Re: "In Character" - February 19, 2021
Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:30 pm
On shore. As easier metas go, this was delightful.
A place to discuss the WSJ Weekly Crossword Contest and other "meta"-style crosswords
https://www.xword-muggles.com/
That's why they call it the Big Island. Watch for lava flows though.
This is the most recent linkSewYoung wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:12 pmJoin us on the Tuesday evening Zoom meeting. It happens at 6:30 Central / 7:30 Eastern time. A link to the meeting can be found on the "Come Aboard" page under FAQ Community/Solving Resources topic as "YourPalSal's Muggle Meetup".auee89 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:17 am Ashore! Again, I wait until Friday mornings to start and that's when the puzzle is loaded on the WSJ iPad app anyway. Makes Fridays even more enjoyable!
I see posts saying the construction was elegant. Not sure I am tracking. As a newer solver of the WSJ Thursday and Friday puzzles (I am now addicted!), I would love to have a conversation with folks about your perspectives. February has been a good training ground as I now go back and work through the 2020 Friday puzzles. Feel free to message me if you want to have the conversation. Thanks!
LOOK! Up on the beach...is it a bird, is it a crane....no it's Stuporman. Able to leap tall sandy towels with a single boundHunterX wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:33 pm On shore.
Wait... I tipped the cabana boy QUITE well to ensure he set up a well appointed and well equipped cabana for me, with a sunset view over the bluest part of the ocean, just above high-tide mark, and a ready supply of appropriately chilled Vinho Verde. Yet where is he? Too busy running around serving umbrella-drinks to the ladies, I see? And there's no room for my cabana? He left me a sandy Smurf towel to sit on!?! WELL I NEVER!!! (Okay, maybe once in the 70's...)
Fine... I'll just get a burger and one of those $12 bottles of wine that's been "aged" in bourbon barrels to give it more kick. If I can't live in style, at least I can live in a blissful stupor.
Oh, I don't know, I don't know - where ya gonna go when the volcano blows?Tom Shea wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:30 pmThat's why they call it the Big Island. Watch for lava flows though.
Because, well, Lava Hot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1FrzTazY7A
Ironically, he recorded that song here:DrTom wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:33 amOh, I don't know, I don't know - where ya gonna go when the volcano blows?Tom Shea wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:30 pmThat's why they call it the Big Island. Watch for lava flows though.
Because, well, Lava Hot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1FrzTazY7A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PECjfHjvVQA
I think Brian gives a pretty complete representation of "elegance". The one other thing I might add is that an aspect of elegance for me is when the Title, hint and mechanism all mesh. You don't always see it at first (for example I got the 'When Harry...' last week without ever noticing that the crossings spelled FIRE). Sometimes you just have to ask yourself, "how do they do that!" (case in point, 'Opposites Attract' the MGWCC from a week or so ago)BrianMac wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:13 pmWelcome to the group! The more metas you solve, the more you will come to appreciate the "elegance." To me, an elegant puzzle is devoid of bad fill, meaning abbreviations, partial phrases, obscure foreign language words, prefixes, etc. Constructing a "clean" crossword puzzle is challenging enough when you're not trying to include a meta mechanism. Sometimes the meta mechanism requires the trade-off of some bad fill, so if you can include a lot of meta material in your grid without resorting to OMOO, NNE, ANIL or CCVII, that's one aspect of elegance.auee89 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:17 am Ashore! Again, I wait until Friday mornings to start and that's when the puzzle is loaded on the WSJ iPad app anyway. Makes Fridays even more enjoyable!
I see posts saying the construction was elegant. Not sure I am tracking. As a newer solver of the WSJ Thursday and Friday puzzles (I am now addicted!), I would love to have a conversation with folks about your perspectives. February has been a good training ground as I now go back and work through the 2020 Friday puzzles. Feel free to message me if you want to have the conversation. Thanks!
There may be hints or "easter eggs" hidden in the grid that you don't recognize when solving. Realizing that the constructor included that without you even noticing makes you appreciate the elegance...thoughtful aspects of the construction you didn't even notice. I'll send you a PM with an example relating to this week's puzzle.
Another aspect of elegance is the solving experience. Is the meta mechanism consistent across all its steps or components? Do the steps unfold in a logical manner that leads to a solution that is absolutely, unequivocally, definitively, 100%, without-a-doubt the one and only possible solution to the meta? Elegant! Maybe most importantly, is the meta mechanism clever and original? This standard has been going up, in my opinion, over the few years I've been doing these.
Opinions vary of course. Someone might think that a meta that requires you to Google something is, per se, inelegant. Others, such as myself, are not bothered by that. I could go on longer, but need to run. I'm sure others will chime in (without giving spoilers!)
I have snipped out most of Brian's excellent post, but for me elegance lies in the fitting together of multiple steps. Sometimes -- but it seems to me, not so often -- these elegances are pointed out in the Monday post-solvem. Maybe that's because once you see the solution, they become obvious. But maybe there should be more of that.