#597 - "Solving in Pairs"

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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#597 - "Solving in Pairs"

#1

Post by Hector »

This week's contest answer is a famous duo, one of whom was born in 1953.
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Hector
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#2

Post by Hector »

Impressive one.
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FrankieHeck
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#3

Post by FrankieHeck »

I see at least a couple muggles won the October prize. Congrats!
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sharkicicles
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#4

Post by sharkicicles »

Looks like Hector and I submitted at the same time!
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Hector
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#5

Post by Hector »

There are no ties in mgwcc---you win!
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TMart
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#6

Post by TMart »

Fun one, and congrats to the Muggle winners!
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sharkicicles
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#7

Post by sharkicicles »

Hector wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 1:09 pm There are no ties in mgwcc---you win!
We’re all winners here ;)
Laura M
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#8

Post by Laura M »

That was an enjoyable week 2! Congrats to Beth and Al!
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BarbaraK
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#9

Post by BarbaraK »

I had a harder time with the gird - several crosses of unknown names I had to guess at. Amazingly, when I googled to check them, all were right.

I got the general idea of the meta mechanism very early on, but the exact method was not quite what I was expecting, and it took a few minutes to let go of that and see what was really there.

Congratulations to all the prize winners!
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ChrisKochmanski
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#10

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Beam me up!
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Cindy
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#11

Post by Cindy »

Solved.
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hcbirker
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#12

Post by hcbirker »

Beam me up! (Heidi)
Heidi
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David R
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#13

Post by David R »

I'm in, should've come a bit quicker but got thrown on the final step.
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ky-mike
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#14

Post by ky-mike »

Another one in the books! Now, back to PGWCC.
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Meg
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#15

Post by Meg »

A lovely week 2 puzzle!
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
damefox
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#16

Post by damefox »

Got it! This feels like an appropriate week 2 difficulty level.
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JJD
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#17

Post by JJD »

Hmm... I feel like I’m halfway there, but I can’t complete this approach for all the clues/entries I expect... is that a rabbit I smell?
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Jeremy Smith
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#18

Post by Jeremy Smith »

JJD wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 10:55 pm Hmm... I feel like I’m halfway there, but I can’t complete this approach for all the clues/entries I expect... is that a rabbit I smell?
Yes, I’ve found three seemingly promising things, and then crashed into a wall. I’ve also used several extensive resources to find someone fitting the description in the answer to try to backsolve. A famous someone, born in 1953, I would definitely be familiar with. Makes me think those three things I found are red herrings. I’m amazed that some muggles solved this within minutes. I’m stumped on a week 2—sheesh!
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BarbaraK
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#19

Post by BarbaraK »

Jeremy Smith wrote: Sat Nov 09, 2019 4:58 pm
JJD wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 10:55 pm Hmm... I feel like I’m halfway there, but I can’t complete this approach for all the clues/entries I expect... is that a rabbit I smell?
Yes, I’ve found three seemingly promising things, and then crashed into a wall. I’ve also used several extensive resources to find someone fitting the description in the answer to try to backsolve. A famous someone, born in 1953, I would definitely be familiar with. Makes me think those three things I found are red herrings. I’m amazed that some muggles solved this within minutes. I’m stumped on a week 2—sheesh!
I believe you're in the same place I was. You need to be sure you're not overly limiting things. Some stuff I assumed was part of the meta was in fact just coincidence in the first couple I came across. When I broadened out a bit, I found the rest of the pieces. Then it turned out that what I needed to do with them was not exactly what I'd expected either, but it all came together beautifully.
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JJD
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#20

Post by JJD »

I’m pretty sure I’m the correct path, but now I’m stumped at the next step(?), with lots of wrong steps forward.
Backsolving hasn’t revealed anything to me either.
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