XWord Muggles Forum

Hello and welcome to the first installment of the MEOW (Madhatter's Enigma On Wednesdays)!

The answer to this meta is a summer activity.

http://crossword.info/madhatter5/Count_Me_In


Good luck!

Oh Goody -- just when I thought I was all out of puzzles! (for the next 24 hours anyway.)
Count me in --
Excellent that it ended up on Wed. 'cause now there"s a great acronym.

Sent you a pm

As Hector pointed out, the chemical formula in 15-across is incorrect and should be CH3CH2CH2OH.

I'll update the puzzle later today. Sorry about that.

madhatter5 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 03, 2020 3:00 am As Hector pointed out, the chemical formula in 15-across is incorrect and should be CH3CH2CH2OH.

I'll update the puzzle later today. Sorry about that.

Gee, somehow that slipped right by me.

Confirmed -- I have Belled the Cat! -- I'd put a tiny bell and cat emoji but I haven't figured out how to do anything but the smilies yet!(Tutorial, anyone? )
Thank you muchly for this fun and challenging meta, madhatter! I feel a bit as though I nearly accidentally made a first inroad into the solution -- but, hey, serendipity happens! It all makes good sense and meshes --
PS - I have a nudge or two on tap should anyone want one.

whimsy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:56 am ... I'd put a tiny bell and cat emoji but I haven't figured out how to do anything but the smilies yet!(Tutorial, anyone? )

I first started using emojis on xword-muggles by copying & pasting them from texts, using a blank email draft when posting via computer (to bring over from the texting phone - you can also copy & paste from the 984,386 emoji websites available on the interwebs).

Pasting from another source is better, IMHO, since you can use the HUGE sizing feature of this forum to make the emojis visible:

Normal emoji size:

Huge emoji size:


I later discovered that my phone's keyboards have a smiley face emoji at the bottom left corners, allowing direct posting of emojis into these posts, but not allowing them to be sized differently.

Feel free to PM with questions.

I guess Skinned the Cat would be in poor taste. But with a shove, I've solved this.

I got it with a slew of shoves. And a partridge in a pear tree.

Plenty of shoves and some friendly brainstorming while I was driving home from work. Finally!

And if anyone is wondering...I can drive, look at the grid at stoplights and talk to my solving buddy on the phone all at the same time.

Like the acronym.

Grid was a little tough, so I resorted to google a couple of times. No hope for me on the meta.

Got it -- though it took a couple of nudges -- while learning a bit along the way.

Good one!

Solution:

The starred entries all contain the name of a famous mathematician, plus a letter:

1A: CAROTIN = CANTOR + I (or even CARNOT + I if we stoop to including physicists)

8A: IMAFTER = FERMAT + I

23A: DUCTILE = EUCLID + T

31A: DUELER = EULER + D

45A: MERCHANDISE = ARCHIMEDES + N

60: WIELDS = WILES + D

64A: OPENAIR = NAPIER + O

73A: ARMENIAN = RIEMANN + A

The remaining letters spell ADDITION.



Mixed feedback on this one. Some of you enjoyed it, some thought it was unfairly obscure. Either way I definitely made the hint at 83-across too subtle.

Also, I just want to apologize for the clue to 80-across, which was in poor taste.

I'll write this as a spoiler just in case anyone's still attempting the puzzle and hasn't peeked at madhatter's solution --

I called getting the solution accidental because I "accidentally" saw EULER in DUELER as a way in. (And when I found the D, a letter of the likely answer ADDITION, I was encouraged to continue.) Because, when I described the puzzle to my husband who studied math, he helpfully told me I was pronouncing Euler wrong. I immediately responded that it was good that I did and that I was rhyming them in my head, because otherwise I never would have gotten it -- I can be such a blankety-blank Pollyanna! --

Have to agree with obscure -- I'm giving any puzzle like this a new category name --- niche-reach!

And, true, I didn't appreciate HOMONYM as it related to "Summer Activity" -- (I think I only latched on to the math connection because of the Shenk KNEEBREECHES puzzle a couple of months ago -- thanks, Mike!) -- boharr had to point that out to me -- it takes a village!
See you tomorrow!

After enjoying today's Monday meta I found this puzzle and I am proud to say solved it without any nudges. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend that others try it.