#651 - "Missing Piece"

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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tonyrobots
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#81

Post by tonyrobots »

Also worth noting that asking for a nudge isn’t the same as actually receiving one. Still hacking away over here!
burak
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#82

Post by burak »

Cindy wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:03 am When I give nudges, I ask the folks to tell me what they see. And then I tell them whether they are headed in the right or wrong direction. Sometimes this helps someone to a solution and sometimes not. But that is the world of puzzles. You cannot solve all the puzzles all the time.
By the way, that is perfectly acceptable to me and I think is helpful to new solvers. But I've listed my nudge-related concerns under this discussion: forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=389&p=20433#p20433 It's just that this week seems to be a perfect encapsulation of my concern number 3. That being said, I don't judge anyone who ask for nudges or anything because that would be absurd :)
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Streroto
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#83

Post by Streroto »

My sincere thanks to Joe Ross and KayW for helpful nudges. Of course I won’t post, but working it out myself still gives me new insights into a very difficult puzzle. Thanks so much folks
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Cindy
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#84

Post by Cindy »

burak wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 11:12 am
Cindy wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:03 am When I give nudges, I ask the folks to tell me what they see. And then I tell them whether they are headed in the right or wrong direction. Sometimes this helps someone to a solution and sometimes not. But that is the world of puzzles. You cannot solve all the puzzles all the time.
By the way, that is perfectly acceptable to me and I think is helpful to new solvers. But I've listed my nudge-related concerns under this discussion: forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=389&p=20433#p20433 It's just that this week seems to be a perfect encapsulation of my concern number 3. That being said, I don't judge anyone who ask for nudges or anything because that would be absurd :)
And just for clarity it was not your post that led me to comment. It was the preponderance of public nudge requests this week. It was not my intent to be critical of your post. Not that you said that I was. I just want the forum to be as welcoming as possible.
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Al Sisti
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#85

Post by Al Sisti »

Okay, past the deadline and my streak of 76 is over. Crossword Fiend didn't help me... so what was the answer and why?
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Al Sisti
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#86

Post by Al Sisti »

Step 1: notice that all four theme entries have words of 1, 2, 4, and 5 letters
Step 2: so the titular “Missing Piece” might be a 3-letter word
Step 3: write out the eight three-letter entries in grid order: ETA ASS MAS SIN BMI NOR AGO ILL
Step 4: see that the central four spell out Bach’s MASS IN B MINOR, which is the “Missing Piece” and another example of the 1, 2, 4, 5 pattern

Shoot - I had written in my notes B Minor, and noted that "noted" could refer to music. Well done solvers!
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Joe Ross
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#87

Post by Joe Ross »

"a NOTED work of art" suggesting music.


4 theme entries of 12 letters, in 4 words of 1, 2, 4, & 5 letters. 3-letter words were "missing".


There are 8 3-letter words in the grid:

ETA ASS MAS SIN BMI NOR AGO ILL, or MASS IN B MINOR, of 4, 2, 1, & 5 letters.


Also, "a noted work of art" has 5 words of 1, 5, 4, 2, & 3 letters. The meta clue was not "missing" the 3-letter word, "art."
Last edited by Joe Ross on Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:14 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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jakeorjacob
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#88

Post by jakeorjacob »

Al Sisti wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:06 pm Step 1: notice that all four theme entries have words of 1, 2, 4, and 5 letters
Step 2: so the titular “Missing Piece” might be a 3-letter word
Step 3: write out the eight three-letter entries in grid order: ETA ASS MAS SIN BMI NOR AGO ILL
Step 4: see that the central four spell out Bach’s MASS IN B MINOR, which is the “Missing Piece” and another example of the 1, 2, 4, 5 pattern

Shoot - I had written in my notes B Minor, and noted that "noted" could refer to music. Well done solvers!
Fascinating. Any thoughts about why we're ignoring the first two words in the list of threes?
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Hector
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#89

Post by Hector »

DNF, alas. I did look at the 3-letter entries but never came close to looking at the middle four of them in grid order.

1452 is the year of da Vinci's birth, and there's that IMONA ILSA, but I Hail Maryed with Venus de Milo on account of missing pieces.
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FrankieHeck
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#90

Post by FrankieHeck »

Hector wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:12 pm I Hail Maryed with Venus de Milo on account of missing pieces.
I did the same :D
Dplass
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#91

Post by Dplass »

Al Sisti wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 12:06 pm Step 1: notice that all four theme entries have words of 1, 2, 4, and 5 letters
Step 2: so the titular “Missing Piece” might be a 3-letter word
Step 3: write out the eight three-letter entries in grid order: ETA ASS MAS SIN BMI NOR AGO ILL
Step 4: see that the central four spell out Bach’s MASS IN B MINOR, which is the “Missing Piece” and another example of the 1, 2, 4, 5 pattern

Shoot - I had written in my notes B Minor, and noted that "noted" could refer to music. Well done solvers!
Huh. I wrote them out in that order but vertically. Eh, I probably would have never seen it even horizontally. I was only considering works of, you know, (painted) ART.
cherikee
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#92

Post by cherikee »

At one point I actually looked at all the 3 letter words and tried to make something out of them. I'm honestly proud that I made it that far. I wasn't going to see that answer unless I knew I was on the right path to even look at all those words in the first place - I just assumed I was on the wrong track. I think that's what made this one so difficult - there's no concrete "aha" moment until you see the answer. I'm trying to go "nudge free" these days, which so far just means I'm figuring them out less often :)

My main takeaway from this puzzle is that I now understand why folks say they are "on the ship with Isaac" in the WSJ forum.

