XWord Muggles Forum

ChrisKochmanski wrote: ↑Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:30 pm Off the couch!

Yes, Bird Lives, you're evoking feelings of MMMM -- which is a good thing!

Update: Turns out I had only part of the answer. (I hadn't read the whole request.)

Now completely off the couch (and hunting in the fridge for a treat).

Off the couch!

After an embarrassingly silly initial submission (hey, Bird DID say it was easy - - but not nearly as easy as I wanted to make it) and a redirect, I'm OTC, and a little wiser for the experience. Fun puzzle. Now off to celebrate the Tide's win . . .

I'm camped out on the couch. However, I'll have another look now that I see the revised prompt.

The new prompt did the trick! Thanks Jay for a lovely puzzle!

It took the revised instructions and a bit of a shove, but I'm now completely off the couch That was a fun puzzle!

Submitted something that seems very familiar, but not sure I understand the instructions completely.
I only had the title part of the answer. Now, I see both sides. OTC

Off the couch (unconfirmed). Fun puzzle and meta. Thank you, Jay !

My instructions may have been ambiguous as to what was required in an answer. Since the point is to find what’s hiding in the grid, I’m flexible on answers as long as it’s clear that you’ve found them.

Just to clarify. There are two songs. One is suggested by elements of the puzzle that also constitute the title of an album. The other song title has nothing to do with that. And if you submitted those, it’s obvious that you also knew who was in the Hall of Fame even if you neglected to say so.

Despite my clumsy instructions, the list of solvers has grown to include

14. whimsy
15. madhatter5
16. cbarbee002
17. ReB
18. hcbirker
19. KayW
20. Dow Jones

That said, here are some nudges.

1. The title is of more help if you’re familiar with British-style cryptics, Their clues have lots of words that indicate an anagram (try wikipedia for "cryptic clues" and scroll down to Anagrams).

2. This one is something you probably already figured out.
Look in the long entries.

3. This nudge requires some decrypting. Maybe it’s useful only after you’ve solved the meta, but I’m including it anyway.
These guys may be of help: Alpert the trumpter, Score the pitcher, Gardner the playwright, Ritts the photograper.

One more. Just because it’s hidden under the “spoiler” sign doesn’t mean it’s a real nudge. It might be more of a distraction since it has nothing to do with the songs in the meta, only with who’s in the Hall of Fame. It’s in puzzle format, and probably will serve more to amuse those who have gotten the meta than to help those who haven’t.

Got it post-prompt-revision and pre-nudges. Thanks, Bird!

Off the couch, but only after the nudges..

Off the couch. I needed the last "spoiler not a real nudge" which was a fun puzzle by itself and headed me in the right direction.

Nudged off the couch, finally. Great construction!

Off the couch, with nudges, and two great songs running through my mind!

Got it finally. Needed everything!

The songs are “Scarborough Fair” and “Mrs. Robinson,” performed by Hall of Famers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle.

“Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme,” I count as a win even though technically it’s the name of the album, not the song. But many of us who weren’t paying close attention think it’s also the name of the song or that it should be – like the song “In Other Words,” which officially changed its name to “Fly Me To the Moon” because that’s what everyone called it.
.
1. If you do cryptic crosswords, you probably caught on right away that Final Arrangements indicated anagrams of the final letters of the long entries. Going clockwise round the grid, those were (everyone sing along now) PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY, and THYME.

2. Several of the early solvers got the Simon and Garfunkle just from MRS ROBIN SON, which I had put it only as an afterthought. That’s when I changed the prompt to “two songs and who performed them.”

3. Some solvers saw other S&G songs lurking in the shadows, but SF and Mrs. R were the only two I put there. Try as I might, I couldn't work “A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)” into the grid.

4. I tried to make the clues musical wherever I could. My editor, the redoubtable BrianMac, suggested taking Carly Simon out of the clue for PAIN since CARLY was the answer to a clue, and Simon was half the answer to part of the meta. But I couldn’t think of any other “pain” songs offhand, so I left her in. Other dubious musical clues included the one I had originally for RAKE: “He makes progress in a Stravinsky opera.” Brian convinced me (it wasn’t hard) that this was a bit obscure, so I changed it to something with autumn leaves.

