#695 - "Spider Dream"

An excellent puzzle written by one of the innovators of the meta crossword format. It comes out every Friday at noon and increases in difficulty throughout the month. Available for modest subscription (worth every cent) here: www.xwordcontest.com
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Bob cruise director
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#41

Post by Bob cruise director »

MamaE wrote: Sun Sep 26, 2021 3:32 pm OK - thanks to our cruise director and a passed along hint I believe I have it. Awaiting leader board update for confirmation. Hitting myself in the head for not having thought of the "thing to do".
It is really bad when I get credit for helping MamaE and I have not the slightest idea what the answer is. I did pass along a tidbit but it did not mean anything to me.
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ajk
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#42

Post by ajk »

Zero ideas about even where to start. Doesn't look like this one's happening.
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DrTom
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#43

Post by DrTom »

It is possible that I am missing something very important in the path to solution. I admit I got help because the way would never have occurred to me. Further, when I arrived it was as if I had walked into this very elite Boulangerie to buy what I would have expected was a fabulous Croissant au Beurre only to find out I had gotten a Pillsbury Crescent. Unless I am missing something, it doesn't seem to be the usual Gaffney flair, and experience has taught me that if I don't get the cleverness of a Gaffney it is, as the saying goes, "me not him".

I'll be interested in the Fiend discussion and the comments
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
three
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#44

Post by three »

Relatively new to the world of crosswords and looking for a nudge.
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lbray53
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#45

Post by lbray53 »

WOW! On the board with some help and a big guess. If I would have been required to show my work I would have failed. I cannot wait to see how I should have solved it.
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Bird Lives
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#46

Post by Bird Lives »

I can understand why solvers are dissatisfied with this one, especially as a Week #4. Thinking about it, I keep hearing the Lieber and Stoller song "Is That All There Is?" in my mind's ear. I have an alternative prompt and answer, though it has one teeny flaw.
Prompt: The answer is a an Oscar-winning actress.
]Answer: [Come back tomorrow.]
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#47

Post by NoFeetMcGee »

Anyone available to shoot down my crackpot theories and maybe offer a nudge in a better direction?
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jhseeman
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#48

Post by jhseeman »

Beamed up, with a nudge. Again as usual I"m staring at the answer in front of my face and completely ignoring it. DOH.

Have some thoughts but will wait for tomorrow.
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MikeyG
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#49

Post by MikeyG »

Held my breath all day, and I'm beamed up! I'm now wondering if I would've been able to get to the final answer without a nudge. Tough to say. More tomorrow!
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Solve my latest "Pun of a Kind" Meta!: 89. That's Not Right!
breadbasket
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#50

Post by breadbasket »

Some ideas, but none panning out so far. Anyone have a nudge to spare?

Edit: nudged... think I'm on the right track now.
Last edited by breadbasket on Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Thurman8er
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#51

Post by Thurman8er »

I was beamed up while taking a shower before bed. Cutting it very close.
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RPardoe
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#52

Post by RPardoe »

Thurman8er wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:15 am I was beamed up while taking a shower before bed. Cutting it very close.
Wait to submit to get the "Buzzer Beater" achievement. (Submit 5 minutes before the deadline.)
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TMart
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#53

Post by TMart »

Got it, but I still don't get it. And missed last entry by one.
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BarbaraK
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#54

Post by BarbaraK »

My sympathies to any arachnophobes out there. If you googled half as much about spiders as I did before seeing the Spanish connection, you must have had nightmares. Reading Charlotte’s Web as a child made me a lifelong spider fan, and that was a good thing this week.
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MikeyG
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#55

Post by MikeyG »

Yeah, I was thinking stuff maybe with the number 8; OPAL is October's birth stone, and there's also "octopi" (yes, October is the 10th month - but, of course, it was named as formerly being the 8th!).

My main nit with this one, and I'm one of the silliest guys ever, is that the answer (much like the title) isn't really a thing (like there was a cool Week 1 meta a while back where the answer was simply OX, and Matt came up with some of the silliest nonsensical phrases whose initials were OX). Like, if the answer could've been an actual, legitimate phrase in which the property in question was satisfied (I love how I'm still being somewhat cryptic since I don't want to be the first to spill the beans, haha), then I felt there would've been a slightly more satisfying click.

It's weird since the mechanism, perhaps, is more like a Week 2 or 3, but the esoteric nature of it plays more like a Week 3 or 4. I get to start my new streak (1-week!), so I'm happy regardless, haha.
Less cross words, more crosswords.

Solve my latest "Pun of a Kind" Meta!: 89. That's Not Right!
Leslie
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#56

Post by Leslie »

TMart wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 12:01 pm Got it, but I still don't get it. And missed last entry by one.
Last entry! I had given up on this and put it aside. I picked it up one last time at 11:50 and suddenly focused on how odd the clue for “Spanish boy” was. Looked up 27th letter of Spanish alphabet and there it was, with 3 minutes left!
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sharkicicles
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#57

Post by sharkicicles »

It sounds like some of you were aññoyed with this one.
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mntlblok
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#58

Post by mntlblok »

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Bird Lives
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#59

Post by Bird Lives »

Title: Spider Dreams
The four long entries translated to Spanish:
  • señor mañana
    piña año
    pequeño baño
    español niño
The original prompt: This week’s contest answer is a modified version of this puzzle’s title.
The answer: araña sueño

My prompt: The answer is an Oscar-winning actress

My answer: Tilda Swinton

Oh I know, haters gonna hate, nitpickers gonna pick. But when it comes to that squiggle above the n, but I spell it like we say it. And by the way nitpickers, if you submitted “arana sueno” amd not "araña sueño" because you couldn’t be bothered to insert the tilda (i.e., the so-called tilde,) do you really have standing to pick the nit in my answer?

Now if I could just come up with a fitting title.
Jay
Laura M
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#60

Post by Laura M »

I don't think I've ever submitted an answer I was less sure of, and that includes some (wrong) guesses. I wanted to submit something so that I could be done looking on it, and I kind of wanted to show that I figured out step 1, at least. But I was sure that the real answer had to be something much more elegant! It's just that we've come to expect so much from Gaffney puzzles :-)
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