"Getting Possessive" - March 11, 2022

[MaineMarge]

Hey Muggles! I heard the WSJ is giving a runner up mug this week

The back says,“Definition of literal perfection”.
So why did they leave out the apostrophe?

I agree with @patpatchica , the whole thing made perfect sense to me.
A *chef’s kiss* to Matt from me.

[katnahat]

I got stuck after finding CHEF’S because I was determined to find a clue word that would send me back to the grid for the second word. But Dr. Google straightened me out. I’ve seen the gesture so many times but had never heard the term. I thought the meta was fun.

[femullen]

What's a "chef's kiss?"

We had house guests this weekend. Probably just as well. Friday afternoon, I was trying to make something out of 71A JUDGE matched to 66D ABA (American Bar Assoc.), 26A TEACHER to 39A NEA, ..., but I could find an "association" for only four of the five. What's a two-word phrase for "lost at sea"? Rabbit Hole.

[pjc]

Never got it. Never heard of 'chef's kiss'. It is a bit disheartening to realize that you NEVER would have gotten it based on unfamiliarity with the final answer.

I did notice the judge-chambers connection, but didn't take it further than that. I was much more obsessed with the clues that seemed like plurals for the grid occupations (writer -> authors; teacher ->professors)

[Cryptrix]

I have heard of the phrase, so it crossed my mind. However after a pretty complex first half of the solve to get Chef's, it felt like I was just jamming a fitting word in, the fact that it was just also the first word of a clue didn't really feel strong enough. Obvious Peter and Eric were both names on the board so I thought for sure there would be some additional mechanic solidifying KISS as the correct second word.

I also spent an annoying amount of time trying to come up with Chef's "bane" or "pain" or something after 'fires' and 'hair' were two of the key answers...

[Notbitter]

Could not escape the rabbits this week. The Aston, ton, asto answers; ice crossing ice; dir/sir nia/cia nix/six nba/aba. Even when I looked at the clues I found three double letter names and subjects (KiSS/CriSS HiLL/FugEE, GaRR/TOOtsie) that I felt indicated SOMETHING. Fell for all of them (and more).

[Dplass]

Great puzzle!

source[1].gif

(Thursday WSJ Answer grid- THATS A BIG GIF)

Meh. Sloppy puzzle. Too many possibile "second words": DOCTORS ORDERS, PATIENT, OFFICE. CHEFS RECIPE, KISS.

#getoffmylawniamafrumpyoldman

[Ergcat]

I rode down a lot of those trails too, Dr.Tom.

Glad to see I wasn't alone.

I was down the “organization” (org. For professors) hole too. But there were only 4. The other rabbit hole I spent some time in was looking at the clues that were or had “possessives” like 19a “Pet Owner’s….” Or 10d “Cornell’s City…”.
I finally stumbled on the correct mechanism !

[OliviaL]

I realized it was CHEF’S KISS immediately as soon as I saw “CHEF” and without even seeing that “KISS” was included in the last clue. I just did a little research on the phrase and it seems it was coined in the US during WW2 and then wasn’t really popular again until the past decade where it’s been big on Twitter and has even become a meme. I don’t use Twitter and I have no idea where initially heard the phrase, but it seems I’ve probably come across it on social media at some point or another. I may have actually had an advantage for once being in my late twenties!

[sf592000]

I found the mechanism fairly quickly with Writer’s Block and Teacher’s Pet, but falsely assumed to get 9 letters from 5 clues the “Block” would be the space and the first letter of the corresponding attribute would be used. So down the rabbit hole I went trying to associate two items to each profession. Doctor’s Patient? Judge’s Rule? On and on! Only after setting it aside for a while the light bulb went off.

[Limerick Savant]

I’d never heard the phrase CHEF’S KISS before, but when I couldn’t think of any 4-letter words to complete the phrase, google autocomplete suggested it and spotting the clue at 77a cinched it. As soon as I saw the emoticon I realized I was familiar with the concept if not the term.

Much the same was true for me but I was a bit disappointed that the only significance I could find for the chef’s possession was that it was in the final clue. As I hinted at earlier, what began as a very clever mechanism Petered out in the end.

[ship4u]

I noticed the 2 double S's in the title poSSeSSive along with the 2 double S's in the clue for 77A, kiSS drummer criSS and thought it was the first mechanism. I couldn't go anywhere with it. With the great zoom meeting getting me on the right track, what I thought was the beginning was actually the end!

