Most Excellent!
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JeanneC
- Posts: 718
- Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 11:25 am
- Location: Florida
Off the couch! After two recent misses on the WSJ puzzle, my faith in the ability to solve these little critters has been restored. Thank you, Cap’n!
“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions”. Lillian Hellman
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Streroto
- Posts: 949
- Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2019 4:24 pm
- Location: Newtown Square, PA
Having finished WSJCC thought I would surf over here. Fun and amazing construction (at least to a non constructor). Off the couch!
Stay well all
Stay well all
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Cap'n Rick
- Posts: 1965
- Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:44 pm
- Location: Nahant, MA
- Contact:
Leaderboard Update
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody! Nine more Muggles are OTC:
whimsy
Sharkicicles
JM
kurtalert
Jerry Miccolis
JR
Max Chemtov
Naptown Kid
Streroto
That brings our solver total to 76! Looking good!
Please let me know if I've missed anyone.
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody! Nine more Muggles are OTC:
whimsy
Sharkicicles
JM
kurtalert
Jerry Miccolis
JR
Max Chemtov
Naptown Kid
Streroto
That brings our solver total to 76! Looking good!
Please let me know if I've missed anyone.
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Cap'n Rick
- Posts: 1965
- Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:44 pm
- Location: Nahant, MA
- Contact:
Leaderboard Update
Three more stout-hearted Muggles have solved the puzzle:
SJ
Jasonbr
Toast
That brings our total to 79! Can we get to 80 before tomorrow's reveal? Stand by!
Three more stout-hearted Muggles have solved the puzzle:
SJ
Jasonbr
Toast
That brings our total to 79! Can we get to 80 before tomorrow's reveal? Stand by!
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Abide
- Moderator
- Posts: 1785
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:16 pm
- Location: Biloxi
- Contact:
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
—Brian MacDonald
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Cap'n Rick
- Posts: 1965
- Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:44 pm
- Location: Nahant, MA
- Contact:
Final Leaderboard
Two more Muggles bring our final tally to 81:
Julie bookworm
MaineMarge
Thanks for solving, everybody! And now for the reveal...
Two more Muggles bring our final tally to 81:
Julie bookworm
MaineMarge
Thanks for solving, everybody! And now for the reveal...
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Cap'n Rick
- Posts: 1965
- Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:44 pm
- Location: Nahant, MA
- Contact:
Ahoy Muggles!
The meta answers are "GUINNESS" and "BEST BEER", and while this distinction may be debatable, it's no coincidence that "Guinness" the beer (okay, "stout") and "Guinness World Records" (formerly "The Guinness Book of Records") share a name. This connection between superlatives and the adult beverage that @Al Sisti jubilantly mentions around 4:15 PM ET every Thursday provided the inspiration for this meta.
While solving, puzzlers probably noticed the MANSLAUGHTER (or MAN'S LAUGHTER, which was Al's reaction when he test solved) entry at 33A and its symmetrical opposite "SUPERLATIVES" at 44A. This was intended to hint that the first step involved finding the 8 symmetrically-placed grid entries whose clues contained superlatives. The first letters of these clues spelled "GUINNESS", and the first letters of the grid entries spelled "BEST BEER" (see below).
Easter Eggs
- ALEC - as in Sir Alec "Guinness" at 17A
- IAMALI - Muhammad Ali was known as "The Greatest"
- ESTs - superlative suffixes at 30D and 43D
- STOUT - central grid entry at 39A
- RECORD and BOOK crossing at 48D and 62A
- IRISH - Dublin-born (just like Guinness stout!) at 63A
Thanks for solving, everyone!
Cap'n Rick
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Abide
- Moderator
- Posts: 1785
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:16 pm
- Location: Biloxi
- Contact:
Excellent job as usual Rick! I also noticed 27-Across can be reparsed as “ I AM AL, I” 
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
—Brian MacDonald
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Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 6611
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
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Al Sisti
- Posts: 2166
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY