MGWCC #786 — Friday, June 23rd, 2023
“Set Collection” by Alex Eaton-Salners
GUEST CONSTRUCTOR MONTH, PUZZLE #4:
Our fourth Guest Constructor is Alex Eaton-Salners. Alex lives in Southern California, where he works for a
large technology company. He’s published hundreds of puzzles including a book of diagramless crosswords. His hobbies include the sport of curling, escape rooms, and using serial commas. He’s also a voracious reader and enjoys spending time in nature.
Alrighty — let’s see what AES has in store for Week 4…
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
What Monopoly property would be a fitting sixth theme entry for this puzzle?
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.
WANT TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY CROSSWORD CONTEST?:
MGWCC is available only to subscribers at my Patreon page.
A subscription costs $3/month.
MGWCC #786 — “Set Collection”
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Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5085
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
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Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5085
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
First to submit!
First to be incorrect. Hey, it's a streak, in any case...
First to be incorrect. Hey, it's a streak, in any case...
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MikeyG
- Posts: 1403
- Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:52 pm
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
What a workout of a puzzle! Beautiful meta, and I'm pretty sure I have it. Awaiting the beam!
Edit: Lucky #7! I'll celebrate my spending all my Monopoly money - I'll let you know how that goes.
Edit: Lucky #7! I'll celebrate my spending all my Monopoly money - I'll let you know how that goes.
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Jade
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2022 5:41 pm
6th on the leaderboard - all time high for me! (Using the word 'me' very loosely; I was doing it with my wife and she put in all the brainpower for the meta part.)
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Wendy Walker
- Posts: 1720
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:44 pm
- Location: Unionville, PA
Awaiting beam up! Nice one!
EDIT: #12 on the leaderboard.
EDIT: #12 on the leaderboard.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Trish
- Posts: 80
- Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2023 7:22 pm
- Location: Dallas
This was a tough grid but totally satisfying when we finished and finally solved it. Don’t have confirmation yet but pretty confident in our answer!
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Cinny
- Posts: 820
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:53 pm
- Location: Minoa, NY
- Contact:
On the board at #21. Tough grid, but very nice aha moment.
Cindy Heisler
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BarbaraK
- Posts: 2615
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
Nothing on the meta yet, but I really enjoyed the cluing for the grid.
If you want help with a meta, feel free to PM me. The more specific you are about what you have and what you want, the more likely I can help without spoiling.
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
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markhr
- Posts: 351
- Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:56 pm
On board at #26. Now back to the WSJ, which so far has me completely baffled.
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Laura M
- Posts: 1396
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:49 am
I've been at such a loss this week (MOAT nothing, MEOW nada, Pun of a Kind nope, WSJCC no clue, what is wrong with me??) that I pretty much psyched myself out before even starting this one. But I got there (beamup pending, hopefully), so maybe I haven't completely lost my mind yet! Nice puzzle!
Edit: #28
Edit: #28
Last edited by Laura M on Fri Jun 23, 2023 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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boharr
- Moderator
- Posts: 3209
- Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
- Location: Westchester, NY
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oldjudge
- Posts: 1636
- Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:16 am
- Location: Pasadena, CA
I agree with Barbara. For me, in most puzzles, filling the grid is just an ordeal to go through before starting the fun of working on the meta. Not this time though--I really enjoyed filling the grid. Great clueing!
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ajk
- Posts: 965
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
- Location: Colorado
Got it with a kindly nudge. As is often the case, I saw something, decided that there was a reason it wasn't going anywhere, and had to be nudged back to look harder. 
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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MarkWoychick
- Site Admin
- Posts: 612
- Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2021 6:15 pm
- Location: Boise, ID
Agree with the comments on a difficult grid, but it was worth the price of entry to get to the meta. I've submitted an answer and waiting for confirmation.
Edit: beamed up at 42
Edit: beamed up at 42
Last edited by MarkWoychick on Fri Jun 23, 2023 7:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 contest-style (meta) crosswords that we've created to help raise money for cancer-related organizations - get the bundle at http://crosswordsforcancer.com
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Meg
- Posts: 2166
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
That was an elegant puzzle! It’s too bad the Rabbit only looks at the WSJ because I had some lovely tunnels on this one that worked until they sputtered out.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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BarbaraK
- Posts: 2615
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
Aha. I guess I got it. Will know for sure after the next update.
With metas, sometimes you need to let go of paths that aren't working. Other times, you need to stick with something that feels like it must be right even if you can't see how. The trick is knowing which are which:)
With metas, sometimes you need to let go of paths that aren't working. Other times, you need to stick with something that feels like it must be right even if you can't see how. The trick is knowing which are which:)
If you want help with a meta, feel free to PM me. The more specific you are about what you have and what you want, the more likely I can help without spoiling.
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
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schmidzy
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2021 8:56 am
- Contact:
Awaiting the beam! Really satisfying "aha" in this one, I gasped so loud I think it scared my cats.
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rjy
- Posts: 1032
- Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2021 12:52 pm
- Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Took a lot of noodling, but got it. Just had to start typing what I was seeing and the scales fell… awaiting beamage, but while I wait, gonna get some soda from Isaac since he’s run out of booze
Ray
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benchen71
- Posts: 2450
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Awaiting the beam...
... and I'm beamed. Now back to struggling with the WSJ!
... and I'm beamed. Now back to struggling with the WSJ!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! 