. As you can see from the comments this week, there are a lot of approaches that were taken - some right and some not quite as right. However the objective is to have fun. Welcome to the group.

As a side question - there are not very many people who are both CPA's and physicians. Interesting combination. And congratulations on a great family.

Bob:
Thanks for the cruising hospitality and kind comments. You seem to have found your sweet spot. I marvel at the dedication that can be seen daily in this community. Your continued, ?tireless devotion, and encouragement serves us all well.
Since your last comment was referred to as a “side question,” I’ll linger, and respond with, I, too, thought it would be a rare combination, but as I learned (the first week in orientation to med school) of the demographic nature of our class, it was almost as diverse as muggles. In a class of 180, there were representatives from engineering, economics, clergy, law, and other surprises, like a 52 y.o. female (with a minimum of 7 years training in front of her), a chiropractor, and yes, another CPA. Somehow, I was early comforted by all of this, and have subsequently learned about the importance and necessity of broad education and lifelong learning, particularly for leaders. We all learn from each other. Those who lead,read,etc.
A great family, country and heritage are great to wake up to everyday, blessings not easily explained or even earned and, probably, almost always under-appreciated.
Ironically, the metas keep us average muggles humble and hopeful, while torturing and rewarding, but always learning and improving.
Thanks for all you do!

Hello! Emma from Pittsburgh. damefox on here and cruciverb.com. Been doing crosswords for a few years, just got into starting to write them. I've been looking for a forum about metas!

damefox wrote: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:22 pm Hello! Emma from Pittsburgh. damefox on here and cruciverb.com. Been doing crosswords for a few years, just got into starting to write them. I've been looking for a forum about metas!

Emma - welcome to the group. You have come to the right place. All of us enjoy doing the metas. Good luck in winning the WSJ mug. If you have any questions on our comments, please feel free to ask