MGWCC #774 — “A Little Off”

[HunterX]

Hey, does anyone know the birthplace of the guy who wrote 1A? Anyone? Buehler? Heh heh...

I don't know the answer. But it must be a place overflowing with shear brilliance. I mean... putting together ALL THREE notes of a major triad??? Must've taken hours! Plus, it was a re-write of a previous version. That's tough to do!

Well in fairness, he was getting shot at, so...

And the darn thing only plays 5 notes to begin with. So you just have to pick a couple to get rid of...

[Joe Ross]

Reminder:

The deadline for entry will be Wednesday, April 5th, at noon ET.

[HoldThatThought]

Interesting bio, that Butterfield guy.

[MikeM000]

I spent the past 10 days in Italy and, without being able to get the WSJ or MGW metas pretty much immediately after solving the grid, I just chucked them and waited to see the answers. I totally forgot I didn't do the new week 5 Gaffney that arrived when I was somewhere between Rome and JFK until just now...presuming my submitted answer is right, I'll happily take the week 5 win on this one.

Oh, and it seemed to me that I had some 80s childhood experiences that may have helped here...feel free to remove this if it says too much but did it remind anyone else of a GAMES Magazine Hidden Contest?

[mkmf]

Did this last night after returning from ACPT (didn't want my brain cluttered with any meta thoughts while speed solving regular crosswords!). Enjoyed it, happily on the board at #325.

Adam is being modest. Allow me to add an important detail: "...after returning from ACPT where he finished #8 (!) in a field of almost 800 competitors ..." Congratulations!

[Jeremy Smith]

Finally beamed earlier this evening. I actually had the answer on Saturday but I was in North Carolina for a long weekend without access to a printer. Was reluctant to submit without solving on paper. Probably not a week 5 puzzle but, even with a date of April 1, it was not a week 1 puzzle either.

[Terragon]

Done. Loved this one!

[Laura M]

Beamed up a while ago (although not particularly early, #175 I think). I wasn't busy with ACPT or vacation or anything, just forgot to post :-)

[Dgorius]

I just submitted what I am sure is the correct contest answer but I got "Sorry, submissions are now closed."

I thought we had until noon tomorrow?

This was a fun puzzle and my first ever (I think) week 5 solo solve.

I was truly flummoxed by the grid for a good 5 or 10 minutes before I saw the first step.

[BarbaraK]

I just submitted what I am sure is the correct contest answer but I got "Sorry, submissions are now closed."

I thought we had until noon tomorrow?

This was a fun puzzle and my first ever (I think) week 5 solo solve.

I was truly flummoxed by the grid for a good 5 or 10 minutes before I saw the first step.

You do have until tomorrow. That’s a common website glitch when the deadline is extended.

Your submission probably went through and you’ll see yourself on the leaderboard with the next update. But if not, or you want to be sure, just email Matt and he’ll take care of it.

Congrats!

[Joe Ross]

I just submitted what I am sure is the correct contest answer but I got "Sorry, submissions are now closed."

I thought we had until noon tomorrow?

This was a fun puzzle and my first ever (I think) week 5 solo solve.

I was truly flummoxed by the grid for a good 5 or 10 minutes before I saw the first step.

You do have until tomorrow. That’s a common website glitch when the deadline is extended.

Your submission probably went through and you’ll see yourself on the leaderboard with the next update. But if not, or you want to be sure, just email Matt and he’ll take care of it.

Congrats!

Submit via email to @MattGaffney on crosswordcontest@gmail.com

[cbarbee002]

Frankly had trouble with the grid fill but knew what I had to do - - slogged through and finally got the aha result. Incredible construction.

[Joe Ross]

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

This one was a lot of fun to work, and to back out the few answers that I couldn't figure out going forward. I had wanted the ALI clue to be "Stinging ring king", rather than "swinging", because all boxers swing, but Ali specifically "stung like a bee".

What was the additional click to which people referred? Was it the 45D "Successful Shout" clue, which could have been YAHOO as well as AHA, and also provided the H for YAHOO?

[woozy]

So, what's the "extra" thing that everyone says is clever and clinches it in? And does "Yahoo" have anything to do with the title or metanism?

[Laura M]

I thought this was a fun puzzle, maybe not a true week 5 but challenging in a different way. At least now I have a good chance of getting to a streak of 10! That hasn't happened in a while.

[benchen71]

My cautionary tale of woe:

I converted "Belted" to "Melted", which worked with RAN, so I ended up generating "YAHMO" instead of "YAHOO" (which definitely makes more sense, I grant you.) Then when googling "YAHMO" I discovered the song "YAH MO B THERE". So when I saw the single, solitary B in the upper right corner of the grid, I took that as confirmation.

So close and yet so far...

[Beth Tyrpin]

So, what's the "extra" thing that everyone says is clever and clinches it in? And does "Yahoo" have anything to do with the title or metanism?

Change the title to A Little Oaf.

[Wendy Walker]

Thanks for the ear-worm, @benchen71. A catchy tune!

[woozy]

My cautionary tale of woe:

I converted "Belted" to "Melted", which worked with RAN, so I ended up generating "YAHMO" instead of "YAHOO"

I realized the metanism pretty quick but because there was so much flexibility in which letter to change in the clue to which word it made doing the grid nearly impossible. However there where few that seemed clever than others I had about a dozen letter CxNxxxUxxx... etc or so... But that was enough for me to guess it was CONGRATULATIONS xxxxxx SOLVED xxxxx ANSWER ... etc. or so and that was enough for me to back figure the clues and actually solve the grid. except. I finally figured out CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE SOLVED THIS WEEKS META THE CONTEST ANSWER IS "xAHOx" and and I had to figure out what you can buy ALE by I could only think of CART and so the answer would be ... "TAHOE"? Well, that possible but really, really, really weird.

Asked the woozette, "Is there any way to be ale by the yard?" She answered "I think those tall thin glasses"

So, what's the "extra" thing that everyone says is clever and clinches it in? And does "Yahoo" have anything to do with the title or metanism?

Change the title to A Little Oaf.

Ah thanks. I tried changing a letter of the title but I guess "OAF" is in my lesser used vocabulary and I didn't get it.