"How Romantic!" - November 2019

A monthly, music-themed meta crossword published at noon on the first Tuesday of every month. The puzzles increase in difficulty each month, and at year end there is a 13th puzzle (the "Mega-Meta") that invokes each of the 12 monthly puzzles. Currently available at https://pmxwords.com/, as well as through the Washington Post website here: MMMM at WaPo
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Eric Porter
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#21

Post by Eric Porter »

I waited for confirmation that i was on the board, though I was 100% sure I had it right. I needed a little help from Google because I didn't know this song. Yesterday, I happened to listen to a different song by the same person!

I liked the difficulty level and creativity in how to go from grid to song title.
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BarbaraK
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#22

Post by BarbaraK »

I got the mega meta Tuesday morning. (That's not showing up on the leaderboard yet - probably too close to noon.) It was something I had in my notes and had been considering for a while but was hesitant to submit after the trauma of my red herring chase. Knowing Pete, I suspect there are confirmatory Easter eggs that I haven't seen yet, so I'm still keeping an eye out and looking forward to reading his full explanation in January.

As for this month's puzzle, I started it Tuesday but didn't have any luck. Then I set it aside so I could test solve damefox's puzzles forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&p=8962#p8924

And when I went to go back to MMMM, I couldn't find my grid. It's not in any of the three normal places I put crosswords that I'm working on. It's not in any of the reasonable places I might have set it enroute between the others. So that only leaves unreasonable places. In the freezer behind the cranberry bread? Filed with the electric bill? In my sock drawer? That list of possibilities is just too long. So unless I stumble across it soon, guess I'll have to print out a new copy - which might be just the thing to help me solve the meta anyway.
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Al Sisti
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#23

Post by Al Sisti »

BarbaraK wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:59 am I got the mega meta Tuesday morning. (That's not showing up on the leaderboard yet - probably too close to noon.) It was something I had in my notes and had been considering for a while but was hesitant to submit after the trauma of my red herring chase. Knowing Pete, I suspect there are confirmatory Easter eggs that I haven't seen yet, so I'm still keeping an eye out and looking forward to reading his full explanation in January.

As for this month's puzzle, I started it Tuesday but didn't have any luck. Then I set it aside so I could test solve damefox's puzzles forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&p=8962#p8924

And when I went to go back to MMMM, I couldn't find my grid. It's not in any of the three normal places I put crosswords that I'm working on. It's not in any of the reasonable places I might have set it enroute between the others. So that only leaves unreasonable places. In the freezer behind the cranberry bread? Filed with the electric bill? In my sock drawer? That list of possibilities is just too long. So unless I stumble across it soon, guess I'll have to print out a new copy - which might be just the thing to help me solve the meta anyway.
In the freezer? In your sock drawer?? That's crazy talk...I have been blaming poltergeists. It's the only logical conclusion.
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BarbaraK
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#24

Post by BarbaraK »

Al Sisti wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2019 4:06 pm
BarbaraK wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:59 am I got the mega meta Tuesday morning. (That's not showing up on the leaderboard yet - probably too close to noon.) It was something I had in my notes and had been considering for a while but was hesitant to submit after the trauma of my red herring chase. Knowing Pete, I suspect there are confirmatory Easter eggs that I haven't seen yet, so I'm still keeping an eye out and looking forward to reading his full explanation in January.

As for this month's puzzle, I started it Tuesday but didn't have any luck. Then I set it aside so I could test solve damefox's puzzles forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&p=8962#p8924

And when I went to go back to MMMM, I couldn't find my grid. It's not in any of the three normal places I put crosswords that I'm working on. It's not in any of the reasonable places I might have set it enroute between the others. So that only leaves unreasonable places. In the freezer behind the cranberry bread? Filed with the electric bill? In my sock drawer? That list of possibilities is just too long. So unless I stumble across it soon, guess I'll have to print out a new copy - which might be just the thing to help me solve the meta anyway.
In the freezer? In your sock drawer?? That's crazy talk...I have been blaming poltergeists. It's the only logical conclusion.
Of, course, silly me! Why didn't I think of that?

