"Countdown" - July 8, 2022

[Kris Zacharias]

This one sure didn't come easy to me this week.

Submitted a hail Mary while still flailing in the water. Oh well, can't win them all...

On a more positive note, My hubby & I are celebrating 51 years today. We were just babes back in 1971 but clearly it has worked out, with 3 wonderful kids and 6 soon to be 7 grandkids. Life is good.

I think we'll have champagne tonightI

Congrats to all who solved the meta... hope a muggle wins the mug.

Congratulations! What an incredible coincidence. In an earlier post I noted that we too were celebrating our 51st anniversary. We also have three great kids and 6, soon to be 7 grandkids. Life is indeed good.

[Kas]

Bah! Beaches?! We don’ need no steenkeeng beaches.

And yes, looks I’ll be holding down my usual corner spot at Isaac’s this week. Just don’t come crying to me with your sunburns, and your “oh the cabana was just so crowded…”

[KscX]

I’m ashore after getting reeled in by someone on the beach. Always close, but juuuuust can’t see it on my own! No submission for me. Good luck to all you independent solvers in winning the mug.

[kawaja]

Uh, newbie asks: "how do we get the solution", Monday WSJ?

Or stay awake until midnight ET (once the contest ends) and it will be posted here.

Thanks!

[rjy]

Missed the MMMM, just didn’t see it, and looks like I’m hanging w Isaac til the lights come on

[kawaja]

Uh, newbie asks: "how do we get the solution", Monday WSJ?

Yes. It posts at midnight Eastern time.

and thanks!

[Joe Ross]

[Joe Ross]

I apologize for the size & construction. I solved the grid on my phone using the WSJ app, editing its screen capture to solve the meta - along with Indicator Clue & Entry 36A, then added out of scale text in garish colors.

4 Across Theme Entries of 13 & 15 letters have three words. Take the 3rd letter of the 1st word, the 2nd of the 2nd, and the 1st of the 3rd of each entry & get OUTER PLANETS.

[Colin]

Checking in to say I’m with Isaac. Actually on a train from Glasgow to Inverness. I brought graph paper with me, but it seems such a shame to look at a grid instead of enjoying the scenery.

Yesterday’s visit to Stirling Castle.

Hope you’ve tried the wonderful Scottish kippers for breakfast? Sure way to overcome the effects of too many single malts the night before… just in case you have a friend who succumbed to such temptations Kippers are so hard to find over here… i found some vacuum-packed ones in NYC and some that were 98% salt in Maine, but fresh, smoked herrings… nowhere to be seen.
Have a great trip - kippers or no kippers!

[Colin]

Instead of countdown, I used the countup method. Isaac lost count after I got to ten!
Very nice meta!

[GTIJohnny]

Nope... I'd be with Isaac in perpetuity. Never in a hundred tries. Kudos to those who solved it! See you next Thursday.

[Puzzle mom]

Even with a massive nudge I still couldn’t get this one! Oh well.

[joequavis]

Good grief I had all those pieces, but I kept looking for four letter words that contained those three-letter bits. I found NETS, so kept thinking I was kind of on the right track. Not once did I write them all down... Good puzzle and congrats to the solvers

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

Fairly simple once you see it, but I couldn't see it because there were SO many rabbit holes that didn't go far beneath the surface:

The idea that 'countDOWN' could imply a directionality in the grid.
Similarly, that 'LIFToff' could also imply raising letters in the grid.
The TREY, the TROI (just missing an 's'), the TIO that could be changed to TWO, which would also change OIL to OWL, and OWLs was at the top of the grid spanning the numbers 1,2, and 3.
:deep breath:
The 'three' in 'THestREEtsinger', the 'one' in 'thefrOgpriNcE'.
The 'two' in 'maneT painting of a WOman holding a guitar' (just lift off three intermediate words!)
The idea of indexing words in the long answers rather than letters
And maybe the most interesting idea suggested by my brother: making use of the "T-minus" used in countdowns to remove some letters.

I kept orbiting all of these ideas until the Last Call Zoom got me to escape velocity.

[JeanneC]

Nope... I'd be with Isaac in perpetuity. Never in a hundred tries. Kudos to those who solved it! See you next Thursday.

Right there with you. Hopefully there is a MMM to work on so I can put some distance between this meta and that one.
Congrats to those who solved.

[zonkswonk]

I solved it rather quickly... on my 17th attempt

I missed the deadline for the contest but I'm happy with my solve. I hit all the same red herrings as the guy above me, but in the end I just had to realize all the long clues had exacty three words and I was there. Good puzzle!

[SHIWUTONG]

As far as rabbit holes go, what I immediately saw was:
3 down LION = Leo constellation
2 down WALE = Whale constellation( Cetus)
1 down ORBS = Stars
Answer: Constellations
But I just as quickly discarded that idea since 9 times out of 10 the Answer is spelled out with actual letters from the Grid...

[Cbaudhuin]

Aaarrrrggghhh
That 3…2…1…!
I tried every other 3…2…1… in the book. Just not the right one.
Alas, I enjoyed my time at the bar.

[SusieG]

Ohhhh, I actually counted down (top to bottom). It didn’t spell anything. You’d think I would have tried a different tactic after not finding anything the first few times.

However, the curse of the 1A did get us last night. Had to sleep with the windows open because of a little heat wave (and no AC). We think it was the tawny owl.

[TeamDoubleTow]

I spent a lot of time voting down in various ways from 10... But none of those resulted in an answer. Came back to it later and the universe... or outer planets at least... provided