"Mark My Words" December 15, 2023

[femullen]

Hate to see the poor fellow alone during this joyous season, so I'm stringing garlands at Isaac's.

Grid done over eleven o'clock tea. Still staring.

[Jackie J]

Ashore! A fun solve and great way to start the weekend. Have a good one all.

[Mirage]

Ashore but a bit unsure.

[KscX]

Ashore and feeling confident after three weeks lucky!

[Dennis]

Ashore and "sure," but am unfamiliar with this answer. (Of course, there are many things of which I am unfamiliar!) The mechanism seems very precise.

[PapZ]

I'm ashore this week, and happy to be here with you all!

[cheekumbaldy]

Ashore! And I just learned that Guinness is on sale at Publix. Mazel tov!

[Bob cruise director]

Good afternoon muggles

I hope everyone on the east coast is battening the hatches for wind and rain. Stay safe

And before we get started, at the 4:30 zoom call yesterday we were graced with the presence of @The XWord Rabbit. He was depressed that he would not have any juicy rabbit hole stories to pick from this week. However very shortly we (specifically yours truly) brought a smile to his furry nose that there would be at least one muggle who was so deep in a rabbit hole that he had to be rescued with a long, long rope.

And then we had a brief description from @Wendy Walker about the discussion between her new cat and her new dog about who ruled the roost. The cat knew very well and felt it was her role to educate the dog - forcefully.

A quick note on the timing of the next couple of weeks since the WSJ will not be published December 25 or January 1. The contest will come out on time and be due at midnight Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The results will be published here after midnight.

And the Last Call zoom will be rescheduled from 8 pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve to some time earlier in the day (exact tune TBA)

An interesting challenge this week and the primary discussion was more about how than what but that will come out on Monday. However we have 3 on the ship and an even 200 on the shore.

Helping Isaac decorate the bar and lounge for the season's festivities are

Inca
Annabelle
femullen


And making it to shore are:

oldjudge
darth
MikeyG
Georgeall
pjc
Meg
Jace54
Heidi
Wendy
Kay
Al
michaelm
Peter
girubato1
D B Miller
Tom Wi
Cap'n Rick
jhseeman
Beth A
Mike H
Eric P
Schmeel
Homer
AaronT
SamKat9
Joepickett
clonefitz
Beth T
docison
Mister and Mrs. Squawk
LarsCaine
Merry Potter
joe
escapeartist
MarkWoychick
NebFaninCA
Guffman
Red jbb
brulo
CptnCodon
Scott M
ajk
Jim and Anita
boharr
benchen71
Bird Lives
Dannyvee
minimuggle
Joe K
krf
MileHighSolver
Don and Cynthia
Ergcat
Justmarebear
mikeB
MajorDomoTom
John77
CallMeShane
whimsy
MatthewL
Cindy
DavyGravy
Anita
Lee-Ann
streroto
Don and Lisa
NDStegs
Dr.Buttbeard
Toby
Adajeo
Char
Commodore
Sleepy
LittleGood
Jkj
will j
lisajoy
DCBilly
Beleagured Castle
H and J
ky-mike
Barbara K
hoover
HeadinHome
b4alltime
Barnhart6
Lyman
kurtalert
mbryant
Damaged
dpl11
nosolvenosleep
Kwyjibo
Acarl
SJMck
Tmart
nancymck
JeanneC
Jeremy
Rita and George
Trish
woozy
dudeski
Chris
TeamDoubleTow
chriscross
Kas
MaineMarge
jrdad
Hidden in 3D
Luxmea
eagle1279
Joe R
elvanya
David K
C=64
Tina
M and M
otlaolap
Steveb
JoDave
kfahey
RDaleHall
Harbo
mattythewsjpuzzler
BigPear
Zach
fivehalves
RobM
CPJohnson
mlvilv
Bill
newbymar
Googly
lbray
Kris Zacharias
Cruise Director
Aragorn
Deb
Zagman49
Dow Jones
Alvibu67
EVJ
Al Laubenstein
Katiedid
EquityJam
HellZiggy
Flying_Burrito
Les
sjm
Susan G
Jean
Nlobb
turbotron
jimbo1
meowmiao71
Notbitter
DrTom
Cindy N
ladybird
PlymouthRock
straffin
JaneGummy
chatger
hunkra
Birdbrain
altosax
FloridaMan81
Pfarr324
Momo
TeaJenny
Henry Paul
Mary F
AdenaAndPaul
ADS
Belle
hazmat
ImOnToo
Yoda66
HunterX
Janet
Grover
Dave C
Libbypibby
rjy
relic (and Maggie)
Colin
Richard
Tcassutt
Ben B and son
auee89
Head scratcher
Gman
heroine.chic
Mirage
cheekumbaldy
Jackie J
Dennis
PapZ
KscX

Good luck with the grid and the meta

[JimJim]

Nice easy swim. Now back to raking leaves.

[TheCatt]

On shore.

[Franky_T]

Ashore. Sorry to have missed the Zoom call Friday.

[SusieG]

On shore quickly this week. Good luck muggles!

[femullen]

"Words. Words. Words." I have them, as Hamlet had. I have either the wrong words or a connotation I've yet to learn.

Ahoy, Isaac!

[Kevin L]

On shore. Enjoyed this weeks puzzle;

[OliviaL]

I’m 95% sure that I’m on shore, but can’t figure out how the answer fits the prompt…

[woozy]

Ashore and "sure," but am unfamiliar with this answer. (Of course, there are many things of which I am unfamiliar!) The mechanism seems very precise.

Um... if you are unfamiliar with this answer than either I am very wrong in my answer, or you've ... lived a life that both concerns and disturbs me.

[Bob cruise director]

On shore. Enjoyed this weeks puzzle;

@Kevin L Kevin - welcome to the muggles and congratulations. You are our 1400th muggle, the criterion being that you have posted ship or shore either on the forum or before that on the WSJ comments page. Great to have you. If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to either PM anyone or join in on the zoom calls on Friday's at 4 pm, Sunday at 8 pm or Tuesday at 7:30 pm.

[EmilyW]

On shore

[Yoda66]

Quick swim ashore while drinking some Malbec. I agree with the Muggles who said that the answer is not straight...

At first I thought you said you were drinking Malort and all I could think was "Why"!

I drank a lot of things at night - especially after 2 am - that I heavily regretted the next day, LadyBird. Based on the reviews I am happy that I do not live in Chicago and had the opportunity to do Malort shots

[iblinked]

On shore!!!