"Three-Pointers" - January 7, 2022 (MMXXII)

[pjc]

Wow - never saw it. I was busy with words that had three of the same letters (AMANAS, for example) and words that had both a P and a T in them (abbreviation for 'points') and double-letter words (reacting to 'triple double') and...

Never noticed the hidden THREEs!

[Bird Lives]

1. I assume that the refs called a foul on this one since that’s the only way that a lay-up can be a three-pointer.

2. I figured the answer mechanism would have letters that were hiding in plain sight in the grid and that they would be arranged on some pattern.. That meant not in the clues and not even in the meaning of the entries, i..e., that KARL MALONE would not deliver the answer, nor would STRESS TEST or TOM PETTY or any of the others. I was correct about all that, but I still couldn’t find it without a nudge.

[BarbaraK]

Oof. I really should have seen that…but so well constructed that I just have to give due credit, take the Kas 3, and console myself with a sasparilla and Isaac’s jokes, again.

You mean Kas 4, right?

viewtopic.php?t=35

Or have you revised the scale?

[Dplass]

Diagonals... why'd it have to be diagonals...

[MikeM000]

It's not the answer we're looking for, but a rabbit hole has produced a mind-blowing basketball-related coincidence. Like... genius-level trolling by Shenk if it was done on purpose. I'll share on Monday.

5 grid entries have 3 of one (or more) letter(s). The results are jumbled but let's sort them in a certain way, shall we?

A - AMANAS
R - HORROR
T - TOMPETTY
E - LESSEE
ST - STRESSTEST

ARTEST is the birth name of a famous basketball player who legally changed his name while an active star player.

What did he change it to, you ask?

Wait for it...

Are you ready?

MET(t)A WORLD PEACE!

[Ergcat]

Wow, I was way off base (oops, wrong sport!). I looked at all the 3LW, then all of the 3LW that total 3 points in Scrabble, then all of the words with 3-point letters (BCMP).

I did that too! Then I looked at “tre” and Tres” in the grid ( etre and stress test) thinking of literally “3” pointers, but they didn’t point to anything!
Finally, after looking at that grid a million times, I saw the “three” on the diagonals on Sunday morning! Very clever to put those threes in plain sight!

[RDaleHall]

Stared for a long time and didn't get close to the answer. Thought maybe the dash in "Three-pointers" led to the dashes in some of the clues, or perhaps that clues of three words in length were going to give me the answer... nope. Finally with the basketball theme harbored on other Two-Time NBA MVPs like Steve Nash (ASH?) and Bob Pettit (TOMPETTY?)...

Got left at the scorer's table and never got in the game...

[sf592000]

Great puzzle, completely missed this one. Interesting note on 1A, not one major leaguer swings an ash Louisville Slugger bat these days. Most use maple...

[DrTom]

1. I assume that the refs called a foul on this one since that’s the only way that a lay-up can be a three-pointer.

2. I figured the answer mechanism would have letters that were hiding in plain sight in the grid and that they would be arranged on some pattern.. That meant not in the clues and not even in the meaning of the entries, i..e., that KARL MALONE would not deliver the answer, nor would STRESS TEST or TOM PETTY or any of the others. I was correct about all that, but I still couldn’t find it without a nudge.

Thank you! I had seen the L Y and P all in the last column early on (though for some reason NOT the THREEs that pointed to them until I got a nudge) and thought LAY UP, but talked myself out of it because I said - truthfully calling almost the sum total of my basketball knowledge - "that cannot be because that is only 2 points". I was trying desperately to use the PUNT, turn it into a three point football reference (FIELD GOAL) and then use that since it is also a basketball term (thank you Mr. Google). I was dissuaded from that particular arc by my nudge, but I was liking it.

I do not know why it was so hard to see, diagonals have been used before (I remember LEAN MEAT June 14, 2019), but so infrequently that one forgets, which I am sure was the creator's thought process since they are infrequent. It must be difficult being so clever and so devious at the same time! Plus the title; when you finally realize the THREE is not a number but a description you do the all too familiar head slap. Once again bested by some one of the best, and thankfully helped by some of the best as well.

[Tom Wilson]

Yeah, I totally flubbed that one. (Do I get extra credit for recognizing that MMXXII is a "triple-double," something that IS related to Karl Malone?)

[Joe Ross]

Oof. I really should have seen that…but so well constructed that I just have to give due credit, take the Kas 3, and console myself with a sasparilla and Isaac’s jokes, again.

You mean Kas 4, right?

viewtopic.php?t=35

Or have you revised the scale?

