MGWCC #785 — “Tentative Meta”

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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KayW
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#61

Post by KayW »

:alien: :alien: :flying_saucer: Assisted into the tractor beam... (and I still have the palm print from myself on my forehead for needing it)

Congratulations DrTom on a magnificent MGWCC debut!
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
Katiedid
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#62

Post by Katiedid »

Congrats, Dr. Tom! I was stuck for a long time, and was looking down the wrong rabbit hole for a while. But I finally saw it. Very nice!
Waiting beam up. Matt hasn't updated since last night. I hope he is enjoying a great Father's Day.
Happy Father's Day to all you fathers!

EDIT: Finally got a 25 badge!
216. Katiedid ㉕ 06/18 - 17:38
Last edited by Katiedid on Mon Jun 19, 2023 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DrTom
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#63

Post by DrTom »

Bird Lives wrote: Sun Jun 18, 2023 5:57 pm Congrats to DrTom on pitching in the majors. As for the puzzle, sometimes it helps me to know who the constructor is. Not this time. If it had been anyone else, I might have seen what was going on without needing a nudge.
Well, I had to be a little less "me" if I was going to get on the MGWCC site, probably threw you because the goofy factor was a 3/10 as compared to my usual 11/10. Thanks for solving and sorry if I caused any angst.

T
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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Abide
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#64

Post by Abide »

Another Muggle hits the big time😮🎉🥳🍾

Congrats DrTom, and I can’t wait to hear the back story on Tuesday night!
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
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DrTom
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#65

Post by DrTom »

Well you won't see me in any underwear ads and I'm definitely not a New Kid on the Block, but I thank you for putting me in such lofty company. If I ever show off my abs it will only be as an answer to "Six pack" or "Crunchy things". I'll definitely spin the back story if desired some Tuesday.
Melvin Kline.jpg
T
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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Joe Ross
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#66

Post by Joe Ross »

*And* his Photoshop skills are unparalleled!
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#67

Post by dudeski »

Great job, Dr. Tom. This forum has brought out many talents.
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#68

Post by DrTom »

Joe Ross wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2023 7:25 am *And* his Photoshop skills are unparalleled!
Thank you. The hardest part was removing the tattoo from my chest once I found a picture of me in boxers. :lol:
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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mattythewsjpuzzler
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#69

Post by mattythewsjpuzzler »

Fun one! Thanks @DrTom!
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sharkicicles
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#70

Post by sharkicicles »

With help from @KayW i should be on the board soon… thanks DrTom!
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#71

Post by KayW »

sharkicicles wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2023 12:28 pm With help from @KayW i should be on the board soon… thanks DrTom!
Well credit for that ultimately goes to the nudge queen @Wendy Walker. I stole ...er, reutilized ...the nudge she gave me verbatim.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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Joe Ross
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#72

Post by Joe Ross »

20230616-MGWCC 785-Tentative Meta-reveal.png
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sharkicicles
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#73

Post by sharkicicles »

It’s funny how many people had the answer next to their name on the leaderboard…
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KayW
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#74

Post by KayW »

It's funny and sad that I needed help to see this one. Among many other rabbit holes, I saw TENtative and was looking for TENs everywhere but in the right context. I tried looking at the 10th letter of each clue, and for clues that were 10 LETTERS long. I also noted some of the contortedly wordy clues. But I never thought to count the number of words in each clue :confounded:
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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woozy
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#75

Post by woozy »

Just going to say again.... I came in the leader board at ... the number that was the answer.
Funny story. I was all set to enter Par for the course for the CrossHare midi contest for April but I mistakenly thought midi meant 7x 7 and not 11 x 11. Oops. Well.... Here's a complex but **small** meta on the subject of golf.
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#76

Post by Katiedid »

KayW wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:25 pm I also noted some of the contortedly wordy clues. But I never thought to count the number of words in each clue :confounded:

When I'm stuck for a while, I'll take a look at the puzzle using mechapuzzle. As a tool, it just speeds up things I could do manually. So even tho I'd noticed wordy clues, I saw on mechapuzzle that there were 10 clues >10 words each, and I didn't have to search and count them.

Before that, I was stuck because 1D and 23A both had number in the clues. Bedtime number and Tango number. So I was wondering what TWO TAPS meant for a while. :lol:
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KayW
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#77

Post by KayW »

Katiedid wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 2:23 pm
KayW wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:25 pm I also noted some of the contortedly wordy clues. But I never thought to count the number of words in each clue :confounded:

When I'm stuck for a while, I'll take a look at the puzzle using mechapuzzle. As a tool, it just speeds up things I could do manually. So even tho I'd noticed wordy clues, I saw on mechapuzzle that there were 10 clues >10 words each, and I didn't have to search and count them.

Before that, I was stuck because 1D and 23A both had number in the clues. Bedtime number and Tango number. So I was wondering what TWO TAPS meant for a while. :lol:
Thanks :)
I've used mechapuzzle too - usually for grid letter frequencies. And I even pulled it up while trying to solve this meta. Howzabout that!? It shows clue word counts too. :confounded: Wow, can I be oblivious or what?!
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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DrTom
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#78

Post by DrTom »

woozy wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:44 pm Just going to say again.... I came in the leader board at ... the number that was the answer.
Yes you did, and I squarely congratulated you!
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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#79

Post by ZooAnimalsOnWheels »

Like @KayW, I was a little embarrassed that I didn't think to count the words in the clues sooner. My mind was giving me a very imprecise, "Gee, there are a lot of clues here that use a lot of words!" But I didn't notice the TEN in 'Tentative' until after I finally counted the words. I was initially hung up on the Omega Across answer DEMOS, because while 'tentative' and 'demos' (as in demo tracks) aren't exactly synonyms, the ideas were close enough for me to look elsewhere.

@DrTom, it took the realization that the long clues all included exactly ten words before I was able to definitively identify them and then realize that there were also ten of them, so that's a couple AHAs even before the final answer.
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#80

Post by DrTom »

Oh I do love a steady diet of Ahas, I like them done rare and coated in sesame seeds…oh wait that’s Ahi, but I like AHA even better!!
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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