"Which Way Did He Go" February 9, 2024

[jawinks]

I had everything right except the Jackson part…as a Democratic-Republican, which became the Republican Party, wouldn’t he have been right?

Either way I was not right sadly.

[woozy]

So all the prezzes are on one side of the center or the other. But Clinton was to tight... and grant to the left etc.

Also 48D. Sofia Loren was actually the 1960 winner (awarded in 61) and the actual 1961 winner was Elizabeth.... TAYLOR.

[C=64]

which became the Republican Party

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonian_democracy

[Ergcat]

So all the prezzes are on one side of the center or the other. But Clinton was to tight... and grant to the left etc.

Also 48D. Sofia Loren was actually the 1960 winner (awarded in 61) and the actual 1961 winner was Elizabeth.... TAYLOR.

Yes, 48d was confusing. Sofia Loren was the best actress winner at the 1962 Academy Award Ceremony for her film “Two Women” that was filmed in 1960 but not released until January 1961. Elizabeth TAYLOR won at the 1961 Award Ceremony for “Butterfield 8” a 1960 film. President TAYLOR wouldn’t work anyway….was a member of the Whig party plus his name doesn’t have a “center”. Was “1961” a trick or a typo?

[femullen]

Happily, I know nothing about movies, so 48D did not contribute at all to this week's crash-and-burn. The hint at 66A was obvious. I simply failed to take the full hint by going "left" and "right" of center.

[Bob cruise director]

Good morning muggles

A couple of statistics to start the week

Our final count yesterday was 2 on the ship and 246 on the shore

and there were 13 TSS (Taylor Swift Sightings) during the game destroying the over/under of 6 bet that I had with a friend.

[Flying_Burrito]

So all the prezzes are on one side of the center or the other. But Clinton was to tight... and grant to the left etc.

Also 48D. Sofia Loren was actually the 1960 winner (awarded in 61) and the actual 1961 winner was Elizabeth.... TAYLOR.

Yes, 48d was confusing. Sofia Loren was the best actress winner at the 1962 Academy Award Ceremony for her film “Two Women” that was filmed in 1960 but not released until January 1961. Elizabeth TAYLOR won at the 1961 Award Ceremony for “Butterfield 8” a 1960 film. President TAYLOR wouldn’t work anyway….was a member of the Whig party plus his name doesn’t have a “center”. Was “1961” a trick or a typo?

This screenshot from Wikipedia should help

[DBMiller]

Just the briefest of diversions.

Noticed the seven presidents all with an odd number of letters in their names. Saw the clue for CENTER and immediately looked at the center of each name. KCANNEY... nope.

The answer for 21 across is MID. Maybe use the 3-letter MIDdle? CKS, NCO, RAN, NNE, INT, VEL, AYE. Except for the first, all common crossword answers. Alternates, perhaps? Or change a letter?

CKS: One off from CVS. Was that in this puzzle, or some other crossword I recently did? It's here! 9D
NCO: Hmmm... Should probably stop here
RAN: 56D is ARE?
NNE: Keep seeing 61D, SSE
INT: Same as 3D. One off from 45A, INN
VEL: Strike two
AYE: One off from 1D, ALE or 56D, ARE

Re-read the clue for 66A. Looked at the center column and one letter to the left or right of the center column for each president. SOSYCAD. Nope.

Looked one letter to the right or left of each president. SOTYCDH. Nope.

Well damn. Are the presidents on the same side as their party? Nope. Oh.... The AHA! moment has struck.

[SingleMalt]

I recall that the Mr. Shank and/or Gaffney claim that rabbit holes are unintentional. I kind of believed that but no more.

So the Title (which we all know to be important at some point) is which way did HE go? 61D yields an answer of SSE.

There are only 3 instances of "HE" appearing in sequence in the grid. 31A, 51D and 62D.

Coincidence, I think not. The orientation of 61D and 62d are both downward/south. 31A is to the right/East. Which way did he go? SSE?

No way that happened organically. The roster of presidents and 66A was very obvious (maybe too... obvious) a path to ignore.

In addition, Which way did HE go? 51D Hesse - HE - SSE.

[DelanQ]

Forgot to do this on Thursday, but finished the grid and meta in 33 minutes without help today! A win's a win

[DaveG]

I was so close... recognized the 7 Presidential surnames, and knew that 66A was part of the mechanism... But the rabbit holes got me. I found myself looking to see which names were left of the center column, and which were right... and comparing to the ideology of their respective parties, both as they stand today and where they stood in their era... for example, Lincoln was Republican, but his name appeared to the left of the center column...
Jackson was Democrat, but his name appeared to the right of the center column... there were only two names that appeared on the correct side of the center... Kennedy and Hayes, at least according to modern definitions... So then I took into account the Title "Which way did he go?" and thought maybe the philosophy of the party in each presidents era was meant to "Move" the presidents to their left/right leanings as it were. Left me with an answer of Can(n) Key. So I spent way too much time thinking about how sardines or canned ham might come into play as to what an honest politician wouldn't do. Then life got in the way over the weekend and I failed to get back to the puzzle until I missed the deadline last night. Oh well.

