"Small Animals" November 3, 2023

[Teejels]

On shore! Went from no clue to “aha” in seconds. That was cool!


Edit:
Well now I think I’m wrong but I found a cool mechanism in there.

[ship4u]

I find these metas to be a humbling experience. As the product of a Jesuit education, I was taught that humility is a good thing.

There are times, however, that I go so far as to lament, as Ray Bolger did in his role as scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, "if I only had a brain." But with persistence and some Sherlock Holmesian mixture of observation, deduction, logical reasoning, breadth of thinking, along with a sprinkle of input from friends, the coveted AHA is finally achieved.

It is this group of muggles that not only makes it all worthwhile, it has added an wonderfully positive aspect to puzzle solving and, dare I say, life in general. Thanks to all of you for being a part of this great group of supportive and friendly people!

[Bob cruise director]

Good morning muggles

A tricky meta from Matt but we have 63 on the shore and 2 on the ship.

Good luck and don't forget the 4:30 pm ET group zoom solve

[whimsy]

Group solve at Vee Vees. Excellent meal!

[DrTom]

AArrgghhh - nothing depresses me more than to log onto XWord Muggles and see the huge number of pages of solvers when I am looking at a messy paper and at least 4 different, though very plausible, rabbit holes. I applied some good logic, I interpreted the title, I looked for nudge clues and I am still lost. Time to se this down and try the MG, perhaps that will make me feel better?

[Annabelle]

Found a few small critters in the grid, but not sure where they might be (or might not be) leading me. Don't want to be following any rabbits!

[Joe Ross]

AArrgghhh - nothing depresses me more than to log onto XWord Muggles and see the huge number of pages of solvers when I am looking at a messy paper and at least 4 different, though very plausible, rabbit holes. I applied some good logic, I interpreted the title, I looked for nudge clues and I am still lost. Time to se this down and try the MG, perhaps that will make me feel better?

While I solved this in 22 minutes (posted later) & found it straightforward, the number of solvers & times posted show this to be a "Week 3+" in my opinion.

[elvanya]

My first post! I have been lurking here for a few weeks, and on this puzzle I feel like I have too many rabbit trails..

[Alvibu67]

Ashore! Glad to get this one.

See you at the Zoom solve!

Allison (Alvibu67)

[MikeyG]

My first post! I have been lurking here for a few weeks, and on this puzzle I feel like I have too many rabbit trails..

Welcome to the forum! (Love the icon.)

This is a wonderful place, and I've been super-excited to make some warm connections here with people I now count among my friends. My wish is it's the same for you!

This definitely has a few rabbit holes here and there, for sure. (I'm in agreement with @Joe Ross on Week 3/3.25.) I always advise to come back to a puzzle later and view it with new lenses and, of course, if you get stuck, feel free to reach out to accommodating folks here!

Mikey G

[Ergcat]

I’m still 71a…. Hoping for post-enlightenment!
See you at the Zoom call!

[Al Sisti]

On shore with 100% confidence, give or take 20%. I have a defensible, logical answer that's consistent with Matt's construction style... I'll have a Guinness while I mull over what more I could/should have done. Hmmm. That's a lot of thinking; I may need two.

[lxpeterson]

Reached the shore yesterday. But didn’t have a celebratory drink. Just thought about a nice glass of Albariño. Submitted with a bit of hesitation.

[Anita]

On the beach at last. But there's definitely an issue with the puzzle.

[BethA]

On the beach!

Flailed around for awhile, finally saw the light!

[nosolvenosleep]

No sign of land yet, but I’m still swimming… From what I’ve read here, it will be a case of “When you know, you know.”

[FrancesY]

On shore. My husband helped me to change focus.

[boharr]

On shore. My husband helped me to change focus.

Three cheers for husbands!

[VanVeen]

Is a red herring a small animal? Because this puzzle is full of them.

[Joe Ross]

I'm interested to see what issues people have. I see it having a crisp, 100% mechanism and solution. Not that it's easy, but it's well-crafted.