MGWCC #787 — “Hold It!”

[eckmania]

Beamed after a suitable delay while I contemplated if it could be so simple.

There's an added dimension, not essential for solving, but it adds a certain elegance.

I solved the same as Tamara. Curious about this comment and others in that vein. What is the added dimension, or alternatively what is the shortcut?

The 2 pieces of “bread” for each of the themes begin another word, which embeds a synonym for wraps. Ex. CarouseD leads to CD “cases”

[minimuggle]

Got it with a nudge from Barbara. Thanks so much! it was a lot of fun once I figured it out. Happy 4th!!!!

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

CD cases -> CarouseD
RE hems -> RedwinE
AS pens -> AscribeS
IN boxes -> IberiaN

I thought this was a nice bit of elegance, too. I think I got started just connecting "Edwin" from the ALDRIN clue to REDWINE, which was conveniently next door. And then wondering what to do with the leftover RE and found REHEMS.

Once I found WRAP, I did pause to work out whether the REHEMS, etc, was strictly necessary to solve, but I was 100% on the answer, so I didn't worry about it.

[Katiedid]

There's an added dimension, not essential for solving, but it adds a certain elegance.

I solved the same as Tamara. Curious about this comment and others in that vein. What is the added dimension, or alternatively what is the shortcut?

The 2 pieces of “bread” for each of the themes begin another word, which embeds a synonym for wraps. Ex. CarouseD leads to CD “cases”

Yes. I did this first. AS "pens", CD "cases", RE "hems", IN "boxes" all led me to think WRAPs is a good answer. Only then I looked back and saw the simple answer was already on my notes.

Writer
Rileup
Aldrin
Police

[DrTom]

Well she's real fine my #309...

Managed to submit at 11:56 so should be in line for a Buzzer Beater. Since I know I'll never be first I might as well be last.

I needed some course correction to get there, and it is funny that I saw the PENS, BOXES, CASES (though HEMS did not hit me as a "holder") and wondered how they might be associated but was not astute enough to notice the "Sandwich Letters" (though I did also try to use them while looking for a path in, as well as words hat started and ended with the same letter). So this was a S.A.D. meta, but also very sophisticated in it's subliminal hinting. Great Job Paul!

[ajk]

Yeah, I short circuited this one by just noticing SCRIBE in the middle of ASCRIBES, and recalling the other clue. Then EDWIN and BERIA jumped out, and since they're symmetric it was easy to find AROUSE. So that gives WRAP, but without any of the elegance of noticing how they were penned/boxed/cased/hemmed. Hence moderate sheepishness on my part.

[Abide]

I also missed the extra elegance(s). Great bonus touches by Mr. Coulter.

[KayW]

Me three. Ironically - CDCASES first pointed me to C-AROUSE-D. But I never followed through to find the other "envelopes". I just looked for the middles that were the first word of another clue. Very nice!!

Haha. In a way it's a shame you could get to it via the shortcut - that allowed me to miss the extra elegance the first time through. I'm so glad someone else pointed it out.

[eckmania]

When I struggle with a meta, it’s usually because I fall in love with my own ideas and blind myself to other possibilities. This puzzle had many ABA patterned entries (7 three letter answers that fit that pattern, and a handful of other longer ones where the word started that way). I assumed that “hold it” was referring to how one might order a sandwich, i.e. “hold the mayo” and I tried and tried to use that idea as a mechanism where adding a “held” letter to the 3 letter answers would yield an alternate answer.
Also, I couldn’t stop looking at ONALOG/SOP crossing. I was trying to make sense of that entry. It enticed me to think that maybe there were other instances where the word could be changed to fit that ABA pattern.
Thankfully, BarbaraK and MikeyG guided me to the clues.

[Bird Lives]

The clue for POLICE was shouting at me, "Beria, Beria, what's Beria got to do with the police or anything else?" That's when i spotted IBERIAN a few lines to the north. The other three were easy finds. I don't recall how it was that I saw CD CASES and others. And I still don't understand why ON A LOG instead of ANALOG.

[MarkWoychick]

@MarkWoychick I am seriously jealous. Those two parks are at the top of our list. Post some pix!!

@Streroto Here are a few amateur photos. No matter how good (or bad) the photos are, they never seem to capture what I see

Arches

Canyonlands

[Streroto]

Awesome!!!!! Thanks for sharing.

[KayW]

... And I still don't understand why ON A LOG instead of ANALOG.

That reminds me. One of my early rabbit holes was all the food items in the grid. The obvious like TRIX, SOUP, ENTREE, REDWINE, MUESLI, DANISH, DISHES. But also SNO+BALL(ades) and (army)ANT+ONALOG. Which was the only reason I could see for it being SOP/ONALOG not SAP/ANALOG.

[TMart]

“Beria” was the big flashing neon sign that led to the solve for me . I only saw the rest of the elegance after someone here mentioned that there was more and I went looking for it. Nice puzzle - Go Birds!

[schmidzy]

Also, I couldn’t stop looking at ONALOG/SOP crossing. I was trying to make sense of that entry. It enticed me to think that maybe there were other instances where the word could be changed to fit that ABA pattern.

This was my rabbit hole, too. I also went through and highlighted all the three-letter ABA sequences in the grid, and I was so convinced it was right since there must have been a reason he avoided the better (to my mind) ANALOG/SAP. SECADA and the tricky clue for SOP made that corner so tough for me, I think I went a little crazy from staring at it too long!

[woozy]

Analog/on a log

Is just a meta mechanism begging to be made.

...

Digital/dig it, Al

Online store/ only nest ore

....

I don't know where going with this