#571 - "Chemical Change" - May 10, 2019

[BrianMac]

Can Matt possibly have any Week 2 puzzles left? We will soon find out as we look for a chemical element.

Congratulations to muggle FrankieHeck, who was the winner of last week's MGWCC, out of 645 entries! My statistics only go back to March 2018, but that is the second lowest odds of winning in that time span. Only last month's "Big Picture" contest had more winners (653).

Edit: Just noticed that Matt included a very nice paragraph about the forum on his page this week. It's awesome! Thanks, Matt!!

[Al Sisti]

Just noticed that Matt included a very nice paragraph about the forum on his page this week. It's awesome! Thanks, Matt!!

Yeah, I noticed that too. That was nice of him...

[Hector]

Seems like it should have been easier in retrospect, but it took me a while to find the strategy. D'oh. Nice puzzle & meta.

Edit: I don't see my nickname on the Leaderboard. Hmm, I was 100% confident of the answer, but who knows. Possibly I mistyped in my rush to submit...

[ChrisKochmanski]

Easy one. Nice thing, too: My younger son is visiting this weekend, so I used this MGWCC to reintroduce him to meta puzzles. Maybe he'll get hooked. A meta at about this Week 2 level may be just challenging enough to be fun but not discouraging for a relative newcomer.

[Orsys]

Done. Needed this one to be fast as my self confidence was waning.

[Meg]

This one wasn’t all that easy for me, but I think it should have been. It’s so weird how one's brain either sees a path or it doesn’t. It’s a mystery.

[BrianMac]

Right down the middle for a week 2 in my opinion. It took long enough that the thought started creeping in that I might be at it all weekend, then everything clicked.

[LesY]

I’m with Meg and Brian. This approach is usually the last one my brain turns to, and even then it can be a slog if I’m not on Matt’s wavelength.

[TMart]

Took a while, but I got it. Not that difficult, about a week two.

[Icdogg]

Solid week 2

[KDubs]

Oh my goodness, am I the only one totally lost? It sounds like just about everyone got it pretty quickly, but I've been staring at it and don't see anything. I'm sure I'm overthinking it!

I'm not asking for spoilers, but would this be one of those puzzles worth filling the grid in again? I've never tried that, but I know some people have said that when they go back and redo the grid, they sometimes have an "aha!" moment when filling in the answers and see something they didn't see before when it comes to the meta.

I also saw Matt's shoutout to this forum (I was already subscribed) -- that was so nice of him! Thank you for putting this together for us muggles, Brian!

[Cindy]

I would say just write the theme answers on paper and think about them.

[KDubs]

Thank you, Cindy! I’ll keep looking at them.

[BarbaraK]

Beam me up, Scotty!

This played like a week 2 for me. Found the rabbit in the second hole I checked.

But the leaderboard so far is not looking good for Matt's week 2 mojo. Maybe lots of others are also busy this weekend and getting to it even later than I did.

I would not be surprised if those who are struggling are trying to overcomplicate this one. Tell yourself it's just a week 2, then take a fresh look.

[Leslie]

I was one of those trying to overcomplicate this one. I think I actually would have found the answer faster if it had been labeled as a week 1!

[Thurman8er]

I think this puts my streak at 11. With weeks 3 and 4 and...yikes...5 coming up, I think I'd better enjoy it while it lasts.

[Jacksull]

I spent more time than I should have on this one. I finally printed it out, filled in the grid again and there it was, plain as day.

Lesson learned: do not overthink week 2. Save the brainpower for week 3, 4, 5.

[Thurman8er]

Right down the middle for a week 2 in my opinion. It took long enough that the thought started creeping in that I might be at it all weekend, then everything clicked.

And congrats on your own streak if 11!

[hcbirker]

Crashed and burned on this one. Matt phasered me. Not in my wheelhouse I suspect. I really thought I had a good answer though! (Heidi)

[BrianMac]

And congrats on your own streak if 11!

Thanks and same to you! There is someone else along with us at 11...Laura M maybe? I'm about 50% on week 3s, so we'll see. Good luck to you next week!

Crashed and burned on this one. Matt phasered me. Not in my wheelhouse I suspect. I really thought I had a good answer though! (Heidi)

There's too much time left to give up! Put the puzzle down and come back to it tomorrow. Like others have said, this one is easy to overthink. It's one of those where if you stop trying, the "click" will come along at some random time (for me, it's usually when I'm in line at a grocery store for some reason ).