davey wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:30 pm
Of course, no one at J! has proposed this definition.
What definition do you think they were thinking of?
If they're going to use a hint like "long-running", they should at least pick a show in, like, the top 30 longest-running shows. Otherwise, it's just a red herring, a nonsensical addition that throws off those who know something about theater.
The correct-response show hung in there long enough to make its money back on two out of its three Broadway runs. Most Broadway shows can't say that. But when we talk about long-running shows, I think we have to mean something more than "managed to turn a profit."
davey wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:30 pm
Of course, no one at J! has proposed this definition.
What definition do you think they were thinking of?
If they're going to use a hint like "long-running", they should at least pick a show in, like, the top 30 longest-running shows. Otherwise, it's just a red herring, a nonsensical addition that throws off those who know something about theater.
The correct-response show hung in there long enough to make its money back on two out of its three Broadway runs. Most Broadway shows can't say that. But when we talk about long-running shows, I think we have to mean something more than "managed to turn a profit."
I'm persuaded by your take. I don't like clues where having extra knowledge steers you away from the correct response. I got this one pretty easily because I assumed that West Side Story was a long running show and everything else about the clue fit.
davey wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:30 pm
Of course, no one at J! has proposed this definition.
What definition do you think they were thinking of?
If they're going to use a hint like "long-running", they should at least pick a show in, like, the top 30 longest-running shows. Otherwise, it's just a red herring, a nonsensical addition that throws off those who know something about theater.
The correct-response show hung in there long enough to make its money back on two out of its three Broadway runs. Most Broadway shows can't say that. But when we talk about long-running shows, I think we have to mean something more than "managed to turn a profit."
I'll concede that the phrase "hit show," or "successful show," might not have thrown you off, but as I said, there's no reason to conflate "long-running" with "longest-running," let alone to insist that the concept of long-running must be limited to the 30 longest-running of all time...Sorry, that seems like an arbitrary trivia rule designed to help those who memorize lists, not those who "know something about theater," who probably are aware of this chestnut about the origin of WSS, anyway...
davey wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:50 pm
I'll concede that the phrase "hit show," or "successful show," might not have thrown you off...
And I'll concede that (1) "long-running" is vague enough as to not be technically incorrect and (2) there are plenty of Google hits for that phrase in association with that show, so the show's writers are in plenty of company in thinking that its run length was a distinction enough of that show to work as a hint. I just disagree. I was glad to see, on the show's official Facebook thread, that I wasn't the only one led astray (to The Fantasticks). It was a stupid mistake to make, and I can't blame the clue's poor wording on it, because my response, while long-running, obviously doesn't fit the "chestnut" aspect of the clue. If I had given more than a moment's thought, I would've settled on the right response, for which I did know the "chestnut" in question.
