"We're In This Together" - August 28, 2020

[Annabelle]

Grid easy, meta not so much. Of course, at first I didn't read the clue properly and was looking for multi-word answers in the grid. Doh! Still time to get ashore, but may stay afloat another week, sigh.

[Bob cruise director]

Good Sunday afternoon muggles. In the words of my wife "why can't every day be like this" - upper 70's, low humidity, bright puffy clouds and a cool breeze.

First we welcome a couple of our newest muggles - Edward Brading, and dk letter

It has been a busy 24 hours - we have 11 on the ship and 148 on the shore - wind surfing, swimming or being towed there, all arriving safely

new to the ship are
zacmoretz
Jeanne C
rexthree
Annabelle

and making their way to the shore are
NuYear68
eagle1279 who was there yesterday but I missed him
802puzzler
Georgeall
hunkra
ladybird
KscX
tmitchell300
Janet
Patty
Grover
Daniel G
ky-mike
Scott M
Schmeel - abandoned by his family at 1 am
EVJ
yungchap
pookie
copperriver
Cynthia J
kaille
Nalugirl
Kris
phofer
burak
jag
wordsmith
JRS51
Lee-Ann
Edward B
cbarbee002
Gpiggies
Tom S
Deb
dk letter
and Jeff S

Good luck to all getting to the shore and winning the mug - and stay safe

[cherikee]

I'm still on the ship - I put this down for a couple of days, hoping that fresh eyes would provide some enlightenment, but no luck. Would appreciate a small nudge if anyone would be so kind.

[Guy]

Ashore, as has been suggested, sometimes it helps to walk away to return with fresh eyes.

[cherikee]

I'm still on the ship - I put this down for a couple of days, hoping that fresh eyes would provide some enlightenment, but no luck. Would appreciate a small nudge if anyone would be so kind.

Oddly enough, I've actually had some post "nudge request" enlightenment. Sometimes just explaining where you are helps you find new things!

[Bird Lives]

Add me to the ship's manifest. I got the answer but only because of a nudge strong enough to send me overboard.

[Colin]

Had to finish a chore, but have made it to shore!
Happy, lazy, Sunny Afternoon Bob 27D!

[OGuyDave]

Done (Thu) and done (a couple of hours ago).

That first step was quite the struggle for me, and so were the rest.
Sounds like a broken record, but, again, magnificent construction.

Stay safe everyone.

TFTXWD.

[norrin2]

Ashore and happy to be here. That putting a puzzle aside and coming back later for a fresh look really works (sometimes).

[cherikee]

I'm still on the ship - I put this down for a couple of days, hoping that fresh eyes would provide some enlightenment, but no luck. Would appreciate a small nudge if anyone would be so kind.

Oddly enough, I've actually had some post "nudge request" enlightenment. Sometimes just explaining where you are helps you find new things!

To be clear - I'm ashore (and exhausted) now. Time to look at Gaffney's other puzzle...

[dmorack]

Made it ashore. Astounding construction.

[RobM]

I got the answer on Thursday evening, but I only got the joke now. Nice one!

[CallMeShane]

Back from the meta-dead.

Ashore.

[MajordomoTom]

I'm on a beach, pretty sure it's the correct one.

[haari]

filled in the crossword (most of it, anyway) Thursday night... went for a long bike ride Friday and spent Saturday recovering on the sofa... so had lots of time to figure this one out... as they say, Life's a beach!

[JRS51]

On shore! Really enjoyed the AHA moment which came surprisingly quickly after completing the grid this afternoon. Fun mechanism.
Look forward to seeing people’s comments Monday morning.

Or seeing the comments about 3 minutes after the deadline when Joe posts the solution!

It helps me that I'm on central time so I only have to wait until 11p.

Very true - in fact I’m in AZ and I’ll see the solution and the early posts at 9 pm!

[PQ63]

Ashore with a Grey Goose martini.

[RDaleHall]

Late start coming off busy Fri / Sat. Grid done so count me swimming for now but looking to made a mad dash for shore tonight

[PJM]

Safely ashore, enjoying a delicious Languedoc-Roussillon red.

I finished the grid quickly and made it through the next step soon after that on Friday. But it took fresh eyes today to work through the rest of this brilliant meta.

Cheers, all!

[KscX]

People saying “humorous” were worrying me, but I think I see that now too!