"Political Machine"

[BrianMac]

Nudge #3:

A wise man once said(above) "Google is your friend". Try Googling the last names as a group, and see if anything shakes loose. If that doesn't work, try the first names.

Took me to this nudge to get it. Now I get it. Wouldn't have ever gotten it without this

Me either! Never occurred to me! Should have, but didn't. Very funny!

I'm in this group as well. Finally got it after Nudge 3. Loved it!

[Abide]

I have edited Nudge #3 to say "a wise woman". Sorry BarbaraK!

[SewYoung]

Took me to this nudge to get it. Now I get it. Wouldn't have ever gotten it without this

Me either! Never occurred to me! Should have, but didn't. Very funny!

I'm in this group as well. Finally got it after Nudge 3. Loved it!

Me too.

[MarkL]

Took the third shove in the back to get me to roll off the couch. Guess I need to brush up on my _____ trivia.

'til the witching hour tomorrow...

Cheers,

[KayW]

Took the third shove in the back to get me to roll off the couch. Guess I need to brush up on my _____ trivia.

'til the witching hour tomorrow...

Cheers,

You took the words right out of my mouth. Doh! KAS 4 for me. Fantastic puzzle and meta.

[yourpalsal]

Fantastic puzzle!! I was feeling pretty pretty pleased with myself after first-paging the Twinkle puzzle, and this was a humbling experience. Three public nudges and some private ones too before this finally clicked for me. Peter, you built this for the Muggle community and as we say among observant Jews, YASHER KO’ACH! May you be strengthened to perform such magnificent deeds again and again!

[Schmeel]

The last nudge hoisted me off the couch. Very amusing.
I'm probably just a bit too young to have gotten this without your gentle nudges.
Great puzzle!

[Tom Wilson]

That third nudge got me off my butt, too, and I'm still smiling. An apt solution for this Muggle crowd ... a crowd that is most accepting and inspiring. Thanks, Peter!

[Bird Lives]

Definitely not in my wheelhouse.

[tonyrobots]

Got it after the 3rd nudge as well -- one of those names in particular should have tipped me off, but I missed it. Nice puzzle!

[Bird Lives]

I submitted not the right answer but two homophones for it which related to the theme of the puzzle.

[Al Sisti]

I submitted not the right answer but two homophones for it which related to the theme of the puzzle.

...which made it doubly clever.

[Abide]

I submitted not the right answer but two homophones for it which related to the theme of the puzzle.

Yeah, I am curious as to how you came up with that.

[Bird Lives]

I submitted not the right answer but two homophones for it which related to the theme of the puzzle.

Yeah, I am curious as to how you came up with that.

I got the right answer first, but since I used a nudge or two, I didn't want to sumbit it as a straight entry. So I went with the puns, assuming it would be obvious. There are people with those names (one of the quite famous), but none of them are senators.

[Abide]

Political Machine- The meta answer is a current U.S. Senator

SPOILERS
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This idea came to me while watching cable news and seeing clips of Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, and Gavin Newsom in rapid succession: Well known politicians that share the same first name of the Love Boat cast. Since Ted was the shortest and he would have the Cruz/Cruise click, he would be the answer. (Plus he's Isaac, hovering right over you in the masthead of every page here!)

I knew of Fred Thompson, but got lucky that a reasonably prominent Lauren is in her first congressional term. Every entry is a different length so I had to experiment with a non-symmetrical grid(my first). My first entry to fill was ???V??B????, and so more serendipity when GOOVERBOARD nestled right in there. Two keen-eyed solvers noticed the "Prepare to swim, perhaps" nudge. It's also a nod to the "Come Aboard!" subforum here.

Other easter eggs:
ZOOMROOM, Binge EAT (Bmac MMM), Third of October- TEE (Al Sisti MMM)

Regrets: (a) My original title was Political Primary but I felt that was too easy. Using the harder title may have been unfair to millenials and those who not retain obscure information. (b) I loved my CHAZ clue but agree CHOP should have been in caps.

Anyway, I'm glad this was well-received, and enjoyed putting a smile on so many faces!

[boharr]

Fun puzzle. Thanks. Hope you do more.

[Al Sisti]

Yes, this^^^

[Djquimby]

I just solved this after the “deadline” and wow, excellent grid and clues and of course a perfect meta. Steub-pendous!

[joequavis]

I checked out after a few days on this and never made it to nudge Wednesday. I was caught staring at overBOARD, underWOOD, and SANDERS, and was searching and searching for other wood-related machines, etc. Of course, never got any further, and since there is no senator named Lathe, I gave up. Neat idea, very tough grid (for me), and yes would have been a touch more google-sleuthing than I care to stick around for. But I anxiously await your next offering, Peter!

[LaceyK]

I was out of town last week, so just doing this puzzle now. I needed all 3 nudges, and I'm still not sure what information Primary should have given me (first names?). While I didn't get an AHA from solving, seeing the resulting photo pop up after googling the 4 first names was SUPER FUN!!
And I actually did think of Al when I saw 3rd of October. And when I saw Binge EAT, I thought, hmmm I still want to fill in Binge WATCH, just like I did when solving BrianMac's puzzle!
Thank you!