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Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 2:42 pm
by Jeremy Smith
I would also appreciate a nudge. I have the first step, but I don’t see a path forward from there.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 2:42 pm
by MajordomoTom
yep, you don't need anything from outside the sheet of paper you have - it's all there. No external words, no "sounds like this", nothing, it's all there.
In maddeningly and artfully concealed places.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 3:11 pm
by Hector
Nudges by PM are fine, but maybe not so much on the forum before the deadline?
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 3:13 pm
by Al Sisti
Hector wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 3:11 pm
Nudges by PM are fine, but maybe not so much on the forum before the deadline?
I agree (he says, constantly refreshing the page to look for more...).
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 4:22 pm
by MajordomoTom
on the list at #99, thanks Cindy.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 5:41 pm
by markhr
I can look at this till doomsday and not see what I'm supposed to see. It's just not on my wavelength.
Probably time to throw in the towel.
EDIT: Looks like post-enlightenment still works. Taking one more look, I finally saw the main mechanism here. Still waiting for confirmation of my submittal, but at least I didn't come up completely empty.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 6:48 pm
by JordanianTomlinson
Joe Ross wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 1:40 pm
ky-mike wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 1:11 pm
JordanianTomlinson wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 12:04 pm
On the board! Stared at the sheet for a day after getting that first step and even asked for a nudge but, somehow, saw the mechanism before getting a reply. So submitted but can’t credit myself for a solo solve as I wouldn’t have gotten there without typing out all of my previous steps out to my fellow Muggle.
If you got it before the nudge, then it is definitely a solo solve. Typing out your steps is a good way to help your thought process and move you forward.
Agree with Mike, wholeheartedly. Would go a step further, as you did & maybe as Mike meant, too, but explaining your process & progress to someone else further refines your thoughts & may inspire the next step, or two, which can lead to a solution.
One very patient muggle put up with hours of my stream-of-consciousness before I found home on this puzzle. My friend may well have been annoyed (or wanted to SCREAM the answer), but helped me tremendously by only "listening." I was rabid to finish, particularly after I found the 1st step, but I also thought before I wrote, lest I created a "DOH!" moment & wrote something 'stupid'.
In fact, going forward, I will request a mute sounding board before requesting a nudge. Beware PMs from me!
Aye, you’re all probably right. Though this may just encourage me to bother you all more frequently
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:03 pm
by Streroto
LIS
I am taking the L I am certain. I am in awe of those of you who figured this out I literally have looked at it for hours and see...nothing
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:44 pm
by cherikee
cherikee wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 2:22 pm
I'll take a nudge if anyone would be so inclined. At this point I think I'm taking an "L" on this, but would at least like to stop staring at nothing for the next 22 hrs...
And I'm done... took too much help to submit, but it was fun.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 10:20 am
by Leslie
Like others, I got the first step quickly and felt pretty optimistic about my chances of solving. But then...nothing. I keep picking it up in spare moments, but unless post-enlightenment strikes it looks like I won’t make it to step two. Really wish there had been more nudge-y posts!
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 10:34 am
by joequavis
Submitted a Hail Mary answer which I'm sure is not right. I found step 1 right away Saturday, and a few rabbit holes since then. Would love a PM nudge now that I've submitted - I'd like to still solve it without being shown the answer on Fiend. Thanks!
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 10:34 am
by tonyrobots
Well, I've got 86 minutes. Wish me luck!
edit: make that 38 minutes
edit 2: I give up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 10:40 am
by joequavis
tonyrobots wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 10:34 am
Well, I've got 86 minutes. Wish me luck!
Good luck!
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 11:37 am
by streakchaser
Well, I got step one, but I'm stuck. Could anyone help with a nudge? I won't be able to submit on time, but I'd still like to try and solve before looking at the solution.
Edit: Got it! Thank you for the nudge. I won't submit, as I feel I wouldn't have gotten it without the nudge.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 11:47 am
by Big Mac
Same, would appreciate a nudge after step one. Would still like to try solving before looking.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 12:01 pm
by spotter
At the buzzer with a little help from a friend!
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 12:04 pm
by Dplass
I followed the title, and didn't even try. Next week is a week 1 which is much closer to my wheelhouse.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 12:05 pm
by Joe Ross
I took too long to reword the puzzle title:
Don't Even Try = Do Not Even Try = Do Try Odd.
When I did look at all of the grid squares with odd numbers, I found six "_IGHT" words + one letter, or
seven letters —
E - F - L - M - N - R- S — & some chaff.
Seven letters are better, since the Meta Clue is
This week's contest answer is a seven-letter word.
Spent a lot of time misreading
61A Devote, as time looking at clues - SPEND (or
SPEND TIME LOOKING AT CLUES) as
SPEND TIME LOOKING AT GRID. Once I corrected myself, I found the seven letters as first letters of clues
19-43-5-27-29-40-54, whose grid answer first letters are
T-I-G-H-T-E-N.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 12:20 pm
by Big Mac
I overcomplicated things. Got step one immediately and then dug way into the weeds on the clues. I played around with EFLMNRS every way except the right one.
Re: #635 - "Don't Even Try"
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 12:23 pm
by joequavis
Kudos to those who made the connection from what seemed like a very get-able step 1 to a not-so-get-able step 2!
I saw this more as 6 words and the beginning of a 7th, which would have been SIGHT. I saw that this ended on SPEND, and was rightly looking at the clues all weekend. Not seeing the connection, I submitted INSIGHT, as in there was NO END In Sight.
Congrats to the solvers. Tough one!