[Limerick Savant]

Last week my solution was bliss
But I feel now that something’s amiss
The use of possessive
Was very impressive
But don’t get how that chef joined with KISS (77A)

[DrTom]

Great puzzle!

source[1].gif

(Thursday WSJ Answer grid- THATS A BIG GIF)

Meh. Sloppy puzzle. Too many possible "second words": DOCTORS ORDERS, PATIENT, OFFICE. CHEFS RECIPE, KISS.

#getoffmylawniamafrumpyoldman

Well, I don't know if I would say "sloppy" (and for the record Office and Orders were in the same clue) but there were many other confounders:
Writer's Elbow
Judge's Word
If you've been in as many offices as I have - Doctor's Skull

That said, it is easy to go back and look for what was wrong with the puzzle, particularly if it confounded you like it did me, but the "possessives" he chose (and I do wish he has used MENU instead of KISS..."Menu item at a smoothie bar - ACAI", ) are all very good. At the end of the day it is a lot better puzzle than anything I've ever done so props to Mr. Gaffney .

[BethA]

Heard the answer spoken and the gesture performed last night on Food Network!!!

Writing the theme answers separate from the grid (which I always do unless I notice something else obvious to do while solving the grid), really made the occupations jump out. Since possessive is in the title, and the clue for SIX seemed a little odd, BAKER’S DOZEN jumped out. Others quickly followed (all were the first word in a clue). Seeing CHEF’S though, I could not seem to come up with a 4-letter word. Google helped me out. Then noticed KISS for the last clue, locking it very tightly.

Excellent meta!

[Dplass]

Great puzzle!

source[1].gif

(Thursday WSJ Answer grid- THATS A BIG GIF)

Meh. Sloppy puzzle. Too many possible "second words": DOCTORS ORDERS, PATIENT, OFFICE. CHEFS RECIPE, KISS.

#getoffmylawniamafrumpyoldman

Well, I don't know if I would say "sloppy" (and for the record Office and Orders were in the same clue) but there were many other confounders:
Writer's Elbow
Judge's Word
If you've been in as many offices as I have - Doctor's Skull

That said, it is easy to go back and look for what was wrong with the puzzle, particularly if it confounded you like it did me, but the "possessives" he chose (and I do wish he has used MENU instead of KISS) are all very good. At the end of the day it is a lot better puzzle than anything I've ever done so props to Mr. Gaffney .

Hence my self deprecating and self annointed #getoffmylawn. Mostly sour grapes.

[DrTom]

That said, it is easy to go back and look for what was wrong with the puzzle, particularly if it confounded you like it did me, but the "possessives" he chose (and I do wish he has used MENU instead of KISS) are all very good. At the end of the day it is a lot better puzzle than anything I've ever done so props to Mr. Gaffney .

Hence my self deprecating and self anointed #getoffmylawn. Mostly sour grapes.

Oh. don't get me wrong, I was as upset at myself for not seeing it as you, but I just thought "sloppy" was a bit much. I am as frustrated (@getoffmylawn) as you about my inability to solve what people see immediately, and the fact that I seem to be getting worse and not better at this, but that is all on me, not the authors.

[ship4u]

My LinkedIn lists a current position at Parrot No More Productions.

[NuYear68]

Never made it to shore. I had "chefs" but wasn't happy with the inclusion of the possessive letter "s" since none of the other occupations included it. So I was pushing the "s" out to the start of the second word in the phrase. When that wasn't helping, I went back to "chef's" and hunted for a clue word that made a phrase I'd recognize. Never heard of Chef's Kiss, so I was stuck with a very obscure "Chef's Rule". From there, I was continuing the mechanism of finding the answer to the "rule" clue, which was "raj". That was enough to shut it down, and then the weekend took over.

I hear there is another beach party starting on Thursday - hope to see you there!
Paul

[DrTom]

Last week my solution was bliss
But I feel now that something’s amiss
The use of possessive
Was very impressive
But don’t get how that chef joined with KISS (77A)

Chef's Kiss.png

At puzzles I’m learning to balk
When the path to the end I can’t walk
Because I’ve come down
I’ll admit with a frown
A condition I call solver’s block

The symptoms I’ll have to endure
There appears to be no known cure
So of trial and error
I’ll be standard bearer
And pray my ego will inure