"Back Nine" September 30, 2022

[Bill Bovard]

After filling in 1 and 2 Across and seeing the obvious palindrome, 'BAHAHAB', I started reading all the answers backwards, and voila! Strange coincidence or hint to the metanism?

For me it this was just another rabbit hole, I searched for partial palindromes thinking maybe the middle letters would lead to an answer, or something like that.

[HunterX]

One more...

A man, who was an avid golfer, heard of a mysterious golf course hidden on an island in the Pacific. He rented a sail boat and set sail in search of it. A storm came up, sent him way off course, and sunk his boat. He managed to stay afloat long enough to make it to a deserted island. Fortunately, there was enough edible vegetation to keep him alive for awhile. He remained there for long enough that he couldn't quite remember how long he'd been there.

One day, he was sitting on the beach, and a figure comes out of the water towards him. It was a woman in a fancy wet suit, complete with all sorts of gear and zippered pockets. She walks up to him and asks:

Woman: What are you doing here? We thought this was a deserted island.
Man: I got shipwrecked here long ago. Where did you come from?
Woman: I'm with a research team. Our boat is in the cove around the side of the island. We can take you back to civilization.
Man: That's wonderful! Thank you! I can't wait to get back. Living here hasn't been easy, eating the same fruits every day.
Woman: I can imagine. Say, do you drink alcohol?
Man: Oh yes! But only Johnny Walker Black.

The woman unzips a pocket on the side of her wet suit and pulls out a small bottle of Johnny Walker Black, saying, "I happen to have some. Here!"

Man: That's great!
Woman: Do you smoke?
Man: I do. But only Chesterfields.

The woman unzips another pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes and some matches, saying, "Here are some Chesterfields. These pockets should have kept them nice and dry."

The man lights one up and lingers over the taste, which he had missed.

Woman: You've been here all alone? For a long time? With no companionship?
Man: Yup.
Woman: Well then... My shipmates are on the other side of the island, and won't be coming over here anytime soon. Would you like to... play around?

Man: You mean you've got a set of clubs in that suit too!?!

[mattythewsjpuzzler]

Try it yourself.

Repaid desserts?

This is the sort of thing Matt Gaffney likes to do -- come up with a phrase that is not a phrase anybody has ever used but that is useful in the grid and then create a clue for it.

That is what is truly amazing about this puzzle. The answers seemed so innocuous and didn't scream "forced"

[hoover]

My husband bought me a set of golf clubs and ten golf lessons for my retirement. Guess the puzzle this week was a ‘sign’. Better get going.

@Onaquest Golf is one of those games where it becomes more enjoyable the better you get. And that only comes with practice and playing. Stick with it.

I keep looking at that sentence and reading "Golf is one of those games where it becomes more expensive the better you get."

[mheberlingx100]

I saw Navy first, then worked on the long answers and the matching clues. It took a little while to get the across then down ordering, but I was sure it was Clubhouse before I got the order.

[chart]

I saw Navy first, then worked on the long answers and the matching clues. It took a little while to get the across then down ordering, but I was sure it was Clubhouse before I got the order.

yes, quite a coincidence for me that Navy unlocked this puzzle and last week's.

[woozy]

Try it yourself. Find a word or phrase that is composed of three consecutive smaller words backwards. i can't think of even one, though maybe with more time and some Internet resources I might get one.

This is called an EMORDNILAP and is a common word. Hard but doable with practice.

Still impressive though.

PUTRID = DIRT UP
MAPS ATLAS = SALT A SPAM
STIFFLE = ELF FITS

[DBMiller]

Try it yourself. Find a word or phrase that is composed of three consecutive smaller words backwards. i can't think of even one, though maybe with more time and some Internet resources I might get one. Patrick Berry had four, and he probably left a few on the cutting room floor. After all, his WSJ Saturday variety puzzle did something along similar lines -- i.e., two-way lines. He composes Rows Garden puzzles too, which also require this ability to see things backwards and forwards. Amazing.

Certainly not easy, but possible with some thought.

Stolen isle pal <> lapel sine lots

My inroad was seeing the glib clue just after completing bilge rats.

[hottieruth]

Try it yourself. Find a word or phrase that is composed of three consecutive smaller words backwards. i can't think of even one, though maybe with more time and some Internet resources I might get one.

This is called an EMORDNILAP and is a common word. Hard but doable with practice.

Still impressive though.

PUTRID = DIRT UP
MAPS ATLAS = SALT A SPAM
STIFFLE = ELF FITS

No lemon, no melon
Never odd or even

[femullen]

Almost felt like an @Al Sisti or a @Wendy Walker this time. Saw "Back" in the title, decided to look for backwards words in the theme answers, found them, and fortunately noticed they were all parts of clues. (Like others, saw Navy first.) Done in half an hour for just my second appearance, I think, on Page 1. Didn't need anything from the cabana after that: I was giddy and insufferably smug all weekend.

[Guy]

I noticed nine "O"s in the grid, and thinking these may represent 9 holes I dived right into that rabbit hole. I really thought I was clever, fortunately it proved to be quickly useless.

