The Fourth of July

[Anita]

Finally had a chance to look at this on Tuesday. Leapt off the couch!

[Cap'n Rick]

With folks talking about there being a mechanism, I took another look today (after submitting yesterday) and in about 30 seconds I spotted it. Very apropos. Amazing what a fresh look sometimes can yield. Thanks.

So the one-word answer to the question "Is there a mechanism?" appears to be "Yes".

[TeamDoubleTow]

Loved the mechanism! Everything so neatly tied together!

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 2 - Another 15 Muggles have left their respective couches bringing our solver total to 72 (a new personal record!).

Toast
Michele G
Bird Lives
mkmf
Richard
DrTom
Hidden in 3D
JeanneC
LisaT
MamaE
bhamren
Anita
Ergcat
shalmanezer
jbird

And here are the current Crosshare stats, which I always find very interesting:

Total completions: 134
Average completion time: 0:06:49
Completions without helpers: 39
Average time without helpers: 0:07:36
Correct contest submissions: 63
Total contest submissions:66

Great job, everyone!

[MikeyG]

Hahaha, clever, and a lot of fun. Thanks!! I'm beamed up/off the couch/playing with Ginger Cat/eating ice cream/and the like.

[MaineMarge]

Cap’n Rick says “Yup”, so I’m off the couch.
Off now to my tree stump seat by the yellow Moonshine Yarrow.

Loved it!! One of his best yet!

[Cap'n Rick]

Nudge Wednesday - A few more Muggles solved since the last update bringing our total to 75:

MaineMarge
MikeyG
SJMcK

Now for the Nudges. Given the high solver total, I'm not sure if these are really needed, but here goes:

Sometimes when solving metas you need to take things very literally - like "The Fourth of July" for instance.

Today is the "Sixth of July", but that doesn't really work in a literal sense, does it?

Homophone: each of two or more words or symbols having the same pronunciation but different meanings or spelling, for example "why" and "y".

There sure are a lot of symmetrically-placed words that start with "Y" in this grid!

Hmm, all of those "Y" words have a "fourth" too...

Good luck! Please PM me if you need more help.

[jhseeman]

Finally got around to remembering that today is in fact wednesday....and had some time to get to the puzzle and am off the couch.

[LadyBird]

Off the couch! I, too, like your ranking system. Thanks for the fun puzzle.

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 3 - Another 4 Muggles bring our solver total to 76:

jhseeman
LadyBird
Johnny Luau
cbarbee002

Can we get to 80 by Sunday? Stay tuned...

[vandono]

I completed the grid Monday while smoking brisket but by Monday night was feeling quite unwell. Tested positive for covid. Finally feeling well enough to take a stab at the meta and Crosshare says I'm off the couch. But if it's all the same to you guys, I'm going to sit back down a bit. I'm exhausted.

[Cap'n Rick]

I completed the grid Monday while smoking brisket but by Monday night was feeling quite unwell. Tested positive for covid. Finally feeling well enough to take a stab at the meta and Crosshare says I'm off the couch. But if it's all the same to you guys, I'm going to sit back down a bit. I'm exhausted.

Take it easy, @vandono. Hope you're feeling better soon!

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 4 - Another 4 Muggles bring our solver total to 80!

vandono
Sue Adams
Phrogge
Julie bookworm

Woo hoo!

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 5 - Another 3 Muggles have joined the party:

mindle
Caroline
DebbieC

That's 83 with one more day to go...

[Cap'n Rick]

The meta answer is BECAUSE. Why BECAUSE? Just BECAUSE.

To solve this one you needed to start by taking the title literally. The fourth letter of the word July is, of course, "Y" which is a homophone of "Why?" - the one-word question. The next step was noticing the seven symmetrically-placed grid entries that start with the letter "Y". The fourth letters of the "Y" words spell the meta answer "BECAUSE". (see below)

And so, a nice easy meta for a nice laid-back Fourth of July holiday. A few of you commented that the answer was easier to find than the mechanism! Thanks everyone for solving!

Smooth sailing!
Cap'n Rick