"Jolly Old St. Nick" December 23, 2022

[BarbaraK]

Missed the Zoom since I'm still at sea and want to give it another day or two on my own. From comments here I gather that I'm probably overthinking it and that if I do find it it will be worthwhile.

No great rabbit holes yet, but a couple mediocre ones I'll share Monday if I still remember them.

I want to second the recommendations for the Monumental Moderation double meta viewtopic.php?t=1980 - a fitting tribute to our muggle moderators from our muggle constructors.

And want to be sure no one missed the final MMMM of the year that came out Tuesday. If you haven't solved the mega meta yet, it's your last chance. If you have solved it, it's still a fun crossword and you get to see how Pete managed to fit 12 months worth of hints into one puzzle. If you haven't been doing them this year, no problem this one stands on its own and is a perfectly good time to start.

[Deb F]

Ashore thanks to the ZooMuggles! What a group! Thanks, as always.

Whatever holiday you celebrate, may it be joyous!

[Penny_Keatley]

Made it to shore!

[littlepigeon]

OK, so i guess, all i want for christmas is . . . nudges?

i mean just one, though, one nudge is (hopefully) plenty ofc, but... that didn't sound as nice in the song? so.

(the only rabbit hole so far that's shown itself to my sometime-solving partner and me actually only showed itself to him, so if this were a solo solving week i'd be like embarrassingly at sea. instead i'm just bored thinking about and staring at this puzzle for this long and would ultimately just like to be able to carry on with my weekend in peace....)

[Sleepy]

Friday night comes to a close and still at sea. Darn. No “aha” for me.

[ship4u]

Fun times. Got ashore working with @rancho! My first WSJ Crossword Puzzle Contest is in the books!

I did a double take when I saw your dog photo. Welcome to the group!

[runart]

I am at an impasse with this thing! If anyone could take a look at my what I fear are only rabbit holes I would greatly appreciate it!!

[dudeski]

Ashore with eggnog

[Bob cruise director]

Towed on shore by the zoomers last evening. Thanks to the group

[Bob cruise director]

I am at an impasse with this thing! If anyone could take a look at my what I fear are only rabbit holes I would greatly appreciate it!!

to @runart and all. Rather than put out a broadcast SOS, there are several options
1) send a PM to one or more muggles who have solved the meta, tell them what you have done and where you are stuck. they will send you the appropriate nudges. The reason for sending PM's to several this week is that many will be busy and may not get your request quickly
2) attend either the 4:30 Friday zoom meeting or the 8 pm Sunday zoom meeting to collaborate with others on getting the answer under the guidance of muggles who have the answer.
3) the zoom link is open all the time for muggles to get together and cosolve.

[CPJohnson]

Alas, I'm still at sea. We had our big celebration on Thursday because of work schedules (everyone was off then). So I have the weekend to ponder the title, the clues, and the grid to see if I can come up with something. Thanks to all who participate in this forum, and Merry Christmas to you and yours from East Tennessee, where we are in the middle of a warming trend....started the morning at 2 degrees F, and we're now up to 6!

[Hidden in 3D]

Still at Sea! Did the grid on Thursday night, but don't have much time to devote to the meta this weekend (for reasons explained below)!

Finally…..after husband and others got stuck in the mud at Farmers Market parking lot. He and others got everyone pushed out. I had to wash his shoes. Then one hour ago my Christmas Dinner guest number doubled due to weather issues. I’m called Kitchendiva for a reason. I already have a revised menu!

Not sure which is more challenging - having the number of guests double or having the menu and timing of the Christmas meal totally change. I learned a few days ago that I am not serving dinner, but instead that I am preparing Christmas brunch! Our daughter and son-in-law need to travel to his parents' house in SC for Christmas dinner so that they will be able to see his sister and fiancé! No worries - I've got this under control with my tall flaky biscuit recipe doubled (yummy with sausage in the middle or just with butter and jam) and a massive charcuterie board. Just wish I had one more jar of my homemade raspberry preserves, but those disappear fast around here!

Merry Muggle Christmas to everyone!

[LizD]

Hopelessly lost at sea after a couple days staring at this thing...I'm out of practice methinks!

I haven't given up but I am playing on the side with the ginormous puzzle by our moderators. Waiting for post enlightenment!

