"King Me!" - April 30, 2020

[Bob cruise director]

Good afternoon sequestered muggles

This contest is either easy or impossible based on the comments

However we have five new muggles this week: Mmac, jb3211123, Emd (Ethan), F Liu and fstadler.

Currently we have 12 on the ship and 65 on the shore.

Good luck to all getting to the right shore

[hcbirker]

Ashore. To quote Chris Farley..... that was awesome.

I'll take a Yuengling and go off to practice with my new sand wedge

Tee time next Friday. Cannot wait.

I am coming to wherever you are. Golf courses closed in NE and NY except for CN and RI

My husband is driving to Ventura County this weekend to golf. They opened them there last weekend. No carts, though.

[docison]

Ashore. Happy weekend to all.

[Homer Buckle]

I went down some bunny holes last night, but all became clear in the morning. Ashore!

[rexthree]

Still on the ship with Isaac. Like others I found the grid harder than usual.
Hoping for post enlightenment because even though I see what I think I need to see to no longer be out to sea I still don't exactly see how to solve the meta.

[DBMiller]

Done and done. Took me 5 different times to find the right rabbit hole.

Now for either a Blackberry Brandy, or Seagram's 7 and Coke.

[Geoduck]

I'm pretty darned sure I have the first step and it definitely looks like something that will point to a solution. What I see can't be a coincidence. But danged if I can figure out where to go from here!

[Geoduck]

While I'm asking questions, where can one find the PUZ file for these?

There is a website where you can get every wsj crossword in AcrossLite, including the meta crossword.
https://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/20-wsj.html
The upside is you save on toner. You can make the black squares grey. The downside is sometimes you have to wait 10-15 minutes for it to update itself.

Thanks for this. I'm surprised these PUZ files exist but are not made available from the WSJ. I've been getting them from the Daily Crossword Links email, but I wouldn't get this puzzle until late tonight from that source.

Are these not posted on the WSJ?

[oldjudge]

On shore with an iced tea in my hand -- still haven't mastered the art of day drinking. But I'm working on it.

Practice, practice, practice

[Geoduck]

Boom! And just like that I nailed it. I hope it's not verboten to mention that using the PUZ file made it more solvable for me.

On the shore! I'll have an Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout.

[Laura M]

I'm still hanging out with Isaac... I'm not sure that I'll be able to get this one! I have zero knowledge in the area that might be useful, and reading up online isn't helping me.

[boharr]

Still on the ship with Isaac. Like others I found the grid harder than usual.
Hoping for post enlightenment because even though I see what I think I need to see to no longer be out to sea I still don't exactly see how to solve the meta.

Same with me.

[debbierudy]

As I happily sip my mai tai on the beach I'll admit the grid was kind of hard for me. The meta also took some time to know what to do with what I already saw must be the means to the answer. After the aha moment the solution came quickly. This was a very clever and satisfying puzzle!

[SusieG]

I believe I am ashore! It was fun. Good luck muggles!

[BethA]

On the beach! 🏖 This one gave me some trouble!

It’s been ages since I’ve had a pomegranate margarita, and with Cinco de Mayo coming up, it’s about time!

[FrankieHeck]

I'm still hanging out with Isaac... I'm not sure that I'll be able to get this one! I have zero knowledge in the area that might be useful, and reading up online isn't helping me.

I sent a snap of the puzzle to my son, as I sometimes do just to try to lure him into metas. He almost never bites, but this time he actually CALLED me (extremely rare event) and pointed some things out to me. Still took me a relatively long, clumsy time to go from idea to correct execution. I think you'll get it!

[Joe Ross]

Tee time next Friday. Cannot wait.

I am coming to wherever you are. Golf courses closed in NE and NY except for CN and RI

My husband is driving to Ventura County this weekend to golf. They opened them there last weekend. No carts, though.

Couldn't be happier: County courses. 6' distancing at all times. Flags stay in cups, with hints that ball will not fall down as far. No rakes at traps. One person, one bag per golf cart. Walk & carry or walk with personal handcart. No rentals other than golf carts. Credit card payments, only. 4 person limit in pro shop, with distancing. Limited prepackaged snacks & drinks. Pro Shop restrooms open. No restrooms or water fountains open/working on course. Only golfers allowed. Once finished, must leave.

A very few local private courses have been open this past month, but getting tee times has been difficult. Similar rules.

[hcbirker]

On the beach! 🏖 This one gave me some trouble!

It’s been ages since I’ve had a pomegranate margarita, and with Cinco de Mayo coming up, it’s about time!

One of our local eateries makes a hibiscus margarita. Delicioso!

[PeterLeea1a]

Stuck at that step 2 that others mentioned. Hoping for some post enlightenment.

[yourpalsal]

OK, so if I didn't participate in this forum, I would never have seen "The answer to this week's contest crossword is a historic monarch." I usually see the prompt in the pop-over window that arises when I forst open the grid, and can view it again if I click on "Crossword Info" under the grid. All I See is the contest title: King Me.

Where are you all seeing this prompt?

On the PDFs. (See below.)

For whatever reason & for the past couple of months, the meta clue has not been added to the pop-over window, when solving online.


20200501 King Me full PDF.gif


The blank pop-over window:


20200501 King Me pop-over window.gif

Yes, it’s a disappointing omission for some weeks now. But the silver lining is that I’m enjoying printing out the Contest Puzzle and solving with pen in hand.