#617 - "Game Time"

[laurareidsbooks]

ON SHORE.

I've been a stalker of the Muggles' comments for years, and this is my first ever post, so I've waited years to post that I'm "on shore"!

I knew the first step immediately, but it took me awhile to figure out where to go from there. Once I got it, I groaned, then called my mom and brother to help them solve it. My brother just got out of the Navy and he's new to the meta-world, and I think we've got him hooked!

[Hector]

Took a very roundabout path to discover how and why the final-step mechanism I'd been playing with all along was correct.

Weird & wild - - an excellent week 4/4.

And Laura, welcome and congratulations! (Although I don't know if the WSJ contest sea-faring metaphors extend in application to MGWCC? Well, why not!)

[burak]

It's one of those rare puzzles where I have circled a bunch of entries, underlined a bunch of clues and noted down a bunch of stuff only to confuse myself even more as time passes by. Ready to wave the white flag on this one. Maybe inspiration will come tomorrow morning.

[FrankieHeck]

Sometimes I just feel confident I'm going to be able to solve a meta. Something about the title, the themers, or something just makes me sure. I was sure I'd get this one. Tried so many things. Before I fell asleep last night I thought of one more interpretation, and woke up eager to apply it. Nope. I'm trying to not take hints in 2020, and I haven't even found the first step that many others did, anwyay. So I guess this is my "post for post-enlightenment" attempt. At least I won't be missing out on a chance at a mug!

[oldjudge]

Answer to Marv Throneberry trivia question as to why he was the perfect Met—Marv’s middle name was Eugene, making his initials MET. Congratulations to Al and Geoduck for getting the correct answer.

[KayW]

I just got around to looking at this now -- I'm not sure I'm gonna get this one before the deadline! There's goes my 100% solve rate.

I can say the exact same thing. But I just joined MGWCC last week so I don't have too much of a streak going

Hope to spend some more time on this tonight and maybe tomorrow morning but not at all optimistic.

p.s. I never heard of Marv Throneberry but I can assume he is not the answer? I think that's four we can cross off the list if working by process of elimination. Only a gazillion other names I never heard of to go...

[Jeremy Smith]

I’m still lost in space on this. As it’s a week 4, meta, I think I know where I should be looking for an entry point, but nothing is working so far. Any help is welcome and will be appreciated.

[KayW]

I am going to send up a flare too. I have one feeble toehold but not sure if it's correct or where to go from there. I can send what little I have so far. Please PM if you are willing to tell me if I am on the right track or just digging a deep hole to nowhere...

[joequavis]

Throwing in the towel. I look forward to Joon's writeup.

[bhamren]

I really liked this one. It helps that is the first time I have been correct for all puzzles in a month (except for the easy April a while back). I have done week 4 and 5 puzzles before but missed on like a week 2 or 3 so it is quite satisfying to get them all. Each one adds to the arsenal of tools to look for meta solving clues.

[KayW]

Woohoo!! On the leaderboard but definitely not a solo solve. Thanks to those who bumped me out of the dead-end hole I kept trying to dig myself into.

More on that post-deadline. I still have some loose threads I look forward to reading about in the write-up.

[Geoduck]

I just got around to looking at this now -- I'm not sure I'm gonna get this one before the deadline! There's goes my 100% solve rate.

I can say the exact same thing. But I just joined MGWCC last week so I don't have too much of a streak going

Hope to spend some more time on this tonight and maybe tomorrow morning but not at all optimistic.

p.s. I never heard of Marv Throneberry but I can assume he is not the answer? I think that's four we can cross off the list if working by process of elimination. Only a gazillion other names I never heard of to go...

Same here -- I just joined this month so this is only my 4th MGWCC puzzle.

It was sort of a personal inside joke.

[Geoduck]

OK, if someone wants to message me, I'll tell you what I see, just to see if I'm looking at a couple of huge rabbit holes.

[BarbaraK]

I finally submitted the same answer I'd found early on, and the leaderboard confirms I've successfully beamed up.

After I taking another look yesterday and sleeping on it last night, I decided I was confident my answer had to be right. I'm also confident that I jumped straight to the last step instead of following the intended process. I see traces of the path but definitely not the whole thing. So I'm looking forward to reading about it.

[FrankieHeck]

So I went to the store thinking it would take my mind off this, and I'd come home and read the answer. Still 20 minutes left, so if there is anyone who normally gets these but is stuck and wants to try a google hangout (is that still a thing?) last minute brainstorming session with me, send me a pm asap haha. I've made this "no-hint" rule for myself for Matt's puzzles, but I'm up for a group solve...

I don't even have much to offer, but sometimes putting two (or more) brains together can jar something.

[Hector]

I saw the patterns of Bs, Cs, and Ms right away and tried to get them to spell something. MOE? KOE? I consciously rejected the Ps as being part of it, for a reason I can't really reconstruct, but I think it had to do with my wanting the three patterns to emerge as three "pointers" of some kind --- arrows or ... SOMETHING.

I finally decided to look for other first steps, and thought of reading "three-pointers" in the "Game Time" context to have to do with Scrabble. First 3-point words, of which there are several. Then, looking at tile charts (not a big Scrabble player) saw that B, C, and M are 3-point letters. AHA! Are there any others? Yes, and it's only P. Reconsidering the patterning of Ps gave me the answer immediately.

Should have gotten there much quicker, but still a satisfying solve.

[FrankieHeck]

Dangit, Kobe was going to be my hail mary -- the one that came to mind when I read the title -- but in the mad rush to try to find an answer as the clock struck noon, I didn't turn it in. Still, this is the kind of puzzle I'm happy to lose my streak with, because I was nowhere close in my approach, and I didn't even notice those groups of letters. Which is kind of surprising, because I'm pretty sure I memorized both the grid and clues, so I could scan them mentally while I tried to go to sleep each night.

[Geoduck]

Well, thank you to those who confirmed for me that I was on the right track. And thank you for not giving me the answer, too! I want to get these on my own.

Sadly, even with the reassurance and one gentle nudge, I still did not get it.

[Leslie]

I'm also confident that I jumped straight to the last step instead of following the intended process.

I too completely skipped over the Scrabble step, which is very embarrassing for me because Scrabble is a serious game in my family. I noticed the clusters of Bs, Cs, and Ms right away (found the Ps later) but didn’t figure out what to do with them until I picked up the puzzle again on Sunday and immediately saw it.

[BrianMac]

I noticed early on that the B's made some kind of pattern in the upper left and that there were no other B's in the grid. It took me another day to see the M's, then another half day to see the P's. At this time, I had the M's forming an "E" and the P's forming a "D." I couldn't make a shape out of the B's (thought about "K," but foolishly dismissed it). A day later I saw the C's and finally "connected the dots." I never saw the Scrabble angle, so I never did get the significance of why B, C, P and M were the "dot" letters, but understanding it now gives me a lot more appreciation for the puzzle.