"Don't Overthink It!"

[FKelly]

Off the couch.
Took a second look at the middle part of what I had, "oops", adjusted and "Voila!"
It's a "C'est la vie" week for so far.

[hoover]

OTC after reading 2nd nudge!

[mattythewsjpuzzler]

Off the couch! Fun! Even though I was looking for that mechanism still well disguised....

[Abide]

FINAL LEADERBOARD

51. Eric Porter
52. docison
53. LesY
54. michaelm
55. mbd
56. Cap'n Rick
57. Byron
58. oldjudge
59. Michael Epstein
60. edestlin
61. MatthewL
62. Bodegas
63. Joe Pickett
64. hoover
65. matty the blockhead
66. prog plus chat
67. FKelly
68. mattythewsjpuzzler (same as #65?)

Stats for Don't Overthink It! (Meta)

Total completions: 271
Average completion time: 0:15:23
Completions without helpers: 141

Correct contest submissions: 63
Total contest submissions:72

Reveal and winner will be announced after midnight.

[rjy]

In the caboose here, but GOT IT… phew!

Nice AHA! even with the nudges… thanks all for sharing your creativity!

[Abide]

DON"T OVERTHINK IT! REVEAL

Credit: Tamara (BrennerTJ)

A classic response to someone struggling with a meta : "You're overthinking it..." So this puzzle's title was key, as the secret person was located UNDER synonyms of "think".

I'll let other members of the team weigh in on the process of creating a meta; I know the three editors had a difficult chore selecting and balancing the clues. Suffice it to say a lot of fun was had by all.

Random winner is #53 @LesY! Wendy Walker, tell him what he's won!

[Wendy Walker]

<Uptempo game-show music> Peter, Les has won a fulgurite that I found while beachcombing on the Outer Banks this summer -- as well as some "The Thinker" sticky note pads! Congrats, Les! <audience applause>

[Darth]

About that elephant.... well, it turns out that there's really a "Couch Monster" at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, a sculpture created by Brian Jungen: "Standing four metres tall and five-and-a-half metres long, it's a circus elephant of sorts — a pachyderm-esque Frankenstein monster, stitched together from sofas and armchairs and other discarded furniture, but ultimately cast in bronze."

I wanted to post this earlier, but thought it might be too much of a spoiler since it's a bronze sculpture (like Rodin's Thinker).

https://www.cbc.ca/arts/a-big-bronze-co ... -1.6497364

[MattGaffney]

Off the couch! Fun one.

[BarbaraK]

Off the couch! Fun one.

As one of the contributors (a minor one) to this project, I’m honored that you solved it and delighted that we could give you a bit of the meta solving fun you give us every week.