MGWCC #740 — “Contact Sport”

An excellent puzzle written by one of the innovators of the meta crossword format. It comes out every Friday at noon and increases in difficulty throughout the month. Available for modest subscription (worth every cent) here: www.xwordcontest.com
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HunterX
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#21

Post by HunterX »

woozy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 1:34 pm Here goes....

EDIT: Whelp... I blew it. I guess someone had to... maybe my first guess, illogical thought it was, is what I should have gone with.
A guess wouldn't do with this one, IMHO.
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BarbaraK
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#22

Post by BarbaraK »

Interesting that there have been 11 wrong answers. Some probably right at the beginning, people trying for that #1 spot by guessing without solving. But later as well. I wonder what rabbit holes people have found. (Are there rabbits in Star Trek? I guess on that Alice in Wonderland planet:)
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lbray53
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#23

Post by lbray53 »

Beamed up!

An easy one BUT I can see where people could have jumped the gun. I had two answers in mind that I really liked until I found a third which worked so much better.

I edited the previous sentence several times in an effort to avoid giving anything away.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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MarkWoychick
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#24

Post by MarkWoychick »

Answer submitted, waiting to be beamed up. Now back to the WSJ!
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 contest-style (meta) crosswords that we've created to help raise money for cancer-related organizations - get the bundle at http://crosswordsforcancer.com
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ajk
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#25

Post by ajk »

Late start due to travel but speedy-ish beaming once I got around to it. Did take me a few extra beats compared to some week 1s.
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MMe
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#26

Post by MMe »

Matt's nice summary of Will N.'s astonishing meta leaves out that apart from Ls and Is, the grid is a pangram (which probably is what clued most solvers to notice the two missing letters).
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MajordomoTom
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#27

Post by MajordomoTom »

HunterX wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 2:42 pm
woozy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 1:34 pm Here goes....

EDIT: Whelp... I blew it. I guess someone had to... maybe my first guess, illogical thought it was, is what I should have gone with.
A guess wouldn't do with this one, IMHO.
agree, I've sent Woozy a PM to try to help. A guess ... unless you're a better guesser than I am, won't get you there.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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HunterX
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#28

Post by HunterX »

lbray53 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 3:15 pm Beamed up!

An easy one BUT I can see where people could have jumped the gun. I had two answers in mind that I really liked until I found a third which worked so much better.

I edited the previous sentence several times in an effort to avoid giving anything away.
Yes, I can see why people might jump the gun as well. Though, as I indicated above (with no details as to why), I'm guessing "guesses" won't generally be correct this time.
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MajordomoTom
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#29

Post by MajordomoTom »

though I have a guess for the WSJ that might be accurate, I'll maybe find out more in 9 minutes on the Zoom call.

EDIT: it wasn't even close.
Last edited by MajordomoTom on Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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Wendy Walker
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#30

Post by Wendy Walker »

All hail Kay W, #1 on the leaderboard!!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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woozy
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#31

Post by woozy »

NOT a week one.

Very, very sour grapes.
A guess ... unless you're a better guesser than I am, won't get you there.
In my defense I didn't guess. I found a mechanism and figured. It just happened to be the wrong mechanism.
Funny story. I was all set to enter Par for the course for the CrossHare midi contest for April but I mistakenly thought midi meant 7x 7 and not 11 x 11. Oops. Well.... Here's a complex but **small** meta on the subject of golf.
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cbarbee002
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#32

Post by cbarbee002 »

Just got to this - - easy beam, but hey, it's a week 1. Engage!
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KayW
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#33

Post by KayW »

MikeyG wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 1:00 pm
KayW wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 12:11 pm :alien: :flying_saucer: Woohoo! #1. On a puzzle titled Contact Sport, of all things (says the queen of non-sportsing people)
When I saw you at the top of the list, I was like, "I think she's not a big sports fan." Oh, the irony!

You crushed it! Great job! 🥳
Thanks, Mikey.
What my brain grasps of most sports talk:
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Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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MikeyG
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#34

Post by MikeyG »

Bird Lives wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 1:08 pm It's not a difficult solve, but I'm still impressed by (and envious of) Matt's ability to integrate the mechanism, the answer, and the title.
Seconded. He's a master at that!
Less cross words, more crosswords.

Solve my latest "Pun of a Kind" Meta!: 92. It's a Breeze
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Jeremy Smith
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#35

Post by Jeremy Smith »

Beamed up. Seemed like a straightforward week 1 level meta to me. I can't imagine why there are so many incorrect answers.
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hcbirker
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#36

Post by hcbirker »

I beamed this morning. Nice to have a week 1!
Heidi
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ky-mike
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#37

Post by ky-mike »

Ashore.

Back to WSJ.
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minimuggle
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#38

Post by minimuggle »

Loved this one especially after failing miserably to figure out the WSJ puzzle. Beam me up please.
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benchen71
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#39

Post by benchen71 »

Beam me up!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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Jade
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#40

Post by Jade »

Loved that one (although it was my wife who got it, as I was scratching my head.)

Beam us up!
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