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Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:43 am
by Joe Ross
Beth Tyrpin wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 1:20 am
I was sure I submitted the red herring guess already and gotten a message that it was incorrect. Last month I was wondering where I went wrong, but you can only guess once. This month I was really wondering what else it could be so I thought what would happen if I tried to resubmit. Not really breaking any rules if I submit the same answer. It was right. I tried to find the email that said I was wrong, but no luck. I just wanted to post in case anyone else had the same situation. I probably put it under the mega meta or something silly, but since I can’t find the email I’ll never know.
Pete is approachable. Email him & he'll help you.
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:10 am
by HunterX
Okay, I have to ask...
Has anyone heard that COVID causes cognitive difficulties that would make solving metapuzzles much harder? I may not be the best solver, but I had a WSJ puzzle streak (the only one I keep stats on) of 43 weeks, followed by another streak of 22 weeks. Then I went to Europe at the end of April, came back with COVID, and now I've started racking up streaks of misses. It's extremely frustrating to go from "Well that was easy!" each week to "I've been staring at this damn thing for hours and don't see anything but shallow rabbit holes!"
Got the grid, which, similar to @BarbaraK is often difficult for me with Pete's MMMM. Found step 1 quite easily. Got what I thought was step 2, though it kinda fell apart (so to speak), and I'm now stuck. And the COVID-cognitive-difficulty fear raises its ugly head again...
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:49 am
by kurtalert
HunterX wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:10 am
Okay, I have to ask...
Has anyone heard that COVID causes cognitive difficulties that would make solving metapuzzles much harder? I may not be the best solver, but I had a WSJ puzzle streak (the only one I keep stats on) of 43 weeks, followed by another streak of 22 weeks. Then I went to Europe at the end of April, came back with COVID, and now I've started racking up streaks of misses. It's extremely frustrating to go from "Well that was easy!" each week to "I've been staring at this damn thing for
hours and don't see anything but shallow rabbit holes!"
Got the grid, which, similar to @BarbaraK is often difficult for me with Pete's MMMM. Found step 1 quite easily. Got what I
thought was step 2, though it kinda fell apart (so to speak), and I'm now stuck. And the COVID-cognitive-difficulty fear raises its ugly head again...
"Brain fog" is absolutely a COVID symptom. Long COVID, in particular- it seems fairly common for people who contracted COVID, even mild cases, to suffer like this. And, unfortunately, in many cases it continues for quite some time even after you're deemed "cured" by whatever standard we've landed on to denote that you're no longer a risk to transmit it to others. The strange and sometimes long-lasting effects of this disease are going to be a real headache for many folks going forward- I fully expect insurers to attempt to classify all sorts of things as "pre-existing condition" due to COVID in an effort to get out of paying for treatments. Very sorry that you're going through this
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 11:01 am
by HunterX
kurtalert wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:49 am
HunterX wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:10 am
Has anyone heard that COVID causes cognitive difficulties that would make solving metapuzzles much harder? ....
"Brain fog" is absolutely a COVID symptom. Long COVID, in particular- it seems fairly common for people who contracted COVID, even mild cases, to suffer like this. And, unfortunately, in many cases it continues for quite some time even after you're deemed "cured" by whatever standard we've landed on to denote that you're no longer a risk to transmit it to others. The strange and sometimes long-lasting effects of this disease are going to be a real headache for many folks going forward- I fully expect insurers to attempt to classify all sorts of things as "pre-existing condition" due to COVID in an effort to get out of paying for treatments. Very sorry that you're going through this
Thanks for the explanation. Oddly, and fortunately (so far), metapuzzles are the only things I've noticed this on. I was able to finish up work pre my retirement date just fine. And I'm navigating post-retirement medical/dental/vision insurance issues fine (so far), as far as I know. So maybe, (
maybe) it's just a slump with the puzzles.
But yes, I can imagine that figuring out all the long-term effects of this disease is going to be quite a job, given how varied and odd they are.
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 12:05 pm
by HunterX
Okay. I believe I have it. My first thought for step 2 was completely wrong, but was quite... tantalizing, if a little convoluted. Glad it fell apart and I found the correct, and much more obvious, step 2.
And why didn't I see it earlier? I'm blaming COVID for my mental density from now on!
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:03 pm
by rjy
On the board... and to @HunterX , don't you think all that freshly vacated room in your brain is just brain cells still unsure of how to function now?? Give it some time and you'll be Page One'ing all of us!
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:37 pm
by turbotron
Huzzah - eventually made it on the board! Much like @HunterX, the first half came easy but the second half took some time to hit with blinding clarity.. and I can also relate to having a bunch of rusty/lazy neurons post-COVID.
