"Party Places" February 7, 2025

[otlaolap]

I don't follow. Why is that genius?

A few minutes after solving I finally noticed the first letters of the solutions's grid words: R,R,R,R,D. What absolute genius.

The constructor encoded not only the state abbreviation but also the political party of the governor in those words. Many solvers here probably saw that straightaway. The press, for example, often will say "Mike DeWine (D, OH)". I did not see that straightaway, and broke out with a laugh (but not a "doh") when I finally saw the party along with the state along with the meta answer letter -- and nothing else -- packed into those works.

[Cindy N]

I can haz two mugs! Just checked my spam folder and there it was!!! Timing on this win couldn't be better for me!

[KayW]

I can haz two mugs! Just checked my spam folder and there it was!!! Timing on this win couldn't be better for me!

Congratulations!

[BarbaraK]

I can haz two mugs! Just checked my spam folder and there it was!!! Timing on this win couldn't be better for me!

Woo hoo!!!! Congratulations!!!!!

[cbarbee002]

Didn't have enough time to devote to this, which is code for I probably wouldn't have gotten it . . . .

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is ARGUE. Take the party (D or R) of each theme governor, then add their state’s two-letter postal abbreviation, then find a four-letter grid answer beginning with each of these: R-ID/RIDA; R-OH/ROHR; R-IN/RING; R-OK/ROKU; and D-AZ/DAZE. Those final letters spell the contest answer.

We found this contest extremely tricky, but our solvers knocked it out of the park. We had 1,309 entries, with fully 96% correct, an unusually high percentage. Wrong answers included SERVE (6), LIE (5, plus one LIE, CHEAT and STEAL), GOVERN (4), and DEBATE (2). Plus some of the correct answers included some postscripts (eg "... and make lots of promises they have no intention of keeping, and cheat, and scam, and pilfer . . .")

Congrats to this week's winner: Cindy Nowak of Kenosha, Wisc.!

[Cruciverbalisticexpi]

Ah, thought there was something else I was missing. But that's literally just the puzzle mechanism. Okey dokey.

I don't follow. Why is that genius?

A few minutes after solving I finally noticed the first letters of the solutions's grid words: R,R,R,R,D. What absolute genius.

The constructor encoded not only the state abbreviation but also the political party of the governor in those words. Many solvers here probably saw that straightaway. The press, for example, often will say "Mike DeWine (D, OH)". I did not see that straightaway, and broke out with a laugh (but not a "doh") when I finally saw the party along with the state along with the meta answer letter -- and nothing else -- packed into those works.

[scrabbler]

I didn't know what party any of the governors were part of, and didn't want to bother looking it up, but like otlaolap I solved anyway, by finding the states in the middle of answers. I wrote down the first and last letters of the corresponding 4-letter words, and realized only the last letter contributed to the answer. Then I saw the pattern in the first letters, and realized that it would have been easier if I had looked up (or known) the parties of each. It was a little tricky because some of the state abbreviations appear in multiple words in the puzzle.

I also got hung up at one point because I had incorrectly entered IRAQI instead of OMANI, and therefore thought every letter in the alphabet was in the puzzle, and that this could be somehow significant.

[turbotron]

To all those who objected to 9D: "Not secular" = LAIC - I actually called them out in my answer and was surprised to see a response from Mike Miller!

I will say that receiving a reply from "Crossword Contest" really got my homes up for finally winning a mug... oh well.

[Brian K]

Concerning Post #289, 9D could be viewed as correctly clued: The church consists of the clerics and the laity. Secular people are not in the church.

Therefore, "Not secular" = LAIC.

[Joe Ross]

Concerning Post #289, 9D could be viewed as correctly clued: The church consists of the clerics and the laity. Secular people are not in the church.

Therefore, "Not secular" = LAIC.

Agree.

I need the complaint and Mike's answer explained. Backward?

FWIW: WSJ's Mike Shenk & Mike Miller are both approachable and genuine people.

[turbotron]

Concerning Post #289, 9D could be viewed as correctly clued: The church consists of the clerics and the laity. Secular people are not in the church.

Therefore, "Not secular" = LAIC.

Agree.

I need the complaint and Mike's answer explained. Backward?

FWIW: WSJ's Mike Shenk & Mike Miller are both approachable and genuine people.

I always thought of "secular," "lay," and "nonreligious" broadly as synonymous.. but after going down a bunch of Google rabbit holes, I now see the distinction is more nuanced. Egg on my face.. apologies to the word-loving community!

[billkatz]

Safely on shore!

[DBMiller]

Concerning Post #289, 9D could be viewed as correctly clued: The church consists of the clerics and the laity. Secular people are not in the church.

Therefore, "Not secular" = LAIC.

Agree.

I need the complaint and Mike's answer explained. Backward?

FWIW: WSJ's Mike Shenk & Mike Miller are both approachable and genuine people.

I always thought of "secular," "lay," and "nonreligious" broadly as synonymous.. but after going down a bunch of Google rabbit holes, I now see the distinction is more nuanced. Egg on my face.. apologies to the word-loving community!

Yeah, and if you don't take "NOT" as opposite, then the distinction holds. If you're NOT clerical, and NOT secular, you're LAIC. Ugh... Just that first part was not mentioned.