MGWCC #742 - “Chain Gang”

[BarbaraK]

Now that the deadline has passed, what was the alternate answer that Matt accepted?

[BarbaraK]

My backdoor solution, as submitted & followed up with email (this is NOT the proper path to the solution) :

Finally sussed 3-letter names chained in TEs.

Looked up all 3-letter words in grid,

Generously considered possible names within words.

KEN LAY is the only one to pop. He fills the prompt bill as well as anyone.

If there's another way to verify KEN LAY or if KEN is incorrect, it's beyond m(in)e.



20220820 MGWCC Chain Gang reveal.png

Alternate clue answers

Amy Tan is CA writer, like EGGERS
Ang Lee is a Oscar winner like NOLAN
Ron Ely was on Love Boat like RAE
Man Ray was in a Warhol picture like ONO
Mel Ott is an athlete like NADAL

Initials spell Enron

[MikeyG]

So, inside my mind, which is mostly just cats, crosswords, coffee, calculus, and Cubbies.

I see the grid - love those silly themers. I would eat a MORAY OMELET! I'm not sure what went off first. I sort of saw RON ELY maybe? And I was like, "There's a classic crossword name. I wonder if there are some others." MEL OTT came next, and I believe I was off and running.

And, of course, you try the typical, "Do these names spell out anything? Any clues?" It'd be pretty wild if Matt found these pairs of three-letter names and got them to spell something out! Nothing immediately.

I remembered some rather longer clues; I think the one about the sports name in crosswords came up. "Goodness, I see MEL OTT all the time." Oh, wait a minute. I saw the director, quickly researched ELY was on "Love Boat" (seemed about right!), and then we were off.

And then ENRON, and I thought that was hilarious, and this was the switch in my mind. I was actually a bit curious as to how an infamous American was going to come up in the puzzle, especially if it was a name that maybe was polarizing or off-putting. So as soon as ENRON came up, I - maybe in my weird punny mindset - reinterpreted the prompt. Enron is an American company. So we're using personification here: ENRON is an American. I could say the same about the Statue of Liberty ("the answer to the meta is a well-known American").

Perhaps it was a stretch, but I will be perfectly honest: Not for one millisecond did I think there was another step. It probably should've crossed my mind that ENRON was not a person in the literal sense, but I like some metas that make you reinterpret the prompt, though there aren't too many.

So when I saw that I didn't make it, I was surprised, for sure. I've had students before - and this happens to me - that pick C with such sterling confidence to realize the answer is B. And you're gobsmacked and you're wondering.

I did a bit of research after realizing I must have missed a step. People at ENRON? Maybe? Who are some names? Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow...hmmm. Okay but which one? There obviously was another step. I wonder what I missed.

So, since puzzlers keep on puzzling, I was doing logic problems well into the evening after an awesome Cubbies victory, but of course, wondering what the meta answer was needling at me.

"Hmmm. Was there a clue to Kenneth Lay? Maybe the mechanism had something to...ohhhhhh."

KEN LAY.

And I think at that moment I was like, "AAARRRGGGHHH." So close. Made perfect sense, of course, with all the other 3-3 names. (I didn't even see that Easter egg in the grid!)

I never for a split second thought to go there. I liked the research angle, but I never thought to make that leap, which is chiefly on me. I probably should have made the 3-3 connection, but I was so happy with ENRON (there's a sentence you never thought you'd see) that I was like, "We've crossed the finish."

I realized seeing weekend stats (I still chronicle the stats!) that, lo and behold, I was resurrected from my own "infamous" missed guess.

So, a little snapshot inside my corny cerebral cortex (more C's). Not sure what that shows except I love puzzles and will keep on pursuing the meta hunt, now and always!

Mikey G

[MMe]

Similar to Mikey. I must have repressed "Ken Lay" in my memories, and corporations are persons, after all, in the good ol' USA.

[ky-mike]

Each of the chain names fits an existing clue. The first letters of each grid answer for those clues spells “ENRON”. Ken Lay was the CEO of ENRON when they went bankrupt.

[Joe Ross]

... corporations are persons, after all, in the good ol' USA.

This was mentioned in the Muggle Zoom Room, last night.

Can a corporation be "an infamous American?"

[woozy]

I have no idea but there is one word in one of the clues that is just really sticking in my craw.

Is the word in question "symmetrical"?

No. It was "delicious". Who on earth would feel a need to describe an omelet, of all things, as "delicious"? Even if you are a huge omelet fan and love them, I doubt you'd think "delicious" would be the informative and identifying word for them.

If there's another way to verify KEN LAY or if KEN is incorrect, it's beyond m(in)e.



20220820 MGWCC Chain Gang reveal.png

According to the Diary of a Crossword fiend you can get ENRON from

EGGERS
NADAL
RAE
ONO
NOLAN

and that's the hint to KEN LAY.

....

I didn't get this one. Considering there are a few months with 5 fridays in them maybe this would have been more appropriate later?

[Joe Ross]

Now that the deadline has passed, what was the alternate answer that Matt accepted?

KENNETH LAY. The mechanism begged for "KEN LAY," but, c'mon, Matt had to accept both.

