MGWCC #743 — “Butterfly Effect” by Paolo Pasco
- Wendy Walker
- Posts: 1749
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:44 pm
- Location: Unionville, PA
"Tiny" Smith of Helping Hand Services described to this reporter what went on at the Woozy household.
"So, y'know, we repo guys are used to seeing just about everything that comes down the pike," he said. "But, like, this guy just didn't care that we were taking away his furniture and even his dog! He waves this honkin' big crossword puzzle in my face and says, "Just let me finish this, please." But I saw it, man -- and it was already all filled in!"
"So, y'know, we repo guys are used to seeing just about everything that comes down the pike," he said. "But, like, this guy just didn't care that we were taking away his furniture and even his dog! He waves this honkin' big crossword puzzle in my face and says, "Just let me finish this, please." But I saw it, man -- and it was already all filled in!"
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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- Posts: 191
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 11:09 am
Changing the subject completely, but, if really tough cluing is absolutely your thing, I have encountered very little out there that rises to the level of the Saturday Stumper puzzles, published in Long Island's Newsday. Forget the Saturday NYT, forget the Peter Gordon Fireballs - I do them, I love them, but for pure "make the clues as challenging/tricky/misleading/puzzling" as possible, you'll have a difficult time topping the Saturday Stumper.
If you've never been introduced, there is a new-ish series of Stumper collections, Hard As A Rock Crossword, with three (?) entries, Extra Hard, Really Hard and Super Hard, all sold at a cover price of $9.95, which is pretty reasonable for 70 puzzles per book.
You don't need to know a lot of esoteric trivia, or five dollar words, but you need the patience to parse some nefarious cluing. If you have never encountered a Stumper, give them a shot.
If you've never been introduced, there is a new-ish series of Stumper collections, Hard As A Rock Crossword, with three (?) entries, Extra Hard, Really Hard and Super Hard, all sold at a cover price of $9.95, which is pretty reasonable for 70 puzzles per book.
You don't need to know a lot of esoteric trivia, or five dollar words, but you need the patience to parse some nefarious cluing. If you have never encountered a Stumper, give them a shot.
- ajk
- Posts: 1017
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
- Location: Colorado
Phew. Beamed* after a intense but very entertaining effort. Had the answer for a few hours before I could nail down the last 2% that confirmed what I already knew had to be the last bit. But glad that I stuck it out and dotted that i as well (metaphorically, of course, so no spoilers ).
Definitely liked this one a lot, even if the percentage of grid entries I didn't know was higher than I'd prefer. I'm all for a good dose of those in general, and if sometimes a puzzle has to have even more than I'd like in order to make up for the ones that have none, well that's fine too. Plus the mechanism was pretty cool.
*Technically awaiting, but not worried. ETA: officially beamed.
Definitely liked this one a lot, even if the percentage of grid entries I didn't know was higher than I'd prefer. I'm all for a good dose of those in general, and if sometimes a puzzle has to have even more than I'd like in order to make up for the ones that have none, well that's fine too. Plus the mechanism was pretty cool.
*Technically awaiting, but not worried. ETA: officially beamed.
Last edited by ajk on Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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- Posts: 334
- Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:43 pm
- Location: Duluth, MN
- joequavis
- Posts: 500
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:29 pm
- Location: Windsor, Colorado
Requesting beam up, though it appears the transporter is undergoing repairs. I enjoyed the challenge, grid and meta alike. This coming from someone who generally dislikes overly challenging grids on metas.
- woozy
- Posts: 2282
- Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:40 am
Wish they'd get that fixed. I'm positive I've got the mechanism but I may have made an error or two. Still I'd like to get a solo 4 after flubbing the week 1.
Edit: Ah, there I am... 92.
Last edited by woozy on Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Stinky Pinkies!
My Entry to the May 2024 CrossHare Midi Contest
Not a meta, but, yeesh!, that was tough to create.
My Entry to the May 2024 CrossHare Midi Contest
Not a meta, but, yeesh!, that was tough to create.
- mattythewsjpuzzler
- Posts: 350
- Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2020 11:47 am
I for one have no friggin idea. Not complaining. Yet.
Beamed with shoves. Not my fave.
Beamed with shoves. Not my fave.
Last edited by mattythewsjpuzzler on Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
- edestlin
- Posts: 244
- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2022 9:22 am
- Location: Michigan
- Contact:
I'd appreciate a nudge or collaboration if anyone is open to it... I feel like I was making solid progress until I beamed halfway into a Cronenberg monstrosity.
