MGWCC #766 — “Happy Birthday to Her”

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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Meg
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#21

Post by Meg »

I thought the grid was rather tough for a week 1. But it was nice to have an easy meta. Happy Birthday, little one!
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minimuggle
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#22

Post by minimuggle »

Fun puzzle to celebrate a special little birthday girl
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lbray53
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#23

Post by lbray53 »

Beamed at 198. Not bad all things considered. And I stubbornly finished the grid before submitting.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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HunterX
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Location: Philadelphia, PA

#24

Post by HunterX »

Beamed up. Not saying what number, as I never go for speed or even look at the puzzle right away. Also, I finished the grid first, though very slowly, seeing as I hardly know anything about sports figures, kids animated movies or book series, cities in Sweden, etc., etc. It was a slog. But I finally got through it.

The meta was, as others state, knowable without completing the grid. And very easy with the grid completed!
Last edited by HunterX on Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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KayW
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#25

Post by KayW »

Beaming up birthday wishes for the Gaffney household
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benchen71
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#26

Post by benchen71 »

Tough grid. Took me nearly 18 minutes to fill, with lots of Googling. But I am confidently awaiting beam-up.
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta! :D
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MountainManZach
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon May 03, 2021 12:44 pm
Location: San Francisco

#27

Post by MountainManZach »

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 1:57 pm Can one of you explain this to me. I got my Patreon notification at 12:005 today. By that time, 6 people were already on the board.
I seem to recall someone saying on here that test solvers sometimes submit. I don't know how some of these times could possibly happen otherwise. (e.g. #750 Monster Match: 5 people solved it in the first 5 minutes, someone solved it in 1. The solution required a mostly-solved grid. Joon reported a total solve time of 4:15 which doesn't include the time required to download the puzzle and fill in the submission form. *shrug*)

But specifically for today, I knew the answer without doing the puzzle
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MountainManZach
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Location: San Francisco

#28

Post by MountainManZach »

Al Sisti wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:06 pm
docison wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 12:30 pm Yes, for the Gaffney obsessives out there, this was definitely solvable without the grid. But I've already got my #1 badge, so solve the grid I did.
My #1 came from his birthday, as a matter of fact.
By my count there's only been 90 #1 submitters in the Sidebar Era. I've resigned myself to never getting that one. Only one left for me is Week 5 Halloween (opportunities in 2025 & 2026... looks like we'll just miss the 2027 chance if he sticks to the 1,000 weeks promise)
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ChrisKochmanski
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#29

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Happy Beamed-day!
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rjy
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#30

Post by rjy »

Late start, but got it, awaiting beamage… cheers to the Gaffneys and all you muggles out there!
Ray
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oldjudge
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#31

Post by oldjudge »

Now I see why Matt and his wife didn't name her Esmeralda.
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Barney
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#32

Post by Barney »

oldjudge wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 11:49 pm Now I see why Matt and his wife didn't name her Esmeralda.
This is hilarious.

I suppose it was worth doing the grid just to see how much fun Matt must have had constructing it.
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DrTom
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#33

Post by DrTom »

Well, I think I may just have been able to get this one...and if I didn't I think I'd just put away my pencil and call it meta quits. Happy Birthday to her indeed!
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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Berto
Posts: 494
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2022 4:10 pm

#34

Post by Berto »

Has the tractor beam malfunctioned?
Feel 99.98% sure, but always nice to get confirmation that I won’t get left behind in a distant galaxy…
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BarbaraK
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#35

Post by BarbaraK »

Berto wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 12:53 pm Has the tractor beam malfunctioned?
Feel 99.98% sure, but always nice to get confirmation that I won’t get left behind in a distant galaxy…
Maybe recovering from all the birthday celebrating
If you want help with a meta, feel free to PM me. The more specific you are about what you have and what you want, the more likely I can help without spoiling.

(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
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Kwyjibo
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Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2022 2:36 am

#36

Post by Kwyjibo »

Beamed up and in the top 500!
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MikeM000
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#37

Post by MikeM000 »

Me, on seeing the prompt: "Is she 2 or 3? I remember her birth announcement but how long ago was that? I better do the grid."

Me, posting here after I got beamed:
MikeM000 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 12:31 pm in my almost 3 years as a subscriber
D'oh! If I was Natasha Lyonne I would have been smart enough to put 2 and 2 together (literally) and answered right away.
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