XWord Muggles Forum

DrTom wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 1:35 pm Well that was blissfully straightforward. Awaiting beam but pretty darn sure, gonna be a big week I'll bet.

Biggest Week 2 in 2023 was A MILLION LITTLE PIECES at 571. This could come close!

Think not a week 2. Will take it as a gift. Beamed

Stay well

Submitted. Confident in my answer. Glad it was straightforward this week as I have beaches to visit and wine to drink.

Awaiting beam, but really no need to work the refresh button… a quickie that reinforces that I miss the Summer of Solves!

Yes, definitely a week one. Looks like Matt never found the great idea.

Beamed.

oldjudge wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 5:12 pm Yes, definitely a week one. Looks like Matt never found the great idea.

That just means he’s going to make us pay next week!

Awaiting the beam...

... and I'm beamed, bringing up my 25 badge for the very first time! Oh no, now I'm going to be focusing on protecting my streak!

Beamed up.

Not a week two.

Hard grid through. Couldn't finish it.

Beamed at #224, in rarefied air solving just after benchen71 - I’ll take it!

Nice puzzle!

Beamified.

Beamed earlier today. Thankful for an easy one. I was beginning to think I lost my meta mojo. I can't find the first thing, let alone one more thing, on the WSJCC and I can't find my way out of the forest on the MMMM.

Beamed.

On the board at #171. I think there have been enough "not a week 2"s in the other direction that we were owed this one :-)

Awaiting beamage. Hope to beam up before their birthday cake is all gone…

Beamed. Forgot to post.

I predict that within 90 minutes of the publication of next week's Week 3, at least four people will have asked for a nudge, or "someone to tell me if I'm on the right track", and three or four helpful nudgers will have responded to all of them. By that evening, 100 people will have participated in a Discord solve, and there will be 250 solvers on the board, within 24 hours.

Do I think the nudge economy has taken over this community, why, yes, I do. I'm part of a small, utterly informal group of exactly four people, who get a kick out of solving the hard puzzles collaboratively. I have absolutely no issue with small group solves, where everyone pulls their weight, and the guy who was least on target last time, winds up being the one who comes up with the absolutely crucial observation, that all the rest of us were missing. Then it's like "yeah yeah yeah, I see this!", and someone else in our little pod says "and I see that!", and before you know it, the four of us have all found our way home. I think that's a lot of fun.

Yeah, I know what someone is going to say, because I have been told this before, "chill, dude, this isn't life or death. Some people have other things going on in their lives, and they don't have the time to invest that week, so count me as that super helpful person who doesn't think there's anything wrong with giving them, pretty much the answer, with however many hints it takes, so they can keep their streak going. True fact, I have COVID this week (first time, go me!), so I know stuff happens.

I also see the same people, asking every single halfway difficult week for a nudge, and I actually do wonder if some of those folks have ever actually solved a hard puzzle, alone, or, perfectly acceptable, as part of a small group of equal contributors.

This opinion is 100% certain to annoy some people, both the people who do actually always ask for help, and the very, very, very kind people who get a lot of satisfaction out of helping anyone who asks. If my point of view irritates you, excuse me, if you can, on the basis that I have been sick for about 4 days, and that makes me grumpy. It's just sharing a personal opinion, and I know I should just worry about myself, and not what anyone else is thinking or doing. I should absolutely take my own advice.

It just feels a little like playing chess with an absolute novice, who steps aside and let's someone much more skilled than I, to make the rest of their moves, and then can't wait to tell everyone that they just beat me.

Oh, yeah. I haven't played chess in a few decades. Anyway, ignore that example.

I continue to remain available and happy to help out anyone who asks, 2 or 3 days into the solve, for a nudge. There's a fair number of people reading this who I have assisted in the past, at least judging from all the names in my DM folder. I get that we all get stuck; I get stuck a lot, but c'mon, let's keep a little integrity in the challenge.

Oh, and one more thing (again, I'm sick and scatterbrained), someone is going to speak out to say that I am somehow insulting the tremendously hard working moderators, that volunteer their time, by somehow suggesting that they allow open nudges, right on the board. I am implying no such thing. The public board is always spoiler free, and the mods do a fantastic job quickly editing out even the slightest inappropriate hint. I'm strictly sharing my opinion about the solvers who ask for help, just about all the time, and the generously helpful people who give so willingly, and mass group solves on day one, where 10 people work, and many more watch them work.

Hmm. That didn't make me feel any better. Oh, well. Peace out. Just typing this was exhausting.

HoldThatThought wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 3:18 pm It just feels a little like playing chess with an absolute novice, who steps aside and let's someone much more skilled than I, to make the rest of their moves, and then can't wait to tell everyone that they just beat me.

Which reminds me of a video by my favorite mentalist, Derren Brown. (He's amazing, has constructed some very elaborate mind games (though a few of those make me think, "Isn't that unethical?"), has some wonderful stage shows, and I've even liked his books. Anyway...) He played a chess game against 9 top players all at the same time, including 4 grandmasters and some international masters. His goal was to win more than he lost. And he succeeded. If you have 10 minutes free, it's fun to see how he does it:
https://youtu.be/rIAXIubSTkc?feature=shared

KayW wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 10:41 am MGWCC #797 — Saturday, September 9th, 2023 — “College Search”

This week's contest answer, which is nine letters long, is an American university often mentioned in crossword clues.

NOTE: Due to the late post, the deadline for entry this week is Wednesday, September 13th at noon ET.

Good luck!

--Matt

Huh. Am I going crazy but didn't this have a different title and a different prompt saturday? And wasn't I previously beamed in about #230. Did I loose my 38 weak streak on what I thought was a week one but apparently wasn't?