UPDATE:
Awaiting confirmation but I'm pretty confident in my answer. That was my first MGWCC and what a doozy it was. Thanks to a couple of very gentle nudges to help me stay on the right track.
UPDATE:
Awaiting confirmation but I'm pretty confident in my answer. That was my first MGWCC and what a doozy it was. Thanks to a couple of very gentle nudges to help me stay on the right track.
Last edited by edestlin on Tue Aug 30, 2022 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Cinny
- Posts: 836
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:53 pm
- Location: Minoa, NY
- Contact:
Beamed up. I found this one to be difficult and hard on the eyes. But with a bit of help, I got through it.
Cindy Heisler
- Jeremy Smith
- Posts: 1024
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:45 pm
- Location: Tampa Bay area
On the board at #91. Always nice to get a Week 4 solo solve. Hmm....I think I know why some of our usually speedy solvers are not yet on the board.
- benchen71
- Posts: 2538
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Oof. Nudged to the tractor beam. Not my idea of fun, but a very clever concept.
(After the reveal I might suggest the one thing I would have changed, had I come up with this meta idea.)
(After the reveal I might suggest the one thing I would have changed, had I come up with this meta idea.)
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta!
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- Posts: 299
- Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2020 5:12 pm
Woof, that was indeed a good workout, but I'm now beamed up at #95. I'm amazed that Paolo was able to conceive of and then construct a meta like this.
Regarding the discussion about the cluing, I agree that Paolo tends to lean towards cutesy, but (speaking as a 69 year-old geezer) the grid didn't seem unfair to me. I was able to get everything without resorting to Google ... well, in all honesty I did google some entries after I was done to make sure that I didn't have any errors. Looking back over the grid, I can see only one place where two "obscure" names cross each other, and even in that case there was enough context given to make an educated guess possible.
Regarding the discussion about the cluing, I agree that Paolo tends to lean towards cutesy, but (speaking as a 69 year-old geezer) the grid didn't seem unfair to me. I was able to get everything without resorting to Google ... well, in all honesty I did google some entries after I was done to make sure that I didn't have any errors. Looking back over the grid, I can see only one place where two "obscure" names cross each other, and even in that case there was enough context given to make an educated guess possible.
- woozy
- Posts: 2282
- Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:40 am
It almost seems to me conceiving and constructing this would be easier than solving this.
Stinky Pinkies!
My Entry to the May 2024 CrossHare Midi Contest
Not a meta, but, yeesh!, that was tough to create.
My Entry to the May 2024 CrossHare Midi Contest
Not a meta, but, yeesh!, that was tough to create.
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- Posts: 31
- Joined: Mon May 03, 2021 12:44 pm
- Location: San Francisco
Beamed up and happy to provide nudges. Standard DrTom-type request: brief me on what you've done/what ideas you've had
- HunterX
- Posts: 1197
- Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 9:17 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
After a full blown shove to get started, I worked through the rest and am awaiting beam up.
Phew! I need a shower... for my brain! I can see why some chose not to go through the marathon workout, but I enjoyed it once I got through the first 19.2 miles and only had 7 to go.
Had a cutesy comment to make, but I think it might constitute a bit of a spoiler.
Edit: Beamed up at 146.
Phew! I need a shower... for my brain! I can see why some chose not to go through the marathon workout, but I enjoyed it once I got through the first 19.2 miles and only had 7 to go.
Had a cutesy comment to make, but I think it might constitute a bit of a spoiler.
Edit: Beamed up at 146.
Last edited by HunterX on Tue Aug 30, 2022 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- Posts: 191
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 11:09 am
- sheeparenotgreen
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:09 pm
Beamed up with help! This was complicated. Happy to hint via PM.
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon May 30, 2022 3:54 pm
I’ve been staring at this for a few days now and still can’t find a way to get even started. If there is a way to have a gentle nudge in the right direction, I’d appreciate it in a DM. I love challenging metas where there is a lot of work to do, but I need to know what the first step is! Any (tiny) help would be appreciated.
- Joe
- Posts: 568
- Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 12:45 pm
- Location: New Hampshire
Psssshh. Having lost my 50 badge a couple weeks ago, I no longer find myself panicky about solving difficult metas. If I had a little more free time this past week, I might have spent a little more time on the meta. I'm sure I'll marvel at the solution once it's published. As it is, I'm a proud DNF this week.
Happy to give nudges. If you notice I've solved, please tell me about avenues you've explored so I can nudge you in the right direction and not off a cliff.