XWord Muggles Forum

The Contest of Now 244 is up, and it’s a meta cryptic by Neville Fogarty titled “Sideshow.”

The meta prompt is: The title of what 2019 movie is hinted at by this puzzle? As always, the password is obtained by listening to the FMI podcast.

I'll just say: “good one, and thanks for mixing things up a bit!" Great movie!

P.S. Thanks to the person who put these posts into a separate thread! I’m guessing Brian.

LesY wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 7:02 pm Not sure where to start a new thread for Contest of Now 244, so I'll just say "good one, and thanks for mixing things up a bit!" Great movie!

Haven't seen the movie yet - but it's on my list. I must say I've gotten a bit better at cryptics watching a couple of their twitch sessions.

Is there a solution to 242?

Title is "Sideshow" according to the .puz file

damefox wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 8:40 pm Title is "Sideshow" according to the .puz file

Where can I get the puzzle?

boharr wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 7:51 pm Is there a solution to 242?

I posted the solution to 242 on that board.

Cindy wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 8:41 pm
Where can I get the puzzle?

https://bit.ly/fmi244con

It's a cryptic, not a regular crossword, which leaves me out.

A meta cryptic?? I’m in heaven! Well, until I actually take a look at it.

Solved! The grid and the meta. Great puzzle from Neville - a couple clues I still haven't totally parsed, but I was able to fill in the grid anyway. First time I've seen a meta cryptic. I concur it is a great movie.

Done and sent in. Haven't seen it yet but I'm intrigued.

BarbaraK wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 8:53 pm It's a cryptic, not a regular crossword, which leaves me out.

I'm with you! I've tried to do cryptics a few times but I generally can't make head or tail of them. I certainly respect all of you who can decode these!

Glad this is now a separate thread (thanks Brian! (?)). I edited the lead post accordingly.

So, cryptics. Not for everyone but they’re becoming my go-to “I’m tired of crosswords right now” puzzle type. I’ve been slowly getting better at them by doing the WSJ HEX puzzles (which are awesome) every month or so And in quarantine I’ve been exploring Patrick Berry’s cryptics on his website (which are also awesome). That huge Canada puzzle someone posted recently was a great work-out, too.

For those who like this one, Andrew Ries (Aries Puzzles) ran a cryptic meta called “Treasure Hunt” back on February 20. Www.ariespuzzles.com. I think it was free, but I’m a subscriber so I’m not sure.

In any event, the tl;dr here is I think cryptics are good cross training for metas once you get the hang of them. Happy solving!

Laura M wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 12:10 am

BarbaraK wrote: ↑Wed May 20, 2020 8:53 pm It's a cryptic, not a regular crossword, which leaves me out.

I'm with you! I've tried to do cryptics a few times but I generally can't make head or tail of them. I certainly respect all of you who can decode these!

Page 3 of the huge Canada puzzle had a real good summary of how to solve cryptics...

post deleted by author because she posted a link to the old HEX cryptics in the Atlantic magazine, but when she checked, it was behind a paywall, so she tried to just delete the whole post, but for some reason that’s impossible.

Grid done. Meta solved. Listening to podcast now. The previews for the movie looked interesting.

Meta helped me finish the very nice grid. Might not have the right parsing of 7D, because what I have seems kind of forced.

Thanks for the info about cryptics! I especially liked LesY's take:

LesY wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 7:40 am In any event, the tl;dr here is I think cryptics are good cross training for metas once you get the hang of them.

I actually would like to work on it and see if I could get my brain in the right mode for cryptics. I'd also like to subscribe to Fireball, and do a bunch more non-meta crosswords. But sadly I don't think I can justify spending more time on puzzles than I already do right now, maybe someday!

Still, I decided to give this one a shot. I spent about an hour on it but ended up mostly using Reveal, I think I got 3 answers on my own. Here's my newbie evaluation of the clues:

Huh? (I don't think I completely understood it): 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 10, 11, 17, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, 29
Well I GUESS (I think I understood it but I'm not happy): 2, 3, 12
I get it!: 9, 14, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26

So, not a very good showing overall :-) I won't give up on cryptics but I probably won't attempt them very often for now. Best of luck to all of you who do!

Laura M wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 11:47 pm Thanks for the info about cryptics! I especially liked LesY's take:

LesY wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 7:40 am In any event, the tl;dr here is I think cryptics are good cross training for metas once you get the hang of them.

So, not a very good showing overall I won't give up on cryptics but I probably won't attempt them very often for now. Best of luck to all of you who do!

Laura, I actually think this was a pretty darn good showing! Better than the first time I tried one of these!

There’s so much “arcana” that unlocks the solving. Usually like 25-35% the answers involve anagramming part of the clue - and the obstacle is frequently figuring out which word means “hey, do an anagram.” One example from another cryptic: “plastic.” And in this one (sorry to give something away, but it’s for the greater good) the end of 29A. I mean, who knows that until they’ve done several of these?

It sounds like you already have a handle on at least 3 of the techniques (anagram, double definition, homophone). And to Al’s point there’s a great set of instructions at the back of that big Canada puzzle. So if you wanted to keep going I really think you would get there.

In any event, I’m starting to sound like a “cryptics pusher” so I’ll stop. Completely understand not having time for more puzzles!

Hector wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 1:49 pm Meta helped me finish the very nice grid. Might not have the right parsing of 7D, because what I have seems kind of forced.

Exactly where I am! Would appreciate the parsing to 7D as well.

Richard B. wrote: ↑Sat May 23, 2020 6:54 am

Hector wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 1:49 pm Meta helped me finish the very nice grid. Might not have the right parsing of 7D, because what I have seems kind of forced.

Exactly where I am! Would appreciate the parsing to 7D as well.

I emailed Neville, asking for an explanation of 7d. We'll see.