"Sound Off" - May 29, 2020
- Hector
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WORKERBEES and VIOLINBOWS have salient synonyms: "drones" and "fiddlesticks." OBOES kind of drone, and BAH is a synonym for (another use of) "fiddlesticks." So I was stuck there for a while.
- boharr
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Big family. SIGN/SANAI and MEN/MENU were the first two I spotted. Unexpectedly because I was first concentrating on BEES and BOWS.tigerfly222 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 11:28 amGee, it's almost like we're related or something!CPJohnson wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 8:36 amFour long answers plus the middle answer is a common pattern, I think. My first inkling came when I decided to concentrate on the monosyllabic 2nd words of the long answers and then noticed MEN and MENU.tigerfly222 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 5:53 am The trigger for me came whilst focusing on the monosyllabic 2nd word of the long answers. I was considering whether the G in HIGH and SIGN could be considered a silent letter, and then SINAI - SIGN-I jumped out at me.
- Colin
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Not me. I was far too determined to find a fifth 3-letter comic book sound like EEK, BAH, EEP and POP. Don’t ask me why... thought that revelation would come if I found it!Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 6:52 am I got a lot of amusement about the comments that addressed two of the key words. First there were a lot of comments early about BOZO. These were followed by HEIDI commenting about here name. I did not know if they drew anyone's attention to the meta solution process.
Nice puzzle though - not seen letter sounds in a meta until now (relative newcomer). Another one for the list!
One world. One planet. One future.
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I got sidetracked on high going with hypos not Heidi. Also oboes not bozo. Finally after going back and reading each word in the grid slowly outloud I saw the other choices. Then everything fit!!! What great fun!! Thanks to our amazing puzzle creators who provide such entertainment for us especially at times like these.
- ReB
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I hit the same little sandbar just before reaching shore looking for the A to complete AUDIO and was floundering because I had filled in 30A as LIZST. But then when I sounded out BEES+A (I had discerned that the solution was auditory), I quickly recognized BIZET (best known for his opera Carmen; Mike was a bit tricky picking a more obscure work of his, one that I hadn't heard of before).spotter wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 10:20 amI did the exact same thing, except I had UDIO and knew the A had to be somewhere. I asked a fellow muggle for help finding the A, and it wasn't until he asked if I knew how to pronounce French names that I realized where my mistake must be. Turns out the name is LISZT, not LIZST anyway...Devilbunny wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 10:06 am Well, I had AMOEBAS instead of AMOEBAE, which gave me xxZST, so I jumped to LIZST instead of BIZET. Never thought to Google it to check. That gave me LAH instead off BAH, but LAH is a fairly common word in Singaporean English, and maybe its meaning can be dismissive? Haven’t spent a lot of time around Singaporeans lately. So I left it.
I don’t think I would have gotten it anyway, as I was far too focused on something relating to the sections of an orchestra - HORN, OBOES, maybe STEEL drums if a somewhat modern production, VIOLIN for the strings, SOLI indicating it was a choral performance... and then SOLI/STOLI kept me going for a while.
Thus I went back to LIZST (it being the only other Z besides BOZO, which was already used) and after replacing it with BIZET, I realized that 4D was AMOEBAE - which was more accurate than AMOEBAS- and also that 30D now worked as BAH, which it didn't before. This gave me absolute certainty.
- ReB
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Also, I'm still wondering if 6D OBOES was a bonus hint/clue or just happenstance? Of course the extra sound/letter here is the first syllable, not the second, but still... BTW, I would think It's not easy to find such auditory word pairs like OBOES and BOZO.
- 802puzzler
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I was exploring similar rabbit holes: silent letters, colors, instruments, letter sounds (Bee, Tee, Dee, etc). I'm glad I quit when I did, because I would never have solved it! But I learned alot and will file this away for the future.
Off topic: what does "MGWCC" stand for? Matt Gaffney ___________???
Off topic: what does "MGWCC" stand for? Matt Gaffney ___________???
- boharr
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Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest (MGWCC)802puzzler wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:35 pm I was exploring similar rabbit holes: silent letters, colors, instruments, letter sounds (Bee, Tee, Dee, etc). I'm glad I quit when I did, because I would never have solved it! But I learned alot and will file this away for the future.
Off topic: what does "MGWCC" stand for? Matt Gaffney ___________???
See under Other Meta Puzzles for links etc.
- Cindy
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Weekly crossword contest802puzzler wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:35 pm I was exploring similar rabbit holes: silent letters, colors, instruments, letter sounds (Bee, Tee, Dee, etc). I'm glad I quit when I did, because I would never have solved it! But I learned alot and will file this away for the future.
