XWord Muggles Forum

Bird Lives wrote: ↑Wed Dec 08, 2021 7:10 am As of this morning, we have 32 solvers
…

And me! PMed you Monday evening.

Once again I needed to be nudged, but I'm off the couch. Fantastic puzzle!!

Needed nudges, but we're off the couch! Sending in answer now.

Confirmed on Crosshare and off the couch, although I did need the first two nudges. Nice puzzle, Jay!

Off the couch. Needed the nudges to get me on track.

Off the couch with nudges AND the spoilers. Bowling with bumpers.

I am impressed with those who solved this solo!

Really impressive construction. I am just sorry that I missed the full impact of the aha moments.

Solved with help from nudges and a fellow Muggle (Chris Barbee and I were actually able to meet up for a coffee - wonderful to have an actual rather than just an electronic get together!). I still ended up only halfway off the couch for a bit but that was a product of a foray into understanding meanings. Once I moved away from the esoteric I was able to solve this clever puzzle. Nice job Jay!

Here is what can happen if you don't understand what someone is saying:

I needed the nudges too… the title just steered me to wrong places. Thoroughly enjoyed after the nudges; submitted & confirmed on Crosshare (I like the immediate gratification of that site!)

Got it! Confirmed on Crosshare....needed the nudges. Thanks, Jay! Great puzzle!

Just never saw it. Congrats to those who did, Awaiting reveal.

Time’s up; pencils down. The number of solvers is 48 (unless, as is likely, I’ve omitted someone).
. .
The answer is HONEYMOON. The first answer I received was from Schmeel, who not only gives the correct answer but shows his work, and it’s always thorough and clear. What follows is more or less a verbatim transcript of his explanation.

The KEY words that fill in the blanks as per 55A, form new words if OON is appended.
1A LAMP — Lampoon
5A FEST — Festoon
38A BALL — Balloon
53A BUFF — Buffoon
56A BASS — Bassoon
25D PONT — Pontoon

These new words would be fitting entries for other clues in the grid -
LAMPoon - 54A [Ridicule] - MOCK
FESToon - 16A [Bedeck] - ORNAMENT
BALLoon - 34A [Puff up] - EXPAND
BUFFoon - 32A [One often laughed at] - NITWIT
BASSoon - 15A [Woodwind instrument] - HORN
PONToon - 43A [It sails on water] - YACHT

The initial letters of those words spell HONEYM when written in grid order.
If you add the 'oon' to that too, you get a special trip — HONEYMOON.
.

Brilliant! Me? Not so much…!

Agree with JeanneC…
Very clever mechanism Jay and hope you are back with another S…oon!

We are awaiting today’s MMM to be posted by Thurman8er. West Coast wake up!

The meta calendar has a new feature, where the MMM constructor will be listed at least two weeks ahead.