"Accentuate the Negative" -- June 16, 2023

[qvart]

Ashore.

[Flamel616]

Ashore! I got the mechanism kinda quickly, but it took me a while to find all the pieces. Fun!

[Cbaudhuin]

Safely ashore.
Nice collaboration with my sons!
Fun meta.

[PQ63]

Ashore. Another clever one. Grey Goose Martini please.

[mrmd]

Just got there (I think because my jetlag has started to subside!!!).

[hcbirker]

Happy Father’s Day from my clan!

[hcbirker]

Don't know why this posted twice. Sorry!

[hcbirker]

[MajordomoTom]

very sweet puzzle, left me un-numb.

[escapeartist]

Nope

[moron]

I don't fully understand why crossword writers would want an unlisted number. The celebrity part makes sense.

(I was so close to shore.......
perhaps next week I will not drown)

[woozy]

I don't fully understand why crossword writers would want an unlisted number. The celebrity part makes sense.

Considering how we gripe and complain when we can't figure out a crossword (it's always the constructor's fault; never ours) it makes sense to me.

[31 Down]

I don't fully understand why crossword writers would want an unlisted number. The celebrity part makes sense.

Think Matt is being facetious.

[Aragorn]

I guess I don't feel so bad as I still don't get it?

[otlaolap]

Absolute dead certain lock for me was 71A: "Number" as the first word of the clue, as in all the other index clues, and, moreover, the fact that the clue said that the clue, and not the answer, was significant. As someone else remarked earlier, this was a wonder in how the clues, answers, and title all meshed so nicely. [Edit] Forgot to add that the number was zero -- no number. A marvel.

[Edit again] The "someone else" was mikeB at post #141. See his even better explanation and elaboration (the best ever?) in the post immediately below this.

[mikeB]

It is impressive how all the gears of this meta mesh. The theme entries are the doorway to the mechanism. But they are not simply a collection of “UN-words”. Each is the first half of a common noun phrase. In conventional fashion, they get us to LISTED, but then what? Well, the meta’s title is very unusual, in that it is an imperative sentence. That is, it tells us to take a specific action. But what action? Most obvious is to attach an “UN” to get UNLISTED. Recalling some prior WSJ puzzles, the prompt could have asserted that the answer is a word that would make a good seventh theme answer. In that case, UNLISTED would be the solution, but no such guidance is offered (thank goodness, as this puzzle has more to give). Instead, the prompt is a seemingly capricious one that references celebrities and crossword writers. Huh? But this prompt is not about celebrities and crossword writers. It is really about grammar. Not explicitly stated is the prompt’s one real requirement: that the answer is a noun or noun phrase, because it is “something that . . .”. How do you get from UNLISTED to a noun phrase? It is the same way the six theme answers are combined with their second halves. All you need is a noun that goes with UNLISTED. That’s where Clue 71A comes in. It supplies NUMBER in the same way the other six nouns are delivered, keeping its promise that “this clue should help with that”. So all the puzzle components – title, clues, entries, prompt – work together in perfect harmony to get us to the one and only correct answer to this week’s contest crossword. Of course, experts here will have skipped some of these steps on the fast track to Page 1, and hats off to them, but that doesn’t detract from Mr. Gaffney’s masterful orchestration using all the components of this meta.

[Bob cruise director]

If I was unmarried, I’m all suited up to apply for the position of Mrs. @Darth.
Just coming in from working in the garden in my Darth rain gear.
Probable chances Zero

Neither rain, nor sleet nor gloom of night shall keep @MaineMarge from her gardening chores

[Joe Ross]

I want @mikeB to break down every meta going forward so I can understand every nuance I've missed. Thank you, Mike!

[martimeryard]

I'm assuming then that submitting simply UNLISTED would not be a correct submission. Arrghhh!

[Colin]

Couldn’t wait to get back to the US Open and Father’s Day, so got to LISTED and submitted. Should’ve known better… every meta clue has a purpose! Anyway, congrats to solvers and to Wyndham Clark. Not only a creative shot-maker but also driven by a purpose bigger than himself.