Off topic: what does "MGWCC" stand for? Matt Gaffney ___________???
- CPJohnson
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Check out the 7-29-16 puzzle - I Put a Spell on You.Colin wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:59 pmNot me. I was far too determined to find a fifth 3-letter comic book sound like EEK, BAH, EEP and POP. Don’t ask me why... thought that revelation would come if I found it!Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 6:52 am I got a lot of amusement about the comments that addressed two of the key words. First there were a lot of comments early about BOZO. These were followed by HEIDI commenting about here name. I did not know if they drew anyone's attention to the meta solution process.
Nice puzzle though - not seen letter sounds in a meta until now (relative newcomer). Another one for the list!
Cynthia
- Deb F
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I got quickly attached to bees and bows. Went down a couple of unsuccessful paths before circling back. Once I glommed on to Bizet, I just hunted and pecked until I found my way. Nice to have gotten this week’s.
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Anyone else get completely hung up on all of the Russian allusions? All I could think of was Sound Off = Soundov That was a toughie! Lots of rabbit holes.
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To prove I’m not completely off my rocker with my STEAK answer...
Silent S in Scitech
Silent T in Bizet
Silent E in Ites (hard I silents the E)
Silent A in Roadsign
Silent K in Knee
I’m hungry
Silent S in Scitech
Silent T in Bizet
Silent E in Ites (hard I silents the E)
Silent A in Roadsign
Silent K in Knee
I’m hungry
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That's just the one I was thinking of - one of my earliest solves shortly after I started doing these. I love the way we're all such connoisseurs now!CPJohnson wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:58 pmCheck out the 7-29-16 puzzle - I Put a Spell on You.Colin wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:59 pmNot me. I was far too determined to find a fifth 3-letter comic book sound like EEK, BAH, EEP and POP. Don’t ask me why... thought that revelation would come if I found it!Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 6:52 am I got a lot of amusement about the comments that addressed two of the key words. First there were a lot of comments early about BOZO. These were followed by HEIDI commenting about here name. I did not know if they drew anyone's attention to the meta solution process.
Nice puzzle though - not seen letter sounds in a meta until now (relative newcomer). Another one for the list!
- boharr
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STEAK is always welcome.MileHighSolver wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 4:37 pm To prove I’m not completely off my rocker with my STEAK answer...
Silent S in Scitech
Silent T in Bizet
Silent E in Ites (hard I silents the E)
Silent A in Roadsign
Silent K in Knee
I’m hungry
- CPJohnson
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You were a Super Solver if you got that one as a new solver! I still struggle with the "sounds like" puzzle category.steveb wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 4:57 pmThat's just the one I was thinking of - one of my earliest solves shortly after I started doing these. I love the way we're all such connoisseurs now!CPJohnson wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:58 pmCheck out the 7-29-16 puzzle - I Put a Spell on You.Colin wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:59 pm
Not me. I was far too determined to find a fifth 3-letter comic book sound like EEK, BAH, EEP and POP. Don’t ask me why... thought that revelation would come if I found it!
Nice puzzle though - not seen letter sounds in a meta until now (relative newcomer). Another one for the list!
Cynthia
- Jacksull
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I guess he’s a French Canadian.Lost_at_Sea wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 9:25 am BIZET, French or English?
It is not BEES - A, it's
Bees-eh
But clever meta nonetheless
Jack Sullivan
- KayW
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LETSNOT - NOT I was my detour along the way to the correct answer. And when I first found five sound-off entries, I stopped looking (HEIDI was still HAYDN at that point). But I couldn't form any words out of the mess I had. Luckily LETSNOT was not symmetrical with the other theme answers.
I pronounce it BIZ-ZAY too. My brain still thinks I'm right about that but I was able to see the connection to BEES anyway.matthewmoravec wrote: ↑Mon Jun 01, 2020 9:16 am I submitted the correct answer, although I was hampered by unknowingly mispronouncing Bizet (had thought Biz rhymed with fizz) and being stuck on HYPOS as the match for SKY HIGH for a while. It was satisfying to get the answer eventually, but I wondered if I missed something because the first words of the theme answers didn't seem to participate with the meta in any way.
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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And I like to pretend to myself - though we'll never know, because after this lesson that WILL be burned into my mind - that I would have spelled it correctly if asked - but with ZST sitting there waiting, it was so easy. Note to self: if the answer can be confirmed with basic Goog search, and you're not 100% sure, check it.
- anjhinz
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I really face-palmed this one... I accidentally marked "E" for the added sound in HEIDI, leaving with me the five vowels A U E I O which I thought was a pretty sub-par way to get to VOWEL, but I figured "what else could it be?" and submitted. Whooooooooooops.