Good morning muggles, it's me, schmidzy, back with another pair-o-ducksical puzzle for you! This one's based on an idea I've had floating in my notes for quite some time, and I'm happy that it's finally ready for prime-time
We all thank @Abide every week for his editing work, but I truly can't thank him enough this time: you should all be glad I'm not making you solve the slog of a puzzle I originally sent him! But after much redirecting and polishing up, I'm really proud of how this one turned out. So if you enjoy it too, be sure and send your appreciation to Peter.
Thanks also to my test solvers, both muggles and yet-to-be-converted-muggles: @boharr , Jess Shulman, and Amie Walker. And many thanks to @Joe Ross , who prepares these beautiful solving files for us every week.
(Note: no spreadsheet this week as the grid is oversized.)
This was a great start to the week. I hope this means I will have a better meta week than the last one!
Thanks for the fun puzzle!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:57 am
by Schmeel
Off the couch - thanks for the puzzle!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 10:47 am
by ChrisKochmanski
OTC!
Loved it!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 11:49 am
by hcbirker
How fun! Loved it!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 12:36 pm
by woozy
Whoa! Way, way, way too much going on for just one meta.
This is kind of a weird feeling. When you have a meta and you can't see anything and you have stare until you see something from scratch is one thing. But here you see about fifty things that you simply have to conclude is only noise so you have to look for something entirely different but you have no idea what and you have to actively turn *off* the gazillion things you see. That's ... surprisingly hard to do. Not a very familiar feeling. I have a feeling I'm going to never see anything (except what has to be noise) until the nudges.
EDIT: Well, I never would have got this. And I still don't. But there was something to be there that I just didn't see or think about. But it's there. Oh, well.
EDIT: Wow.... this just wasn't my week for this type of puzzles. It's there though.
EDIT 2: I'm really regretting not trying harder. Lack of faith and assume that the other common mechanism is all over the place really threw me off.
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 12:41 pm
by hoover
OTC!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 4:41 pm
by Meg
That was a great puzzle!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 5:31 pm
by lbray53
Well done. OTC.
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 6:02 pm
by MatthewL
Off the couch! Great, great meta (when you finally see it). Thanks for the puzzle!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 6:05 pm
by ajk
Took a bit of a short cut, but fun nonetheless. And also fun to go back and see the full elegance. Thanks.
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:30 pm
by Ergcat
Not seeing it…. But will look some more!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:38 pm
by CPJohnson
Solved, with a push from another muggle. Thanks, @schmidzy!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:40 pm
by whimsy
OTC --
And striding away proudly and dapperly in a diaper...
Thanks, schmidzy! Lots of fun!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:53 pm
by rjy
Ergcat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:30 pm
Not seeing it…. But will look some more!
Same… hit a helluva rabbit hole, but still not convinced there’s no rabbit there. Still noodling
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 10:50 pm
by Alvibu67
OTC!
Great puzzle, schmidzy! Thanks!
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2024 10:55 pm
by MarkWoychick
Off the couch - very nice puzzle and aha to get the solve. Thank you, @schmidzy
Ergcat wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 7:30 pm
Not seeing it…. But will look some more!
Same… hit a helluva rabbit hole, but still not convinced there’s no rabbit there. Still noodling
There's a standard code mechanism that you use a lot when doing metas that have to do with states. You have to convince yourself This one *doesn't* use it. At all. It really, really, doesn't. Somehow I lacked the faith that it didn't and I just couldn't get beyond that.
Re: Making a State-ment
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2024 7:41 am
by schmidzy
29 solvers on day 1:
Alex Sisti
Cindy Heisler
Schmeel
I K Snamhcok
heidi
Meg
Cindy Weatherman
hoover
woozy
Tom Wilson
Hector
DIS
Carolyn
david
Philip Chow
Abide
lbray53
Gutman
DebbieC
MatthewL
ajk
whimsy
CPJohnson
damefox
Alvibu67
markhr
Mwoychick
Darrell
Mr Tex
How about the tiniest early nudge? (And as always, you can PM me with the steps you've tried if you want more of a hint.) There are two different definitions of "state" involved.
