#19 Opening Numbers

Published weekly by expert constructor Peter Gordon, the Fireball crossword is famous for being hard. How hard? Well, in the words of Peter Gordon, if you need to ask, too hard for you! It is not regularly a meta crossword, but does feature a contest or meta puzzle several times throughout the year. Available here for a subscription: http://www.fireballcrosswords.com
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Dannyvee
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#19 Opening Numbers

#1

Post by Dannyvee »

Opening Numbers by Alex Eaton-Salners
What grid entry is hinted at by the theme of the puzzle?

Enjoyed the puzzle— confidently submitted
I can be found in Sheridan, NY, veejaying. (8)
docison
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#2

Post by docison »

Ditto, liked this one. Enjoyed the path to the solution.
markhr
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#3

Post by markhr »

Submitted with confidence. Nice puzzle.
Now it's Guinness time.
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Meg
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#4

Post by Meg »

Verrrrrry clever. That was a great moment of revealing!
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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Cindy
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#5

Post by Cindy »

Solved.
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oldjudge
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#6

Post by oldjudge »

Solved too. This is one where after you see it you wonder why it took that long.
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sharkicicles
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#7

Post by sharkicicles »

Much easier than a lot of Fireball metas, IMO.
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Joe
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#8

Post by Joe »

OK, I thought that was amazing. A discovery, then garbage. Then an accidental discovery. Then "Oh, yeah! I get it!"
Happy to give nudges. If you notice I've solved, please tell me about avenues you've explored so I can nudge you in the right direction and not off a cliff.
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MamaE
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#9

Post by MamaE »

Hmmm....I definitely have the mechanism, but I feel like my solution doesn't have the "click" I'm looking for. If anyone is willing to listen to my process of getting it I'd appreciate it.

ETA: Got it with the help of @Lulum reminding me to do something to my potential answers. Got that click.
Last edited by MamaE on Thu May 13, 2021 9:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Just puzzling it out here in Delmarva :D
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BarbaraK
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#10

Post by BarbaraK »

I loved this one! Such fun!

@MamaE feel free to PM me and tell me what you're thinking.
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jimmyd
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#11

Post by jimmyd »

Anyone else get hung up on the number 99?
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Meg
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#12

Post by Meg »

jimmyd wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 2:12 am Anyone else get hung up on the number 99?
Yes! For a bit. There was nowhere to go with it.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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lbray53
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#13

Post by lbray53 »

I got it! I was so excited to finally get one of these but when I went to submit my answer I discovered that the solution had already been published. At least I was able to confirm my success!
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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ChrisKochmanski
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#14

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

I just came to this one, very late. (We were traveling last week.) I didn’t read Peter G’s email with the solution. Got stuck on something that others apparently got stuck on too (I’m being vague in case people still solving are reading this), which led me to a possibility for the entry hinted at, but another Muggle, who had already solved, steered me off that. Finally, trying something just a bit different with my thinking pointed me to the answer in a flash.

Nice! I very much enjoyed this puzzle.
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