How many vocations do MGWCC solvers share?

[ship4u]

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I've always enjoyed problem solving and fixing things. I developed a love of old sports cars after college and learned how to fix them to support my hobby.

So, what old sports cars do you (have you) owned?

I had a couple of early 70s 240z cars. My current fun sports car is a 2008 Miata with the retractable hardtop. It is my fourth Miata and only one I bought new. If I found something I liked better, I would go for it, but nothing has popped up. I test drove a 2008 Boxster, but it didn’t drive any better than my Miata. I have always admired the Porsche cars, but can’t seem to find a way to make the cost-benefit work versus a Miata.

When I graduated college in 1972 I bought a restored 1952 MGTD in British Racing Green and tan leather interior. I loved that car and it hooked me. Unfortunately, it was stolen from outside my parents house. I then bought a 1960 MGA and later a 1957 Jaguar MKI Sedan. After that, I had the opportunity to buy a Mercedes 280sl from a friend who had poured a ton of money into it and was happy to let it go.

I had a couple of BMW's but they don't really count as a "sport car" as Christian Bale says in "Ford vs. Ferrari."

Next, I was bitten by the Porsche 911 bug. Fantastic cars! My '76 911 was more than twice the sport car that the Mercedes was. The Mercedes was more of a 2 seat cruser. The Porsche wanted to fly!

I finally purchased a 1995 Carrera triple black convertable in 2008 during the financial crisis. It was the finest sport car I ever owned, hands down. I would recommend test driving a used one at the dealership just for fun.

Then, my left knee became buggered and required a knee replacement. I thought my days driving a manual transmission might come to an end, so I sold the Porsche and bought a 2016 BMW 435i hardtop convertable. It has been an excellent fun driver.

[Bird Lives]

I was a university professor (sociology) for my entire working life. I retired four years ago. But getting back to initial question @Eckmania raised, and after reading the posts here, it doesn’t seem like there are common threads. I’m not sure why someone might be attracted to metas, but I’m always puzzled when I encounter a puzzler — a good puzzler, even one who likes cryptics — who has little interest in metas.

I do have an idea as to what makes for a good meta solver: the ability to take in a lot of information, sort through a number of ways of looking at it all, and see which of those ways reveals a pattern in the data.

But I don’t see a close similarity between metas and logic problems (“Mr. Green lives next to the ranch-style house and does not drive a Toyota”). In metas, the data is usually words and letters, it's much less clear what the variables are, and the logic is more intuitive and less rigidly systematic. (Or at least that’s how it seems to me, which is maybe why I so often have to ask for nudges.) It’s more like what you have to do in the NYT “Connections” puzzle (lifted directly from the BBC’s “Only Connect”) — trying different principles for sorting.

[kurtalert]

I went to school for computer science, and am one of those absolute weirdos that actually wanted to get a job in their degree, got one right out of school, and- 21 years later- I still haven't left that company or done anything else since. My role has expanded there, though- I don't JUST do software development. We're a small company, and we can't really justify any dedicated people for things like HR, IT, Sales, etc- so I kind of get to do some of almost everything. A big mix of analysis, design, development, support, sales, network admin, website maintenance, recruiting, new office design, hell- I even built some of our office furniture. LOL. Design & development is still the lion's share of my work, though.

[SamKat9]

I'm a physician and medical laboratory scientist by training, but I'm presently a stay-at-home mom to my 2.5 year old daughter. However, I still attend national conferences every year in order to maintain my certifications. My husband is also in the medical field (neurosurgeon). I'm currently on bedrest and expecting a second kiddo (a boy) in November.

I'm not sure how this background relates to my love of puzzles and metas, but I guess they both promote a way of thinking that I find challenging and rewarding.

[SewYoung]

I was a university professor (sociology) for my entire working life. I retired four years ago. But getting back to initial question @Eckmania raised, and after reading the posts here, it doesn’t seem like there are common threads. I’m not sure why someone might be attracted to metas, but I’m always puzzled when I encounter a puzzler — a good puzzler, even one who likes cryptics — who has little interest in metas.

I do have an idea as to what makes for a good meta solver: the ability to take in a lot of information, sort through a number of ways of looking at it all, and see which of those ways reveals a pattern in the data.

But I don’t see a close similarity between metas and logic problems (“Mr. Green lives next to the ranch-style house and does not drive a Toyota”). In metas, the data is usually words and letters, it's much less clear what the variables are, and the logic is more intuitive and less rigidly systematic. (Or at least that’s how it seems to me, which is maybe why I so often have to ask for nudges.) It’s more like what you have to do in the NYT “Connections” puzzle (lifted directly from the BBC’s “Only Connect”) — trying different principles for sorting.

Interesting observation about the NYT "Connections" puzzle.... I have been doing those for a couple of weeks. I hope it helps me with the metas going forward.