"Trick or Treat" - October 29, 2021

[HunterX]

...
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!

I always attributed my mom's thrifty habits to her being born during the depression and growing up during WWII. But when I kept getting accused of "cheapness," I decided it must have been inherited. (The two phrases I kept heard said about me were, "He's got the first penny he ever earned," and "When he opens his wallet, moths fly out.")

[HunterX]

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.

We called it "tin foil," so I guess I'm younger than you, though my dad served in WWII as well. And we did save it, flattened but crinkled in a drawer.

Oh, mom would never use tape on wrapping paper. And woe betide anyone who ripped their presents open! Had to save the paper, of course!

We had tons of stubby pencils too! Wait.... oh, those were golf scorecard pencils. My parents were avid golfers.

[HunterX]

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.

The reMarkable is very aptly named. I do the MMMM puzzle on it. I just download the PDF on my computer and drop it into the MMMM folder within the desktop app. Then... it magically appears on my tablet and I'm off.

Speaking of which... Just finished this month's grid. Gotta go...

[Colin]

...
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!

I always attributed my mom's thrifty habits to her being born during the depression and growing up during WWII. But when I kept getting accused of "cheapness," I decided it must have been inherited. (The two phrases I kept heard said about me were, "He's got the first penny he ever earned," and "When he opens his wallet, moths fly out.")

…. or, “He can peel an orange in his pocket!”

[ricky]

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.

Scottish grandparents here and the same propensity for thrift and reuse is still evident in me and my siblings, thanks to our mother, who makes us look like amateurs.

[Al Sisti]

The contest answer is CLOWN. Five of the clues have alternative answers containing ICK (FEVERISH/SICK, JAGGER/MICK, BOOTS/KICKS, YOKELS/HICKS and SMALL CUT/NICK). Changing the ICK to EAT (like TRICK/TREAT) yields words that are alternative answers to other clues (SEAT/ CHAIR, MEAT/LAMB, KEATS/ODIST, HEATS/ WARMS, NEAT/NO ICE). The first letters of those alternative answers spell the contest answer.

Can we all agree this was one of the toughest contests in our history of contests? Certainly heavy on the trick (as well as treat). If you were stumped, you had plenty of company (including your faithful correspondent). We had 508 entries, and just 48% were correct (way below our usual correct rate around 75%). Wrong answers included WITCH (32), GHOST (30), SCARECROW (12), and VAMPIRE (11) among others.

Congrats to all of you ninjas who figured this one out, including this week's winner, James Marek of Yardley, PA!

Ah well... if I can't win with a one in 243 chance, I doubt I'm ever gonna win a mug.

[ship4u]

Ah well... if I can't win with a one in 243 chance, I doubt I'm ever gonna win a mug.

My feeling as well, you read my mind. Those were darn good odds.

[TeaJenny]

Ah well... if I can't win with a one in 243 chance, I doubt I'm ever gonna win a mug.

My feeling as well, you read my mind. Those were darn good odds.

Same here.

[HunterX]

Ah well... if I can't win with a one in 243 chance, I doubt I'm ever gonna win a mug.

My feeling as well, you read my mind. Those were darn good odds.

Same here.

Yup. Discouraging, indeed.

Though it's a reminder that I do it for the pleasure of solving the puzzle, doing so with my 20-something kids, and sharing the fun with this group.

[HunterX]

My feeling as well, you read my mind. Those were darn good odds.

Same here.

Yup. Discouraging, indeed.

Though it's a reminder that I do it for the pleasure of solving the puzzle, doing so with my 20-something kids, and sharing the fun with this group.

Clarification:
No--I do NOT have 20 kids or more but can't quite remember how many. (Though that might make it easier to solve the metas.) Just 2 who are in their 20's.

[C=64]

243 is 3 to the 5th power, so you could simulate trying to win the mug by creating an experiment where you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning, running it five times in a row, and seeing how many attempts it takes you to win all five times.

(One way could be to roll a six-sided die five times after choosing two of the numbers to be your winning numbers. Ooh, like playing Yahtzee and needing to get all 5's and 6's on your first roll.)

(Another way could be to flip two coins and count heads/heads as a win, heads/tails or tails/heads as a loss, and tails/tails as a do-over. We have to reject one of the outcomes because this experiment has 4 equally-likely outcomes. This also makes it so you can't hurry the experiment by tossing ten coins at once.)

Don't mind me; I'll just wander into the kitchen and wash out some Ziploc-style bags so I can re-re-re-reuse them.

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

I finally got the answer yesterday with some generous nudging by @boharr.

Others have mentioned the disclaimer in the KIELBASAS clue (plays no part) leading them to "DRAMATIS personae". After that, I couldn't stop looking at the DRA in DRAMATIS and pairing it with RECUR and LAMB. It didn't have any symmetry or anything else pointing to it (aside from LAMB being an odd answer for "Butcher shop buy"), but once I saw it I couldn't stop looking at it. Probably the same way others felt about the phantom SCARecROW.

[SewYoung]

243 is 3 to the 5th power, so you could simulate trying to win the mug by creating an experiment where you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning, running it five times in a row, and seeing how many attempts it takes you to win all five times.

(One way could be to roll a six-sided die five times after choosing two of the numbers to be your winning numbers. Ooh, like playing Yahtzee and needing to get all 5's and 6's on your first roll.)

(Another way could be to flip two coins and count heads/heads as a win, heads/tails or tails/heads as a loss, and tails/tails as a do-over. We have to reject one of the outcomes because this experiment has 4 equally-likely outcomes. This also makes it so you can't hurry the experiment by tossing ten coins at once.)

Don't mind me; I'll just wander into the kitchen and wash out some Ziploc-style bags so I can re-re-re-reuse them.

Oh yes! I reuse those, as well. I always but the "Freezer" rather than "Storage" as they can be used many times.

[LadyBird]

When our last frig died, I made good use of the storage compartments for our bathroom closet. Extra shampoo and tissues and such in the vegetable crisper drawer, scads of dental floss and toothpaste from our dental visits in a condiment drawer. And assorted little things in old diaper wipe containers--I last had a baby in diapers in 2000.

[SewYoung]

When our last frig died, I made good use of the storage compartments for our bathroom closet. Extra shampoo and tissues and such in the vegetable crisper drawer, scads of dental floss and toothpaste from our dental visits in a condiment drawer. And assorted little things in old diaper wipe containers--I last had a baby in diapers in 2000.

Ooh, good idea. Been wondering what to do with a couple of old crisper drawers they are too nice to throw away.

[MarkWoychick]

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.

I found OREO in Moreno and KISS in Kielbasa, which of course led nowhere even with Milk Duds and Milky Way. Also came up empty with SABLE in Kielbasa, but that’s another (shallow) rabbit hole.