73. Something's Missing
- MikeyG
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Okay, bonus round of nudges! Note that I'm accepting a second answer that I've seen several make, and I think that's kind of clever, so I give that the green light.
6a.
6b.
6c.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Having to type out all those spoilers makes me realize this is probably more like a 3.75. Well, here's to an easy WSJ and a Week 1 MGWCC to balance it all out!
Mikey G
6a.
6b.
6c.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Having to type out all those spoilers makes me realize this is probably more like a 3.75. Well, here's to an easy WSJ and a Week 1 MGWCC to balance it all out!
Mikey G
- Cinny
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Got it! I misinterpreted something that led me down the wrong track. But thanks to a friendly muggle, I got going in the right direction. Did not use any of the second nudges, but I may go back and read them now. Thanks, Mikey!
Cindy Heisler
- woozy
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Okay, I had figured out nudges 7 - 10 from the very beginning. I absolutely never got nudges 1-5 on my own at all with nudges 1-4 I got to nudge 6c but I couldn't understand nudge 5 and I never understood I was supposed to do 6b. Today reading nudge 6b and seeing nudge 6c spelled out I figured the meta.
Good puzzle but gad I'm kicking myself.
Good puzzle but gad I'm kicking myself.
I guess I should change my signature, and start promoting this meta: Hungry Little Creature. I was going to sent it to people for testing but I dropped the ball on it.
- Bird Lives
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Without the nudges, I had narrowed it down to two possibles, but I needed #10 to finally get the answer.
Remember those "What's missing in this picture?" puzzles from when you were a kid? I sucked at those too.
Remember those "What's missing in this picture?" puzzles from when you were a kid? I sucked at those too.
Jay
- MikeyG
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Puzzle #73 answer: TOOTH DECAY (also accepted TOOTH FAIRY, which I thought clever).
Correct entries: 43
Thanks, @BrennerTJ!
I had this idea rattling around in my brain for a while, and it's probably one where the image in my brain was a bit better than execution. In retrospect, I probably would've had asterisks on the six symmetrical entries.
Two things are going on in here:
1. A lot of the entries seem like their answers are incomplete. You can see them highlighted above and below:
Honey = SWEETHEART
Unleashes = TURNS LOOSE
Eats every last bit of = PICKS CLEAN
Gummy substance = WHEAT PASTE
Forceful weapon? = LIGHT SABER (as in using the Force!)
Item with ferrule = PAINTBRUSH
These six words all have TOOTH as a lateral link with them; note they're also both 5-5, which implies the 10-letter phrase will likely also be 5-5 (confirmed again with TOOTH).
And, indeed, those things were missing. But what else is missing?
2. I've pulled this mechanism before or variants of it with the near-pangram: as hinted at by the final anchor entry (TWO clued in an anodyne but peculiar way as "26 - 24") and reinforced by the title (and the fact that 24 letters are in the grid), we'll probably have to search for the two letters that aren't!
Alphabetically, these are "D" and "K" (not a single "D" or "K" makes an appearance in any clue either - when I thought I did this correctly, I went back and caught 12 instances of "D," mostly in words like "and" and past tense that slipped through). Phonetically, this sounds like DECAY, which also makes sense with the teeth-related words being eliminated from the grid. Thus, the intended answer was TOOTH DECAY, a fitting answer for a late October meta. (Brush and floss, folks!). I also liked the idea of a TOOTH FAIRY coming and "taking away" the teeth-related words, so I gave that retroactive credit. (And fairies are common costumes also.)
I do like the idea of having a couple of riffs on a mechanism alluded to by the title, but there probably needed to be a bit more concrete to get in that lane.
Thanks all for solving! #74 drops next Saturday!
Mikey G
Correct entries: 43
Thanks, @BrennerTJ!
I had this idea rattling around in my brain for a while, and it's probably one where the image in my brain was a bit better than execution. In retrospect, I probably would've had asterisks on the six symmetrical entries.
Two things are going on in here:
1. A lot of the entries seem like their answers are incomplete. You can see them highlighted above and below:
Honey = SWEETHEART
Unleashes = TURNS LOOSE
Eats every last bit of = PICKS CLEAN
Gummy substance = WHEAT PASTE
Forceful weapon? = LIGHT SABER (as in using the Force!)
Item with ferrule = PAINTBRUSH
These six words all have TOOTH as a lateral link with them; note they're also both 5-5, which implies the 10-letter phrase will likely also be 5-5 (confirmed again with TOOTH).
And, indeed, those things were missing. But what else is missing?
2. I've pulled this mechanism before or variants of it with the near-pangram: as hinted at by the final anchor entry (TWO clued in an anodyne but peculiar way as "26 - 24") and reinforced by the title (and the fact that 24 letters are in the grid), we'll probably have to search for the two letters that aren't!
Alphabetically, these are "D" and "K" (not a single "D" or "K" makes an appearance in any clue either - when I thought I did this correctly, I went back and caught 12 instances of "D," mostly in words like "and" and past tense that slipped through). Phonetically, this sounds like DECAY, which also makes sense with the teeth-related words being eliminated from the grid. Thus, the intended answer was TOOTH DECAY, a fitting answer for a late October meta. (Brush and floss, folks!). I also liked the idea of a TOOTH FAIRY coming and "taking away" the teeth-related words, so I gave that retroactive credit. (And fairies are common costumes also.)
I do like the idea of having a couple of riffs on a mechanism alluded to by the title, but there probably needed to be a bit more concrete to get in that lane.
Thanks all for solving! #74 drops next Saturday!
Mikey G
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- MikeyG
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Number of fillings I probably need.
- DrTom
- Posts: 3840
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
DENTURE (7) FIT (3)
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!