[Streroto]

Re Monumental Moderation I love that the pdf printed in a font size I could do sans readers LOL
I have yet to solve meta #1 but where is clue for meta #2?
Sorry if I am being dense. Fun grid for sure.

Stay well

[Joe Ross]

Re Monumental Moderation I love that the pdf printed in a font size I could do sans readers LOL
I have yet to solve meta #1 but where is clue for meta #2?
Sorry if I am being dense. Fun grid for sure.

Stay well

The second meta answer is a two-word phrase consisting of 11 letters. (Must be submitted via PM.)

[Bob cruise director]

Still at Sea! Did the grid on Thursday night, but don't have much time to devote to the meta this weekend (for reasons explained below)!

Finally…..after husband and others got stuck in the mud at Farmers Market parking lot. He and others got everyone pushed out. I had to wash his shoes. Then one hour ago my Christmas Dinner guest number doubled due to weather issues. I’m called Kitchendiva for a reason. I already have a revised menu!

Not sure which is more challenging - having the number of guests double or having the menu and timing of the Christmas meal totally change. I learned a few days ago that I am not serving dinner, but instead that I am preparing Christmas brunch! Our daughter and son-in-law need to travel to his parents' house in SC for Christmas dinner so that they will be able to see his sister and fiancé! No worries - I've got this under control with my tall flaky biscuit recipe doubled (yummy with sausage in the middle or just with butter and jam) and a massive charcuterie board. Just wish I had one more jar of my homemade raspberry preserves, but those disappear fast around here!

Merry Muggle Christmas to everyone!

@Hidden in 3D and @Cindy Thank you both. I read your postings about dinners changing to my stressed out wife. I am not sure it did much good but at least she knows that she is not unique.

[Streroto]

Thanks Joe

[Schmeel]

Ashore!

[Ergcat]

Merry Muggle Christmas!

[Bob cruise director]

Good Saturday morning muggles

Happy Holidays to all. An interesting challenge Mike this week and as has been noted it is SAD - Simple and Devious. And thanks to the muggles on the Friday zoom call for getting us off the ship with a couple of nudges.

And welcome to our newest mubbles - rancho, chatger, aschuchert and runart. Great to have more muggles and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

And if you do nothing else today go to the Monumental Moderation meta by our own muggles and read the clues. Extremely clever and hopefully they will lure you into doing the grid and going after the meta.

So far we have 13 on the ship and 111 on the shore.

With Isaac are

ColinM
relic (and Maggie)
Scott M
EVJ
mattythewsjpuzzler
Barbara K
Sleepy
ladybird
Guy L
littlepigeon
runart
Hidden in 3D
CPJohnson

And on the shore are

Kay
MikeyG
benchen71
MatthewL
Joe R
Jace54
clonefitz
chriscross
Mike H
Beth A
oldjudge
Peter
Laura
Heidi
NebFaninCA
Dannyvee
Anita
darth
boharr
TheFusionMoose
ky-mike
Beth T
BigPear
higgysue
rjy
Flying_Burrito
dplass
HeadinHome
Omnibus
Adajeo
Toby
scott
docison
Cindy
Les
Dow Jones
Meg
Don and Cynthia
MileHighSolver
JimJim
Chris
Bill
Jean
ErikThor
markhr
pipster
streroto
MikeM000
Al
michaelm
TeaJenny
joe
Shirley
D B Miller
Ergcat
Lacangah
M and M
linsocalm
regfish
31 Down
Kas
minimuggle
BrennerTJ
AaronT
Barnhart6
Anna
woozy
hottieruth
Wendy
Cap'n Rick
Moi
b4alltime
MarkWoychick
stmv
LittleGood
Tina
TeamDoubleTow
Fogway
Homer
rliebert
Char
dudeski
Bird Lives
Berto
Steveb
Katiedid
sjm
Gman
Al Laubenstein
Deb
Acari
ReB
DrTom
cheekumbaldy
turbotron
Fred
DCBilly
Lyman
hunkra
Joepickett
Lube On
femullen
Penny_Keatley
Annabelle
Doug M
PhantomPhan
skidly
chatger
rancho
pjc
Liz


Have a good holiday