A weekly meta crossword created by members of the forum. Difficulty levels will vary. Hints are usually available starting Wednesday, and solutions are posted on Sunday.
Happy New Year, everyone! I just watched the ball drop, gave Mrs. Cap'n a kiss, watched the Boston fireworks across Broad Sound, and now I'm posting my first meta puzzle of 2024! Life is great, isn't it!? I got the idea for this one while recently at the optometrist's office. Surprisingly, my eyesight actually improved since my last visit, which I guess is somewhat common among us folks "of a certain age". Hopefully my good experience with eye chart resolution will carry over to my 2024 New Year's resolutions. We'll just have to wait and "see"! I'd like to thank @Abide, @Al Sisti, @boharr, and @Joe Ross for pretesting and technical help.
Difficulty
I think this one will play harder than usual. I'm calling it "A Bit Choppy", but a few anxious surfers are surveying the conditions from the parking lot.
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!
I have come up with so many great mechanisms that could be inspired by this title and/or a trip to the optometrist! Unfortunately, none of them work on THIS puzzle….
Meg wrote: Mon Jan 01, 2024 11:15 am
OTC with a shove in the right direction. Very nicely done, Cap’n! Great start to the new year!
HeadinHome wrote: Mon Jan 01, 2024 12:10 pm
I have come up with so many great mechanisms that could be inspired by this title and/or a trip to the optometrist! Unfortunately, none of them work on THIS puzzle….
Hmm, maybe my eyesight isn't as good as I thought. Upon further reflection, that eye chart may have looked like this:
HeadinHome wrote: Mon Jan 01, 2024 12:10 pm
I have come up with so many great mechanisms that could be inspired by this title and/or a trip to the optometrist! Unfortunately, none of them work on THIS puzzle….
What she said....
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
Hmm, nearly 4:00 ET, and still only a handful of solvers. Either folks are still recovering from late-night New Year's Eve parties, or this meta is harder than expected. Before Mrs. Cap'n and I head out on the road tomorrow, let me offer up a special New Year's Day nudge to help get this party started!
I hope the weather is nice for travel tomorrow - not too wet!
Actually figured what the nudge was, but was missing some letters. Like @hcbirker, had to backsolve for the last one (I'll bet it was the same one). Thanks for the puzzle, Rick!
I hear what the nudge is telling me but I must be applying it wrong because I still have jibberish. Getting some help from other solvers to help me see more clearly. (UPDATE - gently nudged into a different but similar tack. Got it.)
Last edited by HeadinHome on Tue Jan 02, 2024 11:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
OTC with the New Year's Day nudge - thanks for the puzzle (and the nudge), @Cap'n Rick! Happy new year, and I look forward to many more of your puzzles in 2024
HeadinHome wrote: Mon Jan 01, 2024 10:02 pm
I hear what the nudge is telling me but I must be applying it wrong because I still have jibberish. Getting some help from other solvers to help me see more clearly.
What she said...again! I thought this a long time ago but the application did not make sense then and it doesn't now, obviously I am NOT seeing clearly.
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
Well, it's official - it's a harder than average meta. Despite the fact that several folks have completed the grid (Crosshare says 132 so far), we only have a dozen solvers including testers:
Abide (TS)
Al Sisti (TS)
boharr (TS)
benchen71
Cindy Weatherman
Meg
Hector
DIS
hcbirker
MatthewL
lbray53
MarkWoychick
Before I hit the road, let me leave you with another subtle nudge:
You've seen this mechanism before in "one" of my earlier metas.
Good luck! More nudges tomorrow!
Edit: Emphasis added to "Roadtrip Nudge" above...
Last edited by Cap'n Rick on Tue Jan 02, 2024 9:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Got it now, thanks to a great nudge (From Meg… did not look at the second posted nudge yet). I was doing something very close to the right thing, but backwards, sort of (which ALSO would have made a great mechanism… I’m writing all these down in my handy-dandy notebook of stuff I can do after I retire, page titled “metanisms to make a puzzle from”).
Great puzzle and a real mind tonic for the new year. Took forever and needed a MEGa nudge, but arrived at the destination with a clearly novel use of the language. Thanks Rick!
Now I am interested to see the "Son of Clearly" by HeadinHome! The MEOW would welcome it Wendy - I'm just sayin.
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
I'd like to thank @Abide, @Al Sisti, @boharr, and @Joe Ross for pretesting and technical help.