5. Schmeel wrote, “I also saw 4A GOESBAD and 61A ATISSUE that may describe their complex relationship.” He has a point.

The solvers are:

1. Tmart
2. Wendy Walker
3. ChrisKochmanski
4. oldjudge
5. Meg
6. Cindy
7. Frankie Heck
8. boharr
9. Al Sisti
10. whimsy
11. C=64
12. Schmeel
13. SewYoung
14. whimsy
15. madhatter5
16. cbarbee002
17. ReB
18. hcbirker
19. KayW
20. Dow Jones
21. MikeM000
22. Dave C
23. Rpardoe
24. dudeski
25. Fkelly
26. Dannyvee
27. Beth Tyrpin
28. JeanneC
29. Anita
30. Tom Wilson
31. BarbaraK
32. Hector
33. lbray53
34. Hidden in 3D
35. Abide
36. m5rammy
37. Naptown Kid


And the prize? You want a prize? OK, be caller number 25, and I will send you, in violation of all copyright laws, a .pdf of sheet music for 50 Paul Simon songs. Maybe 51. I lost count.

Bird Lives wrote: ↑Wed Jan 13, 2021 10:05 am My instructions may have been ambiguous as to what was required in an answer. Since the point is to find what’s hiding in the grid, I’m flexible on answers as long as it’s clear that you’ve found them.

Just to clarify. There are two songs. One is suggested by elements of the puzzle that also constitute the title of an album. The other song title has nothing to do with that. And if you submitted those, it’s obvious that you also knew who was in the Hall of Fame even if you neglected to say so.

Despite my clumsy instructions, the list of solvers has grown to include

14. whimsy
15. madhatter5
16. cbarbee002
17. ReB
18. hcbirker
19. KayW
20. Dow Jones

That said, here are some nudges.

1. The title is of more help if you’re familiar with British-style cryptics, Their clues have lots of words that indicate an anagram (try wikipedia for "cryptic clues" and scroll down to Anagrams).

2. This one is something you probably already figured out.
Look in the long entries.

3. This nudge requires some decrypting. Maybe it’s useful only after you’ve solved the meta, but I’m including it anyway.
These guys may be of help: Alpert the trumpter, Score the pitcher, Gardner the playwright, Ritts the photograper.

Out of curiosity, what does the last spoiler mean?

Dplass wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:33 am

Bird Lives wrote: ↑Wed Jan 13, 2021 10:05 am My instructions may have been ambiguous as to what was required in an answer. Since the point is to find what’s hiding in the grid, I’m flexible on answers as long as it’s clear that you’ve found them.

Just to clarify. There are two songs. One is suggested by elements of the puzzle that also constitute the title of an album. The other song title has nothing to do with that. And if you submitted those, it’s obvious that you also knew who was in the Hall of Fame even if you neglected to say so.

Despite my clumsy instructions, the list of solvers has grown to include

14. whimsy
15. madhatter5
16. cbarbee002
17. ReB
18. hcbirker
19. KayW
20. Dow Jones

That said, here are some nudges.

1. The title is of more help if you’re familiar with British-style cryptics, Their clues have lots of words that indicate an anagram (try wikipedia for "cryptic clues" and scroll down to Anagrams).

2. This one is something you probably already figured out.
Look in the long entries.

3. This nudge requires some decrypting. Maybe it’s useful only after you’ve solved the meta, but I’m including it anyway.
These guys may be of help: Alpert the trumpter, Score the pitcher, Gardner the playwright, Ritts the photograper.

Out of curiosity, what does the last spoiler mean?

They are all Herbs.

Dplass wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:33 am

Bird Lives wrote: ↑Wed Jan 13, 2021 10:05 am
here are some nudges.

3. This nudge requires some decrypting. Maybe it’s useful only after you’ve solved the meta, but I’m including it anyway.
These guys may be of help: Alpert the trumpter, Score the pitcher, Gardner the playwright, Ritts the photograper.

Out of curiosity, what does the last spoiler mean?

They are all men named Herb. Four herbs.
(It pained me to leave out Adderly the cornerback. He died last October, but his ghost seems to have been helping to thwart the Rams' passing game.)