XWord Muggles Forum

Helped off the couch by some of the nudges. Not sure I would have ever gotten this without them. Thanks, Jay!

Since yesterday’s head count, another 25 solvers have come in from the cold.

29. Schmeel
30. JHSeeman
31. JM
32. bhamren
33. minimuggle
34. whimsy
35. DavyGravy
36. snood
37. MatthewL
38. KayW
39. CPJohnson
40. ajk
41. MatthewL
42. Lance
43. Larry Edelstein
44. SeamusOL
45. lbray53
46. Bbaack
47. MarkWoychick
48. Teamdoubletow
49. ReB
50. LindaPRmaven
51. Anonymous Crossharer
52. BrennerTJ
53. Cinny

And for those still out there, one final obvious and probably unnecessary nudge:

In most meta puzzles, it’s the first letter of the entry that counts. It goes without saying that this applies to this puzzle and to the previous nudges. Maybe it doesn’t go without saying, which is why I have now said it.

I solved but I don't think I saw "submission" and then I promptly forgot.

Got it after the first nudge; really fun one - thanks!

Bye little bunnies!! Off the couch and waiting for the Thursday drop!

Off the couch! Didn’t need ALL the nudges, but almost. Thanks, Jay!

Allison
(Alvibu67)

Needed a couple of those nudges, but I'm finally off the couch. Nice one, Jay!

This looked like it was going to be a quick one-two punch out of here, but there is a bevy of nudges awaiting, and I don't have much after an initial step. I might need some of those later this weekend!

EDIT: Yep, rabbit hole. The first two nudges from that menagerie got me home! Wish I would've caught that nudge-free, but at least I'm off the couch!! Great puzzle, thanks!

The final seven solvers bring the count to an even sixty.

54. Ashutosh Sodhani
55. Sharkicicles
56. JeanneC
57. Jade
58. Alvibu67
59. Capn Rick
60. Naptown Kid

The answer is HEBREW

The clue at 31 Down tells you that six entries in the grid change from right to left. The prompt tells you that the answer is a language. Those two bits of information in themselves might have been enough to tip the answer: HEBREW, a language that is read from right to left.

The title of the puzzle suggests that the mechanism has something to do with hands, of which most people have two — right and leftt, often designated as R and L, like on my old baseball cards (“Bats L, Throws R).

The six entries that change from right to left are the six symmetrically located Across entries that begin with R. Changing the R to an L creates a different word. Now what?

Six of the clues, and only six, begin with an L-word that is nearly identical to the ch R-word in the grid but with the R changed to an L. So RUGGED s(22A) becomes “Lugged,” the first word of the clue at 5 Down. The entry for that clue is HAULED. The initial letters of those six entries reading top to bottom in the grid spell HEBREW.
.

That puzzle was kind of amazing.