XWord Muggles Forum

As usual, not too bad once you can see your way to make a grid entry or two.

https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/docu ... 272021.pdf

Fun!

Got a foothold on the loops fairly quickly (within a half-hour), and it flowed from there.

Also a good way to take my mind off Matt Gaffney's Week 4 meta. I got NOTHIN' there.

I have about 50% of the entries, but I just don’t see a logical way to enter any of them. I have all 4 of one loop. Can somebody pm me with how they got a toehold?

Meg wrote: ↑Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:38 am I have about 50% of the entries, but I just don’t see a logical way to enter any of them. I have all 4 of one loop. Can somebody pm me with how they got a toehold?

I had all of the 4 loop and three in the 7 loop. I wrote all of the 4 loop answers left to right to have the letter sequence for the entire loop, and then tried to match that with where the 7 loop crossed.

One of the 7 loop answers had a couple of letters that were not in the 4 loop, so It was eliminated as a cross. The next 7 loop answer gave me a possible fit in both rows of the 4 loop, so I went with it and it turned out to be the correct one. It helped to have a loop at the bottom because the turn gave me consecutive letters in both 4 loop rows to match with its letter sequence.

Felt good to solve this because I failed to figure out the WSJ meta this week!

Jace54 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:53 am

Meg wrote: ↑Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:38 am I have about 50% of the entries, but I just don’t see a logical way to enter any of them. I have all 4 of one loop. Can somebody pm me with how they got a toehold?

It helped to have a loop at the bottom because the turn gave me consecutive letters in both 4 loop rows to match with its letter sequence.

I did the same with loops 4 and 8! I had all of 4 and three of 8. Probably need 2 loops that cross at an edge rather than in the middle to get the toe hold.

Thanks all. I've found a starting point. Done and done. Lovely clueing as usual.

Still working on this one. Got a lot of the entries, but getting them to cross in the right places .... I've also been lining up the words, so I am encouraged by others' success in getting things to line up!

What a great cryptic ...my whole Saturday is gone! 1d and 5 a last to get..loved it!

Similar to others - got most of a few loops and then found letters in common. It was loops 1 and 7 that started the grid for me.

Finally got it! Totally agree with “where all the loops may lead you”!!

Thought I would never get a foothold, so just kept trying to get more and more of the clues stand-alone. Finally had enough of the 3 and 7, plus a little trial and error, and everything started coming together. What a mental workout! Learned a new word in 1d. Very satisfying to solve, I think this is the hardest one I’ve completed.

BethA wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 4:05 pm Thought I would never get a foothold, so just kept trying to get more and more of the clues stand-alone.

Invariably for me, to get a toehold on a HEX variety cryptic, I first need to have a good number of the clues solved.

I never look at this board or the WSJ comments before solving, because I want to see if I can get it without accidental spoilers. Was just reading over on the WSJ site, and got a kick out of a comment by Barbara Hayes about using the Bananagrams tiles to help get things positioned. I had a similar thought about getting out the Scrabble tiles! I abandoned it though.

Warning: there are quite detailed spoilers over on the WSJ site.

I went over to the WSJ site and read the comments. I wonder if they know that if they come over here they can pm for help. I would post that, but I can’t since I don’t have a subscription.
I almost opened my Scrabble game, but I kept thinking there had to be a logical way to proceed with all of one loop and 75% of another. In the end I just tinkered with it until one arrangement clicked.

I have everything except 1c and 5a. I will wander over to WSJ comments to see if I can pick up a clue.

SewYoung wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:15 pm I have everything except 1c and 5a. I will wander over to WSJ comments to see if I can pick up a clue.

Happy to explain or nudge if the WSJ comments don’t help.

RPardoe wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 8:23 pm

SewYoung wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:15 pm I have everything except 1c and 5a. I will wander over to WSJ comments to see if I can pick up a clue.

Happy to explain or nudge if the WSJ comments don’t help.

Thanks. Meg nudged me in a PM. I was overlooking a letter that had me confused.

Finally fell into place when I got the cross between 3A and 7D. Still have 1d that I can't fill in at the two non-crossing letters Argh! Also had 5b with two letters missing, but got that one after finally realizing the "hearing" gag for "cry of alarm."

Annabelle wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 9:01 am Finally fell into place when I got the cross between 3A and 7D. Still have 1d that I can't fill in at the two non-crossing letters Argh! Also had 5b with two letters missing, but got that one after finally realizing the "hearing" gag for "cry of alarm."

1d was a completely new word for me. I found it on crosswordsolver.com, where you can input the total number of letters and the letters you have in their correct positionS. It will give you all the possibilities. Unless you feel it’s cheating. In which case, don’t do that.

Just finished. Several new words for me. Very fun puzzle. Sent a PM to ask about some parsing, but I am stoked that these are getting a little easier for me. A few months ago, I might have one or two parsed and still be staring at an empty grid!

Just got around to this one today ... and, as always, enjoyed the mental workout that this pair provides. Had more than a few false starts, but eventually navigated the 4/7 route and I was off to the races. Amazed (but never surprised) by these constructors' interminable playfulness.