XWord Muggles Forum

Pretty cool meta. Saw most of the linking words (except catch) but despite the theme, did not get the numbers-to-answers piece. Frustrated with myself - it is obvious once you know! “If I only knew then what I know now” etc.

KAS-5 for me too.

"Bush" for "DUBYA" was obvious.
But for the others:
"Orbit" for "Revolution"
"Default" for "Bankruptcy"
"Launch" or "Source" for "Origination" and
"Pinch" for "Predicament"
all kept me in a big predicament for this one.

Let's see what awaits on Thursday evening. Hope it's not too scary.

My mistake this week may have been my ironclad self-imposed rule never to spend more than 15 minutes on an MG meta based on the "I would never have gotten this one anyway" theory - although I was clearly on the right track. After seeing Bush (43), chapter (probably 7, 11 or 13) and "catch" (22), I assumed (correctly) that I had found out the key. My problems started when I next assumed that "onset" had to be the clue for "origination" - but it had only 5 letters, meaning that I needed a 6 letter clue for "origination." However, neither "square" nor any other 6 letter clue in the grid triggered anything in my brain. I then tried to find a five letter word to tie to "revolution", incorrectly looking for a synonym for "uprising," and not surprisingly came up empty. At that point I ran out of time. For what it's worth, I doubt that I would ever have figured out the two missing elements. Very ingenious, as always.

Joe Ross wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 1:38 am
..... but linked here is a screen capture video of the process of ....

Can you tell me how I can do a recording like this?

I got this one, but only after staring at 18 across RIIS for way too long. Looked like the number 11. Kept looking for other numbers in vain! (Heidi)

Like others, Chapter and Bush provided a good footing, but I initially attached them to 7 and 2 instead of 11 and 43, and then Three-60 only became apparent after getting beat up in the surf for so long I asked the grid what it would take to pull a W out of it. Not a pretty process, but having started with only 2 of the 5 correct number-to-letter pairs, I'm feeling lucky to have gotten through it.

The clarity Joe's grid provides above in his comment #137 is gorgeous, and I hope to try using his tutorial this week!

Inca wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 10:43 am

Joe Ross wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 1:38 am
..... but linked here is a screen capture video of the process of ....

Can you tell me how I can do a recording like this?

DOWNLOAD ApowerREC app & install it.

When app is started, you see a simple console:


Choose whether you want to record full screen, system sounds, voice, webcam, etc.

Click on REC button to start.

Click on Trial Version, or pay to upgrade ($40/yearly, $70/lifetime).

The trial version allows you to record up to 3 minutes, adds a watermark, and doesn't have full features.

A minimized console allows you to pause & end the recording. This will slide to the right side, offscreen, when recording.

juliet wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 10:55 am The clarity Joe's grid provides above in his comment #137 is gorgeous, and I hope to try using his tutorial this week!

Thank you, juliet, but posting #137 is simply a screen capture of the solution posted by WSJ.com shortly after midnight within Monday's puzzle's PDF.

To explore using Excel as a substitute for paper & pencil and online apps, BrianMac generously set up a separate thread, HERE. I suggest starting at the end, first, since the first few dozen posts are a work in progress on various methods of highlighting & their somewhat tedious instructions.

By Wednesday morning, I will have posted simplified instructions on how to create & use the latest iteration. I also try to post the unfilled current puzzle Excel spreadsheets shortly after WSJ.com posts the new puzzles, 4 PM, Thursdays.

Clever and entertaining meta. Felt like a fall leaf struggling to reach the ground (shore) in a brisk autumn breeze:

(dubya - baud? - wait - bush 2 - 43? chapter 11! square one! catch 22! revolution? 2 pi radians? revolution number 9, number 9, number 9, no... whirring whirring whirring... three 60!!! (quote from end of "Finding Nemo" - 'now what?') maybe the clue numbers represent elements... "Dearest - what do you make of this?" (2 minutes later..) Oh.) I'm always amazed how she helps 'ground' me.

Good luck to all muggle-istas.

DrTom wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 8:57 am

FrankH wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 3:29 am I thought about 360, Bush 43 and Chapter 11 for the numbers, and once I decided to look for Bush in the grid, that and Chapter came quickly, and it didn't take long to find and figure out Square and Catch would be another two alternate theme entries. But the toughest for me was to figure what word in the grid for Full Spin. It took a while for me to realize it was the word Three in the grid, leaving 60 as the other half; it is probably because the word Three itself is a number and I thought of 360 as one number didn't consider separating it into two, making Three hiding in plain sight.

I too agitated over three sixty when I was so lost and thought of IN TWO as the answer based on having most of the letters and using the theme. I abandoned it many times until about 5 minutes before the deadline when it was toss up an answer or fail. So I did a Flutie and turned out OK. Still think it is not two words but will gladly accept a cup if offered because I’m willing to do a one eighty on my stubbornness.