Have a great rest of the week, folks! (and see some of you for the WSJ puzzle on Friday)
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 7:32 pm
by HunterX
Not sure. Had 2 weeks at home after my second booster before going to Europe. Two weeks after that... bam! Head cold? Allergies? They seemed kinda bad, though I tested negative. Then, 3 days later... Positive.
rjy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:03 pm
On the board... and to @HunterX , don't you think all that freshly vacated room in your brain is just brain cells still unsure of how to function now?? Give it some time and you'll be Page One'ing all of us!
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:06 pm
by MMe
HunterX wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:10 am
Has anyone heard that COVID causes cognitive difficulties that would make solving metapuzzles much harder?
Don't want to minimize COVID, but metas lend themselves to dispiriting (apparent) slumps, because they are easy to misinterpret as tests of smarts and yet there's a lot of luck involved. If you get 7 heads or tails in a row you tend to be sure something is wrong with the coin. But you're likely to get a streak that long in any 100 tosses. It's worse when the "tails" present as your failure to figure something out, because then the analog of the loaded coin is you being not as clever as you'd assumed.
Remarkably, however, *solving* 7 metas in a row *is* a true sign of genius.
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 8:40 am
by mattythewsjpuzzler
Solved! I thought this was fun and compared to many MMMM fairly gettable. This is a 100%. No Googling for the contest answer should be required. Other than for confirmation.
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 9:35 am
by jhseeman
Solved with a slight course correction (thanks).
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 10:59 am
by Joe
My journey:
Something nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing BLINDING FLASH OF LIGHT everything
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:23 am
by HunterX
mattythewsjpuzzler wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 8:40 am
Solved! I thought this was fun and compared to many MMMM fairly gettable. This is a 100%. No Googling for the contest answer should be required. Other than for confirmation.
Yes, A 100%-er, eventually. When I got it, I had to ask my 26 year old son, who was visiting, "Have you heard of a song named ThusAndSuch?" And he said, "Haven't you?" Then I DuckDuckGo'ed it. (So much harder to say/write than "Googled.") Only
then was I 100%.
I sent Pete my alternate answer. There was no way justify it given the puzzle, of course. But it was the title/artist I was really
hoping it would be, given the meta clue.
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:29 am
by HunterX
MMe wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:06 pm
HunterX wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:10 am
Has anyone heard that COVID causes cognitive difficulties that would make solving metapuzzles much harder?
Don't want to minimize COVID, but metas lend themselves to dispiriting (apparent) slumps, because they are easy to misinterpret as tests of smarts and yet there's a lot of luck involved.
Yeah, I couldn't decide whether I preferred having my meta-difficulties be caused by COVID (thus temporary, hopefully) or because of being dense for a month. It's like when my wife sneezes and has a runny nose and I say, "Sounds like your allergies are acting up," and she snaps back, "I don't have allergies! It's probably just a little cold that will go away." Though the prospect of COVID has changed her tune on that a little.
MMe wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:06 pm
Remarkably, however, *solving* 7 metas in a row *is* a true sign of genius.
Aaaaaab-so-LUTE-ly!
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 1:57 pm
by iggystan
On the board.
Took me a little while to catch on, but it finally clicked. (Totally whiffed last week’s WSJ and of course it was a head-slapper upon seeing the solution.)
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:31 pm
by mkmf
This was fun. Like HunterX, I had a promising rabbit hole for step 2 that started leading somewhere and was hard to shake it off. Nice click when the rabbit jumped in my arms from the other direction.
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:15 am
by woozy
I didn't have any rabbit holes but I did have a few "it'd really work better this way... if one we didn't have that pesky requirement that the answer be consistent and in english... and shouldn't it be a net gain when one corner is missing a few letters but the other corner has so extra letters in abundance... and they are mostly only vowels; they hardly have phonemes at all."
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:19 am
by woozy
HunterX wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:23 am
had to ask my 26 year old son, who was visiting, "Have you heard of a song named ThusAndSuch?" And he said, "Haven't you?"
At this point I've gotten to the point that I just respond with a point to myself and say "Um... I'm
woozy, remember".
It's no longer even degrading.
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:51 am
by Cindy N
Submitted and confirmed. Disappointed by one entry in the grid which fit with everything else but apparently wasn't part of the solution - which threw me off as I looked for the rest of what I needed. I did add it in the comments to Pete. I guess we'll see if he acknowledges it when he posts the solution. Other than that a nice puzzle (once I got out of a silly rabbit hole).
Re: Every Dog Has Its Day
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 8:58 am
by auee89
Submitted and confirmed after a nudge from @Wendy Walker. Fun mechanism!
