Re: "Power Play" August 5, 2022
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:02 pm
526 entries at 37% correct implies less than 200 correct answers. That’s the lowest I can remember.
A place to discuss the WSJ Weekly Crossword Contest and other "meta"-style crosswords
https://www.xword-muggles.com/
I always ask the technician how long the MRI will take, then I count seconds. At the end, sometimes I remember to compare my second count with the prediction. It's a test to see if I know how long a second lasts.
@BarbaraK has records that go back farther than mine, but The Three W's on 11/12/21 had 361 entries at 33% correct for 119 correct answers.mheberlingx100 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:02 pm 526 entries at 37% correct implies less than 200 correct answers. That’s the lowest I can remember.
It's the 8th lowest of all time, but most of the lower ones are from the early years when there were a lot fewer people playing.flyingMoose wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:20 pm@BarbaraK has records that go back farther than mine, but The Three W's on 11/12/21 had 361 entries at 33% correct for 119 correct answers.mheberlingx100 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:02 pm 526 entries at 37% correct implies less than 200 correct answers. That’s the lowest I can remember.
Like @CPJohnson, I think it’s important for the WSJ crew to know that we’re all here giving it our best shot. If we don’t submit anything, they won’t know we are out there wracking our brains for the cause. If I get a nudge I don’t submit the correct answer; I send in a sensible (or crazy) alternative to help out the odds for the solo solvers.
Thanks for the heads up regarding Mark's puzzle this week. We looked at it this morning and Cynthia solved it very quickly! Excellent job and 3 cheers for @MarkWoychick !Abide wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:02 pm If you thought this puzzle was clever, I highly recommend this meta from our own @MarkWoychick
viewtopic.php?p=102165#p102165
Better odds to win a prize too!
I guess it's no coincidence, then, that The Five W's (my records show it as Five and the answer was SCOOP), was also a Mike Shenk puzzle, and also used math. It required the solver to double the box number of the 5 containing U's and then look at the letters in the boxes of the "doubled U's."flyingMoose wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:20 pm@BarbaraK has records that go back farther than mine, but The Three W's on 11/12/21 had 361 entries at 33% correct for 119 correct answers.mheberlingx100 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:02 pm 526 entries at 37% correct implies less than 200 correct answers. That’s the lowest I can remember.
And yet for that one, I got it pretty readily and had a hard time understanding what all the teeth gnashing was about. This one was a never in a million years for me -- so go figure.HunterX wrote: ↑Tue Aug 09, 2022 2:27 pmI guess it's no coincidence, then, that The Five W's (my records show it as Five and the answer was SCOOP), was also a Mike Shenk puzzle, and also used math. It required the solver to double the box number of the 5 containing U's and then look at the letters in the boxes of the "doubled U's."flyingMoose wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:20 pm@BarbaraK has records that go back farther than mine, but The Three W's on 11/12/21 had 361 entries at 33% correct for 119 correct answers.mheberlingx100 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:02 pm 526 entries at 37% correct implies less than 200 correct answers. That’s the lowest I can remember.
This is terrific! Thanks for sharing it with us!flaringnostrils wrote: ↑Tue Aug 09, 2022 7:16 pm Rabbit hole? I gotcher rabbit hole right here! Looks like I was on the right track, but then ran off the track, out of the stadium, clean through the parking lot and now I'm standing here panting on the shoulder of the interstate. Where am I, really? Oh, at sea.
Started by trying to find four words that paired with "power". Hmm, "tool", "mad", "bar" and "shake". Only four, four letter meta, oh that's gotta be it! So, "bar". I added up the square ##s for the three letters in "bar" (all were numbered) and they added up to 156 (51+52+53)! The correct entry right below "bar"? "Square root"! 156 is a perfect square of 14! Take the letter on the #14 square in the grid ("E"). Oh, I got this!
Uh, no I don't. None of the other "pairing" words work with that formula. But, OK, "tool", oh looky, the words "tool" go both down and across and meet at the "L". They form a corner, half the perimeter of a square! Gotta be a clue! The intersecting long answer: "Why should I". Huh? That don't make no sense. "Why should I" keep doing this? "Mad" intersected with "Had a Bad Effect"; hmm, three three letter words that rhyme! But 3x3's a cube, not a square! And, finally, "shake" is embedded in the fourth long answer. I got nuthin' for that one. Nope, alone on the lifeboat with SPF zero. Mr. Schenk is a diabolical dude.
Not...really