"Back To The Start" January 19, 2024

[Colin]

Being trapped in my engineer-self, my first and only hole was a variety of time-wasting efforts trying to count back from the asterisked answers to the start of the puzzle (top left “1” square):
- starting from last letter going west, then going north including / excluding blanks and including / excluding last letter; the count referencing a numbered square and using that letter
- rinse and repeat, starting from first letter
- rinse and repeat all of the ‘including blanks’ counts but going north then west to see if the number of blanks made a difference (didn’t finish because by this time, I was losing faith in my hypothesis!)
… all I got was gobbledygook (without the vowels)
But it was a good warm up and immediately saw TALL ONES / STALLONE. I am in the OPEN TO camp, so I hope that doesn’t exclude me from winning the mug… wouldn’t want to SOFFER the pain of that!

[LadyBird]

I had trouble with this one at first because I was thinking of HOLDS OUT as hanging back and not doing. And then I realized that it was "She HOLDS OUT the gift and OFFERS it to her friend".

Thinking of the adjective, not the noun for "present" makes a difference as well. Not prez-uhnt, but pree-zent. Offers and presents being synonyms.

My husband and I do Connections together, so I use this pronunciation approach when reading the list. That and spelling out the word when there are homophones.

[Colin]

I had trouble with this one at first because I was thinking of HOLDS OUT as hanging back and not doing. And then I realized that it was "She HOLDS OUT the gift and OFFERS it to her friend".

Thinking of the adjective, not the noun for "present" makes a difference as well. Not prez-uhnt, but pree-zent. Offers and presents being synonyms.

My husband and I do Connections together, so I use this pronunciation approach when reading the list. That and spelling out the word when there are homophones.

When we’re really stuck, as we were on the last two groups of four today, separating verbs, nouns and adjectives sometimes helps, although it feels like cheating!

[jrdad]

I had trouble with this one at first because I was thinking of HOLDS OUT as hanging back and not doing. And then I realized that it was "She HOLDS OUT the gift and OFFERS it to her friend".

Thinking of the adjective, not the noun for "present" makes a difference as well. Not prez-uhnt, but pree-zent. Offers and presents being synonyms.

Isn't it interesting how many two-syllable words in English follow that pattern, with the noun accented on the first syllable and the verb accented on the second: refuse, project, relay, record, address, suspect, produce, compact, exploit, etc...

[Nlobb]

Did we ever hear about the mug?
Of course I would volunteer if no one wants it…

[kurtalert]

Sadly, didn't have a chance to look at the puzzle until today, but found it to be a quick solve- both the grid & the meta. Wish I'd seen it Friday! Fun puzzle.

[otlaolap]

Sure hope Mike Miller @MikeMillerwsj posts the statistics. I've been keeping score of my probability of having won a mug, and, with two exceptions a year or so ago when Mike Miller was on vacation and did not himself post, I have the data needed. At the moment, I believe I have a .0637 probability of having won a mug (6% or so) since I started in August 2020. This, and this group, was a nice sanity saver during the pandemic. Probability does not change reality, though, as there is a 1.000 certainty that I have not won a mug.

[Larrry]

If Mike Miller wont post the statistics, I will give it a try:

The contest answer is ONSET. Moving the last letter of each themed answer to the front creates a new word or phrase (HOLDS OUT, SMARTEN, TRASHES, EMANATE, STALLONE) and each new phrase fits the clue for another grid entry (OFFERS, NEATEN, SLAMS, EMIT, TALIA). The first letter of each gives ONSET.

We had a very strong turnout this week with 2,312 entries, about 87% correct. Among incorrect entries were BACK (12), START (9), STONE (6), POMEGRANTE (4) and many others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Marie Kelly of New York, NY.

[KayW]

I had trouble with this one at first because I was thinking of HOLDS OUT as hanging back and not doing. And then I realized that it was "She HOLDS OUT the gift and OFFERS it to her friend".

Thinking of the adjective, not the noun for "present" makes a difference as well. Not prez-uhnt, but pree-zent. Offers and presents being synonyms.

Isn't it interesting how many two-syllable words in English follow that pattern, with the noun accented on the first syllable and the verb accented on the second: refuse, project, relay, record, address, suspect, produce, compact, exploit, etc...

It is fascinating. In fact, some clever constructors oughta come up with a meta about that. Oh wait, I think they already have

[KayW]

Sure hope Mike Miller @MikeMillerwsj posts the statistics. I've been keeping score of my probability of having won a mug, and, with two exceptions a year or so ago when Mike Miller was on vacation and did not himself post, I have the data needed. At the moment, I believe I have a .0637 probability of having won a mug (6% or so) since I started in August 2020. This, and this group, was a nice sanity saver during the pandemic. Probability does not change reality, though, as there is a 1.000 certainty that I have not won a mug.

Have you seen this spreadsheet which also tracks the "fraction" of a mug you win with each correct answer?

[Wendy Walker]

It is fascinating. In fact, some clever constructors oughta come up with a meta about that. Oh wait, I think they already have

Thanks for the shout-out, Kay! @Cap'n Rick

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is ONSET. Shifting the last letter of each of the starred answers to its front results in a new word or phrase (OLD SOUTH/HOLDS OUT, MARTENS/SMARTEN, RASHEST/TRASHES, MANATEE/EMANATE, TALL ONES/STALLONE) that fits the clue for another answer (OFFERS, NEATEN, SLAMS, EMIT, TALIA). The first letters of those answers spell the contest answer.

Apologies for the delay this week! This was a very popular one and more accessible than usual: We had 1665 entries, about 92% correct. We had 25 votes for a near-miss, RESET, plus a bunch of solo wrong answers including BLOOD, DRINK, SHIRE, MOVIE, and sundry others.

Congrats to this week's winner: Ryan Johnson of New York, NY!

[woozy]

It is fascinating. In fact, some clever constructors oughta come up with a meta about that. Oh wait, I think they already have

Thanks for the shout-out, Kay! @Cap'n Rick

That *was* a good one! Really loved the idea of it!

[Merry Potter]

If Mike Miller wont post the statistics, I will give it a try:

The contest answer is ONSET. Moving the last letter of each themed answer to the front creates a new word or phrase (HOLDS OUT, SMARTEN, TRASHES, EMANATE, STALLONE) and each new phrase fits the clue for another grid entry (OFFERS, NEATEN, SLAMS, EMIT, TALIA). The first letter of each gives ONSET.

We had a very strong turnout this week with 2,312 entries, about 87% correct. Among incorrect entries were BACK (12), START (9), STONE (6), POMEGRANTE (4) and many others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Marie Kelly of New York, NY.

Was this your random example of a Mike MIller post??? you had me fooled but at least you got the winner's city correct!

[KayW]

If Mike Miller wont post the statistics, I will give it a try:

The contest answer is ONSET. Moving the last letter of each themed answer to the front creates a new word or phrase (HOLDS OUT, SMARTEN, TRASHES, EMANATE, STALLONE) and each new phrase fits the clue for another grid entry (OFFERS, NEATEN, SLAMS, EMIT, TALIA). The first letter of each gives ONSET.

We had a very strong turnout this week with 2,312 entries, about 87% correct. Among incorrect entries were BACK (12), START (9), STONE (6), POMEGRANTE (4) and many others.

Congrats to this week's winner, Marie Kelly of New York, NY.

Was this your random example of a Mike MIller post??? you had me fooled but at least you got the winner's city correct!

And a fantastic one at that! With an inside-ish joke: back in the day, MARIE KELLY ("Really Mike", anagrammed) was one of Mike Shenk's nom de plumes:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-PUZZLEB-4462