A place to discuss the weekly Wall Street Journal Crossword Puzzle Contest, starting every Thursday around 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please do not post any answers or hints before the contest deadline which is midnight Sunday Eastern time.
Janet wrote: ↑Thu Dec 24, 2020 3:11 pm
Aaargh, you've sleighed me! Yule be sorry!
Don't give me Claus to retaliate, you'd paw deerly. That's me pullin' yule log.
"I couldn't keep up with you, you were running so fast", Tom santa'd (the "p" is silent, as will the knights).
You are vexen me and have even dashered my hopes of staying on top of the pun war...I feel so cupid! I'm just going to donner my rude elf suit, get blitzened and dancer around the festivus tree until I comet.
(Sung to the tune of "Bridge on the River Kwai Theme Song (Colonel Bogie's March))
Comet. It makes your teeth turn green.
Comet. It tastes like kerosene.
Comet. It makes you .......
So get some Comet and ....... today!
Sorry. I couldn't help it. Childhood memories.....
The puzzle arrival was a Christmas Eve surprise to me so I scurried to do the grid. Getting the meta this Christmas morning was a second present. Thanks to MS and WSJ!
I just crawled up on shore but only because Dr. Tom recognized my struggles in the surf and private messaged me for the "sole porpoise" of nudging me in the right direction. I was right there early and often but failed to see . . . (I will complete this on Monday if I remember.)
I am on shore but will keep my distance from the celebratory crowd. I am just thankful that Dr. Tom prevented me from becoming a Grinch! It was getting close.
The double pun is for you Dr. Tom!
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
Good morning and happy holidays to all of our muggle family. I hope everyone is safe.
Since we have an extra day and we have a crowded shore, I am putting out the full list today.
But first we welcome our newest muggles Upstater and The Brunoians (who are from Little Rhodie - I think they are the first from the Ocean State). And minimuggle is our revised muggle blog name from her email address so we sort of welcome her.
We have 7 on the ship and 134 on the festive but crowded shore. For those that are struggling, this is a classic Mike Shenk so look in the hints sections in Welcome Aboard/Hits for Solving Meta contests. Each constructor has his own style and it is very informative to understand the styles of the various constructors. Both Mike and Matt have distinctive but extremely clever styles.
So without further ado, we have in the ship's bar with Isaac
Ladybird
Dennis
SewYoung
flying Moose
John77
sharkicicles
and lbray
and on the shore we have
Les
NuYear68
Al
kay
Dannyvee
Meg
ky-mike
Heidi
Homer
Barbara K
higgysue
Wendy (done even before date night)
MajorDomoTom
Mike H
damefox
Gman
Joe R
oldjudge
boharr
Dan A
Cindy
Tmart
Cap'n Rick
Andrew B
Frank H
sanmilton
joes
Jackie88
escapeartist
Paul D - gloating over the fact that we have not heard from Dom
Eric P
Steveb
Bird Lives
paige11
michaelm
Abide
whimsy
All the Beths - ACT or CAT
C=64
stmv
ALS
otlaolap
Dave C
Moi
jrdad
Dave K
DBMiller
scraps
Liz
Cynthia J
SusieG
Commodore
eagle1279
JoePickett
joequavis
Laura M
Schmeel
MikeM000
Prozach
mattythewsjpuzzler
madhatter5
seans
Guy L
MaineMarge
Jeremy
Lacangah
EmilyW
Mister Squawk
Tony S
markhr
Connie
Orsys
Jeanrosz
Annabelle
DrTom and his contagious puns which we love
RDaleHall
JimJim
CallmeShane
Rita and George
Kris
Tom S
dudeski
Anita
Jim and Anita
Toby
Glyn
Chris
Tina
LittleGood
bskptkl
Jack
Trey and Marion - finally Trey is pulling his weight but the ledger is still far from balanced
Janet
AnswerPFinder
Billy M
HunterX
PQ63
Peter L
M and M
mpmanning
Billkatz
Nalugirl
mel87
Flananigans
minimuggle
spotter
802puzzler
Bob Kerfuffle
Blair
Grover
Janegummy
Tom Mueller
KRM
Rad26
John and Beth
Upstater
dplass
hunkra
Omnibus
fstadler
HeadinHome
Deb
meowmiao71
streroto
Richard
Tom Wi
Dow Jones
rosiegirl who is coming up the learning curve very quickly
Georgall
Squirrelly718
and The Brunonians
HeadinHome wrote: ↑Thu Dec 24, 2020 11:28 pm
I do NOT agree that this one was easy. 15 minutes on the grid, but HOURS to get to the meta, with plenty of false leads to trick a weary soul. Once found, it’s very satisfying. But I still don’t understand what the ... well, better not finish that sentence yet.
Covid isolating here this week after a positive test last Friday (almost a week ago now). Even DH staying in opposite side of the house) — though I have ZERO symptoms and he just got a negative test result from two days ago. I know false negatives on a PCR are ultra rare, but really?? Not a single symptom and no one exposed to me has any symptoms. We will both test again Saturday and if both negative can gather with our kids and grandkids for a late make-up Christmas next week. 2020 is going out in true 2020 style.
Merry Christmas to those of you who share my faith, and happy holidays to the rest of you, friends! And may we all find PEACE and better health and togetherness in 2021.
I guess it's easy for the folks who see the answer right away; I find once I start having to hunt diligently for the method I am probably lost for that week.
Hope you remain symptom free but generate antibodies. Merry Christmas!
Onshore with the crowd. I worked on the puzzle at the Christmas morning breakfast table, definitely a first for me. Thanks to Mike and the WSJ for giving us our contest fix in a week without a Friday print edition.
And to all muggles, Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
Don't give me Claus to retaliate, you'd paw deerly. That's me pullin' yule log.
"I couldn't keep up with you, you were running so fast", Tom santa'd (the "p" is silent, as will the knights).
You are vexen me and have even dashered my hopes of staying on top of the pun war...I feel so cupid! I'm just going to donner my rude elf suit, get blitzened and dancer around the festivus tree until I comet.
(Sung to the tune of "Bridge on the River Kwai Theme Song (Colonel Bogie's March))
Comet. It makes your teeth turn green.
Comet. It tastes like kerosene.
Comet. It makes you .......
So get some Comet and ....... today!
Sorry. I couldn't help it. Childhood memories.....
Was that part of a Mr. Yuk campaign....you know, to prevent childhood poisoning?
Don't give me Claus to retaliate, you'd paw deerly. That's me pullin' yule log.
"I couldn't keep up with you, you were running so fast", Tom santa'd (the "p" is silent, as will the knights).
You are vexen me and have even dashered my hopes of staying on top of the pun war...I feel so cupid! I'm just going to donner my rude elf suit, get blitzened and dancer around the festivus tree until I comet.
(Sung to the tune of "Bridge on the River Kwai Theme Song (Colonel Bogie's March))
Comet. It makes your teeth turn green.
Comet. It tastes like kerosene.
Comet. It makes you .......
So get some Comet and ....... today!
Sorry. I couldn't help it. Childhood memories.....
