#659 - "Blank Stares"

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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KayW
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#61

Post by KayW »

BarbaraK wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:27 am
tonyrobots wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:34 pm Phew, got it! (FWIW, don't really get the title, either.)
I can't decide if those of us who solved without understanding the title should get bonus points for doing it the hard way or demerits for missing a part of the gestalt.
I am lucky that Matt is not a high school teacher. He has never required us to "show our work" to receive full credit ;)

FWIW I saw the mechanism and answer pretty quickly but am among those who don't see a connection to the title... hoping someone will fill in the BLANK( STARE)S tomorrow...
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#62

Post by Big Mac »

Beamed up a few nights ago. I enjoyed this one a lot. Reminds me of one of the first MGWCC I ever solved.
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#63

Post by MaineMarge »

Yea! Matt gave me the OK to hitch a ride with Dr. Tom too. Hope he has room for me.
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chnest
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#64

Post by chnest »

I feel like I'm 70-80% finished, but nothing I seem to do can get me to a confirmation of what it is. Any nudges available?

Thanks,

Chris
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ReB
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#65

Post by ReB »

Finally beamed up onto the ship after first materializing/dematerializing on too many wrong planets (and patiently resisting the urge to request a nudge). It was brutal finding the correct links to generate the answer, which I had intuited but wanted proof.

I also think I have some explanation for the title - it will be interesting to compare notes.
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#66

Post by raceyamatt »

New here! Solved my first two puzzles the last two weeks, but this one has me stumped! I think I'm 80-90% of the way there but could use a nudge OR a hint of some sort. What am I missing?
Frausty
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#67

Post by Frausty »

Feel like I'm >90 percent of the way there, requesting a nudge if anyone's feeling benevolent
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ajk
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#68

Post by ajk »

BarbaraK wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:27 am I can't decide if those of us who solved without understanding the title should get bonus points for doing it the hard way or demerits for missing a part of the gestalt.
As one who didn't use the title I vote for the former. :lol: :lol:
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MikeM000
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#69

Post by MikeM000 »

A commenter on the Fiend just posted a D'OH headslap comment for the title...for the 8 squares with differing letter entries for A/D, one of the 2 clues has a blank in it ("Free _____" for WILLY, etc.). The "blank" clue is the one that is the key for the meta...
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Al Sisti
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#70

Post by Al Sisti »

MikeM000 wrote: Tue Jan 19, 2021 12:31 pm A commenter on the Fiend just posted a D'OH headslap comment for the title...for the 8 squares with differing letter entries for A/D, one of the 2 clues has a blank in it ("Free _____" for WILLY, etc.). The "blank" clue is the one that is the key for the meta...
Ohhhh, good one... I took it as if it was a blank tile in Scrabble, where you can make it be whatever letter you need.
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ReB
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#71

Post by ReB »

Yes the "Blank" refers to the eight clues that contain blanks, which key to the eight word pairs.

The "Blank Stares" I think refers to one's state of mind looking at the grid before that AHA moment when you've solved the meta.
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#72

Post by Bird Lives »

Count me among those who didn't appreciate the "blank" but solved it anyway
.
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Last edited by Bird Lives on Tue Jan 19, 2021 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Joe Ross
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#73

Post by Joe Ross »

Image
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𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
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𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 & 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮. 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘!
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#74

Post by DrTom »

MaineMarge wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 3:20 pm Yea! Matt gave me the OK to hitch a ride with Dr. Tom too. Hope he has room for me.

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Heck yes, it will seat 5 if we cuddle!
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!
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#75

Post by DrTom »

cbarbee002 wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:21 am I'm riding in Tom's Beemer, in more ways than one! Energize!
OK then! I'll drive, you pour - but only up to the legal limit of course.
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!
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#76

Post by DrTom »

I thought HOLY MOLY had to do with the stare you are giving when you say something like Holy Moly! I never even noticed it correlated with the blanks. He's good our Matt....
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!
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Joe Ross
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#77

Post by Joe Ross »

MGWCC #660 -- POSTPONED Until Noon on Saturday

"Dear Solver,

" MGWCC #660 will run tomorrow, Saturday the 23rd, at noon Eastern Time. Spent all week working on a rather nice idea...that in the end simply refused to work (I finally threw in the towel at 1 AM last night).

"I hate postponing, but the crossword gods were in a particularly cruel mood this week. Hopefully they will take pity this evening.

" Sorry and thanks and until tomorrow,

"--Matt"
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PLATELET 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 ENORMOUS 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲:
𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰,
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