Serenity Now

[Wendy Walker]

Monday evening leaderboard! What a great turnout so far, and thank you all for the very kind words:
[Test-solver]1. AJK
[Test-solver]2. Abide
3. Benchen71
4. Schmeel
5. Cindy Weatherman
6. JM
7. FrankieHeck
8. LarsCaine
9. Dave C
10. THC
11. Meg
12. Alex Sisti
13. rjy
14. Pair O Ducks
15. I K Snamhcok
16. boharr
17. Hector
18. Philip Chow
19. DrTom
20. kurtalert
21. andeux
22. Berto
23. Sharkicicles
24. MatthewL
25. lbray53
26. Cindy Heisler
27. CPJohnson
28. Danny K Bernstein
29. Bird Lives
30. Ergcat
31. Carolyn
32, Anita and Steve
33. heidi
34. markhr
35. Laura M
36. HeadinHome
37. Gutman
38. Darth
39. Steve M

[KayW]

OTC - a lovely puzzle.

Happy anniversary Wendy and many many more, please!

[whimsy]

OTC

Thanks, Wendy!

[Jeremy Smith]

Off the couch! Thank you, Wendy....and happy metaversary!

[MarkWoychick]

Off the couch - thanks, Wendy!

[edestlin]

Dismayed at how many folks solved this on the first day, while I'm still staring at the grid (I see something but no idea what to do with it). I'll keep an eye out for nudges later...

[Eric Porter]

Anytime a MMM doesn't follow the usual pattern I have to think a little. I saw the thing quickly.. but that doesn't mean I actually got the answer quickly. Thanks Wendy!

[Wendy Walker]

Friends, I am so grateful for all of your kind comments! Thanks for solving!
Here is the Tuesday evening leaderboard, plus early nudges:
40. Steve M
41. KayW
42. whimsy
43. Jeremy Smith
44. woozy
45. Mwoychick
46. DCBilly
47. dannyvee
48. SJ
49. Adam Simon Levine
50. DIS
51. Jaclyn
52. David
53. Eric Porter

► Show Spoiler

Have you spotted the themers? All of them comprise two five-letter words.

► Show Spoiler

Study them carefully. What else do they have in common?

► Show Spoiler

And where is that "what else" located in each word?

► Show Spoiler

Re-read the puzzle introduction at the start of this thread. What was the answer to my debut puzzle?

[hoover]

Off the couch a bit late. Happy metaversary!

[minimuggle]

Finally off the couch! Thanks so much Wendy for the anniversary puzzle and for all your support which has meant so much to me.

[ky-mike]

OTC. Had to think on this a couple of days.

Thanks Wendy!

[Hidden in 3D]

OTC! I just love your metas, Wendy! Thank you for sharing your talents as a cruciverbalist with us!

[Wendy Walker]

Oh my goodness! I am overwhelmed by the number of solvers and the extremely heartwarming comments on my metaversary puzzle. Thank you so much!

54. Richard
55. edestlin
56. damefox
57. Alvibu67
58. Dow Jones
59. hoover
60. atsiricajr111191
61. minimuggle
62. bhamren
63. omnilynx
64. Johnny Luau
65. rayyandroid
66. BarbaraK
67. Kulea
68. Hidden in 3D
69. Michael H
70. MajordomoTom
71. Jerry Miccolis

[Cap'n Rick]

OTC! Great job, Wendy! Looking forward to next year's anniversary puzzle!

[MikeyG]

In at an even 4 minutes. Clever! Somehow, I saw the way you were thinking: OUTER BANKS took me a while!

[Wendy Walker]

Final leaderboard:
72. Capn Rick
73. Mikey G
74. ELSavage
Thank you so much for solving, Muggle friends!
@Bob cruise director is going to post the reveal later today as I am on vacation in the cold, rainy, windy Outer Banks. Thanks Bob!

[Bob cruise director]

As noted above, here is the reveal from cold, rainy but not windy New England

[DaveG]

Great puzzle Wendy! I submitted peace... and went back and forth to the intro and never clicked for me to juxtapose outer and inner. D'oh!

That was fun