It's All in the Game
- Bird Lives
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It's All in the Game
The Sunday Summer Substitute falls back before it springs forward, and what it falls back to is another Bird Lives puzzle. On the plus side, you got an extra hour of sleep.
In last Saturday’s Q&A on Zoom, Matt Gaffney distinguished between “inferential metas” and those where the answer was “spelled out” by letters in the fill. An inferential meta requires thinking outside the grid – a knowledge of something out there in the culture, e.g., “Eight is Enough.” Last week’s SSS answer — “Three’s Company,” like Matt’s “Eight Is Enough” — was inferential, requiring what Hector in his comment called “unscripted insight,” which may be why so many people — even formidable solvers — were tempted to open the nudges.
This week’s SSS is in the “spelled out” category. It’s pretty much self-contained. The only external knowledge needed is some familiarity with the two 8-letter entries. And given the population coming to this Website, I’d say that this criterion leaves out nobody. (It’s at best tangential to the meta, but the game mentioned in one of those entries is “inferential,” the other is “spell it out.”)
Deadline noon Saturday, nudges later today.
Thanks to @Abide and @Wendy Walker for setting me straight on some of the cluing, and to @Joe Ross , who hurried back from a Bearcats game (alas, they lost) to make it available in a variety of formats.
Here’s the prompt:
It's good to do this in 25 Across, bad in 18 Across.
It's All in the Game:
crosshare
PUZ
PDF
spreadsheet
In last Saturday’s Q&A on Zoom, Matt Gaffney distinguished between “inferential metas” and those where the answer was “spelled out” by letters in the fill. An inferential meta requires thinking outside the grid – a knowledge of something out there in the culture, e.g., “Eight is Enough.” Last week’s SSS answer — “Three’s Company,” like Matt’s “Eight Is Enough” — was inferential, requiring what Hector in his comment called “unscripted insight,” which may be why so many people — even formidable solvers — were tempted to open the nudges.
This week’s SSS is in the “spelled out” category. It’s pretty much self-contained. The only external knowledge needed is some familiarity with the two 8-letter entries. And given the population coming to this Website, I’d say that this criterion leaves out nobody. (It’s at best tangential to the meta, but the game mentioned in one of those entries is “inferential,” the other is “spell it out.”)
Deadline noon Saturday, nudges later today.
Thanks to @Abide and @Wendy Walker for setting me straight on some of the cluing, and to @Joe Ross , who hurried back from a Bearcats game (alas, they lost) to make it available in a variety of formats.
Here’s the prompt:
It's good to do this in 25 Across, bad in 18 Across.
It's All in the Game:
crosshare
PUZ
spreadsheet
Last edited by Bird Lives on Sun Nov 05, 2023 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jay
- BarbaraK
- Posts: 2632
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
Sssolved!
If you want help with a meta, feel free to PM me. The more specific you are about what you have and what you want, the more likely I can help without spoiling.
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
-
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Sssolved! And thankfully didn’t have to use up the whole free hour to do so!
- schmidzy
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- CPJohnson
- Posts: 1099
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- Location: Kingsport, TN
- ky-mike
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- Location: Near Louisville Ky
- MarkWoychick
- Site Admin
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- Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2021 6:15 pm
- Location: Boise, ID
SSSolved - thanks, @Bird Lives
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 contest-style (meta) crosswords that we've created to help raise money for cancer-related organizations - get the bundle at http://crosswordsforcancer.com
- boharr
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- hcbirker
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- woozy
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- Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:40 am
Oh! That waS SSo cute!
Loved it. And a nice break.
EDIT: I just read the introduction after solving. It IS!?!?! I'll have to go back and backsolve. My have to revise my comment of "cute" and "nice break" but I predict I'll replace it with "brilliant" and "amazing". Let's see shall we....
Loved it. And a nice break.
EDIT: I just read the introduction after solving. It IS!?!?! I'll have to go back and backsolve. My have to revise my comment of "cute" and "nice break" but I predict I'll replace it with "brilliant" and "amazing". Let's see shall we....
Last edited by woozy on Sun Nov 05, 2023 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Funny story. I was all set to enter Par for the course for the CrossHare midi contest for April but I mistakenly thought midi meant 7x 7 and not 11 x 11. Oops. Well.... Here's a complex but **small** meta on the subject of golf.
- ajk
- Posts: 978
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
- Location: Colorado
Hmm, have what seems like it has to be the answer, but since I inferred it rather than finding it I'll keep looking.
ETA: and 8 minutes later, there it is. Very clever and fun, thanks.
ETA: and 8 minutes later, there it is. Very clever and fun, thanks.
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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- Cinny
- Posts: 825
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I'm sure I commented a while ago. I wonder where I commented? I think it is going to be that kind of day!!
Sssolved by inferring the answer. Now I'm trying to backsolve to see how I was supposed to solve.
Thanks, Jay!
Sssolved by inferring the answer. Now I'm trying to backsolve to see how I was supposed to solve.
Thanks, Jay!
Cindy Heisler
- Bird Lives
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Solvers so far:(Crosshare may be running on delay, so this list may not be up to the minute):
Abide (TS)
Wendy Walker (TS)
1. Hector
2. BarbaraK
3. merlinnimue
4. Cindy Weatherman
5. Berto
6. Mr Tex
7. Pair O Ducks
8. CPJohnson
9. DrTom
10. kymike
11. JM
12. Meg
13. Mwoychick
14. boharr
15. heidi
16. Schmeel
17. Alex Sisti
18. Carolyn
19. woozy
20. imontoo
21. Cindy Heisler
22. ajk
Here are the 1:30 nudges, probably more nudges than you need.
Abide (TS)
Wendy Walker (TS)
1. Hector
2. BarbaraK
3. merlinnimue
4. Cindy Weatherman
5. Berto
6. Mr Tex
7. Pair O Ducks
8. CPJohnson
9. DrTom
10. kymike
11. JM
12. Meg
13. Mwoychick
14. boharr
15. heidi
16. Schmeel
17. Alex Sisti
18. Carolyn
19. woozy
20. imontoo
21. Cindy Heisler
22. ajk
Here are the 1:30 nudges, probably more nudges than you need.
Jay
-
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- whimsy
- Posts: 2811
- Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
- Location: Hopkinton MA
Sssolved after a few nudges poked me in the brain --
Thanks for the fun and games, Jay!
Nice one!Thanks for the fun and games, Jay!
- SamKat9
- Posts: 277
- Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2023 7:45 pm
- Location: Southeast Florida
Sssolved, with nudges. Clever puzzle!
Shannon
PS: If you want help with a meta, PM what you have so I can help without spoiling too much. I've received lots of help in the beginning and I love to pay it forward!
PS: If you want help with a meta, PM what you have so I can help without spoiling too much. I've received lots of help in the beginning and I love to pay it forward!
- KayW
- Moderator
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- Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 12:10 am
- Location: Chicago
SSSolved with nudges, but chagrined to have needed them. Well played! (Jay, that is. Not me )
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
- benchen71
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Sssolved, with the help of the nudges. Well done, Jay. Clever puzzle!
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!
- Jeremy Smith
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