"Right Between The Eyes" by benchen71
- vandono
- Posts: 245
- Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2021 7:15 pm
- Location: Texas
- benchen71
- Posts: 2534
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
I'm feeling pretty pleased about hitting 100 for my average solves per puzzle on Crosshare. (This is only counting those who complete the grid, not the meta, in case you were wondering.) Not that metrics are everything; I'm just happy that people are getting into my puzzles!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta!
- benchen71
- Posts: 2534
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Another day, another batch of successful solvers! Keep 'em coming...
BarbaraK
Matt A
Tyrpmom
SJMcK
Golem
ThePtrocanfer
SewYoung
CAe39
madhatter5
Jack Sullivan
John Aldape
vandono
Alex E
BobJas
BarbaraK
Matt A
Tyrpmom
SJMcK
Golem
ThePtrocanfer
SewYoung
CAe39
madhatter5
Jack Sullivan
John Aldape
vandono
Alex E
BobJas
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta!
- benchen71
- Posts: 2534
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Some more solvers:
DrTom
Bbaack
K72
hbxwords
africh
Idriss Z
Ergcat
higgysue
Byron
Caroline
palamedes
Nudges tomorrow morning (Aussie time!)
DrTom
Bbaack
K72
hbxwords
africh
Idriss Z
Ergcat
higgysue
Byron
Caroline
palamedes
Nudges tomorrow morning (Aussie time!)
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta!
- MamaE
- Posts: 334
- Joined: Tue May 05, 2020 6:15 pm
- Location: Maryland
- benchen71
- Posts: 2534
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Five more solvers:
hashbrown
shalmanezer
MamaEllen
CPJohnson
Sue Adams
Nudges coming momentarily...
hashbrown
shalmanezer
MamaEllen
CPJohnson
Sue Adams
Nudges coming momentarily...
Last edited by benchen71 on Fri Feb 04, 2022 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta!
- benchen71
- Posts: 2534
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta!
-
- Posts: 1739
- Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am
- benchen71
- Posts: 2534
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Two more solvers before the answer reveal...
frostyjhammer
Justin
frostyjhammer
Justin
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta!
- benchen71
- Posts: 2534
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
And the answer to "Right Between The Eyes" is...
I had this puzzle constructed and scheduled ages ago. (It's actually quite an early puzzle of mine, which is why the grid is so hard!) And then the WSJ ran "You Don't Say" a couple of weeks ago with a very similar meta mechanic. Ah well, them's the breaks!
This was supposed to be a nice easy "week 1" puzzle, and it certainly played that way: 135 grid completions on Crosshare, with 65 successful meta solvers in total (either on Crosshare or via PM).
A few solvers commented that there were a number of other entries that had letters between two Is (22D, 29D, 58D). This was not a problem I anticipated and I hope it didn't lead anyone astray. I conceived of this meta as one where 3 of the 4 long entries were involved in the meta and the 4th long entry was a clue. In fact, two of the problematic downs intersect with the Is of two of the long entries. To avoid this happening would have meant restructuring the grid or coming up with new long entries that contained the characters I needed for the meta answer but in different positions so that the intersecting down entries would not have two Is as well. In the end, I don't think this was a meta-breaking problem. It simply illustrates the potential importance of the long entries for solving metas!
I had this puzzle constructed and scheduled ages ago. (It's actually quite an early puzzle of mine, which is why the grid is so hard!) And then the WSJ ran "You Don't Say" a couple of weeks ago with a very similar meta mechanic. Ah well, them's the breaks!
This was supposed to be a nice easy "week 1" puzzle, and it certainly played that way: 135 grid completions on Crosshare, with 65 successful meta solvers in total (either on Crosshare or via PM).
A few solvers commented that there were a number of other entries that had letters between two Is (22D, 29D, 58D). This was not a problem I anticipated and I hope it didn't lead anyone astray. I conceived of this meta as one where 3 of the 4 long entries were involved in the meta and the 4th long entry was a clue. In fact, two of the problematic downs intersect with the Is of two of the long entries. To avoid this happening would have meant restructuring the grid or coming up with new long entries that contained the characters I needed for the meta answer but in different positions so that the intersecting down entries would not have two Is as well. In the end, I don't think this was a meta-breaking problem. It simply illustrates the potential importance of the long entries for solving metas!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta!