Introduce Yourself

[dannykbernstein]

Hi all,

I'm Danny, NYC-based pianist/musical theater composer. Longtime lurker, first-time poster, moderately recent convert to the world of metas. Fully hooked. Currently celebrating my first ever 4/4 for the MGWCC, but more importantly, posting here because I have just now completed constructing my first meta(!). I'm hoping to maybe do a series geared toward the musically/theatrically-inclined, and I'd really love test-solvers/feedback!

Either way, happy to officially join the fold.

[KayW]

Hi all,

I'm Danny, NYC-based pianist/musical theater composer. Longtime lurker, first-time poster, moderately recent convert to the world of metas. Fully hooked. Currently celebrating my first ever 4/4 for the MGWCC, but more importantly, posting here because I have just now completed constructing my first meta(!). I'm hoping to maybe do a series geared toward the musically/theatrically-inclined, and I'd really love test-solvers/feedback!

Either way, happy to officially join the fold.

Welcome to the forum! I'm always so impressed at the varied talents and professions of our members. Congratulations on two monumental cruciverbial achievements - a perfect MGWCC month AND a meta construction

Even after many years of meta-solving, I am a middle-of-the-road solver and NOT a constructor. So my ability to provide useful feedback might be limited. But musical/theatrical metas are right up my (tin pan) alley so I very much look forward to seeing your metas, either as a test-solver or when they are published. I'm sure you will have no shortage of offers to help, especially from some of our many constructor-members.

Also - as music is an interest of yours, you may want to check out Pete Muller's Monthly Music Meta. Pete provides these free to the public. In addition to a monthly music-themed meta, which increase in difficulty through the year much as MGWCC does each month, there is an over-arching Mega-Meta each year which is based on hints and patterns across each month's puzzle. February's MMMM will come out next Tuesday 2/6 and being early in the year it should be relatively easy. (Tho his metas can skew towards newer music and as a bit of a dinosaur myself I often need Google just to solve his grids.) We also have a forum topic devoted to his excellent puzzles here.

[Joe Ross]

Hi all,

I'm Danny, NYC-based pianist/musical theater composer. Longtime lurker, first-time poster, moderately recent convert to the world of metas. Fully hooked. Currently celebrating my first ever 4/4 for the MGWCC, but more importantly, posting here because I have just now completed constructing my first meta(!). I'm hoping to maybe do a series geared toward the musically/theatrically-inclined, and I'd really love test-solvers/feedback!

Either way, happy to officially join the fold.

Welcome, Danny!

Consider posting your metas in our Muggle Meta Mondays, when in season in our Sunday Summer Substitute, or create your own series within our Other Meta Crossword Puzzles. Peter @Abide, @Cap'n Rick Kennedy, & @Al Sisti are very helpful.

@DrTom Burnakis might have spots for you in Madhatter's Enigma On Wednesdays, until Josh @madhatter5 completes his PhD.

I will help you in creating PDFs, spreadsheet tools, & uploading files to our servers, if you wish. Peter, Rick, & Al can explain the entire process.

The crosshare site is a great tool.

Congratulations on the MGWCC 4/4!

Joe

[SamKat9]

Hi all,

I'm Danny, NYC-based pianist/musical theater composer. Longtime lurker, first-time poster, moderately recent convert to the world of metas. Fully hooked. Currently celebrating my first ever 4/4 for the MGWCC, but more importantly, posting here because I have just now completed constructing my first meta(!). I'm hoping to maybe do a series geared toward the musically/theatrically-inclined, and I'd really love test-solvers/feedback!

Either way, happy to officially join the fold.

Welcome, and congrats on your achievements! I really enjoy the music-themed puzzles, and I love theater (I'm definitely no actor, but I did stagecraft in high school and college. It was lovely working on the sets and watching the performances from my spotlight). I hope you are able to find a cozy spot for your puzzles because I would love to try to solve them!

[Renee]

rehdfghd

[chocoholic]

I’m Richard from Charlotte, NC. I’m a mechanical engineer by degree and have been in IT sales for 25 years. Each morning I do a mathematical puzzle (kenken), spatial puzzle (flow) and various word puzzles (WSJ and LA Times crosswords and Wordscapes). It’s part of my daily exercise routine—the mental part. I’ve only recently started on the Friday meta puzzle. As someone new to metas, I do find them challenging; I have proven to have a gift for overcomplicating them. I do admire the clever meta-nisms that the puzzle writers use.
When I’m not working or solving puzzles, I am busy with family, faith, and fitness.
My wife and I met over 20 years ago when we were working overseas. I take my son and granddaughter to Catholic school each morning and spend time in Eucharistic adoration before a workout. I have a BHAG this year of witnessing the tour de France. I’ll be one of those crazy people that bikes up the mountain early in the day to cheer on the riders when they come through.

[RVAtoOBX]

Hi fellow crossword lovers, Cheryl here from Richmond, VA. I only started doing crosswords about a year ago and have become quite addicted to those by the WSJ. I'm semi-retired from my corporate accounting career, but enjoy helping others navigate financial issues. The grids have proven to be fun, but as of yet I've only solved one meta. I'm hoping you all can show me a trick or two so I too can lounge on the beach with a pina colada in hand.

[Devoid]

Hi I’m Devoid, I’m 17 and I’m interested in solving and setting cryptic crosswords. I currently publish crosswords here: https://crosshare.org/Devoid. However, because of exams, I’ve decided to start doing non-cryptic meta puzzles because they’re faster to clue, so I figured I’d set up a blog here so I can publish full solutions to the metas. Apart from crosswords, I’m also very interested in music (I play piano and violin) and linguistics (which I’m going to study at university next year).