46. Cold Opens
- MikeyG
- Posts: 1420
- Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:52 pm
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
46. Cold Opens
PDF and PUZ
Crosshare
---
So we're in the first two months of the year or, as I refer to it, "Counting down to baseball season." My beloved Cubbies look to be improved this year with some solid signings on the off-season; I'll temper expectations, but that should at least keep those pesky Brewers and Cardinals playing at their best!
1. Puzzle #45 recap
Puzzle #45 answer: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW
Correct entries: 51 (first streak of two 50+ puzzles!)
So, some things to notice early on:
a. We have two semi-themers that certainly appear to be opposite in meaning: ANTEDILUVIAN and CONTEMPORARY.
b. Those basically mean, in a much simpler way, OLD and NEW.
c. But two themers does not a meta make, and there's a lot else going on in the grid, with many entries that do not quite seem to match their clues.
Four of the entries are missing something:
16-A: It might be found on your icebox shelf: CONE (COLDONE)
37-A: Variety of a popular card game: HEM (HOLDEM)
38-A: You might hear it on the radio: GENIE (GOLDENOLDIE)
65-A: Most audacious: BEST (BOLDEST)
And, then, four of the entries have something added within them:
29-A: Baby fox: KNEWIT (KIT)
04-D: Class of mathematical numbers: RENEWAL (REAL)
25-D: If: Sp.: SINEW (SI)
38-D: What you can deliver, with "the": GOODNEWS (GOODS)
I tried to be a little surreptitious with some of those, but some are very clearly incorrect! So, what did I do when writing the puzzle? I took any OLD out and put any NEW in, hence the 8-word phrase: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW.
d. Note as well that the clue for ANTEDILUVIAN (OLD) begins with the word OUT and the clue for CONTEMPORARY (NEW) begins with the word IN. In fact, these are the only instances of OUT and IN anywhere in the entire clues!
---
2. I'll also place this one at a Level 3; at the very least, it's a 2.5. I know my bonus puzzles are supposed to be minis, but I've been breaking that self-imposed rule, including on this one. Whoops!
---
46. Cold Opens
The answer to the meta is a 7-letter word.
Deadline is Tuesday, January 24 at 1 pm ET.
---
Good luck, and may all your solves be beautiful!
Mikey G
Crosshare
---
So we're in the first two months of the year or, as I refer to it, "Counting down to baseball season." My beloved Cubbies look to be improved this year with some solid signings on the off-season; I'll temper expectations, but that should at least keep those pesky Brewers and Cardinals playing at their best!
1. Puzzle #45 recap
Puzzle #45 answer: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW
Correct entries: 51 (first streak of two 50+ puzzles!)
So, some things to notice early on:
a. We have two semi-themers that certainly appear to be opposite in meaning: ANTEDILUVIAN and CONTEMPORARY.
b. Those basically mean, in a much simpler way, OLD and NEW.
c. But two themers does not a meta make, and there's a lot else going on in the grid, with many entries that do not quite seem to match their clues.
Four of the entries are missing something:
16-A: It might be found on your icebox shelf: CONE (COLDONE)
37-A: Variety of a popular card game: HEM (HOLDEM)
38-A: You might hear it on the radio: GENIE (GOLDENOLDIE)
65-A: Most audacious: BEST (BOLDEST)
And, then, four of the entries have something added within them:
29-A: Baby fox: KNEWIT (KIT)
04-D: Class of mathematical numbers: RENEWAL (REAL)
25-D: If: Sp.: SINEW (SI)
38-D: What you can deliver, with "the": GOODNEWS (GOODS)
I tried to be a little surreptitious with some of those, but some are very clearly incorrect! So, what did I do when writing the puzzle? I took any OLD out and put any NEW in, hence the 8-word phrase: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW.
d. Note as well that the clue for ANTEDILUVIAN (OLD) begins with the word OUT and the clue for CONTEMPORARY (NEW) begins with the word IN. In fact, these are the only instances of OUT and IN anywhere in the entire clues!
---
2. I'll also place this one at a Level 3; at the very least, it's a 2.5. I know my bonus puzzles are supposed to be minis, but I've been breaking that self-imposed rule, including on this one. Whoops!
---
46. Cold Opens
The answer to the meta is a 7-letter word.
Deadline is Tuesday, January 24 at 1 pm ET.
---
Good luck, and may all your solves be beautiful!
Mikey G
- Meg
- Posts: 2181
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
- oldjudge
- Posts: 1641
- Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:16 am
- Location: Pasadena, CA
- rjy
- Posts: 1046
- Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2021 12:52 pm
- Location: Gaithersburg, MD
- boharr
- Moderator
- Posts: 3228
- Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
- Location: Westchester, NY
- ChrisKochmanski
- Posts: 2223
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:51 pm
- Location: Saline, Michigan
- lbray53
- Posts: 1238
- Joined: Fri May 08, 2020 8:34 am
- Location: Elkhorn, WI
Solved. Very clever. I saw the title and a couple of easy associations and thought it would be easy. Then it wasn’t. But really fun.
I am rewarding myself with one.
I am rewarding myself with one.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
- whimsy
- Posts: 2819
- Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
- Location: Hopkinton MA
- KayW
- Moderator
- Posts: 3354
- Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 12:10 am
- Location: Chicago
Cool, man.
And very clever. Thanks MIkey!
And very clever. Thanks MIkey!
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.
- Cinny
- Posts: 827
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:53 pm
- Location: Minoa, NY
- Contact:
Cool puzzle, Mikey. Much fun especially after struggling with MGWCC.
Cindy Heisler
- benchen71
- Posts: 2488
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Got my wall built and then sat down to do the MikeyG. And success! Thanks for the puzzle.
(And if you can wait until July, you'll get to see my MOAT puzzle entitled "Cold Open". Fortunately, it involves an entirely different mechanism!)
(And if you can wait until July, you'll get to see my MOAT puzzle entitled "Cold Open". Fortunately, it involves an entirely different mechanism!)
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!
- MikeyG
- Posts: 1420
- Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:52 pm
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
I hope you weren't terrified when you saw the title and were like, "Uh oh..." Glad we didn't think too alike this time around!!
And you're welcome! Feeling grateful for the camaraderie of the Muggles board tonight!
- benchen71
- Posts: 2488
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Let's just say I was highly incentivized to solve it just to be sure!
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!
-
- Posts: 479
- Joined: Thu May 09, 2019 11:02 pm
- Location: Yakima, WA
- ky-mike
- Posts: 2007
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 4:22 pm
- Location: Near Louisville Ky
Me too. A couple of empty boxes in the grid. However, the meta came together wonderfully. Thanks Mike
- Darth
- Posts: 759
- Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:51 pm
- Location: Champaign, IL
- MikeyG
- Posts: 1420
- Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:52 pm
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
That slipped in, but there's enough there to devloskcab that I think I'll just leave it, haha.
I'll have to make a real Level 3 again at some point (I hear the joyous clamoring already), but we all deserve a "cool" puzzle now and again.
Keep up the solving! A solid 31 so far have done an ice job!
Mikey G
- jhseeman
- Posts: 495
- Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2020 3:33 pm
- Location: Charleston, SC
for an RF engineer, (and a big fan of Mel Brooks movies) always enjoy 59D. (and yes I do understand how CDMA and OFDMA works, yeah I'm a geek).
as an RF engineer, will freely admit, no clue on a couple of the SAT words used.
Fun puzzle, always enjoy the puns, and cool meta.
Thanks for making these.
as an RF engineer, will freely admit, no clue on a couple of the SAT words used.
Fun puzzle, always enjoy the puns, and cool meta.
Thanks for making these.