MGWCC #784 — “They Turn Into Superheroes”

[Joe Ross]

MGWCC #784 — Friday, June 9th, 2023

GUEST CONSTRUCTOR MONTH, PUZZLE #2

“They Turn Into Superheroes” by Quiara Vasquez

GUEST CONSTRUCTOR MONTH, PUZZLE #2:

Batting second this month is Quiara Vasquez. Quiara is an artist and writer whose work as a puzzlemaker you’ve seen in all the regular places (NYT, USA Today, blah blah blah) and some of the weirder ones, including as an editor for AVCX (which is open for submissions now until the end of the month) and Crucinova (which is coming off a job-hunt-induced hiatus and going back to regular weekly puzzles later this month). If you liked this grid, there’s more like it on her blog QVXwordz.

Thanks, Quiara! On to the meta…

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a heroic group.


Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.


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[Joe Ross]

Swing and a miss!

[HeadinHome]

Hmmm… I think I see what may be going on, but I fear I do not know enough about this topic to get the pieces. Might have to give this one a pass, since my record is wrecked anyway.

[MikeyG]

I think I see something, but that's all I see. (I'll check my glasses.)

[ky-mike]

Swing and a miss!

Can't hit a home run without taking a big swing once in a while.

[Joe]

I was a comic book nerd (no disrespect intended with that word) when I was younger, so I feel like I should get this one. And there are a lot of shiny things. But I can't land it yet. I think it might be one of those where too much knowledge is a dangerous thing.

[HunterX]

If the cluing is any indication, I'm not getting this one. I'm in the wrong demographic. (Was barely able to do the grid...)

[ChrisKochmanski]

Beamed!

Cool! Thanks, Quiara!

[Bob cruise director]

Is this a week 2 or have I been hibernating and it is a week 5? The grid is working on being a bear.

I have thrown in the towel for this week's MGWCC. Too many clues/answer that I would have to google (maybe 60% of all answers) and that makes the contest no fun.

[Katiedid]

I guess I'm old. Even though I manage to do the New Yorker everyday, this grid was tough!
I had a guess, but can't make it work. Now I see something that can't be a coincidence, but what to do with that?

[Joe]

I figured it out! It's a good one. And 100%. But harder than a week 2, in my very humble opinion.

[Trish]

We finally got it but also think it was a hard one! Ooh-la-la, glad it is over!

[Leslie]

Got it! But I think it was a little bit SAD.

[MajordomoTom]

it's a solid grid - I didn't have the troubles that some had (and I'm not a spring chicken, I can now take distributions from my IRA w/o a penalty as of last month) ... but no visibility to the "metanism" (to steal from the WSJ thread)

[PuzNewbie]

Got it! But I think it was a little bit SAD.

Seasonal Affective Disorder?!

[AaronT]

Solved with a nudge. Don’t know if I’d have gotten there without it!

[MikeyG]

I figured it out! It's a good one. And 100%. But harder than a week 2, in my very humble opinion.

Last month's Week 2 (the MGWCC whose answer was, well, "MGWCC") was pretty crunchy as well. These pesky Week 2s!

Yeah, something is clearly escaping me. Probably need to move from PUZ to PDF at this point (usually do that around sundown of night 1 if nothing emerges).

[littlepigeon]

was hoping for a nice, smooth solve with this one after not immediately seeing the paths in either this week's WSJ or this month's MMMM.....

but i literally know nothing about superheroes or the genre or the movies or anything, again, literally whatsoever... have never even seen one of the superhero films other than one of the older batman installments once...

so if any of that is necessary knowledge for figuring out the meta, i'm screwed, hooray so cool

[KayW]

Got it! But I think it was a little bit SAD.

Seasonal Affective Disorder?!

Simple And Difficult. I think the term was coined by Matt Gaffney: the metanism is straightforward but can be difficult to spot.

And so far it sure has been difficult for this geezer who's feeling even older after fumbling and googling my way through this grid. But I'm not giving up just yet...

[MikeyG]

Ohhhh, okay. That has to be it.

Submitted and awaiting the beam. Brilliant.

Edit: Beamed up at #31! In honor of 31, I'll celebrate with some ice cream.