[woozy]

Try it yourself. Find a word or phrase that is composed of three consecutive smaller words backwards. i can't think of even one, though maybe with more time and some Internet resources I might get one.

This is called an EMORDNILAP and is a common word. Hard but doable with practice.

Still impressive though.

PUTRID = DIRT UP
MAPS ATLAS = SALT A SPAM
STIFFLE = ELF FITS

No lemon, no melon
Never odd or even

Those are actual palindromes. Of course you can almost always make an Emordnilap by making a palindrome and cutting it in half.

PANAMA = A MAN NAP

This meta did borrow a few palindrome standards. RATS=STAR, REVILED = DELIVER, MADE = EDAM, all palindromists know those.

It's still amazingly impressive, though (it's *really* hard to make a palindrome feel natural) and original and variations are far and few between (I have never seen RED ROOT = TO ORDER; that was awesome!)

[clueless_solver]

So I was very close, but I grabbed the wrong letters! I even had CLUBHOUSE (but anagrammed) on my notepad but it just looked like nonsense so I didn't even put it through an anagram solver. I instead grabbed the last letter of each of the relevant grid answers, and interestingly this gave either DROPS SEED or DROP SEEDS (depending on where you put the extra s). This seemed at least somewhat relevant (golf courses need seeds to grow grass?), and often you have to apply the mechanism twice (take something backwards/from the back), so I went with this.

[Streroto]

Loved all the golf jokes. My best golf game was the day I gave it up 20+ years ago. Fishing is much more fun.

Anyway, here's the observation I promised: Since the title of this awesome Patrick Berry puzzle was "Back Nine" I thought the key letters might be the LAST ones, which anagram to DROPSEED, a very commonly used grass on golf courses. However, that seemed a bit obscure and of course CLUBHOUSE was there in order...but just sayin'

Stay well all

[clueless_solver]

Loved all the golf jokes. My best golf game was the day I gave it up 20+ years ago. Fishing is much more fun.

Anyway, here's the observation I promised: Since the title of this awesome Patrick Berry puzzle was "Back Nine" I thought the key letters might be the LAST ones, which anagram to DROPSEED, a very commonly used grass on golf courses. However, that seemed a bit obscure and of course CLUBHOUSE was there in order...but just sayin'

Stay well all

I'm glad it wasn't just me who saw that!

[zach]

This is called an EMORDNILAP and is a common word. Hard but doable with practice.

Still impressive though.

PUTRID = DIRT UP
MAPS ATLAS = SALT A SPAM
STIFFLE = ELF FITS

No lemon, no melon
Never odd or even

Those are actual palindromes. Of course you can almost always make an Emordnilap by making a palindrome and cutting it in half.

PANAMA = A MAN NAP

This meta did borrow a few palindrome standards. RATS=STAR, REVILED = DELIVER, MADE = EDAM, all palindromists know those.

It's still amazingly impressive, though (it's *really* hard to make a palindrome feel natural) and original and variations are far and few between (I have never seen RED ROOT = TO ORDER; that was awesome!)

I've been working on a crossword using heteropalindromes for several months that I was planning to call "Look Both Ways." The theme answers would have been made-up phrases one way and common phrases backwards. My favorite one I came up with is "PETSMART" backwards is "TRAM STEP." Anyway, I will be putting that plan on pause as I could never match what Patrick put together for us last Friday. I will say that my draft crossword made solving this meta pretty darn easy! Here's my research as proof and in case anyone wants to steal my idea!

[LadyBird]

I was all about counting back by nine's. Counting back from the last letter of the long answers. Counting back from the 1st letter of the long answers.. Counting back from every 9 that appeared.

Then I noticed EXES in the bottom row. 9=IX. So I looked at all of the letters following an I. Of course, you know where that went. I looked for numbers 10-18, but that went nowhere. Whimsy's bunnies took pity on me and I finally noticed the metanism and the significance of 9.

[mkmf]

I haven't noticed anyone mentioning ANIMA in the grid. When I started looking at the long answers backwards, anima was the first thing I noticed, not animal.

I can't decide if ANIMA was there as a hint to keep looking backwards, or if it was a mild red herring designed to slow us down a little bit. I looked through interiors of all the other long answers for words in the grid before noticing that there were full chains of words. And then yes, like for others, navy was first connection to the clues.

A really lovely puzzle!

[Jacksull]

Nobody does it better than Patrick Berry

One last golf joke:

She: I wish you would get rid of those golf clubs so we could spend more time together.

He: You’re beginning to sound like my ex-wife.

She: I didn’t know you were married before.

He: I wasn’t.

[Kwyjibo]

Did anyone else notice there were four answers embedded backwards in other answers?

ARE - BILGERATS
BAH - AHAB
ANIMA - LAMINATES
LAID - DIALOG

And the first letters of the four words can be arranged as BALD which shares the golf term Eagle?

I found this first before seeing the second clue word backwards in made to order.