Rumor has it that ENRON might also have been accepted. ENRON was also accepted.

[joequavis]

I snuck in with a buzzer beater. I had them listed out in full name order, so I had NRONE. Couldn't make sense of that until with 1 minute left, saw ENRON. I knew that didn't quite satisfy the prompt, but didn't have time to do further research, so just submitted that.

ETA - post-enlightenment strikes again

[joequavis]

Ken Lay is also partially spoofed in ENLAI. Not sure if that was intentional.

[Andrew Bradburn]

Congratulations to those who solved this! Was never going to happen for me. Time to start a new (short) streak.

[woozy]

So as someone who didn't get it, I guess the things I should listen to when things irritate me because they should be flags, but I dismissed because I was frustrated were: Athlete who's last name frequently appears in crosswords NADAL (NADAL? I've *never* seen NADAL in a crossword that I remember) and Noted Bay Area writer EGGERS (Of all the noted Bay Area writers Jack London, Brett Hart, Dashiell Hammet, Michael Chabon etc. Eggers is really down there and although his wikipedia page mentions he lives in the Bay Area so for as I can tell that is not particularly relevant to his writings or his public persona). And "delicious"... that just isn't a relevant or likely word when describing omelets or that thought of an eel omelet.

Other things but more easy to dismiss: Geri was not the first spice girl I would have thought of, I have no idea who RAE is supposed to be, Nolan rings no bells. But those seemed fair albeit just irritating to me.

I should learn to pay attention to those flags when I see them. It wouldn't have helped me and I never would have gotten it but... I should note them.

And I do not kmow why, but after I got nudges to look for names in weird trying to find RON is sauRON, seems utterly impossible. I thought "Auro? Saur? AuRON (no, that's cheating), Uron?..." for a long time before I so "Oh,... just plain RON" and then.... I'd *immediately* forget it. Like the Silence of Dr. Who. Weird.

[BrennerTJ]

[Dannyvee]

Rumor has it that ENRON might also have been accepted.

Yup, I submitted ENRON and never thought it wasn't the intended answer until reading the Fiend write-up

[TMart]

Wow, I never noticed that KEN LAY was also in the grid in KENO and SLAY - I had to leap from ENRON to Ken Lay based on three-letter names only and a rapidly-deteriorating memory of the early aughts. That's the click I was looking for!

[ajk]

Was initially nowhere, mostly because nothing jumped out as hidden in the long answers, and I suspected that some of the vague clues were just a consequence of toughening up the cluing for a week 3 (which turned out to be true for most of the examples I was thinking about).

After a kindly nudge that I should rethink both of those assumptions I pretty quickly got on the path. Rest would have been pretty speedy but for my total ignorance of MAN RAY. Here's the summary I reported back to my nudger:

Fairly quickly** spotted the Chain:
ANG to LEE to RON to ELY to MAN to RAY to MEL to OTT to AMY and back up to TAN

** 'fairly quickly' does not apply to MAN RAY. That was ANA RAY and many other variants for a while, even though I suspected it had to go with the Warhol clue. That one was responsible for ~80% of the time I've been working on this In the end I just literally googled all the 3-letter options until one hit.

Each of those can fit one of those vague clues (listed in clue number order):
AMY TAN -- Noted San Francisco Bay-area novelist (EGGERS)
MEL OTT -- Athlete whose surname often appears in crossword puzzles (NADAL)
RON ELY -- TV star who appeared in several "The Love Boat" episodes in the 1980s (RAE)
MAN RAY -- Artist who was the subject of one of Andy Warhol's famous "Polaroid Portraits" (ONO)
ANG LEE -- Director with two Best Picture nominations (as producer) this century (NOLAN)

So the first letters of the grid entries they'd replace spell ENRON. Rechecked the prompt several times looking for the word 'company' after American , then came back to something that was bothering me for a while: seems like the answer should be a 3,3 name.

[ed: not being familiar with, or having suppressed, the name KEN LAY, I wandered over to wikipedia]

So...wikipedia says ENRON was founded by Kenneth Lay, and at least according to a story in the Times about his death a spokeswoman for the family referred to him as "KEN LAY."

I can see why people might be a bit nervous about that last leap, but that has to be it.

Clearly if I'd spotted the KENO / SLAY confirmation the nerves at the end would have been calmed.

[benchen71]

I for one am glad Matt accepted ENRON. I was initially expecting an answer of a name made of 2 three-letter parts. But ENRON seemed infamous enough. As a non-US person I don't think I have ever heard the name KEN LAY.

[Joe Ross]

Clearly if I'd spotted the KENO / SLAY confirmation the nerves at the end would have been calmed.

My tortured KENO/SLAY trip had me 98% there, but NOT liking the route. I submitted to get the damned thing off me and allow my brain to find a solid, persistent earworm - thus delicious, mindless insanity versus this ulcerating brain itch.

I concussed myself upon seeing the beautifully elegant intent. Well done, creator & solvers!

[TeamDoubleTow]

We submitted Kenneth Lay and later realized it should have just been Ken Lay.

[boharr]

We submitted Kenneth Lay and later realized it should have just been Ken Lay.

Did you get credit for Kenneth Lay?