"Ringing In the New Year" - December 27, 2019

[ImOnToo]

On shore. 🏝

But my brain hurts!

[MajordomoTom]

On shore. Needed to bounce my meta theory off of my wife before it all fell into place. Nice way to end the year. Looking forward to more fun in 2020.

Now I have more time for Matt's weekly meta puzzle.

On shore for pretty much the same reason - showed my wife my work and she showed me the answer.

Time to paint the foyer ceiling is now available for this weekend.

[Dow Jones]

Solved and submitted. Fun meta. "Symbol in Gregorian chant notation" (36-across) was a learning experience that I will forget by the time I type this.

[BrianMac]

Made safely it to shore. Fun puzzle.

I missed three this year: LIMA, PRIME and FRANCIS SCOTT KEY. Only PRIME was a KAS-5. I should have gotten the other two. But I did win a mug in 2019, so that makes up for it.

[MaineMarge]

Got it, but I’m now too exhausted to swim ashore just yet. So I’ll have one last mimosa and a chat with Isaac first. Before you go ashore be sure to swing by with a hefty tip for him- he has made our Muggles’ cruises delightful this year, hasn’t he??

[Bob cruise director]

Aha! I'm finally and a little bit unexpectedly on shore.

Amazingly, I think that this makes a perfect 2019 for me; though I haven't kept any records to prove it, the last WSJ meta I remember missing was in December last year. (My year in MMMM also was verifiably good, but not so much MGWCC and PGWCC!) Thanks for the year of great puzzles, Mike, Matt, and others!

Laura
I have you 34 for 34 since we started the blog in April.

[KayW]

Grid solved, and I see some very definite bunny tracks. But so far the only place they are leading me is my stool at Isaac’s. Hoping for post enlightenment.

[Jim and Anita]

On shore. Happy to end the year on dry land after spending some of our weeks on dramamine. All's well that ends well. Thanks Mike for a good finish! Happy New Year to all.

[Cindy]

Solved. And think I am giving up on pgwcc.

[FrankieHeck]

Oh my. I've had so much family time the past few days, and spent so much time eating and playing board games, that I haven't really had a chance to look over my puzzles. So I sit here with completed WSJ and PGW grids, but no solved metas (aside from MMMM, previously submitted.) And with a week 4 coming soon. Eek. One kid had to go in to the lab to feed tsetse flies today, and the other is still asleep, so I'm about to try to get my brain chugging again.

[DrTom]

OMG!!! I looked at this so many times and saw nothing, then something which led to nothing. "Oh, no not again" I screamed silently (since screaming it loudly makes people ask "Now What"). Then I thought, if I were Mike, might I have a double razzle-dazzle, flea-flicker, use the band to block for you trick play to end the year? The answer was OF COURSE! Then with some WWMD thinking it came to me. To tell the truth I still cannot believe it worked out because frankly I'm not usually clever enough to find the less than obvious ones, but this year end has been a challenge and this was a bright spot so I'll take it.

Just glad I did not drop the ball! (sorry I could not resist...). Count me ashore and looking for clarity and vision in 2020, or at least correctable to 2020 with glasses (of wine naturally).

Happy New Year to all of the Muggle community.

[Inca]

Grid completed. Meta not jumping out at me. I have no idea where to go with this one at this point. I find if I don't see it right away, sitting and staring at it, trying to force my brain to see something, doesn't usually work for me. So, I'll leave it for now and maybe re-visit it at some point later in the weekend.

[CPJohnson]

Lost at sea.

[DrTom]

Oh, and as an addendum - thank you Joe Ross for the EXCEL grid one more time. I might have solved this without it, but it would have been Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. The grid came through again and if I could award you a Muggle of Service Award I would. Hey, wait a minute, I can!

[CPJohnson]

Solved....post enlightenment! Daughter from Barcelona is still here; I'll be on my own again next week.

[tim1217]

Grid was bit challenging for me. On the other hand, the meta came very quickly. Nice to be on the beach!

[Joe Ross]

Oh, and as an addendum - thank you Joe Ross for the EXCEL grid one more time. I might have solved this without it, but it would have been Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. The grid came through again and if I could award you a Muggle of Service Award I would. Hey, wait a minute, I can!

Cupofjoe.jpg

I will wear it as a badge of honor. Thank you, DrTom!

It's enough to know that it helps others to solve.

[anjhinz]

Got it last night right before bed (thank goodness, nothing worse than trying to sleep while trying to suss these out....)

[CallMeShane]

After last week's debacle, I decided that a new motto was in order ...

More Mojo, Less (51D)

And so it came to pass. Most satisfactory.

[Tony S]

Got it, but I’m now too exhausted to swim ashore just yet. So I’ll have one last mimosa and a chat with Isaac first. Before you go ashore be sure to swing by with a hefty tip for him- he has made our Muggles’ cruises delightful this year, hasn’t he??

Before I tip Isaac I need to settle my very large tab thanks to Marie Kondo and the Wonder Twins!