"Trick or Treat" - October 29, 2021

[HeadinHome]

And here’s one more timely comment on this autumn meta, care of that odist of odists, John Keats:

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

- from “To Autumn”

Enjoy this fall, y’all!!

[SewYoung]

Been wantin me some increased spine density. . .

Ha! I am a stickler for reusing paper. I even print out the financial statements for my fellow board members on half-used paper ... and I've noticed that they tend to read the more interesting side while I'm presenting my treasurer's report.

I reuse paper towels.

Oh, yes. If the paper towels were just used to dry up water, they get draped over the dish rack for reuse. Used napkins that are still in one piece or somewhat soiled paper towels are set aside to wipe grease off dishes and pans so that it doesn't get washed down the sink and clog the drain. Nothing with grease ever gets put in the sink. New paper towels are only used if used ones are completely used up. Also, for draining bacon or other greasy foods, you use a section of newspaper with only one layer of paper towel (until such time as newspapers are no longer published).

[hoover]

I never got there, was out of town for the weekend with no internet service in the new inflatable kayak (yes, it really does exist).
But I wouldn't have gotten there anyway. Several people mention seeing the MICK/JAGGER connection, but that wouldn't work for me because I didn't go from "Rolling Stones name" to "Jagger." Instead, I had JAGGE_ before I ever looked at the clue for 19A, so I was primed for JAGGER (correcting my initial pre-clue impression that it might be JAGGED).

Maybe it's my solving method: I fill in the top row of Across answers, then switch directions and fill in as many intersecting Down answers as I can, then switch back and forth until the grid is full. So in this case, I saw 8A, which referred to 16A, so then I filled in 16A and 8A, then switched to the Downs.

[TeaJenny]

My solving/thought process:

First, I noticed that there were many answers containing the letter combination ER, so I listed them out. That didn't make much sense, so I moved on.

The title suggested to me that there were things to look for that included ICK and/or EAT, but there were none in the grid. Substitution, then. So, I applied last week's mechanism of finding alternative answers to clues. SICK for FEVERISH jumped right out at me, as did MICK for JAGGER. I started listing out all similar answers, CHEAT for FRAUDSTER, etc. I was thrown by the plurals BOOTS and YOKELS, wondering if I should drop the S's in the alternative answers, but what on earth is a KEAT?

The title inspired me to change all the ICKs to their corresponding EATs and vice versa. (I seem to recall that there was a puzzle a while back that employed something similar in the mechanism.) That was when I realized that they matched up: each clue that had an alternate ICK answer corresponded to a clue with an alternate EAT answer. So, I lined them up, across answers first in each word chain. It looked like the plurals should stay as written because they otherwise didn't make sense.

I was definitely thrown by FRAUDSTER - CHEAT - CHICK - WARBLER. That was where something that had been bugging me all along came into play. Why did 49A explicitly state that KIELBASAS "play no part in solving the contest"? I don't think I've ever seen that in a meta puzzle. It was only once I had the chains of words lined up that it made sense. Symmetry. If KIELBASAS played no part, then neither did FRAUDSTER. Plus, that word chain was backwards from the others. Instead of
X - ICK - EAT - Y, it was X - EAT - ICK - Y, which was inconsistent.

And there was the answer.

FEVERISH - SICK - SEAT - CHAIR - C
JAGGER - MICK - MEAT - LAMB - L
BOOTS - KICKS - KEATS - ODIST - O
YOKELS - HICKS - HEATS - WARMS - W
SMALLCUT - NICK - NEAT - NOICE - N

CLOWN

[JennyByrd]

Ha! I am a stickler for reusing paper. I even print out the financial statements for my fellow board members on half-used paper ... and I've noticed that they tend to read the more interesting side while I'm presenting my treasurer's report.

I reuse paper towels.

My mother would reuse paper, printing on the back of sheets so that when she sent me something, I'd have to check both sides to figure out what she was sending me. But the best was her reuse of Christmas/Birthday cards. She'd refuse to write on them, using yellow sticky notes to sign them. Then we could remove the stickies and send them back the next year. She also ripped the front page off of cards others sent her and then use them, writing on the back of the front picture.

