"Picture Perfect" - November 2020

A monthly, music-themed meta crossword published at noon on the first Tuesday of every month. The puzzles increase in difficulty each month, and at year end there is a 13th puzzle (the "Mega-Meta") that invokes each of the 12 monthly puzzles. Currently available at https://pmxwords.com/, as well as through the Washington Post website here: MMMM at WaPo
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Dannyvee
Posts: 515
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:39 am
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA

#21

Post by Dannyvee »

I’ve spent a ton of time on this and see some things that just have to be important but can’t find an answer.
If anyone who hasn’t solved it yet wants to pm me to collaborate and compare notes, please do.
Edit: I got it, on the board at #52!
I can be found in Sheridan, NY, veejaying. (8)
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Eric Porter
Posts: 466
Joined: Sun May 05, 2019 2:19 am
Location: Nashville, TN

#22

Post by Eric Porter »

I gave up on this one and I'm glad I did. I wouldn't have gotten it. Even with the hint, I couldn't get it quickly and went over to Crossword Fiend.

I got really stuck in a few places in the grid and thought that it was part of the solution.
ABAFT in for 31A? EUONYM for 44D? Those weren't words I knew.
IBO for 29D isn't a Nigerian language I could find.

There's always December.
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BethA
Posts: 624
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:44 pm
Location: Beaver, PA

#23

Post by BethA »

I had a little more fun not solving this one than I did not solving the WSJ meta. It sounds sort of outlandish now, but I really had the feeling that I was doing what I was supposed to do. Apparently, I placed a little too much emphasis on 45D Aced the test. Thinking ACE is often used in crosswords along with PERFECT, and the answer was GOTANA. So I happily colored in all of the As in the grid!

It didn’t look like much of anything but random blobs. But then 49A said it would be useful in CRACKING the meta. What do you crack? A code! Immediately decided the random blobs were a QR CODE. After awhile learned that a QR code should have the standard box in a square donut in 3 of the corners. So I made some of my own to surround the colored-in grid, but still could not get it to scan using the QRCODE reader app on my iPhone.

So, put it aside. Was also thinking the album would have a color in the name, due to the coloring clue and the apricot scarf.

Did not even submit a guess on this one either. But enjoyed all of the coloring!

Was also puzzled about IBO. All I could find was IGBO. Was this somehow part of the meta?? 😀
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ky-mike
Posts: 1942
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 4:22 pm
Location: Near Louisville Ky

#24

Post by ky-mike »

BethA wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 7:51 am I had a little more fun not solving this one than I did not solving the WSJ meta. It sounds sort of outlandish now, but I really had the feeling that I was doing what I was supposed to do. Apparently, I placed a little too much emphasis on 45D Aced the test. Thinking ACE is often used in crosswords along with PERFECT, and the answer was GOTANA. So I happily colored in all of the As in the grid!

It didn’t look like much of anything but random blobs. But then 49A said it would be useful in CRACKING the meta. What do you crack? A code! Immediately decided the random blobs were a QR CODE. After awhile learned that a QR code should have the standard box in a square donut in 3 of the corners. So I made some of my own to surround the colored-in grid, but still could not get it to scan using the QRCODE reader app on my iPhone.

So, put it aside. Was also thinking the album would have a color in the name, due to the coloring clue and the apricot scarf.

Did not even submit a guess on this one either. But enjoyed all of the coloring!

Was also puzzled about IBO. All I could find was IGBO. Was this somehow part of the meta?? 😀
I followed the same path. I looked at "gotana" both as "got an A" and "got ANA", highlighting only As and then only As and Ns. I am not that good at some of these "picture" puzzles. I missed Gaffney's "KOBE" meta earlier this year. Oh well, I wasn't in the running for any prizes or bragging rights this year anyway. I do enjoy Pete's puzzles, though.
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BarbaraK
Posts: 2592
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
Location: Virginia

#25

Post by BarbaraK »

With the thick colored pen clue, I figured I needed to highlight some combination of letters. So I tried a bunch, and got all sorts of patters of squiggles and blots, but nothing I could recognize. If I had noticed that PERFECT gave a symmetric pattern, I would probably have realized that was the right one. But I didn't. And I doubt it would have mattered anyway as I'd never heard of or seen Have a Nice Day and it was not on the list of 2005 albums that google gave me.
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sharkicicles
Posts: 798
Joined: Fri May 10, 2019 12:03 pm
Location: Chicago

#26

Post by sharkicicles »

I’m more shocked Bon Jovi had an album in 2005 than I am I didn’t get this meta.
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Cindy N
Posts: 984
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:55 pm
Location: Wisconsin

#27

Post by Cindy N »

Once I finally got to the "face" part, I thought it looked more like a clown - or even the Grinch. Someone else mentioned to me about a smiley face. Oh.
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Hector
Posts: 1297
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:15 pm
Location: San Francisco
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#28

Post by Hector »

I was confident for a time that the answer would be Coldplay's X&Y, which uses a Baudot code design on the cover. That seemed like such a natural November Muller concept . . .
PaPuzzler
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2020 5:16 pm

#29

Post by PaPuzzler »

Yes. I also thought it had to be X&Y by Coldplay, for the same reasons. So glad I didn't spend more time on this one. Never, ever would have gotten it.
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