Since it seems to be a discussion this week, I think $3 / month is the bargain of a lifetime for these. I'm too embarrassed to calculate how much I'm paying per hour of "entertainment" .... but it's not much.
Laura M
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#93

Post by Laura M »

I thought that I must have skipped a step or two on this one, but I went exactly through Matt's four steps (with a bunch of detours between steps 2 and 3). I thought there must have been a reason to pick those particular 3-letter words, and I couldn't shake the idea that STRIPES must have something to do with it. So I feel a bit unfinished on this one, although it was pretty cool and I'm happy I got it!
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mpmanning
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#94

Post by mpmanning »

Wow! This was a learning experience to say the least! I guess that I have more to learn than I anticipated. Oh well, there's always next week. And you say that the next one on Friday will be a week 4 puzzle that will be more difficult!

Hmmm. Oh no! Sound the Collision Alarm!!
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Hector
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#95

Post by Hector »

And you say that the next one on Friday will be a week 4 puzzle that will be more difficult!
If Matt follows his usual practice after a difficulty miss like this, this week's puzzle will be (meant to be!) easier than a typical week 4.
mheverson
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#96

Post by mheverson »

Oh well, not too upset about missing this one. I gathered it was musical from "noted" and mis-"sing" but was convinced that the 12-letters in each word and five total words (i.e. lines) were indicative of some sort of familiar 12-bar musical progression. I'm sitting here trying to play this puzzle out on a virtual piano like it's a level 35 or something.
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oldjudge
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#97

Post by oldjudge »

After getting to the 1,2,4,5 pattern, my Hail Mary was based on the third word of each theme answer: TO CARTE US AN. if you say it aloud it sounds like Two Courtesans, which is a famous work of art. Thankfully, I didn’t need it.
eisense
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#98

Post by eisense »

Cindy wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:03 am I have had several requests for nudges from this board this week. And I will say without exception that no one was begging for a hint that would get them to the answer. In fact, in most cases, it was folks who haven’t been doing metas for very long and are trying to learn more about how to do metas. A couple have even stated right up front that they have no intention of submitting an answer. When I first started doing metas a few years ago, there was no one to ask anything. I think this board is a great place for folks to learn. And we all know that the more you do, the “easier” they get. And by this I mean you start to notice things that you never would have noticed previously.

When I give nudges, I ask the folks to tell me what they see. And then I tell them whether they are headed in the right or wrong direction. Sometimes this helps someone to a solution and sometimes not. But that is the world of puzzles. You cannot solve all the puzzles all the time.

Case in point, on the MMMM this month, I had to let my personal streak go and my perfect 2020. Such is life.
Cindy's nudge to me (does that make me a noodge?) was basically, uh-huh but there's more. . It was my first ever nudge request (so I'm not a noodge after all?). Thank you Cindy and thanks to Muggles Members for sharing your passion, learning and humility in this space.
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tonyrobots
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#99

Post by tonyrobots »

I got to the list of 8 three-letter words, thanks to a nudge from Joe Ross. But from there, I thought, “okay, let’s keep counting letters.”

Out out of those 8 words, if you throw out any letter that only appears once, you get:

A I L M N O S

Which anagrams to MONA LISA (using the A twice.) Didn’t feel at all “clean” but with 5 minutes left before the deadline I figured it was worth a shot.

Oh well!
burak
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#100

Post by burak »

Cindy wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 11:56 am
burak wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 11:12 am
Cindy wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:03 am When I give nudges, I ask the folks to tell me what they see. And then I tell them whether they are headed in the right or wrong direction. Sometimes this helps someone to a solution and sometimes not. But that is the world of puzzles. You cannot solve all the puzzles all the time.
By the way, that is perfectly acceptable to me and I think is helpful to new solvers. But I've listed my nudge-related concerns under this discussion: forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=389&p=20433#p20433 It's just that this week seems to be a perfect encapsulation of my concern number 3. That being said, I don't judge anyone who ask for nudges or anything because that would be absurd :)
And just for clarity it was not your post that led me to comment. It was the preponderance of public nudge requests this week. It was not my intent to be critical of your post. Not that you said that I was. I just want the forum to be as welcoming as possible.
Oh yeah I just wanted to use your post to clarify my position, I didn't think you were criticizing me or anything. All good, we are a polite bunch here :)
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