"Gift List" December 22, 2023

A place to discuss the weekly Wall Street Journal Crossword Puzzle Contest, starting every Thursday around 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. Please do not post any answers or hints before the contest deadline which is midnight Sunday Eastern time.
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Grover
Posts: 139
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:35 pm

#201

Post by Grover »

Merry Christmas from the beach!
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ship4u
Posts: 941
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2021 7:00 am
Location: At Wit's End, Shaker Heights, Ohio
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#202

Post by ship4u »

REMINDER: Our weekly Friday Zoom will be at our usual scheduled time of 4:30 pm Eastern time today. Please plan to join us for our pre-Christmas get together. If you haven't solved this week's meta, we will be offering eggnog nudges, sometimes referred to as noggin nudges :)
If you have solved, we will be offering our usual comraderie and good cheer.

All are welcome! Click on the Muggle Zoom Room tab at the top of the page. Hope to see you there!
Don & Cynthia

We are always happy to get to know other muggles and help in any way! PM's are always welcome. The next best thing to winning a mug is helping a fellow muggle win a mug!
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mikeB
Posts: 207
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:50 pm

#203

Post by mikeB »

Ashore -- what a wonderful meta for a rainy Friday.
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DaveG
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2023 12:14 pm
Location: Broomfield Colorady

#204

Post by DaveG »

Went down a rabbit hole that Ship4U saved me from by first throwing a life preserver, and eventually rowing me in with a life-boat to finally bring me to shore. Thank you Don!

Second Meta I've been able to solve since starting up on these several weeks ago... Just starting to learn how to solve them, and how to find that epiphany where the answer strikes
If you see me on the beach, feel free to pm for a nudge. After all the help I’ve got, I am happy to send it forward when I can!
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woozy
Posts: 2233
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:40 am

#205

Post by woozy »

MatthewL wrote: ↑Fri Dec 22, 2023 11:32 am
DrTom wrote: ↑Fri Dec 22, 2023 11:02 am
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Fri Dec 22, 2023 10:52 am
NOTE TO ALL: The grid does not have to be completely filled before the meta can be solved.
It does if you are an OCD like some of us (myself, of course, included)
I was going to say anal, but OCD works too. :D
I nearly *always* fall into that category. But as I was late starting and was doing by sneaking peaks into my cell phone, I decided to hurry up my thinking by allowing myself to think about the meta while solving. I was able to solve by looking at three clues and answering two of them. That was all it took. I was able to verify by skimming a half dozen more clues and entering one. So roughly 14 clues read and three clues entered and a 100% cinch in about 1 minute and 49 seconds. Then it took me over an hour to finish the grid and I still don't think I did it right.

But I think in 5+ years of doing metas this is the *only* time anything even remotely like that had ever happened.
Last edited by woozy on Fri Dec 22, 2023 3:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Funny story. I was all set to enter Par for the course for the CrossHare midi contest for April but I mistakenly thought midi meant 7x 7 and not 11 x 11. Oops. Well.... Here's a complex but **small** meta on the subject of golf.
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Kris Zacharias
Posts: 222
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 2:05 pm
Location: Reading, PA

#206

Post by Kris Zacharias »

On Shore! I liked this one a lot.
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Relic
Posts: 201
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2021 4:29 pm
Location: Fort Worth, TX

#207

Post by Relic »

On the beach!

Thanks for the masterful and fun puzzle Mike Shenk! You rule! And thanks for not putting a lump of coal in my stocking!

I'll have a Sierra Nevada Cdelebration IPA along with a fine cigar.

Merry Christmas all!!
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maggie christmas.jpg
Last edited by Relic on Fri Dec 22, 2023 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Good luck to all for a successful solve. If you see that I'm ashore - rare occasion of late - message me if you'd like a nudge. Be sure to include your progress so I can know better how to assist.

Alan A. and Maggie Muggle
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Abide
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Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:16 pm
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#208

Post by Abide »

Fifteen minutes of blankness and then the mist cleared. A nice Christmas gift indeed.
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
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CPJohnson
Posts: 1098
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:38 pm
Location: Kingsport, TN

#209

Post by CPJohnson »

Solved, again with help from daughter.
Cynthia
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CPJohnson
Posts: 1098
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:38 pm
Location: Kingsport, TN

#210

Post by CPJohnson »

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Thu Dec 21, 2023 4:50 pm This is no fun!! No rabbit holes. Just a quick swim to shore
I was in a rabbit hole. If anyone is interested, on Monday I will be giving lessons in How to Manufacture a Rabbit Hole While Ignoring Blatant Markers for the Solution.
Cynthia
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jimbo1
Posts: 110
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2020 3:39 pm
Location: Ohio

#211

Post by jimbo1 »

Ashore!

MY, MY. Lots of Christmas Spirit(s) here. 😄
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femullen
Posts: 465
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2020 1:02 pm
Location: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

#212

Post by femullen »

Ho ho ho! Ashore without the brat's...I mean, The Smarter Half's help! Oh, frabjous day! My turn to lord it over her!

Just pull the bung and gimme the keg.

Merry Christmas to all my Muggle friends and kibitzers.
For nudges, feel free to PM me. I won't have a clue how to help you, but you might shove me ashore.
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altosax
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2022 5:41 pm
Location: Weatherford, OK

#213

Post by altosax »

I saw something but couldn’t make sense of it. Looks like 1,000 people on the shore and me on the ship. Working these puzzles keeps me from getting a big ego. ☹️
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kurtalert
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2022 3:02 pm
Location: Chicagoland

#214

Post by kurtalert »

On shore. Embarrassed that it took me more than 5 minutes to figure it out! LOL. But very happy with a quick solve no matter what.
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HunterX
Posts: 1192
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 9:17 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

#215

Post by HunterX »

Ashore.

Early Christmas gift from Mike Shenk! And an early zoom call with my kids.

Unfortunately, while my kids are/will be in the area, I may not be able to see them. My wife and I both tested positive for COVID Monday. Sadly for her, my wife has been miserable the past week and a half. But she is finally starting to feel better today, thank goodness. Oddly, I have zero symptoms. Yet I just tested "positive" even more strongly than I did on Monday, when I also didn't have any symptoms. So we will probably be in quarantine and not seeing family, or even my kids, for Christmas.

Hope everyone has a happy, healthy, safe holiday with their family and loved ones! (And here's hoping that the former and the latter are not mutually exclusive. Though with some families.... I understand.)
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batfella
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2022 8:00 am

#216

Post by batfella »

Ashore. Happy Holidays to all!
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eagle1279
Posts: 310
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:00 pm
Location: Indianapolis

#217

Post by eagle1279 »

Ashore — sniffle sniffle — need a hot toddy or … OH! I just remembered we got some Tom & Jerry batter in an effort to revive a holiday tradition of my wife’s parents from the hard-drinking 1950s in Minnesota! Oofta!
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ship4u
Posts: 941
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2021 7:00 am
Location: At Wit's End, Shaker Heights, Ohio
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#218

Post by ship4u »

Great to see everyone of the ZOOM! Thanks for coming on and Merry Christmas to all!
Don & Cynthia

We are always happy to get to know other muggles and help in any way! PM's are always welcome. The next best thing to winning a mug is helping a fellow muggle win a mug!
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Franky_T
Posts: 55
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2022 9:30 am
Location: Chicagoland

#219

Post by Franky_T »

Solved. Nice Zoom call.
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SusieG
Posts: 431
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:20 pm
Location: Arkansas

#220

Post by SusieG »

Ashore! After I recognized the path to solution, I was able to get my family involved. Appreciate this holiday gift from Mike! Happy Christmas.
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