"Going In All Directions" - May 3, 2019

[Jim and Anita]

Our crew benefited by being joined by our son Bill from Boston. Just as we were starting to bail the boat, our Boston oarsman shouted "land ahoy." We are at safe harbor and ready for the beach party.

[Bob cruise director]

Hello all! My first post and I'm delighted to report that I am at the Tiki Bar! I started doing the WSJ xwords in late March. Then I discovered the contest and I was hooked... (Actually, I spent as much time trying to decipher your coded comments as I did solving the puzzles! I love this new forum; what great fun!)

This is only the 2nd meta I've solved.

So am I offically a Muggle?!

Cheers to those at both of the bars,
Bee

Bee
Our warmest welcome. You are officially a muggle now. And welcome to the shore. If you go to the Come Aboard thread there are two threads of interest. The first one allows you to tell us about yourself. And under FAQ's there are two parts - the first allows you to tell us about yourself. The FAQ - Community talks about the background on a lot of our "coded comments" and there is one thread with hints for solving these things. A lot of muggles have posted their experience there.

Good luck in winning the mug

[Bob cruise director]

This was my first crossword contest and I'm happy to say that I'm 'onshore'!

drabble
welcome to the group. We always are thrilled with new muggles.

see my comments to bee above also on where to find advice on solving these contests.

[Bob cruise director]

I'm very happy for all of you who are ashore. So far I got nothin'. I had a couple of ideas, but they went nowhere.

keep plugging. the contest is solvable

[Bob cruise director]

Our crew benefited by being joined by our son Bill from Boston. Just as we were starting to bail the boat, our Boston oarsman shouted "land ahoy." We are at safe harbor and ready for the beach party.

Does that mean that we have another muggle in the making? And does he get the mug if you win?

[Janet]

Finished the grid, but am becalmed.The only direction I'm going is nowhere! Isaac, another of your strong coffees, please!

[Bird Lives]

Maybe I got it wrong. I submitted my answer with the codicil, "Is that even a word?"
So just out of curiosity: Raise your hand if you have ever used this word in speaking or in writing or even in thinking.

[Bob cruise director]

Maybe I got it wrong. I submitted my answer with the codicil, "Is that even a word?"
So just out of curiosity: Raise your hand if you have ever used this word in speaking or in writing or even in thinking.

Bird
You probably got it right. I (and others) had to look it up to assure myself it is really a word

[Janet]

So my idea of guessing the answer and backtracking to confirm it won't work...

[CPJohnson]

Solved the meta. Submitted the answer after looking it up to confirm its existence. (How does Mike create these things? Need emoji showing amazement.)

[Bob cruise director]

So my idea of guessing the answer and backtracking to confirm it won't work...

We will let you tell us on Monday.

[Janet P]

Count me LAS. So many rabbit holes. Like Alice, "I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth."
Climbing out to find a stool at Isaac's for the duration.

[BrianMac]

Please be careful not to disclose too much about the nature of the meta answer before the deadline.

[Meg]

Please be careful not to disclose too much about the nature of the meta answer before the deadline.

Brian, I was going to ask you about spoilerish (either intended or not) comments. Wendy used to be the Spoiler Police, but she abdicated that role a long time ago. I suppose as the admin guy, you can just delete the comment. We are kind people here on this blog, and sometimes the desire to help results in a hint, which we are not permitted to do. A private message, on the other hand, can be a big help.
Btw, I don’t know what you are referring to in your comment!

[ChrisKochmanski]

Testing. Earlier I submitted a post, from the road. I must admit, it didn’t say much. Just that I’M NOT GETTIN’ THE META! But not yet looking for a clue (via email) yet. Sorry if I need to test; I’m still getting used to this format (though loving it!).

[Bob cruise director]

Good Saturday morning fellow Muggles. An interesting construction by Mike this week. And welcome to our newest muggles. We have almost 30 new muggles since we migrated to this site. The week we have ImOnToo, Jeffrey Gale, azdataboy (who posted a couple of weeks ago but was not on the ship or shore), jimmyjam, and bee to bring us up to 376 in our clan

So far we have 6 on the ship and 63 on the shore.
Keeping Isaac company at least for now are:
Sheila
Jennifer
Kay
SewYoung
Janet P
and Chris

At the Tiki bar or bathing on the beach are
Leslie
moi
Tom M
Wendy
Tony
Laura
Meg
Toby
Tina
Al
Barbara K
Frankie
Les
a3jay
geeteebee
scooby
Hector
Fred
Mark L
Steve T
Darryl
Anita
ImOnToo
Tom S
Steveb
Bird Lives
BrianMac
ALS
Tom Wilson
31Down
Gerry
Steven W
Jeffrey
oldjudge
Jeffrey G
drabble
Julie
azdataboy
Beth A
Ed S
inca
Cindy
Andrew B
Frank
Don S
Paul
Stucmn
David K
Kris
Heidi
Joseph B
Tim M
Matt C
Mary F
Jimmyjam
Jack
Beth C
Bill
Jim and Anita
Jeff P
bee
Jeremy Smith
and Cynthia J


Monday I will have a question for Wendy and any other editors.

[john day]

Got this one quickly with the help of my daughter Emma. We are ashore at the Tiki bar enjoying a mai tai.

[BrianMac]

Please be careful not to disclose too much about the nature of the meta answer before the deadline.

Brian, I was going to ask you about spoilerish (either intended or not) comments. Wendy used to be the Spoiler Police, but she abdicated that role a long time ago. I suppose as the admin guy, you can just delete the comment. We are kind people here on this blog, and sometimes the desire to help results in a hint, which we are not permitted to do. A private message, on the other hand, can be a big help.
Btw, I don’t know what you are referring to in your comment!

I'll have to give some thought on how to handle it (I am open to suggestions). Spoilers are easy, like the person who posted "body" on WSJ a few weeks ago. Last week, I deleted a post that had the word MEXICO in it (in a non-accidental way). But there are judgment calls like some comments this week that seem to me to be a pretty big hint. But no one has said anything so maybe it's just me. I don't want to have a stricter policy here than at the old site. Or looser for that matter.

[sheilaco]

Please be careful not to disclose too much about the nature of the meta answer before the deadline.

Brian, I was going to ask you about spoilerish (either intended or not) comments. Wendy used to be the Spoiler Police, but she abdicated that role a long time ago. I suppose as the admin guy, you can just delete the comment. We are kind people here on this blog, and sometimes the desire to help results in a hint, which we are not permitted to do. A private message, on the other hand, can be a big help.
Btw, I don’t know what you are referring to in your comment!

I'll have to give some thought on how to handle it (I am open to suggestions). Spoilers are easy, like the person who posted "body" on WSJ a few weeks ago. Last week, I deleted a post that had the word MEXICO in it (in a non-accidental way). But there are judgment calls like some comments this week that seem to me to be a pretty big hint. But no one has said anything so maybe it's just me. I don't want to have a stricter policy here than at the old site. Or looser for that matter.

Which comments this week? Clearly, they are not helping me. I'm still LAS.

[BrianMac]

Maybe it's just me. I'll say more after the deadline.