"Winter Fall" - December 17, 2021

[Bob cruise director]

I've never seen "Chicago Hope" but assumed there were POLICE hanging out with ERDOCs. EMTS makes much more sense.

I went that route also, not having seen Chicago Hope (big surprise!!). But that did not result in a solution, so I went back and found 39D to get the E

[Dplass]

So, I did get to shore, but even looking at the solution posted above, I still don't see why my two 'pesky letters' work. I don't get why 'police' matches 'emts' or 'justice' matches 'education' the way that the other ice words do. My brain needs to be more pliable!

I actually picked "ER DOC" for "POLICE" and since it was the same first letter, it worked.

[drbockel2]

Woohoo! I got one!

[Bird Lives]

As others have noted, this is a great mechanism. But where have I seen it before? Oh right -- the Muggle Meta Monday puzzle of two weeks ago. If you solved that one, this WSJ should have been a snap. And if you didn't try that MMM, this WSJ makes it now an easy solve.

[hcbirker]

As others have noted, this is a great mechanism. But where have I seen it before? Oh right -- the Muggle Meta Monday puzzle of two weeks ago. If you solved that one, this WSJ should have been a snap. And if you didn't try that MMM, this WSJ makes it now an easy solve.

And Will’s Pandora’s Blocks puzzle from a few weeks ago, “listen in” where you take the alternative answer “eavesdrop “ for the title to find the answer.

[pjc]

So, I did get to shore, but even looking at the solution posted above, I still don't see why my two 'pesky letters' work. I don't get why 'police' matches 'emts' or 'justice' matches 'education' the way that the other ice words do. My brain needs to be more pliable!

They're alterative answers to the clues, not alternative words for the answers.

Thus, both Education and Justice are cabinet departments. Both police and EMTs respond to life-threatening situations.

There was a similar mechanism in the July 23, 2021 puzzle, “Two For One.”

Thank you to you and @gatogato - that's what I missed! It all makes sense now!

[rosiegirl]

I was doing some backsolving to "fill in the blanks" for a couple of letters. With the second letter remaining, it being Christmastime, I automatically thought of "elves" but quickly realized that it made no sense, so finally came up with "Attention" for "Notice" which gave me the final letter to complete the answer. That was the tough one for me.

[femullen]

Not even a Monday morning forehead-slapper. I saw nothing from the start, and that is how I finished. Another for the Never-Woulda-Seen-It archives.

[flyingMoose]

There were two where I did not have an immediate "Sure" when scanning the grid. One was Dome, but the other I am keeping close to the Bodice.

[JeanneC]

This weekly puzzle is why I asked Santa for a Matt Gaffney meta puzzle book for Christmas. Congratulations to the solvers!

[RussHiggins]

I got the 9 -ice words, but I couldn't make the jump to the associated answers. Congrats to all who solved!

[Franklin.Bluth]

Not even a Monday morning forehead-slapper. I saw nothing from the start, and that is how I finished. Another for the Never-Woulda-Seen-It archives.

I felt this way for the first 24 hours, but after doing the puzzle over again in hopes of seeing something my eyes fell to POL. Just seeing those letters together ("pol" is a jargon-y word and not one that is really in my vocabulary) triggered the suggestion POLice. And then from there I saw CHOice, and then the hunt was on. But if not for that first word I doubt I would have solved this one.

[Colin]

Got the ICEicles,
Missed the alternative clues.
Should have known better!

[mheberlingx100]

Not even a Monday morning forehead-slapper. I saw nothing from the start, and that is how I finished. Another for the Never-Woulda-Seen-It archives.

I felt this way for the first 24 hours, but after doing the puzzle over again in hopes of seeing something my eyes fell to POL. Just seeing those letters together ("pol" is a jargon-y word and not one that is really in my vocabulary) triggered the suggestion POLice. And then from there I saw CHOice, and then the hunt was on. But if not for that first word I doubt I would have solved this one.

I took longest on BODice and CORNice, which to me seem a bit archaic.

[Barney]

“Education” was the one that eluded me, but having “avesdrop” made an E obvious. Just didn’t look back at the clues to see why.

I loved this puzzle.

[mntlblok]

Although I beat the wifey to the answer this week, she had to point out that it was "alternate clue answers" rather than (some not-so-good) synonyms.

Now know both what the heck a bodice is *and* how it differs from a corset.

Someone here pointed out that the WSJ Saturday puzzle had a meta aspect to it, so we took ours down to the beach yesterday. Wore my old heiny *out*. Guess it was just about the right level of difficulty for us as we each needed just a slight nudge from the other to make it all the way through.

We both remain stuck with nothing more than the obvious on the #707. Guess we're just not week 3 sorts of folk.

Would seem time that I now research what the heck MMM's are. . .

[Joe Ross]

Would seem time that I now research what the heck MMM's are. . .

Muggle Meta Mondays

EXCELLENT metas created by our fellow muggles. See Peter @Abide or @Al Sisti to submit yours for publication.

[C=64]

There were two where I did not have an immediate "Sure" when scanning the grid. One was Dome, but the other I am keeping close to the Bodice.

I hear ya. During the initial solve, the long yet generic clue for DOME caught my eye, but this didn't help me until I was about 8/9ths of the way through the meta.

[MaineMarge]

I took longest on BODice and CORNice, which to me seem a bit archaic.

Seamstresses of Muggledom unite! Bodice was my first, as it’s still labeled thus on patterns as the top part of a dress.
And those of us living in old houses probably had cornice covered.
I love these metas that have a treasure map to interpret.
And happy winter solstICE to all tomorrow!

[Henry Paul]

They're alterative answers to the clues, not alternative words for the answers.

Thus, both Education and Justice are cabinet departments. Both police and EMTs respond to life-threatening situations.

There was a similar mechanism in the July 23, 2021 puzzle, “Two For One.”

Thank you to you and @gatogato - that's what I missed! It all makes sense now!

For me it was "AP English" from Jan 8, 2021. "AP + Ron" = Apron = Smock. That's what got me going on the other clues. I didn't get the vowels until waking up at 2am and thinking "- - V - S Drop" -- oh yeah.

I need to go back and review the Two for One" as well as look into that MMM.