XWord Muggles Forum

Prepare to be scared! Here’s a Halloween puzzle by meta-master Chris King, a self-described “trivia guy” who lives in Columbia, South Carolina. You can follow him on Twitter at @ckingsc.

A couple of trick-or-treaters are going around the neighborhood tonight, but they need a map to navigate the shortcuts and pitfalls of their quest. Who is this pair?

Beamed up. Really nice puzzle!!!

Worthy week 5. One oddness?

Edit: yes there is one weird thing that some of us encountered, but it won't help at all to keep that in mind as you solve. So please don't let that distract you.

Wow. Definitely a week 5. Only second or third time I have gotten one. I got an idea on which way to go, stuck with it, and eventually (eventually!) i ended up with the answer. Very nice puzzle from Mr. King!

Beam me up! Definitely a week 5 - quite a bit going on there. Great concept and great execution.

Hector, only one oddness? I thought the whole thing was pretty odd, but it all came together in the end!

I don't have it done yet but I'm dumbfounded and amazed that I appear to be on track for solving a week 5....

Whoo hoo! Beamed up at #18...unbelievable for me!

Hector wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 2:23 pm Worthy week 5. One oddness?

If it's the thing I noticed I might call it an error rather than an oddness. Thankfully there are enough pieces that it shouldn't mess anyone up.

Or maybe I did that one wrong. Who knows?

Now I’m super-intrigued about the error/oddness. Metas are easier to solve when the solver doesn’t make so many mistakes.... Anyway, beam me up whoever’s in the transporter room!

I’ve been pmed with the explanation by a few friendly posters. Thanks. I get it.

Beam me up, I'm pretty sure! Looking forward to getting a "10" if I don't screw up next week!

I agree about the oddness that may be an error, but possibly it's a legit difference that I can't elaborate on...

Update: On the board, and I got my "10", woot! I misremembered and was thinking I would only be at 9 after today, so bonus!

Woo-hoo, on the board already. This one took a fair amount of work to get, but for once it was (mostly) not wasted work, I went down relatively few rabbit holes before getting the answer. Pretty damn clever.

Neat puzzle, but thank goodness there are no months with six Fridays.

Now that was SOMETHING!

My compliments to Chris King.

Beam me up!

oldjudge wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 7:32 pm Neat puzzle, but thank goodness there are no months with six Fridays.

Don’t speak too soon......it is 2020! Someone may change the calendar.

Well the good news is I'm *almost* done with the grid, so I can start on the meta soon.

Done!! Well, that was exhausting. A week 5 to be sure.

Could someone PM me so I can talk through what I currently have/where I'm trying to go with the puzzle?

E: had some confirmation on what I'm doing and maybe got somewhere to go now:)
E2: Big thanks to Orsys, that was a real rollercoaster of a puzzle!

Holy crap

Grid done. I think I understand the meta concept, but not yet seeing an answer. If anyone who has submitted would like to critique my thinking, I would appreciate it.

Asked for some help which saved me from a week of frustration. I was committed to a method that could not proceed. Many thanks to my clever nudger for preserving the AHA for me.

I have an answer of who the trick or treaters are, but am not entirely sure they are right...one makes more sense than the other. I'd love for someone to PM me so I can run those answers by to check. Thanks!