I inherited this Scottish propensity to a large extent. But not completely. I've learned to splurge. And I now own a reMarkable 2 tablet that has replaced the need for 90% of the things I handwrite. Expensive (mom wouldn't approve) but saves a ton of paper and makes it super easy to keep all your notes organized and in one place.

I LOVE my reMarkable! I still save empty jars and reuse them, too.

[Colin]

My mother would reuse paper…..
But the best was her reuse of Christmas/Birthday cards. She'd refuse to write on them, using yellow sticky notes to sign them. Then we could remove the stickies and send them back the next year. She also ripped the front page off of cards others sent her and then use them, writing on the back of the front picture.

Was your mother’s name Marge, by any chance? I do both of these tricks with especially beautiful cards. Great way to recycle.
BTW- my last name is Hunter, so I can sign my name XHunter

My Mum (I’m from England) would cut up tissue (or Kleenex) boxes, cereal packets, greeting cards, etc and use them for shopping lists or for notes to herself. Recycling was not really a ‘thing’ back then so I would give her notepads, but she preferred her method. When I asked her why she explained that during WWII everything (including paper) was either rationed or hard to find. Everyone saved everything and the habit just stuck. When I moved over the Pond and called her (at least) weekly, she would save up her thoughts of what to tell me during the week and tell me when I called, using her special notes to remind her. Now, having shared that, I have to wipe my eye… I’ll use a brand new Kleenex for that and hope Mum isn’t watching!

[DrTom]

My mother would reuse paper…..
But the best was her reuse of Christmas/Birthday cards. She'd refuse to write on them, using yellow sticky notes to sign them. Then we could remove the stickies and send them back the next year. She also ripped the front page off of cards others sent her and then use them, writing on the back of the front picture.

Was your mother’s name Marge, by any chance? I do both of these tricks with especially beautiful cards. Great way to recycle.
BTW- my last name is Hunter, so I can sign my name XHunter

My Mum (I’m from England) would cut up tissue (or Kleenex) boxes, cereal packets, greeting cards, etc and use them for shopping lists or for notes to herself. Recycling was not really a ‘thing’ back then so I would give her notepads, but she preferred her method. When I asked her why she explained that during WWII everything (including paper) was either rationed or hard to find. Everyone saved everything and the habit just stuck. When I moved over the Pond and called her (at least) weekly, she would save up her thoughts of what to tell me during the week and tell me when I called, using her special notes to remind her. Now, having shared that, I have to wipe my eye… I’ll use a brand new Kleenex for that and hope Mum isn’t watching!

Well, who'd have thought that I'd be misty eyed by 8:30 in the AM on a Tuesday. Colin, hopefully we all thought about our Mums (I'm not from England by my Grandparent were and of course my Mum was alive during the war) when we read your post. Thank you for a nice, maybe a little bittersweet, thought.

[DrTom]

Well gosh, I feel absolutely like a spendthrift reading about all the reuse and repurpose.

I too grew up i a household that had parents who lived thought WWII (my Dad was actually in it) and I'm from NE Pennsylvania, a melting pot area where the immigrant residents were very aware of thrift and conservation.

We saved "silver paper" (aluminum foil to those unfamiliar with that term, as almost everyone I ever say it to is!) flattened and folded in a drawer. We had a can of bacon grease by the stove to fry with (and I'm here to tell you, health concerns or not, I've never had such good fried foods as during my youth), balls of twine, pencil stubs (I'm talking essentially a bit of lead and the metal cap that once held an eraser), repurposed Christmas cards and even Christmas wrapping paper and present tags that were saved to put back on gifts to the named recipient the following year.

I still try to re-use paper towels but in a household of 7 cats we tend to fly through them. I do save them to wipe out my favorite pans (or sop up grease if they look to be too used to clean a pan), and I am staring at a "ball" of silver paper on my desk that I wadded up and something will not let me throw away. I stopped flipping paper over to reuse at work some years ago when the flip side of a sheet contained sensitive (though not critical or embarrassing) information. I did the same thing with crosswords (though I do most on the computer now) when I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out one meta using the wrong grid (sorry thing was that I had almost worked out the mechanism to the puzzle I thought I was solving using the entries from the other!).

I unfortunately find I am rather pennywise and pound foolish, doing things that might save 5 cents while wasting a dollar on something stupid (purchasing a special bin to keep bits of saved string!). But hey nobody ever said that habits had to make sense.