:::: An immediate hush falls over the muggle masses as @Kas, himself, is queried over his very own, much venerated scale. Had this been anyone other than BabsK, there may have been immediate rioting. Tongues are bitten and breathing abated as Muggledom awaits King Kas's reply. Calls for pitchforks & quartering are held in reserve. ::::

[Joe Ross]

It's not the answer we're looking for, but a rabbit hole has produced a mind-blowing basketball-related coincidence. Like... genius-level trolling by Shenk if it was done on purpose. I'll share on Monday.

5 grid entries have 3 of one (or more) letter(s). The results are jumbled but let's sort them in a certain way, shall we?

A - AMANAS
R - HORROR
T - TOMPETTY
E - LESSEE
ST - STRESSTEST

ARTEST is the birth name of a famous basketball player who legally changed his name while an active star player.

What did he change it to, you ask?

Wait for it...

Are you ready?

MET(t)A WORLD PEACE!

My worthless vote is for lots of extra credit for this alt solution! Very-well done.

[CPJohnson]

It took me a bit of time to get this one. I looked down countless 3 letter rabbit holes. Eventually i started checking diagonals, and it all fell into place.

Diagonals come into play quite infrequently. I only could remember one other puzzle with a similar mechanism. I searched through the archives and found Squeeze Play from September 2019 (baseball team names were in a diamond around the center of the grid).

Also 3/24/17 (star search), 8/31/18 (oblique reference), and 6/14/19 (lean meat).

[bread-girl]

Didn’t get this one. Congrats to everyone who did!

[Flying_Burrito]

When I started going through the 'usual suspects' (one of them being combination of letters with a 3 for As or Ds) I luckily stumbled fairly quickly on the diagonal Three starting at 43. As I was filling the grid I wanted so badly for one of the answers to include one of the 3 Pointer Sisters (as in the 70s R&B group)

[MikeM000]

Thank you! I had seen the L Y and P all in the last column early on

Oddly, I was initially seeing ALYUP and my first thought was "ok, how can I make ALLEY OOP out of this?"

Another thing I couldn't make work - seeing EASEL in the center (which has 3 points of contact with the ground in a triangle shape), I went looking for these in the grid:

especially since the first 2 sets spelled the beginning of MAN ON MAN (as opposed to ZONE).

[Deb F]

Very clever and should have been easy to see. Alas, totally passed me by. Good luck to you smart Muggles who got it. Have a good week.

[Bird Lives]

5 grid entries have 3 of one (or more) letter(s). The results are jumbled but let's sort them in a certain way, shall we?

A - AMANAS
R - HORROR
T - TOMPETTY
E - LESSEE
ST - STRESSTEST

ARTEST is the birth name of a famous basketball player who legally changed his name while an active star player.

What did he change it to, you ask?

Wait for it...

Are you ready?

MET(t)A WORLD PEACE!

World Peace may be a misnomer. The thing he is most remembered for is charging into the stands to attack a fan, setting off a brawl that lasted several minutes. In all fairness, a fan had thrown a drink at him, but he did not turn the other (Mo) Cheek(s)

[Janet]

The diagonals got me! There was another puzzle where diagonals were used, but I didn't remember at the time.

[whimsy]

@LadyBird - Since you grew up in Indiana, you must know where the term came from. I learned this from my father when they lived in Franklin but @DrTom will concur.

Before they because a state, Indiana was the frontier complete with bars and bar fights. And they were rough fights complete with pulling of guns and knives. So there were stabbings and not infrequently one combatant would cut off a finger or and ear of their opponent. Ears were the most common because they were easy to cut off.

At the end of the fight, the bartender would stand up with the cut off parts and shout "Who's Ear?" And the title stuck.

And to quote Paul Harvey "now you know the rest of the story"

Colorful to be sure, but the way I heard it.....

There were bars involved to be sure but it was where all the locals hung out to discuss the games. As the discussions, whether positive or negative, wore on and the drinks flowed like water over the White River falls, the patrons would sometimes miss their appointed times to return home. Inevitably a non-plussed spouse would call the bar and loudly ask, "Is my husband at that bar!". Ever the diplomat, the bartended would cover the mouthpiece and shout out "Who's here!" - so Paul Harvey, to quote West Side Story (which my dear wife had me watch with her this afternoon) "Smoke on your pipe and put that in!"

stl_hoosier.jpg


DISCLAIMER
(The facts have been changed, hell entirely made up, to protect the innocent or at least get them to chuckle)

Hoosier Daddy