My grid actually just turned up - on my husband's desk. Yesterday morning he asked me to find something there for him, so I must have set my puzzle down while I looked and then forgotten about it when I walked away. Which I believe, according to the official rules of marriage, makes it his fault that I lost it. :)

Now do I go back to that one or do the WSJ first...
FKelly
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#25

Post by FKelly »

Got "How Romantic!" Tuesday and the 2019 mega-meta today. I had two possible mega-meta answers I was considering last month. Of course, I submitted the wrong one! Submitted the other one (after finding some confirmation) today and it was correct. So, I lost a point on my "red herring" guess and another to "We made too many wrong mistakes." (thanks Yogi). Missed Aretha Louise Franklin in June. Meh.
Leslie
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#26

Post by Leslie »

deleted post
Last edited by Leslie on Fri Nov 08, 2019 10:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
Leslie
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#27

Post by Leslie »

Jacksull wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 3:53 pm Submitted an answer I was sure of, but I’m not on the board. Hmmm.
Wonder if we have the same answer that seems like a sure thing?
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Jacksull
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#28

Post by Jacksull »

Leslie wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 9:52 am
Jacksull wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 3:53 pm Submitted an answer I was sure of, but I’m not on the board. Hmmm.
Wonder if we have the same answer that seems like a sure thing?
I finally showed up about 12 hours after submitting. Don’t panic yet.
Jack Sullivan
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Thurman8er
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#29

Post by Thurman8er »

I got the mega-meta last month...haven't missed a meta yet...and am totally stuck. And obsessed.

This is now my weekend.
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FrankieHeck
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#30

Post by FrankieHeck »

Thurman8er wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 5:18 pm I got the mega-meta last month...haven't missed a meta yet...and am totally stuck. And obsessed.

This is now my weekend.
It's my weekend, too, and I'm kind of excited about it! Says something about the usual quality of my weekends, I suppose...
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TMart
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#31

Post by TMart »

Got this one and the PGWCC within ten minutes of each other this morning after struggling and obsessing with both all week- I think it was the bourbon last night that cleared my head! And I know this song well, so I would have been really mad if I missed it (like I was when I missed Gaffney's Elvis Costello song over the summer). And now the weekend is free (which is not necessarily a good thing).
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BarbaraK
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#32

Post by BarbaraK »

Well I took my own sweet time figuring out this one. Can't believe how long it took to see something so obvious and how many ridiculous rabbit holes I poked around in first.

I'm definitely old enough to remember the song. Looking forward to hearing Pete sing it on Tuesday.
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Eric Porter
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#33

Post by Eric Porter »

Matt's write up is posted at Crossword Fiend.

My thought process was similar. I expected more people to solve it correctly.

The only song I knew by Meat Loaf was I'd Do Anything for Love.
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BarbaraK
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#34

Post by BarbaraK »

I chased so many rabbits before this finally jumped off the page and smacked me in the forehead.

AMO in AHAMOMENT is Spanish and Latin for I love you - how romantic! Any other loves in other romance or any languages? No.

Tit for tat - hmm, change vowel sounds - WIISPORTS could become whisper - that's romantic, right? They go downhill from there.

The apparent themes are all two words; look at the initials! A&M (university - ATHLETES?!) B&B (inn - SBA LOAN?? hmm) A&W (rootbeer - ???) W&S (water and sewer - CITYBOND - this is getting worse and worse)

And more notes on my page that I can't even remember what I was thinking.
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MajordomoTom
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#35

Post by MajordomoTom »

Eric Porter wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:17 pm
The only song I knew by Meat Loaf was I'd Do Anything for Love.
The best song by Meatloaf (one word) is "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". It's tremendous, needs to be played at high volume.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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hcbirker
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#36

Post by hcbirker »

I was way overthinking this one. I thought it would be more devious. I saw the double letters but didn't take it far enough. (Heidi)
Heidi
Tom Wilson
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#37

Post by Tom Wilson »

I somehow landed on Foreigner's "Double Vision" from my late-'70s college years ... but neither a win nor a romance was in the air.
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TMart
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#38

Post by TMart »

The title wasn't really a good clue on this one, more of an after-the-fact, tongue-in-cheek observation. I noticed the three-letter starts with double letters right away, but got sidetracked on words like ATTIC, TENCC and EILEEN, which also had double letters. I was thinking along the line of It Takes Two, In Terms of Two, or something like that, to no avail, given the "romantic" title. I also looked for Roman numerals (Roman-tic?) thinking WII and TENCC might point to something, and turned up nothing.

Once I narrowed down which across entries had enough in common to actually be themers (three-letter word to start, with two letters the same) and listed out the repeated letters to get AINT BAD, it all fell into place. I Googled "ain't bad song", and the Meatloaf video came up. It seems to make more sense once you know the answer than as a path to solve it (even though I am very familiar with the song). Great meta.
damefox
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#39

Post by damefox »

TMart wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2019 1:45 pm I Googled "ain't bad song", and the Meatloaf video came up.
My strategy exactly. I'd never heard of the song before though, so my thought process upon seeing the title was, "That can't be it. Wait, is that it? Omg that's it."
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Thurman8er
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#40

Post by Thurman8er »

Is "A la" a three-letter word? I don't think it is.
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