"Presently Surprised" - August 9, 2020

Available by emailing a request to PandorasBlocksWMC[at]gmail[dot]com, these meta puzzles are distributed by email every Sunday. Pandora's Blocks crosswords are intended to spread the popularity of meta crosswords, however, they are not just for beginners and run the gamut it terms of difficulty.
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ChrisKochmanski
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"Presently Surprised" - August 9, 2020

#1

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

You can get onto Will P.'s (I don't know what P. stands for) list by emailing him at willsweeklymeta@gmail.com. Will emails a new meta crossword every Sunday morning. It's free. (Will says he's aiming to help spread the popularity of metas.) I just learned this week about Will's puzzles from another forum contributor. I've done a few of his past weeks' puzzles -- two successfully; one I'm still noodling over. Fun!

Will decided to go hard with this week's meta -- since, he says, Matt G.'s is an easy Week 1, and solvers may be looking for a bigger challenge this weekend. Will rates "Presently Surprised" as 8 out of 10 on the difficulty scale. I'd say he's right. I finished the grid a little more than an hour ago (itself a challenge, but not TOO hard) -- and I've been staring at it ever since. I've followed a couple of rabbit holes, but I'm getting nowhere yet.

Will's clueing can be enjoyably cheeky. The metas have been clever. You may want to check these puzzles out.
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FrankieHeck
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#2

Post by FrankieHeck »

I found out about these last week, and have enjoyed them. This week gave me a good aha moment. It's nice to have a Sunday meta!
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Hector
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#3

Post by Hector »

Uh oh.
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AnswerPfinder
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#4

Post by AnswerPfinder »

Hi there friends! Thanks so much Chris, for starting this thread and for the kind review of my previous puzzles.
Happy solving! And thanks so much for playing along.
Last edited by AnswerPfinder on Thu Mar 21, 2024 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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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Meg
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#5

Post by Meg »

Yes, it’s a tough one. Had to get some help. The final step is..........a bit unusual. But fun!
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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C=64
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#6

Post by C=64 »

Solved! Fun and relatively easy for me. The mechanism was right up my alley; YMMV.
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Cindy
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#7

Post by Cindy »

Solved it!
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Hector
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#8

Post by Hector »

MMIV

Clarificatory edit:
C=64 wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 3:04 pm The mechanism was right up my alley; YMMV.
Last edited by Hector on Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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boharr
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#9

Post by boharr »

Hector wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:10 pmMMIV
???
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C=64
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#10

Post by C=64 »

boharr wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:12 pm
Hector wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:10 pmMMIV
???
YMMV: your mileage may vary
MMIV: my mileage is varying
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boharr
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#11

Post by boharr »

C=64 wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 6:12 pm
boharr wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:12 pm
Hector wrote: Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:10 pmMMIV
???
YMMV: your mileage may vary
MMIV: my mileage is varying
How do I say ditto?
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ChrisKochmanski
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#12

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Got it! With a nudge from Will. He was very responsive.
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oldjudge
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#13

Post by oldjudge »

It was a pleasant surprise to find this puzzle. Once I found something it came pretty quickly. This is a wonderful addition to the weekly puzzle grouping. Thanks Will for taking the time to construct these.(edited by me since I might have provided an unwanted nudge)
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boharr
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#14

Post by boharr »

Got it. With help. It's very tough.
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Hector
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#15

Post by Hector »

Will nudged me out of a very deep rabbit hole. V clever meta.
Laura M
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#16

Post by Laura M »

Good one, which I finally solved! I'm not sure I needed a new meta in my life, but it's hard to resist... Anyway, more metas in the world can only be good, even if I don't always have the time and/or brainpower to solve them :-) Thanks for the pointer, Chris!
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FrankieHeck
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#17

Post by FrankieHeck »

I just got the nicest letter from Will in the mail (despite the fact that I gave him the wrong zip code, lol) congratulating me on being the first to solve his "Multiple Choice" meta. Made my day. Doesn't have to be a mug...I just love winning stuff!

And I'm glad I won before all you folks found out about his contest!!

So thank you, Will! How fun. I can't remember the last time I got an actual piece of correspondence in my mailbox.
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Hector
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#18

Post by Hector »

This was awesome. I right off guessed that it was about conjugating of "to be," but crazily enough, I thought it was "to be" in Spanish, i.e., the verb "ser," which is in the grid. In the present tense, that goes SOY ES SON SOMOS, all of which are sorta-kinda in the grid. Having gotten nowhere past that, I asked Will if I was on the right track, and amusingly his answer was something like, "Yes! Wrong language, though."
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