One of the greatest thrills in my life was to be there for that game!!

I thought Square 1 was the hardest of the five. Except there was an additional clue: "6 letters" and there were (by my count) only six answers that had six letters: Larvae, Arisen, Cooper, Wagons, Wearer, and Square. By limiting my attention to these six words, "Square 1" jumped out pretty clearly, as an answer to the clue "beginning".

After finishing the grid, I made a list of the theme answers. Then, as I found the second set of theme answers I wrote them down too, looked for the letter in the appropriate square, and got OWNIT. Hmmm, there must be some phrase that means "own it" that has a grid word and a number. Can't think of what that might be, but let me look.

Only after not finding anything that would work did I remember that the themes were not all acrosses so the order of my list was pretty much meaningless and there would have to be another system to ordering the letters.

Like numerical order. Duh! That made so much more sense.

BarbaraK wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:58 pm After finishing the grid, I made a list of the theme answers. Then, as I found the second set of theme answers I wrote them down too, looked for the letter in the appropriate square, and got OWNIT. Hmmm, there must be some phrase that means "own it" that has a grid word and a number. Can't think of what that might be, but let me look.

Only after not finding anything that would work did I remember that the themes were not all acrosses so the order of my list was pretty much meaningless and there would have to be another system to ordering the letters.

Like numerical order. Duh! That made so much more sense.

Interesting path, Barbara! I'm really glad I didn't see that...or I might still be seeing it...

Having been burned before by the ordering of the letters found thru the meta mechanism, my default approach is to circle them in the grid to see if there's an obvious visual. But I can totally understand how OWNIT would be been hard to look past.

Sorry so late to post. I got the five letters, the last one at 10:30 Sunday night. But I didn’t check to see where they appeared in the grid. So I submitted. TO WIN.... it seemed to fit!

FrankieHeck wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 7:05 am Anyone else immediately think Number 9 for REVOLUTION? As soon as I realized he was going for synonyms, I tossed that idea, but I filled in REVOLUTION first and was so sure! So art first I had 9, 43, and 11 to look at. When I saw the related words I then found all the appropriate numbers but changed my DUBYA number to 2. Eventually sorted it all out, and enjoyed it.

Yes that was my first thought for REVOLUTION too!

I got to the correct destination by the wrong path. As with others, I first noticed BUSH for DUBYA and then CATCH (22) for predicament. I had the same ambiguity as others - 2 or 43 for BUSH. 7 or 11 or 13 for CHAPTER. I soon picked up the idea of using the letters in those numbered squares to spell out the meta answer, and zeroing in on IN TWO. I had everything but REVOLUTION. I knew that had to be square 60 but never saw THREE-60. I googled "REVOLUTION 60" and found an IOS video game by that name that I never heard of. And told myself I was done! Part of the "theme entry division" was that all the other theme clues used a second grid entry synonym to yield a number, but REVOLUTION used the direct theme entry itself.

Perhaps I should have waited until the mug prize is awarded to post this - I would hate it if by some miracle my name is selected. But then Mike M sees this and says "bah! she did not solve this properly!" And picks another name.

BarbaraK wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:58 pm After finishing the grid, I made a list of the theme answers. Then, as I found the second set of theme answers I wrote them down too, looked for the letter in the appropriate square, and got OWNIT. Hmmm, there must be some phrase that means "own it" that has a grid word and a number. Can't think of what that might be, but let me look.

That was my path, too. Looking right in the rabbit hole, but the rabbit was somehow not there. When I first posted my done and done it was hard not to use phrases like "deep six" my notes, or going back to square one and starting over.

So many rabbit holes this week. A pretty diabolical puzzle in my view. (I was in the camp that came up with BUSH-2 and got stuck at INNTO.) We had 760 entrants, about 86% correct. As noted here, wrong answers included OWN IT as well as TO WIN. Plus DIAGONALLY, THIRTEEN, and several other one-offs.

Congrats to this week's winner: Critt Hughes of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fla.!

Am I the only one who was sure origination was larvae? Figured there was too much ambiguity with chapter (7, 11, or 13?) for the correct path to be the right one. Sigh...

EdStrong wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 6:27 pm Am I the only one who was sure origination was larvae? Figured there was too much ambiguity with chapter (7, 11, or 13?) for the correct path to be the right one. Sigh...

I gave some thought to origination being larvae but I couldn't think of a number to pair with it. (I had already come up with chapter 11 and catch-22 so I was on the path to solving the meta.) I also focused too much attention on whirr being connected to revolution; 360 was the last pairing I got and I backed my way into it by listing all the possible numbers connected with the letter I needed for "in two."

Did anyone fret over IN TWO versus IN 2 the latter would be more consistent? I went with former but worried. I too had the 5 letters early on and tried to convince myself TO WIN would fit and glad I was not swayed. Slept on it and it came to me in middle of night. Great meta