Take Five

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Joe Ross
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#21

Post by Joe Ross »

With apologies for the delay, here is the link to this puzzle in Excel.
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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BrianMac
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#22

Post by BrianMac »

Great puzzle, Al!

I'm still laughing at 48-Down. I saw that mascot name for the first time in Ryan's puzzle last week (Ticket to Ride), but never put it together what that team's cheer would be. :lol:
Laura M
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#23

Post by Laura M »

I was closer than I thought! I got the 1.5 version, although I wasn't sure about it, and I was partway to the 2.03 version. I'd like to think I could have gotten there eventually, but mentally I'd already given up by the time I PMed Al with my lack of progress, so I just read the ROT13ed solution that he sent me (and now I feel like a slacker). Anyway, very nicely done, Al! I like that there are two paths that confirm each other.
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Al Sisti
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Location: Whitesboro NY

#24

Post by Al Sisti »

BrianMac wrote: โ†‘Sun May 10, 2020 12:31 pm Great puzzle, Al!

I'm still laughing at 48-Down. I saw that mascot name for the first time in Ryan's puzzle last week (Ticket to Ride), but never put it together what that team's cheer would be. :lol:
For a laugh, check out their mascot. Definitely would not have passed Will Shortz' "Sunday morning breakfast" test.
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BarbaraK
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#25

Post by BarbaraK »

I finally got this one - with a little help from a friend. I was on the track of the 2.03 method but missing a piece and looking at it from the wrong angle.

Found it both ways now - after backsolving the last bit. Very clever! Great job Al!
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boharr
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#26

Post by boharr »

When is the reveal?
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Al Sisti
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#27

Post by Al Sisti »

Hmm. Well let's see, I posted it on Thursday, so how about tomorrow?
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boharr
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#28

Post by boharr »

Up to you. Just don't want to miss it.
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Al Sisti
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#29

Post by Al Sisti »

It's probably run its course, so here's the reveal:

The answer, gotten either or both of two ways, was REST, which is both a musical term and a synonym for "Take five."

Method 1 (the โ€œWeek 1.5โ€ way)โ€: The title (TAKE FIVE) and the center down clue/entry โ€“ mentioning Roman numerals โ€“ has us removing all Vs. There are four (someone mentioned it would have been cool to have a fifth โ€“ V โ€“ themed entry): in order:
RAVINES โ€“ new word without the V โ€“ RAINES
VENDED -- new word without the V โ€“ ENDED
SELVES -- new word without the V โ€“ SELES
TVOFFER -- new word without the V โ€“ TOFFER
So the method 1 way is to just read the initial letters of those new V-less words: REST

Method 2 (the โ€œWeek 2.3 wayโ€): Those newly formed words can be alternate answers of the same length to four clues:

CARTER was the answer to 11D Expos Hall of Famer โ€ฆ but RAINES fits too
FINAL was the answer to 61A Settled โ€ฆ but ENDED fits too
LENDL was the answer to 65A Tennis great, etc. โ€ฆ but SELES fits too
HARLOT was the answer to 9D Reviled lady, etc. โ€ฆ but TOFFER fits too

The initial letters of those four clues, take in grid order:
9D Reviled ladyโ€ฆ
11D Expos Hall of famer
61A Settled
65A Tennis greatโ€ฆ also spell REST.
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boharr
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#30

Post by boharr »

Very clever. I didn't get it, but I enjoyed trying. Hope you do more.
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Al Sisti
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#31

Post by Al Sisti »

boharr wrote: โ†‘Tue May 12, 2020 4:10 pm Very clever. I didn't get it, but I enjoyed trying. Hope you do more.
Well thanks! It was a lot of fun... well, it was mostly fun. Now that I've got the bug, I hope to do a few more.
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TMart
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#32

Post by TMart »

Great puzzle. When I initially filled the grid, I put RAINES in 11D, then realized it didn't fit with the crossing words, so I got a nice aha when I pulled the V out of RAVINES.
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Richard B.
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#33

Post by Richard B. »

Al Sisti wrote: โ†‘Tue May 12, 2020 3:27 pm It's probably run its course, so here's the reveal:

The answer, gotten either or both of two ways, was REST, which is both a musical term and a synonym for "Take five."

Method 1 (the โ€œWeek 1.5โ€ way)โ€: The title (TAKE FIVE) and the center down clue/entry โ€“ mentioning Roman numerals โ€“ has us removing all Vs. There are four (someone mentioned it would have been cool to have a fifth โ€“ V โ€“ themed entry): in order:
RAVINES โ€“ new word without the V โ€“ RAINES
VENDED -- new word without the V โ€“ ENDED
SELVES -- new word without the V โ€“ SELES
TVOFFER -- new word without the V โ€“ TOFFER
So the method 1 way is to just read the initial letters of those new V-less words: REST

Method 2 (the โ€œWeek 2.3 wayโ€): Those newly formed words can be alternate answers of the same length to four clues:

CARTER was the answer to 11D Expos Hall of Famer โ€ฆ but RAINES fits too
FINAL was the answer to 61A Settled โ€ฆ but ENDED fits too
LENDL was the answer to 65A Tennis great, etc. โ€ฆ but SELES fits too
HARLOT was the answer to 9D Reviled lady, etc. โ€ฆ but TOFFER fits too

The initial letters of those four clues, take in grid order:
9D Reviled ladyโ€ฆ
11D Expos Hall of famer
61A Settled
65A Tennis greatโ€ฆ also spell REST.
Wow, Al! This was great. I just got to it. For method 2, I mistakenly(?) used RAKE as an alternate answer to 58A. It got me to an โ€œRโ€ just as well with โ€œRichardโ€! Lucky me! I was just looking for answers that fit the original clues, not necessarily of the same length. I guess my R E S T were a little out of order this way.

Congratulations on the well-deserved accolades. Keep โ€˜em coming.
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