"Just Look at Yourself" - January 28, 2022

[boharr]

Hmm... ETUIS - Not a bad 1st attempt on Wordle... Sure, SUITE would work, but where's the fun in that?!?

I start Wordle with orate…….

Learn

By now, we all have a substantial set of words with which we start Wordle. The smart play would be to sell the list(s) to the Times.

[otlaolap]

. . . twice this week it was all gray, though. or was it grey? i can't remember.

Nor could I until I stumbled upon "grAy in America and grEy in England.

[woozy]

I actually don't have a standard first word. I do a different one each time (and usually a very poor choice).

[CPJohnson]

Hmm... ETUIS - Not a bad 1st attempt on Wordle... Sure, SUITE would work, but where's the fun in that?!?

I start Wordle with orate…….

Learn

I’m taking notes.

[Joe Ross]

I start Wordle with orate…….

Learn

I’m taking notes.

I've stated before that, based on most popular letters in dictionaries, I like to start with RAISE/ARISE, then follow with whichever of COULDNT, based on first results. However, I vary that a lot, for fun & to learn.

[mrmd]

I worked out that heart thumping was vain when I had NA-EL in the grid - but I don’t really understand why unless it’s a play on vein/vain which seems very imprecise for Mr Gaffney….. Anyone care to enlighten me?!

The actual answer for that one was CHEST THUMPING, which is being vain. No vein/vain play here.

30 years post-medical school and still over-medicalizing everything….!

[hoover]

WORDLE thread

[DrTom]

I initially got ll messed p on this one. Surprisingly I saw the "body connection" very early on with TINGLING. Then I kept getting confused with the numbers forgetting which I was looking for to make the body part and which to make the alternate.

I also made life considerably harder by deciding that it was YUMMY not NUMMY and not checking my crossings. It was only later after many tries to make it Valley somehow that it registered that SIGY wasn't an indication - DUH! That gave me my N and things started being less "fuzzy".

I guess I must not be as old as I think because I had heard of this, mainly as a time waster. I managed to get to shore with it and celebrated with - can you guess? Nope, I just could not bring myself to pour peach schnapps into perfectly good orange juice. I did come up with an alternate drink using orange juice (I have an orange tree out back so what the heck). Its called a Cacciavite (Italian for screwdriver) and has vodka, orange juice and Campari. If you are a fan of Negronis and Boulevardiers then you will probably like it.

[escapeartist]

Still assuming my winning email is hung up at the new Webb space telescope.

[patpatchica]

I pretty easily got the mechanism on this and got the word NAVEL, but I joined the group solve since the only navels I was familiar with are oranges and belly buttons! I guess I’m part of the young (but really not young at all) set here.

[Flying_Burrito]

. Its called a Cacciavite (Italian for screwdriver) and has vodka, orange juice and Campari. If you are a fan of Negronis and Boulevardiers then you will probably like it.

Huge fan of Negroni (classic) and Negroni Sbagliato (Prosecco and bitter Campari), so happy to add another arrow in the quiver with the Cacciavite

[Kas]

I just want to share (for whomever peruses the Metathread this late after the puzzle and solution): One of my all-time favorite words is utterly useless, but still pretty excellent: "Omphaloskepsis." I was really tempted to post that as my answer to Gaffney & Co. this week, but my desire for a mug overrode the urge. (And yet...no winner alert--so yeah, I should've gone with the first inclination, lol.)

[Barney]

I just want to share (for whomever peruses the Metathread this late after the puzzle and solution): One of my all-time favorite words is utterly useless, but still pretty excellent: "Omphaloskepsis." I was really tempted to post that as my answer to Gaffney & Co. this week, but my desire for a mug overrode the urge. (And yet...no winner alert--so yeah, I should've gone with the first inclination, lol.)

Would merit a most honorable mention.

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is NAVEL-GAZING. Precede
each theme answer with a body part (whose
length begins the clue) to create an adjective with
a synonym in the grid: chest-THUMPING (VAIN),
spine-TINGLING (EERIE), ear-SPLITTING (LOUD),
mouth-WATERING (NUMMY), jaw-DROPPING
(AMAZING). In grid order, top to bottom, the first
letters of those synonyms spell NAVEL, suggesting
the contest answer (as does the puzzle’s title)

Hello--a quick report because our winner (presumably not a muggle on this board) has not replied to our email and we are still awaiting confirmation. We had quite a solid turnout for this pretty challenging puzzle: 1345 entries, with about 75% correct, right in line with our typical percentage. Stay tuned!

[sharkicicles]

The contest answer is NAVEL-GAZING. Precede
each theme answer with a body part (whose
length begins the clue) to create an adjective with
a synonym in the grid: chest-THUMPING (VAIN),
spine-TINGLING (EERIE), ear-SPLITTING (LOUD),
mouth-WATERING (NUMMY), jaw-DROPPING
(AMAZING). In grid order, top to bottom, the first
letters of those synonyms spell NAVEL, suggesting
the contest answer (as does the puzzle’s title)

Hello--a quick report because our winner (presumably not a muggle on this board) has not replied to our email and we are still awaiting confirmation. We had quite a solid turnout for this pretty challenging puzzle: 1345 entries, with about 75% correct, right in line with our typical percentage. Stay tuned!

Hey Mike, I can’t find it in my junk mail, can you please resend?

[Nlobb]

I would be happy to volunteer for the mug!!
No trouble at all…

[hoover]

The contest answer is NAVEL-GAZING. Precede
each theme answer with a body part (whose
length begins the clue) to create an adjective with
a synonym in the grid: chest-THUMPING (VAIN),
spine-TINGLING (EERIE), ear-SPLITTING (LOUD),
mouth-WATERING (NUMMY), jaw-DROPPING
(AMAZING). In grid order, top to bottom, the first
letters of those synonyms spell NAVEL, suggesting
the contest answer (as does the puzzle’s title)

Hello--a quick report because our winner (presumably not a muggle on this board) has not replied to our email and we are still awaiting confirmation. We had quite a solid turnout for this pretty challenging puzzle: 1345 entries, with about 75% correct, right in line with our typical percentage. Stay tuned!

Hey Mike, I can’t find it in my junk mail, can you please resend?

Ha! Mike's message sent me scrambling to check my overflowing inbox to see if I missed something.

[KscX]

I’m trying hard to use my powers of positive thinking to re-route the email to ME.

[Al Sisti]

I just want to share (for whomever peruses the Metathread this late after the puzzle and solution): One of my all-time favorite words is utterly useless, but still pretty excellent: "Omphaloskepsis." I was really tempted to post that as my answer to Gaffney & Co. this week, but my desire for a mug overrode the urge. (And yet...no winner alert--so yeah, I should've gone with the first inclination, lol.)

Yeah, one of my favorites too. (I mentioned omphaloskepsis in post #368). I remember wondering if that's where the "om" chant came from.

[Joe Ross]

Omphaloskepsis.

That's Greek to me.