XWord Muggles Forum

Greetings, Muggles!

This meta puzzle was inspired by a rabbit hole that Wendy went down while trying to solve a Gaffney WSJ puzzle a few weeks ago. She thought it would make a nifty metanism for a future puzzle, and mentioned it to Alan, who within hours had devised two ideas for putting it into play, complete with themers. We hope you enjoy solving it as much as we did creating it.

Thank you to @Abide for test solving and to @Joe Ross for his formatting wizardry.

Cheers!



Bar Code crosshare

Bar Code PUZ

Bar Code PDF

Bar Code spreadsheet

Great way to start the week off..... fun one thanks to both of you....

OTC, fun puzzle, thank you!

OTC. Thanks for a fun puzzle.

Off the coach! Thank you for a fun start to the Meta-week!

OTC! Very cute!

Off the couch. Great puzzle! Thanks you two!

OTC. Now I see the elegance!

Off the couch with significant help from google. Good one!

Haven't got it but I'm 87% of the way there (I just know it) and I just want to say: See folks? *THIS* is a what a meta is supposed to be! This is the perfect thought process a meta should have!

... of course, maybe I should wait until I actually solve it before I make such declarations.

EDIT: Of the couch of course! Perfect quintessential example of what a meta can and should be.

Off the couch - very fun - well conceived and executed. Thanks, Wendy and Alan!

OTC!

OTC! Nice puzzle.
I didn't quite understand my answer until I looked through the comments on Crosshare because I'd actually done it slightly wrong. Finding out the correct mechanism gives me a greater appreciation of it. I probably would have noticed it if I'd printed the puzzle out.

OTC - very neat..(!)

Off the couch since earlier this AM, but didn't really have a clear picture regarding the meta at first; it was a bit grainy.

Berto wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2023 4:48 pm OTC - very neat..(!)

I see what you did there!

OTC. Great meta. Hard. Then easy. Then hard. Finally the aha moment!

Off the couch! Fun one!

Tuesday morning leaderboard, in, uh, order of appearance:

[TS] Abide
JHSeeman
SamKat9
Pair O Ducks
whimsy
boharr
JM
Ergcat
Meg
heidi
MatthewL
Laura M
BarbaraK
Mwoychick
I K Snamhcok
Berto
Carolyn
Eric Porter
woozy
Philip Chow
Tyrpmom
lbray53
dannyvee
Anita and Steve

And now here are some nudges:
The word that gave Wendy the entire idea for this puzzle is in the clue for 25D.
How else could you interpret that word, given the first word of the title ...
... and the last across entry in the grid?
In my intro I neglected to thank @capn Rick for his unwitting help with the title. He and I were creating another puzzle, and one of his clues was BAR CODE. In the schoolmarm-ish way that all of my co-creators have had to deal with, I told him that BARCODE should be one word, not two, and then realized BAR CODE would make a perfect title for THIS puzzle. Thanks, Rick!

Clever concept and really well executed, with a fun aha, so in my wheelhouse - and evidently Alan's too! Still pretty amazed by the output and creativity of Wendy's rookie season... Thanks W&A!