"Four Letter Words"

[Richard B.]

Reposted below ...

[Richard B.]

Hmmm - Richard, you'll have to explain why that was a spoiler later (or PM me). I must have my maximum density aluminum-foil hat on today?

I agree that my comment was hardly a spoiler but in case anyone might think it was similar to one of Brian’s nudges above about Muggles I buried it under a spoiler label. Overkill, if not downright confusing, I’ll admit. I’ll PM you with some more detail.

[BrianMac]

Updated leaderboard and solution:

1. RPardoe
2. Meg
3. oldjudge
4. Cindy
5. Beth Tyrpin
6. ChrisKochmanski
7. dencurrin
8. boharr
9. TMart
10. Cindy N
11. Hector
12. Laura M
13. C=64
14. BarbaraK
15. markhr
16. Al Sisti
17. lbray53
18. Richard B.
19. Abide (who had all but his left foot off the couch yesterday, and I'm sure is all the way off by now )

Thanks to everyone who solved. Bit of a doozy this week, but hopefully most people enjoyed it. The answer to the meta is PUT FORTH, which are the two entries in the grid that are synonymous with SAID. Each of the theme entries can be defined or associated with a 4-letter word:

MAYFLOWER -- SHIP
PASSOVER -- SKIP
HYDROPLANE -- SKID
SMOOTHEN -- SAND
TOUCHDOWN -- LAND

Most solvers noticed that these 4 letter words almost form a "word ladder," where one letter of each word changes to make a new word, often with some kind of theme. COLD to WARM is a common one. Here, it's SHIP to LAND, to represent the trek of the Muggle, I wanted to use LINER to BEACH, or something a little more direct, but they all took 7-8 steps -- too many for a 15x15. Word ladders used to be common themes in crosswords, but they have fallen out of favor, now seen as trite. But I thought the idea might have new life in a meta puzzle (though I'm still sure I've seen it done somewhere else).

Anyway the word that is missing is SAID, which is the only word that can fit between SKID and SAND. My biggest disappointment with the puzzle is that I did not consider that SKIM, or worse, SLIP could also both work for HYDROPLANE, and they fit the word ladder close enough that some solvers got tripped up there. Sorry about that. That word was my hang-up making the puzzle too. I was worried that SKID is not really synonymous with HYDROPLANE. I'm still not convinced, but I got comfortable with it. But SLIP is probably a much better description of the HYDROPLANE action of a car.

Thanks again to everyone who solved!

[Hector]

I was slowed by SKIM, but not horribly. Very nice puzzle; I especially like the "missing rung" idea, which makes it tricky to see what the four-letter equivalents are doing. Also neat that there are no four-letter entries (but plenty of distracting four-letter words embedded in longer entries).

[whimsy]

Thanks for the explanation, Brian. Even with the nudges, I only got as far as SHIP and (yes) SLIP so I was looking at rhyming words. That similarity shoulda coulda triggered word ladder -- very innovative -- since I am familiar with them. Wasn't even certain whether the other two entries were part of the solution, but I have to add that when I did consider SMOOTHEN, I was splitting it in two like the others and coming up with SMOOT and HEN. Wasn't sure how I could apply Oliver Smoot and/or units measuring the length of the bridge across the Charles River (and/or chickens!) to come up with an answer.
I certainly had fun with it anyway, so thanks again!

[C=64]

I started (after the nudge, that is) with SHIP, SKIP, SLIP... but SMOOTHEN and TOUCHDOWN don't mean SNIP and I couldn't think of a fifth S_IP word anyway.

I was wondering whether the word ladder had extra rungs above and below the grid (starting with a "four-letter word" that can be changed to SHIP) but I eventually got the SHIP-LAND Love Boat connection.

[FrankH]

After the nudge, I got as far as SKID, and figured the last word was LAND. But I never figured out SAND for smoothen, and so couldn't get to the answer. I did recognize SKIM and SLIP as possible words, but decided they don't play any role.

[Laura M]

I was so close (well, kind of close) and yet so far (Brian kindly put me on the board, but I didn't deserve it!). Like whimsy and C=64, I was looking for rhyming words, and the only one that I was 100% certain had to be right was HYDROPLANE => SLIP :-) Really a fantastic meta though, and I love the muggle connection!