"In A Crunch" February 2, 2024

[PhantomPhan]

Swam to shore slowly after my dad got a solo solve Friday morning. Had to be pointed back toward the beach after being hit with a few waves, but happily enjoying the sun now.

[MaineMarge]

Escorted ashore by my solving buddy- Thanks, Bob.
And thanks, Mike, for this gem!

Here’s a 44A gem for you

Princess Diana clematis July

[Joe Ross]

It's been a busy couple of days. I solved grid quickly then looked for maybe 30 minutes, frustrated that there were obvious things to pursue and parse, to which I was blind.

I let it go until last night, deciding to refill the grid on the online form.

1/3 of the way through I thought, "Did you check...?" Nope, I hadn't, then solved within 1 minute.

DOY! ("You don't get 'DOY!' much, these days." Nor in the last 25 to 30 years since Chandler Bing first said that.)

[Bob cruise director]

Good Saturday morning muggles

A fun challenge from Mr. Shenk. So far we have two muggles helping Isaac take bets on the Super Bowl. They are focusing on the prop bets like the over/under of how many times the TV will show Taylor Swift during the game (not a real bet). And we have 179 basking on the shore including @Relic who is just reaching the shore.

and we welcome our newest muggles @RST and @dannykbernstein

On the shore are

docison
MikeyG
clonefitz
Wendy
Al
DCBilly
schmidzy
Beth A
Georgeall
oldjudge
ky-mike
Kay
MatthewL
Mister and Mrs. Squawk
streroto
mattythewsjpuzzler
Mme
Beleagured Castle
Jordanian
Meg
Cindy
RPardoe
krf
sweetc
joe
ajk
CptnCodon
Larrry
RobM
minimuggle
pjc
BrennerTJ
Eric C
Jim and Anita
DebbieC
Eric P
AaronT
regfish
stmv
Brainbow
benchen71
girubato1
kurtalert
NebFaninCA
Chris
Laura
boharr
straffin
JoDave
Anita
Dr.Buttbeard
Toby
Jean
Ergcat
Bird Lives
John77
RST
Mike H
Heidi
will j
darth
Beth T
MileHighSolver
Don and Cynthia
Merry Potter
Zagman49
Tom Wi
SamKat9
SarasotaSun
escapeartist
Yoda66
jhseeman
HeadinHome
Deb
dpl11
Peter
lxpeterson
Jeremy
hoover
Harbo
woozy
Jace54
LittleGood
copperriver
Homer
Dave C
b4alltime
nosolvenosleep
Barnhart6
Aragorn
Tcassutt
Justmarebear
Tina
D B Miller
whimsy
Guffman
Les
Tmart
Dow Jones
RDaleHall
MarkWoychick
Kevin L
TeamDoubleTow
ImOnToo
M and M
jrdad
mkmf
dannykberstein
Steveb
BigPear
Schmeel
Googly
Mirage
lbray
Acarl
meowmiao71
Joepickett
Gman
agentcooper
Char
Joes and Natasha
mrmd
Hidden in 3D
David K
EVJ
Lube On
cheekumbaldy
Cruise Director
Bill
NuYear68
elvanya
Colin
Al Laubenstein
DelanQ
Rita and George
DavyGravy
MajorDomoTom
Fred
C=64
sjm
altosax
DrTom
Wescovington
Adajeo
Bonnibel
Nlobb
turbotron
Mikey and puzzle buddy Jane
Franky_T
Birdbrain
Doug C
ladybird
newbymar
Don and Lisa
halseymac
Jayboy1
JaneGummy
SingleMalt
cbarbee
Lyman
Ben B and son
ErikThor
JerryF
fourletterword
artemisthecat
Janet
Scott M
Joe R
vandono
michaelm
H and J
Kris Zacharias
MaineMarge
HunterX
Beth C
relic (and Maggie)
PhantomPhan
shalmanezer
Archfrog

[JimJim]

On shore. Made that way harder than needed. Back to leaf raking.

[Penny_Keatley]

Ashore. That was awesome!

[Grover]

Ashore! Just missed being counted on the passenger manifest.
Very clever meta, but then what do we expect.

[LuscombeDriver]

On shore. Nice.

[femullen]

That sinking feeling,
Down to thirty-two across.
But--surprise!--ashore.

Now I'm needling The Smarter Half, who woke up at the crack of noon and hasn't started the meta yet.

[jimbo1]

Ashore!
Call me Cap’n Crunch!

[debbierudy]

I've racked up quite a tab at Isaac's bar in 2024 but am finally ashore! Good one, Mr. Shenk!