I'll leave this week's thread with one question for the masses... Would an honest politician pickle herring?

[woozy]

Missed all the rabbit holes.

When I got the last clue about left/right of center (which I got early because the grid was hard and I only had one president so far) I figured "Okay we take the letters left or right of the the center of the presidents name". But when I finally completed the grid and each president entry was distinctly left or right of a clearly marked center of the grid I figure that was what was meant. But as we had republicans to the left and democrats to the right I thought we were to ignore those. I wondered if we were getting engaged in rare political opinion that maybe Bill Clinton was more conservative than his reputation.... It took me a few minutes to go back to my original idea.

[Ergcat]

Just the briefest of diversions.

Noticed the seven presidents all with an odd number of letters in their names. Saw the clue for CENTER and immediately looked at the center of each name. KCANNEY... nope.

The answer for 21 across is MID. Maybe use the 3-letter MIDdle? CKS, NCO, RAN, NNE, INT, VEL, AYE. Except for the first, all common crossword answers. Alternates, perhaps? Or change a letter?

CKS: One off from CVS. Was that in this puzzle, or some other crossword I recently did? It's here! 9D
NCO: Hmmm... Should probably stop here
RAN: 56D is ARE?
NNE: Keep seeing 61D, SSE
INT: Same as 3D. One off from 45A, INN
VEL: Strike two
AYE: One off from 1D, ALE or 56D, ARE

Re-read the clue for 66A. Looked at the center column and one letter to the left or right of the center column for each president. SOSYCAD. Nope.

Looked one letter to the right or left of each president. SOTYCDH. Nope.

Well damn. Are the presidents on the same side as their party? Nope. Oh.... The AHA! moment has struck.

I had the same journey! Finally realizing the party of each president was the key!

[phykos]

as soon as I saw the hint “something an honest politician doesn’t do”, I started looking for a way to get to EXIST…

[Joe Ross]

Good morning muggles

A couple of statistics to start the week

Our final count yesterday was 2 on the ship and 246 on the shore

and there were 13 TSS (Taylor Swift Sightings) during the game destroying the over/under of 6 bet that I had with a friend.

[The XWord Rabbit]

This week something from Mr. Gaffney that leaned political. Seven surnames of U.S. presidents were found in the grid.
The key was the clue for 66A. “What Democrats are said to be left of, and Republicans right of.”

Each of those names contained an odd number of letters. In grid order, move one letter left or right of center, according to the political position of that president. And there’s your answer: C-O-N-N-I-V-E.

It’s clear that this is another one of those weeks with no nominees, and that’s fine with your Rabbit. He’s been a bit distracted as well. Instead, he will use this space to answer a few questions.

Yes, he watched the game.
No, he did not watch any of the non-stop pre-game coverage that began at 9 a.m.
Yes, he was at home, on his comfy sofa.
No, he did not overindulge on snacks (he’s on a diet).
Yes, he watched every commercial.
No, he did not think any were especially memorable.
Yes, he knew who Usher was.
No, he would have preferred Carmen Miranda.
Yes, he watched all the post-game interviews.
No, he did not have any money on the game.
Yes, the neighbors set off fireworks late into the night.
No, he will not be attending the parade.
Yes, he is delighted by the outcome.

Until next week then.

[Kwyjibo]

I almost missed the email yesterday because it was my birthday notifying me that I was picked for the mug.

So glad it was a solo solve.

[BarbaraK]

I almost missed the email yesterday because it was my birthday notifying me that I was picked for the mug.

So glad it was a solo solve.

Woo hoo! Congratulations! What a great birthday present!

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is CONNIVE. Seven presidential surnames are found in the grid: Democrats JACKSON, KENNEDY, CLINTON and CLEVELAND, and Republicans LINCOLN, GRANT and HAYES. As suggested by the clue to CENTER, go one letter left or right from each surname’s central letter, depending on party, to get the contest answer.

We try to keep politics out of the Crossword Contest but this week was a delightful exception. It drew a large popular vote: 1,857 entries, a landslide of 94% correct. With other votes for FLIP FLOP (9), TELL A LIE (8) and a bunch of one-entry wonders such as SOUND BAD, DECEIVE, TAKE BOTH SIDES, and NAME NAMES.

Congratulations to this week's winner: Joe Tobin of Arvada, Colo. (Second straight week our winner is from Arvada!)

[Renee]

wdrgrg