#8 - "Try Another"

[BrianMac]

Tell me how to private message.

There are instructions on how to private message in the FAQ - Technical section: How to send a private message.

[FrankieHeck]

OK, I have received a nudge and will get back to it as soon as I spend some time on the WSJ. Thanks, Cindy!

Update: Finally got it! Had considered this a possible answer, but was delighted as the confirmations started coming to me!

[Anita]

I've been pretty successful with the PGW puzzles, but so far I have nothing on this one. Sometimes a lightbulb goes off right after I post how lost I am, so I'm trying that now.

Hope I'm next to you when/if that happens... I'm usually much better than this. One good thing that's coming out of it is that I've learned EVERYTHING ABOUT EVERYTHING ON EARTH... so I've got that going for me.

I got it with a slight nudge. There is one tidbit I would never have known.

I could use that slight nudge too! If you click on a person's name at the top of a comment, it'll take you to their profile, where you can click "PM: Send Private Message".

-- Anita

[Anita]

Got a nudge from LesY which confirmed the approach I'd already been trying was the correct one (thanks LesY!). The answer soon appeared. Funny what a difference it makes, knowing one is on the right track! I think this one's somewhat loose, though the extra layer of confirmation someone else mentioned solidifies it past doubt. But I'm betting alternate valid solutions are possible.

[FrankieHeck]

Got a nudge from LesY which confirmed the approach I'd already been trying was the correct one (thanks LesY!). The answer soon appeared. Funny what a difference it makes, knowing one is on the right track! I think this one's somewhat loose, though the extra layer of confirmation someone else mentioned solidifies it past doubt. But I'm betting alternate valid solutions are possible.

Yep, I was on the right track for sure but I didn't want to keep beating my head against a wall if it was the wrong wall! Once I was sure, it only took me...well, a couple hours haha. I can imagine other answers that would work, but I can't imagine any with such a solid confirmation.

[Laura M]

Just checking in to say I'm not sure I'm going to get this one, I'm still spinning my wheels and won't have a lot of time to keep looking at it this weekend. It sounds like a good one if only I were smart enough to see it! (It might sound like I'm requesting a nudge, but I'm really not.)

[Cindy]

Just checking in to say I'm not sure I'm going to get this one, I'm still spinning my wheels and won't have a lot of time to keep looking at it this weekend. It sounds like a good one if only I were smart enough to see it! (It might sound like I'm requesting a nudge, but I'm really not.)

Here’s your nudge. Try another.

[Al Sisti]

That's it; throwing in the towel. I haven't put so much effort into a meta since MGWCC #542, "Tastefully Paired." I thought I was getting somewhere -- like 2/5 of the way -- but could go no further no matter how I tried. Looking forward to seeing the solution Tuesday to see how close -- or how far away -- I was when I gave up.

[Toby]

I never thought I'd see the day when I would solve a puzzle ahead of Al, who usually has these solved hours ahead of everyone else.

[Al Sisti]

I never thought I'd see the day when I would solve a puzzle ahead of Al, who usually has these solved hours ahead of everyone else.

Well earned, too! This one definitely humbled me.

[FrankieHeck]

Well I really liked this puzzle, after I was nudged a little. I could only think of "jump" and "hop" for the first answer, so that narrowed my choices down a lot. I wanted "cracker" and "kangaroo" and thought it should end in an S, so I was leaning toward JACKS. My nudger had told me that I would see a connection though, so I was looking for that. Then I thought "Kangaroo Court!" It went with the "try" of "Try Another." So I was trying to make the answers fit a court theme, and I thought Jacks are Court cards, so that HAS to be it! But I couldn't get the other answers to fit. When I started to see how "Jacks" came after the words, one after the other, it was a wonderful feeling. I had to actually look up Kangaroo Jack to see if it was a thing, but the others left me very satisfied.

[BrianMac]

This one murdered me. Went deep down the "word search" rabbit hole and did not emerge. I was finding some promising answers hidden diagonally in the grid, but missing a letter:

KATANA (missing the N) - SE from the K in SNACK

KANGA (missing the K) - NW from A in AJEE (I know this is a character an not an animal)

DELL (missing the D) - SW from the E in AUSSIE (there is also an INTEL minus the N in that line, which should have made me realize it was a dead end).

I also tried very hard to make PLAY LOTTERY work as "another" thing you may buy a ticket for. Check out the letters for that in the middle East section.

[TMart]

I got stuck early on "boarding" for the first answer and "nacho" for the third, so scratched my head on BANKS for a while (which made no sense). Finally saw "jumping" (as opposed to buying a ticket) and worked my way to JACKS, which I submitted without a lot of certainty. But I completely missed the tie-in (jumping jacks, apple jacks...etc) until after I submitted. Definitely more of a slow reveal than a hard click. I got lucky on this one.

[Hector]

I had HOPPING, and so HACK_, but couldn't find a Y to make HACKY (SACK), which anyway is not really solo. Finally realize JUMPING, and submitted JACKS before, like TMart, discovering the confirmation that JACK(S) can follow the others (I'd never heard of KANGAROO JACK or SAMURAI JACK). This was a nice construction.

[Al Sisti]

This one flat out did me in. I had so many things going at the same time, I could never get the right batch of things together. The funny thing is I had written "JACKS?" on page 2 (of the 11 pages of notes for this meta) after finding/guessing Apple, Crackers and Kangaroo. Come to think of it, it's not funny at all.

But my rabbit chases were epic. So "buying a ticket" is one way of GETTING ON A TRAIN, but it's also "another" way of GETTING IN. The unused letters ONATRA can be anagrammed into grid entry AARON, plus the letter T. I like it! Next, Toshiba is a COMPUTER COMPANY, but "another" thing it is is a PC COMPANY, and the unused letters OMUTER can be anagrammed into grid entry UTERO, leaving the single letter "M." Oh, and the colonel that led Cole's Cavalry has a collectible sword, so COLLECTORS SWORD became COLE'S SWORD, with the unused letters LCOTR can be anagrammed into grid entry LOTR, plus a single letter C. I was so convinced that they couldn't be coincidental that I dug a hole from which I could never get out. So sincere congratulations to those who did solve it...he says only 20 did, so it sounds like half of them were Muggles!

[Meg]

I got the ACK part first and then shrugged and went with JUMPING. His website says only 20 correct answers, so I’m feeling good today! The confirmation came when I realized all the words go with jacks. Neat construction.

[Laura M]

Not sure whether it was a Kas 4 or 5 for me. My major downfall was that I was convinced that the confirmations for the correct "another"s were in the grid somewhere (maybe with a missing/extra letter or something), instead of being a common thread. The second problem was that I couldn't get past "hopping" for train, and "katana" for sword, so I couldn't spell anything, although I went through a lot of computer companies. Also I was thinking "roo" (because Aussie) instead of "kangaroo." Finally, I wouldn't have associated kangaroo or Samurai with Jack, although I might have looked them up if I'd made the connection with cracker and Apple. Oh well.

[joequavis]

I got kind of stuck when I saw ALOGIC is one letter away from QLOGIC, a computer company. Kept looking for things one letter away from cracker/meat, kangaroo/roo/opossum. Then just figured I was on the wrong track. Oh well, very challenging grid and meta. Kudos to all who solved it!

-Matt