"Three by Three" - November 5, 2021

[Bird Lives]

I think ARE = R in most sections of the country. (In my section, the following words: flower, flour, and flare....are all pronounced FLARE by a segment of the population.)

I once had three roommates from Baltimore. The parents of one of them clipped out an article from the Sun and sent it. The title: "Flares Bloom in Ballamer."

[ship4u]

I think ARE = R in most sections of the country. (In my section, the following words: flower, flour, and flare....are all pronounced FLARE by a segment of the population.)

I once had three roommates from Baltimore. The parents of one of them clipped out an article from the Sun and sent it. The title: "Flares Bloom in Ballamer."

There was a famous restaurant in Baltimore called Haussners. The waitresses who were generally middle aged women wearing white uniforms called everyone "hon." Don't remember if they wore flares or not.

[Dplass]

Did I miss the official numbers from Mike?

[ky-mike]

Did I miss the official numbers from Mike?

He hasn't posted them yet.

[Joe Ross]

Did I miss the official numbers from Mike?

Mike Miller watch

[Dplass]

Did I miss the official numbers from Mike?

Mike Miller watch

Yep I had done that search but thought maybe there was a glitch in the matrix.

[Barney]

Did I miss the official numbers from Mike?

Probably still tallying the voluminous number of submissions.

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is BOOK TOUR. The four words in each theme answer can form a three-by-three mini-crossword with its center letter missing (like the one shown). Putting E, W, A and U in their centers creates eight words in the newly-formed crossing words that sound like letters: BEE/TEA, OWE/EWE, EAU/KAY and AUX/OUR. Arranging those letters using the clues’ parenthetical numbers spells the contest answer.

Can we agree this has been a rough autumn? We venture to say this week's brilliant contest was one of our toughest ever. We had just 387 brave entrants, and only about 53% of them were correct. If you're one of them, consider yourself among the elite. Valiant incorrect guesses included SPELLING BEE (38), BOOK SALE (33), GRADUATION (8), BOOK FAIR (3) and some other shots in the dark.

Congrats to this week's winner: John Millar of Cincinnati, Ohio!

[Joe Ross]

Congrats to this week's winner: John Millar of Cincinnati, Ohio!

Mike,

You've misspeeled my name.

[ship4u]

Can we agree this has been a rough autumn?

Hmmmm, "rough?", I dunno. How about "cruel," "diabolical", "sadistic"............

[Wendy Walker]

387 submissions and only half of them were correct?! Wow, that must be an all-time low. Matt himself said on "Fiend" that he was surprised people found this one so difficult. For me the misdirection had a lot to do with the prominent placement of "French," when in the end French pronunciation was of minimal importance.
All hail the Muggle Zoom Room!

[Joe Ross]

For me the misdirection had a lot to do with the prominent placement of "French," when in the end French pronunciation was of minimal importance.
All hail the Muggle Zoom Room!

In (or near) the end was exactly when the French pronunciation was important. Until then, it gave notice that a step (or several) needed to be taken.

205 correct solvers. Cruel and diabolical, indeed.

Still, I say the puzzles Mike, Matt, & Pete have given us the last few weeks have been some of their best.

As for difficulty, I blame those squawking "Too easy!" a month or two back.

[BethA]

I missed Toy Box of 12/01/17. Someone had mentioned this as also using a word square. I think at that time, I might not have even known that a word square was a thing! This time, the puzzle title THREE BY THREE, and the form of the theme answers, just screamed at me — make a word square!!!

It was the first and only thing I could think of doing, and seemed promising. I got the T,B and K,O squares quickly. Got hung up on the others for a bit, was thinking AIX rather than AUX at first, and had put an R rather than a W in the O,U square before realizing I had to form words that sounded like letters. Combo of Dan consulting and backsolving for the right letters led to the solution.

Anyway, just wondering if I should be worried. In the past, Gaffney puzzles have stumped me more often than Shenk ones. This year, the only misses have been Shenks. Should I be worried that I’m getting more on the Gaffney wavelength?!

[ship4u]

As for difficulty, I blame those squawking "Too easy!" a month or two back.

You got that right, Joe. They should be careful what they wish for!

[Nlobb]

Best chance ever to win the mug but…

[Cindy N]

In discussing what I had looked at as I worked through this - and got a nudge or two - and this was my comment

We've had puzzles where you read around the outside, used the 4 corners, chose the center letter.

And yet I wasn't keying in on building that, with letters overlapping at the corners. The light finally did go on, but I hate it when I do that. I have the step that needs to be taken, but I glide right past it. Especially when branistorming and the response I get is "Thanks! That's it!"

[Al Sisti]

Congrats to this week's winner: John Millar of Cincinnati, Ohio!

Mike,

You've misspeeled my name.

Man! So last week, I had a one-in-143 chance of a mug; this week it was one in 205. Pete Muller's was even worse: one out of 47. And yet, I'm still drinking coffee out of an "Over the Hill" mug that's almost 30 years old now.

[Joe Ross]

Congrats to this week's winner: John Millar of Cincinnati, Ohio!

Mike,

You've misspeeled my name.

Man! So last week, I had a one-in-143 chance of a mug; this week it was one in 205. Pete Muller's was even worse: one out of 47. And yet, I'm still drinking coffee out of an "Over the Hill" mug that's almost 30 years old now.

It might be time to rename that the "Through the Woods" mug.

[woozy]

Congrats to this week's winner: John Millar of Cincinnati, Ohio!

Mike,

You've misspeeled my name.

Man! So last week, I had a one-in-143 chance of a mug; this week it was one in 205. Pete Muller's was even worse: one out of 47. And yet, I'm still drinking coffee out of an "Over the Hill" mug that's almost 30 years old now.

You do realize that 1 in 47 odds are .... actually terrible...., don't you?

[Al Sisti]

Mike,

You've misspeeled my name.

Man! So last week, I had a one-in-143 chance of a mug; this week it was one in 205. Pete Muller's was even worse: one out of 47. And yet, I'm still drinking coffee out of an "Over the Hill" mug that's almost 30 years old now.

You do realize that 1 in 47 odds are .... actually terrible...., don't you?

but so much better than 1 in 327, which was the average coming into November.