#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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#21

Post by KayW »

Beamed up! Another fun one.
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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ChrisKochmanski
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#22

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Beam me up!

Involving, but not too hard. Fun!
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BarbaraK
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#23

Post by BarbaraK »

Beam me up! I don't really see much connection to the title though.
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Janet P
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#24

Post by Janet P »

Beamed up!

Now back to WSJ which has me flummoxed...
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Bird Lives
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#25

Post by Bird Lives »

BarbaraK wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:25 pm Beam me up! I don't really see much connection to the title though.
I thought about it for a minute and can't come up with anything better. Can you? "Double Occupancy" was the best I could do.
Last edited by Bird Lives on Sat Jan 16, 2021 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jay
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bhamren
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#26

Post by bhamren »

I see the mechanism - I did the puzzle on my iPhone while my wife was driving. I am going to print it out so I can see the big picture, but it seems pretty straightforward.

Glad I printed it out - found more clues and the mechanism. Submitted and I am sure it is right.
Last edited by bhamren on Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dave C
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#27

Post by Dave C »

Beam me up.
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hcbirker
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#28

Post by hcbirker »

Beam me up! Now back to the WSJ. (Grrr).
Heidi
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BarbaraK
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#29

Post by BarbaraK »

BarbaraK wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:25 pm Beam me up! I don't really see much connection to the title though.
Thanks, Hector. Now I understand. Guess I did this the hard way.
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lbray53
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#30

Post by lbray53 »

In honor of 66A and my preferred beverage - Me Up Jim Beam.

The biggest puzzle for me was getting to the submission page in Patreon. It kept taking me to Matt's first post. I finally figured out to go to last week's post and roll forward to the next puzzle. Just a little added fun.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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KDubs
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#31

Post by KDubs »

I see *something* but haven’t landed ashore yet. The title is putting Taylor Swift in my head!
dudeski
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#32

Post by dudeski »

Beamed. Awaiting confirmation.
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bhamren
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#33

Post by bhamren »

Dannyvee wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 12:39 pm Beam me up with my number 💯 overall correct answer!
Congrats! - right on your tail. I thought I was close and just looked and this is #99 for me.
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hazmat
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#34

Post by hazmat »

Beamed. Confirmed. If anybody can explain the title to me in a PM, I'd appreciate it.
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Bird Lives
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#35

Post by Bird Lives »

I made a comment earlier that knowing Gaffney's gimmicks allowed me to see the mechanism here but that even so, finding all the pieces was a bit of a slot. I forgot to add that I think this puzzle is freaking brilliant. To come up with this idea and then execute it within a 15 x 15 grid --- oops, a 17 x 17 grid (thx Joe Ross) -- seems, to me at least, amazing.
Last edited by Bird Lives on Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jay
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802puzzler
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#36

Post by 802puzzler »

Solved, and on the board. Now if I can only have the same clarity on the WSJ puzzle! 🤪
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802puzzler
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#37

Post by 802puzzler »

hazmat wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:39 pm Beamed. Confirmed. If anybody can explain the title to me in a PM, I'd appreciate it.
Same!
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BarbaraK
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#38

Post by BarbaraK »

Bird Lives wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 9:01 pm I made a comment earlier that knowing Gaffney's gimmicks allowed me to see the mechanism here but that even so, finding all the pieces was a bit of a slot. I forgot to add that I think this puzzle is freaking brilliant. To come up with this idea and then execute it within a 15 x 15 grid seems, to me at least, amazing.
I won't disagree with the brilliant bit, but the grid is 17x17
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MajordomoTom
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#39

Post by MajordomoTom »

submitted my answer - I was staring at this, thinking "ok, have I gone far enough?"

reading these comments here, I've submitted.

confirmed at #233, that's 11 in a row!
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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MikeM000
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#40

Post by MikeM000 »

Ready to be beamed upon next board update. Very nice puzzle...good to have something with a bit of meat to it after 2 straight week 1s....
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