"Couples Only" June 2, 2023

[escapeartist]

I liked the subtle humor of TRIO as the contest answer for "Couples Only" - nice one Gaffney!

[Colin]

Saw this quickly following a late start after getting stuck drinking with some barroommates, including my bookkeeper who has just become a tattooee! It all gave me a bad case of rom oke toe, which is an imaginary disease cased by too much googling!

[RobM]

Helped that on the first pass through the grid I tried NAT for 44A and LOL for 58D, so when those came up in the double letters the mechanism was obvious. But luck still counts!

SImilar story: When I saw "Mined material" in the clues, I thought "Ore," but when I looked at the grid, there were too many letters. But when it showed up as doubles later, I was on the fast track.

[MajordomoTom]

I got TRIO and spent waaaayyy too much time trying t use it to find "BABY" to complete the "pageant".

I did eventually just submit TRIO as I couldn't find that extra step (in the puzzle - .

Tom

[Ergcat]

I had a brief trip down a rabbit hole when I saw 22a AUNT and 19d UNCLE intersect in the grid at the “N”! Aha, couples!!! Then I found CHAI and TEA, LAG and LATE ( “behind” was common in their clues)… desperate to find another “couple” I put together ADDS and ARRANGES. Taking the “common letter” to each couple I got “NALA” …nothing except if I anagramed it, maybe. Oh, no!! Nope, not going there…. the bunny got me!

[pjc]

Helped that on the first pass through the grid I tried NAT for 44A and LOL for 58D, so when those came up in the double letters the mechanism was obvious. But luck still counts!

Same exact thing happened for me with NAT - so that's why I had an instant solve.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to consult some Tarot cards to predict next week's solution.

[Al Laubenstein]

One of my co-conspirators submitted RIOT. Partial credit?

[turbotron]

Rats... I overthought the puzzle title and was hanging out on the wrong beach. Ah well, it was still a nice weekend diversion, so no complaints here!

[clonefitz]

Helped that on the first pass through the grid I tried NAT for 44A and LOL for 58D, so when those came up in the double letters the mechanism was obvious. But luck still counts!

Same exact thing happened for me with NAT - so that's why I had an instant solve.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to consult some Tarot cards to predict next week's solution.

I was a perfect 4 for 4. While completing the grid, my first thoughts on those four clues were NAT, ORE, ODE and LOL. Once the grid was complete and I saw the trios of couples, I had the mechanism instantly.

[mheberlingx100]

I saw the triple-doubles right away, then spent a bit of time trying to add one more letter to them to make another word answer in the grid. I got as far as U M R, but struck out on LOL. Went back to the clues and saw “rock” for “ore” first, then it all came into place.

I’ve been trying for a mug since 2017. My wife has offered to have one made for me, but it’s just not the same. It’s got to be *earned* (with a substantial amount of luck involved).

[sphorning]

Yay! I WAS paddling toward the correct island. Had to Google Nat Turner.

[DBMiller]

I did submit TRIO as my answer, with an added argument for DUET. As the "Couples Only" title was screaming at me to apply it to the meta.

But after I thought about it for a bit, you could also argue for PAIR or DYAD just as much as you could for DUET. So I ended up sticking with TRIO as the most probable.

[EmilyW]

My first thought for Turner of note was Tina, but then when I saw it was 3 letters I thought Ike, which is another answer in the puzzle. So I briefly thought there was going to be an additional step to this puzzle, but luckily didn't spend too much time in that rabbit hole.

[HunterX]

My kids used to tease me when we'd be working on a meta, each trying to solve it before the others, and I would say something like, "Well I tried looking all the double letters and came up with nothing, so don't try that." The next puzzle they'd say, "Hey dad, are you highlighting all the double letters? :::snicker:::" I got to the point where if I ever started looking at double letters, I knew I was on the wrong track. Similar to whenever I start anagramming sets of letters in desparation. (Though sometimes....)

So when my daughter and I started to work on this one and we saw the title, they said to me, "You may finally get to look at the double letters!"

How right they were! (And I identified Nat Turner before they did. So I won.)

[Relic]

Yay! I WAS paddling toward the correct island. Had to Google Nat Turner.

I entered nat and Google autofilled Turner, so I guess Nat Turner was trending in the search engine. Imagine that!

[The XWord Rabbit]

With five nominees in the last two weeks your Rabbit thought he was on a roll with Mr. Gaffney’s “Couples Only” puzzle, but alas, it’s time to get out the old paint can again.

The four anchor entries contained three sets of double letters: N-A-T in Rosanna Arquette, O-R-E in BLOOPER REEL, O-D-E in DO A GOOD DEED and L-O-L in COLLEGE FOOTBALL. Each of those sets provided an additional answer to a clue in the puzzle: 44A. Turner of note. 16A. Mined material. 43A. Kind of poem. 58D. Common three-letter text. The start letters of the original grid entries of those clues spelled out the meta: T-R-I-O.

While the X-Word Rabbit may not have any stories of Muggles lost he couldn’t have asked for a better word than TRIO to wax nostalgic. He debated about posting one of his favorite Looney Tunes cartoons: “Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears”, featuring a very dysfunctional ursine family or even better, “The Three Little Bops”, a jazzy takeoff of “The Three Little Pigs”.

In the end though, he found something far more bewildering, especially to those of you who are too young to remember the glorious early days of television.

It’s The Nairobi Trio, a sketch comedy bit that Ernie Kovacs performed repeatedly on his program. Hard to explain – and that’s what Wikipedia is for: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nairobi_Trio In any event, it gets your Rabbit out of this week’s predicament and that’s what it’s all about.

[iggystan]

Ashore.

(I printed out the puzzle late Thursday, but didn’t start on it until late Sunday; I was in Ohio for a family gathering and didn’t get a chance to start on it. Thankfully, it fell into place quickly and I submitted my answer on time.)

[Bird Lives]

. . . those of you who are too young to remember the glorious early days of television.

It’s The Nairobi Trio, a sketch comedy bit that Ernie Kovacs performed repeatedly on his program. [/b]

Ernie Kovacs was a TV pioneer. He used the medium in ways that nobody else could imagine. e.g.,

[Nlobb]

Where’s the mug??

[PhantomPhan]

Where’s the mug??

I mean, I'll take one for the team and offer to receive it if the winner hasn't responded yet.