"X-Word Friendly"

A weekly meta crossword created by members of the forum. Difficulty levels will vary. Hints are usually available starting Wednesday, and solutions are posted on Sunday.
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Abide
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#41

Post by Abide »

Final nudge
At this point you should have a key word, but that is NOT the answer. The answer is a “friend of the forum” associated with this word. If you are still on 18-Across, I recommend you use the forum Search feature.
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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FrankieHeck
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#42

Post by FrankieHeck »

Ok, I finally got this! I was already attempting steps 1 and 2, but i was trying to do step 2 incorrectly. Once I took a fresh look (for the 50th time) I got it. Not going to pm for the official leaderboard because that took an embarrassingly long time.
damefox
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#43

Post by damefox »

This one apparently is just not on my wavelength. Monday, nothing. Tuesday, nothing. First nudge, nothing. Second nudge, nothing. Final nudge, huh???? I think I'm like 1/10 on the MMMs.
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TMart
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#44

Post by TMart »

Pretty sure I got it. For the record, it took two nudges to get me off the couch, but I was able to find the floor all by myself before the final push! :roll:
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KayW
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#45

Post by KayW »

damefox wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 4:52 pm This one apparently is just not on my wavelength. Monday, nothing. Tuesday, nothing. First nudge, nothing. Second nudge, nothing. Final nudge, huh???? I think I'm like 1/10 on the MMMs.
I'm right in that boat with you, damefox.

I enjoyed the grid, but 40-across.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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RPardoe
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#46

Post by RPardoe »

In the same boat - stuck and making no progress.

First two nudges were things I had tried prior to the nudges, but even having them reinforced didn't help me.
Still lost, even with the final nudge. Will just wait until the final reveal on Sunday now.
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C=64
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#47

Post by C=64 »

I am also giving up on this one. It's sometimes hard to tell with the MMM whether there's an in-joke that I'm not getting.
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Abide
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#48

Post by Abide »

Leaderboard as of 8/19/20 7:05 edt

1. Meg
2. oldjudge
3. boharr
4. BrianMac
5. Cindy
6. markhr
7. Al Sisti
8. Laura M
9. LaceyK
10. Beth Tyrpin
11. Dplass
12. ChrisKochmanski
13. FKelly
14. BarbaraK
15. Anita
16. Schmeel
17. TMart
18. FrankieHeck*
19. Hector*

*despite their wishes

Further nudges will be given if requested (and sometimes when not requested). Even if your name is drawn, you may decline the prize based on your moral compass.
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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C=64
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#49

Post by C=64 »

Solved after an unsolicited PM nudge. ;)
Tom Wilson
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#50

Post by Tom Wilson »

I'm deferring to my betters and throwing in the towel. After the nudges, I had my fingers crossed for a light bulb ... but it's only my eyes that are crossed now, squinting into an ink-soaked grid. (If a successful solver would like to whisper the answer, no gloating will be inferred.)
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Abide
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#51

Post by Abide »

Leaderboard as of 8/21/20 2:30pm edt

1. Meg
2. oldjudge
3. boharr
4. BrianMac
5. Cindy
6. markhr
7. Al Sisti
8. Laura M
9. LaceyK
10. Beth Tyrpin
11. Dplass
12. ChrisKochmanski
13. FKelly
14. BarbaraK
15. Anita
16. Schmeel
17. TMart
18. FrankieHeck
19. Hector
20. C=64
21. damefox
22. Joe Ross
23. KayW
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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Abide
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#52

Post by Abide »

SUNDAY SOLUTION
.
.
.
.(thanks Joe Ross!)
.
.
20200822 MMM Peter Abide X-Word Friendly UTICA b.gif
The answer to the meta is a friend of the forum.

As shown above, the title serves as a nod to the forum (xword muggles) and a literal key to the meta mechanism. Although all theme entries are 11 letters long, all have a common four-letter word at the end. Using X as an unknown, which comes before "hyphen' and the "word", correct solvers applied the title to come up with a common (accepted by Merriam-Webster) hyphenated word.

In retrospect, to make this first step easier, I could have made the last across entry END instead of EWE, with a signal of where to look in the themers.

Once you have U-T-I-C-A, there is one "friend of the forum" associated with that city, who has even signaled our title on several occasions:

: "One False Note" - May 22, 2020
... mysteries, "The Lonely Silver Rain." (Hmm, wonder if that rain was a lonely as I am!) ...and here's my semi-regular plug for crossword-friendly Utica. Yep, that's where John D. MacDonald grew up. But I would've loved Travis McGee and his philosophical musings no matter where the author came ...

Re: #622 - "Wave Hello!"
... a little trivia on Samuel F. B. Morse: He was an incredibly talented painter and he married his second wife in my hometown, Crossword-friendly Utica.

That's right, the answer to the meta is AL SISTI.

Initially about 1/4 of the folks submitted UTICA, including Al. It took several nudges for him to realize he was the answer! :lol:
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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Abide
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#53

Post by Abide »

One other note:

I wanted to use four-letter words at the end that had a limited amount of possible letters. For example, I did not use A-BOMB for the last entry because F and H are equally plausible. Since BEAM could be H or I, there is a verification easter egg in the clues, found at the eighth letter of each (just before the four-letter word:

Where Julie McCoy worked
Overly thin
Gymnasium apparatus
Bon Ami competitor
Elaborate barrier system of WWII

And using a random number generator 1-23, the prize winner is #9, LaceyK. Thank you all for playing!
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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Al Sisti
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Location: Whitesboro NY

#54

Post by Al Sisti »

Beyond honored, brother. This is one for the memory banks...
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