#640 - "She Takes The Opening Set"

An excellent puzzle written by one of the innovators of the meta crossword format. It comes out every Friday at noon and increases in difficulty throughout the month. Available for modest subscription (worth every cent) here: www.xwordcontest.com
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Hector
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#640 - "She Takes The Opening Set"

#1

Post by Hector »

This week's contest answer is a many-times winner of the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
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Hector
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#2

Post by Hector »

About as week 1 as they get.
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Joe Ross
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#3

Post by Joe Ross »

I guessed incorrectly, yet still lost to e.a. & L.L., who also guessed incorrectly.
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
Dplass
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#4

Post by Dplass »

Got it.
stmv
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#5

Post by stmv »

on the leaderboard after some ineffectual thrashing around until the clouds parted
paige11
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#6

Post by paige11 »

Got it after a few overly-complicated attempts.
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MikeM000
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#7

Post by MikeM000 »

When I signed up with MGWCC, the first week 1 I got was the "SOS" puzzle from April or so. I didn't submit a response because it never dawned on me it was as easy as just answering "SOS". This is a good week 1 puzzle - easy, but no so obvious that it almost seems like it's not right. This one did have some paths to go down, too...
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hashbrown
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#8

Post by hashbrown »

Beam me up! First time submitting an answer within an hour of release and in at #99. :D
-HB
Laura M
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#9

Post by Laura M »

Beam me up! Made the top 100, barely :-)
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tonyrobots
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#10

Post by tonyrobots »

Done and dusted! What am I gonna occupy my mind with now that Iโ€™ve done both of my metas? (Obvious answer: expand my routine to include more metas!)

Thought this was a nice one, though perhaps a little heavy on the hints.

Happy weekend, everyone!
damefox
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#11

Post by damefox »

Got it. Sometimes I think week 1 and week 5 are the only difficult levels MG actually gets. Everything in the middle is kind of a crapshoot. But to be fair, I'm not sure I could accurately assess what differentiates a week 2 from a week 4 either.
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TMart
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#12

Post by TMart »

Week 1, but still fun. Not who I would have guessed from the prompt.
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Jeremy Smith
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#13

Post by Jeremy Smith »

Got it!
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Meg
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#14

Post by Meg »

A week 1 for sure. Thanks, Matt.
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Cindy
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#15

Post by Cindy »

solved
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ky-mike
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#16

Post by ky-mike »

Done and done.
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oldjudge
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#17

Post by oldjudge »

Fun puzzle, but from the time I completed the grids, it actually took me longer to solve this one than last weekโ€™s week four. I almost guessed when I saw the title and itโ€™s a good thing I didnโ€™t. I bet my guess would have been the same as Joeโ€™s and probably EAโ€™s.
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spotter
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#18

Post by spotter »

Struggling with a week 1. Poor me :(
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hcbirker
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#19

Post by hcbirker »

Beam me up! That was quick!
Heidi
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ChrisKochmanski
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#20

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Beam me up!

This one came easily for me -- almost instantly after completing the grid and re-reading the title and prompt.
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