XWord Muggles Forum

On shore! Such fun!!

Scott M wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:24 pm

sanmilton wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:03 pm Did anyone else find today's NYT cryptic puzzle by Richard Silvestri a real bear?

I'm new to cryptics, and often have no clue where the answer came from even when I have it. Is there a good resource for breaking down how the annswer fits? Didn't see anything on Wordplay at NYT or on crossword fiend.

I freakin hate cryptics because I’m awful at them, but Joon Pahk linked to a cryptic primer ebook I’m thinking of getting. It is a paid ebook. On the other hand if Joon links to it, I know it’s quality. https://www.almanaq.com/left-field-store

For this meta, I’ve submitted an answer that I’m not 100 percent happy with, but if I don’t fall asleep soon I’ll be interested to see the real answer.

Need Maine Marge. Why do I get two colors (pink / blue) of flowers on my hydrangea (same bush)? I could google this of course, but would prefer to hear from the resident expert!

Very late start but even cooler meta. Very impressive. Count me ashore.

And she makes it to shore after a long dark swim! Herbal tea, please. It's past my bedtime!

I interpreted the “chains of ‘Os’” from bottom left to top right as the dots to be connected. The ‘links amongst the chains had letters which anagrammed to INDIA. 4-Across seemed to confirm that for me.

Congratulations to everyone who solved it! Have a good week - see you all Thursday!

I noticed the dot and star hints in the grid, but not the intersecting lines one (at least not at first). So I draw my star and smack-dab in the center is a 5-letter noun: ARBOR! But that seemed a very inelegant answer. So I showed it to my husband, who also didn't like ARBOR. He thought about intersections and things became much more elegant (and correct).

sorry you had such an abhorrent answer.

cbarbee002 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:29 pm Need Maine Marge. Why do I get two colors (pink / blue) of flowers on my hydrangea (same bush)? I could google this of course, but would prefer to hear from the resident expert!

I'm not a resident of Maine, nor am I an expert on flowers, but I have read all of Agatha Christie, and the blue/pink hydrangea thing was a plot device in one of her mysteries. In her case, the hydrangeas were on wallpaper, and it seems that

they were made of litmus paper. Red litmus turns blue in the presence of alkalines, and blue litmus turns red in the presence of acids. The victim was poisoned by some chemical whose vapor caused the hydrangeas in the wallpaper to change color.

For those of you who are on Macs and were thinking you had to print this out so you could use a pen and paper, let me introduce you to the Annotation feature of the Preview application.

I noticed that the 5 E's formed a star, but I was determined to make something of the diagonal O's. I corralled my reluctant husband/sounding board, and I told him what I thought the pieces were. The instant I read the clue for 55D, I had my Aha! moment.

hm, i got the E's and lines but I must be a terrible artist because my lines didn't intersect there. I submitted ARBOR because it was the only 5-letter noun in the middle of the star.

From Ares to Use my line was a tad off creating the word grass.
I knew I had the mechanism but grass seemed so wrong. Alas, I went with it. My husband cuts the puzzle from the paper before he takes it to work so I have this flap of paper I’m working with. That piece of paper always takes a real beating. This weekend it really came under assault.

I didn't have a printer available, so I used a couple of pieces of string!

Obie J wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:16 am I didn't have a printer available, so I used a couple of pieces of string!

I took a single ply of a napkin and carefully laid it over my iphone, then, hunched over and squinting, draw the dots and the star!

As I was doing so, kinfolk walked in and saw me, discreetly keeping their conclusions to themselves!

LittleGood wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 9:03 pm Submitted. Eager for the morning to see if I'm on the right beach

NOPE!

I “connected” with this week’s puzzle and knew exactly what to do. Then proceeded to draw the star wrong so there were no nodes! When I saw that was getting me nowhere, realized my lack of rudimentary star making skills, and redrew it. Voila. A graph!

Happy Monday, Muggles and good luck.

cbarbee002 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 11:29 pm Need Maine Marge. Why do I get two colors (pink / blue) of flowers on my hydrangea (same bush)? I could google this of course, but would prefer to hear from the resident expert!

@cbarbee002
Chris - the color of hydraneas like these are determined by the acidity of the soil. The more acid, the bluer. So if the soil under one part of the plant is more acidic than the other it means that the flowers will be bluer. Put pine needles or something similar around the base of the plant.