"A Matter of Course" April 5, 2024

[Penny_Keatley]

Ashore! Nice to end a multi-week dry spell.

[The XWord Rabbit]

An earlier than usual post this week for a most obvious reason.

There wasn’t a single Muggle who needed help with Mr. Gaffney’s “A Matter of Course” puzzle on last Friday’s Zoom, a leading indicator that rabbit hole stories would likely be impossible to find come Monday. Rather than wait around for the inevitable, your Rabbit has decided to turn his attention to more important celestial matters this week.

Some of you have already left to join the crowds that will begin forming soon after daybreak. To all of them – and to Muggles everywhere – your Rabbit offers all of his enthusiasm and encouragement in witnessing this once – well, maybe twice – in a lifetime event. He speaks from experience. On August 21, 2017 at 2 p.m. he stood in McCoy Park, across from the Truman Library in Kansas City to experience 2 ½ remarkable, wondrous, eerie and unforgettable minutes.

As a card-carrying member of the ASKC (the Astronomical Society of Kansas City), your Rabbit cannot emphasize enough how much this exceedingly rare display will impress. He wishes all of you safe travels and clear skies!

[BetterMonday]

Finally onshore.

[dpl11]

Ashore after a late start

[JoeFlanders]

Ashore...clever construction. I feel like it's been forever since I solved a meta...

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

On shore in Dallas, hoping for clear skies

[Flying_Burrito]

Very late start. Just got home after 7 days chaperoning 6 teen age boys in FL for spring break.
Ashore, thanks not to any clues but rather to the crossword process (it definitely paid off to initially have some wrong answers for this meta, if you know what I mean). Ok meta for me, maybe there were some additional clues that Matt embedded that I failed to pay attention to.

[Mermaid15]

Got a late start this weekend. Challenging grid and haven’t quite seen the mechanism yet. Would appreciate any nudge (no matter how small). Thanks!

Update 23:00 - Ashore!!

[Momo]

Ashore with help from my meta mates : Zobo, college town girl, Copper River and Joe Ross. What a great group of people! This was clever!!! Adios Isaac!

[WSJosh]

Ashore after finally looking at the meta.

[Steve_S]

Finally ashore!! Didn't have much time for this week's puzzle & lost a lot of time on the grid . When I finally looked at the meta, I understood why the grid gave me problems! I expect a lot of correct answers this week & not much chance for a mug. I expect Isaac is pretty lonely....
Steve

[hcbirker]

[hcbirker]

Sorry for the double post, but you get the drift!

[Bob Cobb]

Damn, I only submitted London Bridge not thinking of the full title.

[meowmiao71]

How did the puzzle title tie in?

I only submitted London Bridge as I didn't notice the extra cleverness! 0-3 if they don't accept the shortened answer. Losing my touch...

[Aragorn]

How did the puzzle title tie in?

I only submitted London Bridge as I didn't notice the extra cleverness! 0-3 if they don't accept the shortened answer. Losing my touch...

According to Wikipedia, “London Bridge” is one of three titles commonly used for the song. I’m sure it’s an acceptable answer.

I am also puzzled as to what the puzzle title has to do with anything.

[benchen71]

How did the puzzle title tie in?

The word "course" can refer to a river. See here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/watercourse

[meowmiao71]

How did the puzzle title tie in?

The word "course" can refer to a river. See here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/watercourse

Ah, thanks! I kept trying to make "a matter of CHORUS" work but couldn't.

[mikeB]

What a compact and elegant meta. Once the grid is completed, everything we need for solving is right there in the grid. Each theme entry is off by a triplet that noticeably does not belong in the correct answer to its clue. Like fingernails on a blackboard, these “wrong” entries get our attention right away. How can we make them “right”? Soon we realize that all four likely fixes are triplets. In my case, looking at MERIT BASED, the thought was “If only it had DGE instead of SED”. Staring at it, I couldn’t help but imagine the entry with DGE inserted there. It is interesting the way this mechanism can interact with our minds. When we’re looking at each of those “corrected” (in our minds) entries, we’re actually seeing two copies of the needed triplet: the one we imagine inserted in the entry, and the one directly above the imagined one. It’s hard not to notice that, wonderfully, each imagined one matches the printed one, and then Whoosh! This very clever mechanism illustrates the fact that, although the printed page is an inanimate object, the copy in our head becomes alive as our brain interacts with it. This is one of the reasons solvers sometimes report getting a breakthrough idea when they’re not looking at the paperwork – in bed, on the treadmill, hiking, and so on. The copy in our brain is alive and tells us things we don’t see on the printed page that we may not even be looking at.

One thought about the puzzle’s Title. In masonry, the course is a horizontal row of bricks or stone blocks. Thinking about our grid as comprised (like London Bridge, perhaps) of blocks instead of letters, the necessary triplets are found in the course above; move them down one course, and presto. This masonry term has another nifty connection to the grid, via the BRICKS in GOLDILOCKS – another facet of Matt’s ingenious construction.

[Miki]

I need help. Can someone please help me figure out how to add a jpg to a post?
Thanks.

BTW, I submitted " London Bridge" which was clearly falling down. I didn't think I needed to point that out.
Oh well... Another mug-less week?