[bigtuna]

Wow - ashore 2 weeks in a row. Fun little meta!

[Susan Goldberg]

So frustrated. Just can’t seem to see what looks like it should be pretty accessible.

[Susan Goldberg]

Good Saturday morning muggles

A fun challenge from Mr. Shenk. So far we have two muggles helping Isaac take bets on the Super Bowl. They are focusing on the prop bets like the over/under of how many times the TV will show Taylor Swift during the game (not a real bet). And we have 179 basking on the shore including @Relic who is just reaching the shore.

and we welcome our newest muggles @RST and @dannykbernstein

On the shore are

docison
MikeyG
clonefitz
Wendy
Al
DCBilly
schmidzy
Beth A
Georgeall
oldjudge
ky-mike
Kay
MatthewL
Mister and Mrs. Squawk
streroto
mattythewsjpuzzler
Mme
Beleagured Castle
Jordanian
Meg
Cindy
RPardoe
krf
sweetc
joe
ajk
CptnCodon
Larrry
RobM
minimuggle
pjc
BrennerTJ
Eric C
Jim and Anita
DebbieC
Eric P
AaronT
regfish
stmv
Brainbow
benchen71
girubato1
kurtalert
NebFaninCA
Chris
Laura
boharr
straffin
JoDave
Anita
Dr.Buttbeard
Toby
Jean
Ergcat
Bird Lives
John77
RST
Mike H
Heidi
will j
darth
Beth T
MileHighSolver
Don and Cynthia
Merry Potter
Zagman49
Tom Wi
SamKat9
SarasotaSun
escapeartist
Yoda66
jhseeman
HeadinHome
Deb
dpl11
Peter
lxpeterson
Jeremy
hoover
Harbo
woozy
Jace54
LittleGood
copperriver
Homer
Dave C
b4alltime
nosolvenosleep
Barnhart6
Aragorn
Tcassutt
Justmarebear
Tina
D B Miller
whimsy
Guffman
Les
Tmart
Dow Jones
RDaleHall
MarkWoychick
Kevin L
TeamDoubleTow
ImOnToo
M and M
jrdad
mkmf
dannykberstein
Steveb
BigPear
Schmeel
Googly
Mirage
lbray
Acarl
meowmiao71
Joepickett
Gman
agentcooper
Char
Joes and Natasha
mrmd
Hidden in 3D
David K
EVJ
Lube On
cheekumbaldy
Cruise Director
Bill
NuYear68
elvanya
Colin
Al Laubenstein
DelanQ
Rita and George
DavyGravy
MajorDomoTom
Fred
C=64
sjm
altosax
DrTom
Wescovington
Adajeo
Bonnibel
Nlobb
turbotron
Mikey and puzzle buddy Jane
Franky_T
Birdbrain
Doug C
ladybird
newbymar
Don and Lisa
halseymac
Jayboy1
JaneGummy
SingleMalt
cbarbee
Lyman
Ben B and son
ErikThor
JerryF
fourletterword
artemisthecat
Janet
Scott M
Joe R
vandono
michaelm
H and J
Kris Zacharias
MaineMarge
HunterX
Beth C
relic (and Maggie)
PhantomPhan
shalmanezer
Archfrog

I’m thinking that the Taylor Swift showings will be an actual bet. People bet on everything these days!

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

I'm still drinking with Isaac this morning. I need to give this one some more time today, clearly.

[Notbitter]

On shore.

[LadyBird]

Finally on shore! Once again I was approaching this in an overwROUGHt fashion, instead of with the eLEGance it deserved. I had plunGED into another convoluted rabbit hole when my husband (again) HAlted me and said "look at what you've already written down". I gaWKed at my paper and then the aha moment hit.

We'll have some white wine with the dinner he's making--my husband is doing all the work today!


First seen today, McKee Marsh, IL (light morph)

[Bob cruise director]

@Susan Goldberg


I’m thinking that the Taylor Swift showings will be an actual bet. People bet on everything these days!


They could make it a bet and people would bet on it, but how many times she is shown is strictly at the discretion of the TV director who could be influenced by several factors including making a bet himself.

But you can bet on all sorts of things associated with the half time show - first song, last song.

Or bet on the length of the national anthem

Or the temperature of the field when the game starts

[auee89]

Ashore! Stared and stared. Went out for a bit in lovely Tucson. Looked at the grid upside down - why not! No help and definitely not a spoiler. Aha! All is well.

[ALS]

Saw nothing at first but came back two days later and bingo, there it was.

ALS