"Double Trouble" March 24, 2023

[CPJohnson]

Ashore.

[Bob cruise director]

Good evening muggles

Our final count is 4 on the ship and 224 on the shore

For our muggles in Mississippi and Alabama and anywhere else that is in the path of tornados - stay safe.

[OliviaL]

On shore! Just in time!

[SReh26]

Swimming to shore but not there yet.

[mbryant]

Still stormy here in central Alabama. We lost our home to a tornado here in 2011. Here’s hoping double trouble doesn’t come our way. Prayers to those that have been affected.

[Colin]

Still stormy here in central Alabama. We lost our home to a tornado here in 2011. Here’s hoping double trouble doesn’t come our way. Prayers to those that have been affected.

I cannot imagine what it is like to lose your home. My thoughts and hopes are with you and all in the region - stay safe!

[hcbirker]

[hcbirker]

I don't know why the puzzle couldn't come up up properly. but the answer is "take cues".

[kgiano]

On shore

[Conrad]

I don't know why the puzzle couldn't come up up properly. but the answer is "take cues".

[Jacksull]

I don’t know how many times double letters led me down a rabbit hole over the years. Finally…

I was sure the answer was going to be something like “wise cues” but I had to take what Matt was giving us.

[escapeartist]

My first wrong answer was to continue along on the theme answers and find a two word phrase that's a good thing to do when solving Matt's metas:

Use Eyes

Normally I would have just called it good, but since Ayes was already used, it didn't seem right, but double usage isn't a thing since a couple of weeks ago. (ahem)

Looked further, found the answer.

[Plymouthrock]

Wish in the grid there had been a word, say aardvark - anything with two As, and another word with two Ss, to
Make it a tad more confusing. But still a fun one.

[SReh26]

Why wasn’t it et alia?

It’s inter alia.

Et alii seems wrong to me.

Sour grapes I guess. I was close, with 2 nudges I had most of the words but even if I’d had all of them I wouldn’t have thought to arrange them that way.

[Dplass]

Why wasn’t it et alia?

It’s inter alia.

Et alii seems wrong to me.

Sour grapes I guess. I was close, with 2 nudges I had most of the words but even if I’d had all of them I wouldn’t have thought to arrange them that way.

This.

Also, all the themers had two sets of doubles but the answer didn't. Meh.

[Steve_S]

Why wasn’t it et alia?

It’s inter alia.

Et alii seems wrong to me.

Sour grapes I guess. I was close, with 2 nudges I had most of the words but even if I’d had all of them I wouldn’t have thought to arrange them that way.

I raised the same question on the WSJ comments section (referring only to 65A so as not to get redacted) and received this explanation from a reader there:

From Grammarly, the spelling you're probably thinking of is plural neuter, when referring to a crowd of undetermined gender. The spelling in the puzzle is plural masculine, when you know that everyone in the crowd is male.

et alia is "and others" inter alia is "among others", an et.al. is the more common usage! Don't know if that helps......

[Joe Ross]

I thought this was fairly tight. The arrangement came from theme entry order.

[LadyBird]

This was a fun puzzle! And I love how the second word of the answer was also a plural letter of the alphabet. I realize that having the first word of the answer also be a “plural letter” was probably impossible from a grid standpoint (and I stand in awe of all meta creaters—Matt and Mike and our own Muggles—who can create these puzzles). But I thought it would be fun to offer up a few alternative first words of the answer:

DESE CUES—said in a disgusted tone of voice while shaking your head
GEEZ (!) CUES (?)—wow, there are cues in here!
JAYS CUES—hints offered up by @Bird Lives
KAYS CUES—nudges by @KayW
‘ELLS CUES—devilish tips offered up by a Brit
ARRS CUES—helpful hints from @Commodore (at least while flying the Skull & Crossbones)
WISE CUES—the very best kind!

[Colin]

Mister Rabbit, sir!
No rabbit holes to confer…
Downtown three-pointer!

(Liked this meta - clean and tidy)

[Commodore]

ARRS CUES—helpful hints from @Commodore (at least while flying the Skull & Crossbones)

Arrgh, the Skull & Crossbones? Aye, LadyBird, that'd be a slim X-Cues!