XWord Muggles Forum

The answer to the metapuzzle is a figure from Greek mythology.

Hector wrote: ↑Tue Dec 24, 2019 1:31 pm The answer to the metapuzzle is a figure from Greek mythology.

And now there's actually a puzzle to go with the prompt.

Finally finished the grid. No meta clue.

Tough grid! I Googled several things and still don't understand 52D. Nothing is jumping out at me about the meta, and I think I'll have to put this aside until after tomorrow.

Laura M wrote: ↑Tue Dec 24, 2019 5:40 pm Tough grid! I Googled several things and still don't understand 52D. Nothing is jumping out at me about the meta, and I think I'll have to put this aside until after tomorrow.

The technical difficulties had me in haste, and apparently I left the word "holder" off the clue.

pgw wrote: ↑Tue Dec 24, 2019 5:46 pm

Laura M wrote: ↑Tue Dec 24, 2019 5:40 pm Tough grid! I Googled several things and still don't understand 52D. Nothing is jumping out at me about the meta, and I think I'll have to put this aside until after tomorrow.

The technical difficulties had me in haste, and apparently I left the word "holder" off the clue.

Ah, that makes sense, thanks! Happy whatever to you!

I sent in *an* answer... *the* answer? Time will tell...

Edited: Confirmed... whew!

Great aha! The mechanism is a no-doubter, and I’m pretty certain about the answer; needed some brief research to confirm.

Going for a personal yearly best this afternoon on the WSJ meta. Hope that doesn’t jinx it! And watch out for pageants!

Feeling more of Al's confidence level than LesY's, but I've submitted...

And confirmed. Another impressive construction, and probably even on the harder side for pgw's metas?

I see what’s going on and like the idea. Not sure if my answer is right.

Edit: Not quite there yet but on the right track....

I think I am giving up.

I submitted a guess and got back a "not quite" and a nudge in the right direction from PGW (thanks!). I think I have it now... In any event, I would say that this puzzle exemplifies what I think of as PGW's characteristic meta style. Very nice.

Cindy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 27, 2019 10:41 am I think I am giving up.

Same. No idea, no clue. As usual...they got me.

Got it! Don't give up yet, folks. This one is definitely gettable.

A helpful nudge away from the wrong path helped me find the proper path to the solution.

I had a helpful nudge too. Not an easy trick to find!

The mechanism, which was totally invisible to me upon several viewings, hit me at lunch today. I think I at least got the right track.

RPardoe wrote: ↑Sun Dec 29, 2019 11:12 am A helpful nudge away from the wrong path helped me find the proper path to the solution.

How/where did you get a nudge? Asking for a friend.

Well I was about to put this one away and be defeated by PGW for the first time since my first weeks of doing them...but suddenly I see what I'm supposed to see. Not totally there yet, but I should at least have a guess soon.

Update: guess was correct!

Ugh, well, I was never going to get that. I actually had the constellation idea, but I was trying to do it with I's, those being the only letters with "dots" in the puzzle. Then I abandoned it because the vibe here seemed to be that this puzzle was doable, which is not a word I would use to describe any meta that involves knowing the shapes of constellations... Honestly, even if I had figured out the STAR trick, there was no way I would've known that was Cassiopeia, and it's a toss up whether I would've been able to successfully search it on Google. Oh well. On to the next, once I find a printer.