[DrTom]

This could have been friendlier. Put Gillette in the grid and make the answer “sheet”!

“Sheet” was my eleventh hour “Hail Mary “ submission

Oh, heck I yelled that out several times during the solve, but I didn't submit it...

[DrTom]

First time I ever rated a puzzle I didn't solve. But after spending 10 minutes on the explanation and still unsure of the mechanism, I rated it a 4.5 even though I meant to give it a 5 - fat finger.

To those who solved, please let everyone know what drugs you're on.

Ketamine.

@Wendy Walker @mntlblok

Mmmmm - Special K!

[DrTom]

I was slightly confused over the wording of the prompt: doesn't a "choice" comprise two options, like, oh, say, one from the -ICK words and one from the -EAT words? With help I found CLOWN but spent much time trying to make a similar anagram from the -ICK words. Here are my worksheets:

Hmmm, it never occurred to me until now that you are a MEDICAL editor! I'm surprised that our paths had not crossed before.

Well this was a three ring structure, but the three rings held clowns! Perhaps we should do a rapamycin song about them?

[DrTom]

I feel obtuse.

Oh yeah, what's your angle?

[DrTom]

#320
Here are my worksheets:

Looks like you took a page out of DrTom's book. Or maybe DrTam's. Literally

HEY, I resemble that remark! Dude. look at all the pretty lights.....

DrTam - why are we referring to the Canadian Chief Public Health Officer, how does this woman get into the Muggle conversation - imposter!

[Joe Ross]

I still try to re-use paper towels but in a household of 7 cats we tend to fly through them. I do save them to wipe out my favorite pans (or sop up grease if they look to be too used to clean a pan)

Best lesson learned working at a fast-food restaurant as a teen: First step in cleaning is to wipe down surface with a paper towel, as a majority of what needs to be cleaned is grease-based. Saves on cleaner/chemicals & makes clean-up much quicker. This alone makes saving lightly used paper towels worthwhile.

[LadyBird]

First time I ever rated a puzzle I didn't solve. But after spending 10 minutes on the explanation and still unsure of the mechanism, I rated it a 4.5 even though I meant to give it a 5 - fat finger.

To those who solved, please let everyone know what drugs you're on.

Ketamine.

@Wendy Walker @mntlblok

Mmmmm - Special K!

And Vitamin H (Haldol) or Milk of Amnesia (propofol)!

[MikeM000]

And, of course, kielbasas had to be a trick. "Polish sausages (which play no part in solving the contest)." Yea, right, whaddya think I was born yesterday........

This would be a fine meta element on the first day of April, methinks....

[Joe Ross]

Ketamine.

@Wendy Walker @mntlblok

Mmmmm - Special K!

And Vitamin H (Haldol) or Milk of Amnesia (propofol)!

Is Wendy pushing those, too?

[lacangah]

For the record I’m describing my ‘hail Mary of the week’ -

(1) JAN + KLEE -> jANKLEe (the two ‘painter’s in the clues really hung me up).
(2) the whole ‘no Kielbasa’ -> no ‘meat’ in the solution
(3) (1) + (2) = SKELETON (lack of elegance in this approach be damned…)

Congratulations to all who solved it - see you all on the grids in a couple of days - cheers,

[HunterX]

No one has mentioned my rabbit hole(s)...

The clues contained a few treats: (Milk) Duds and Milky Way. Looked around for tricks but didn't spot any. Saw the witches and Frankenstein and tried to add them to the treats but to no avail.

Was too busy getting ready to sell our house and move and didn't have time to find the right mechanism. Might have gotten there with more time. We'll never know.

Oh, I had those too. I was trying to fit those with the YOKELS->YODELS and ORES->OREOS.

[HunterX]

My mother would reuse paper…..
But the best was her reuse of Christmas/Birthday cards. She'd refuse to write on them, using yellow sticky notes to sign them. Then we could remove the stickies and send them back the next year. She also ripped the front page off of cards others sent her and then use them, writing on the back of the front picture.

Was your mother’s name Marge, by any chance? I do both of these tricks with especially beautiful cards. Great way to recycle.
BTW- my last name is Hunter, so I can sign my name XHunter

It was not Marge. But my first name (your last name) was given to me because it was a family last name. I think it was perhaps 4 generations ago. So who knows....