"Left Up In The Air" May 24, 2024
- Cap'n Rick
- Posts: 1619
- Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:44 pm
- Location: Nahant, MA
Just got back from a quick trip to PA and finally got a chance to work on this one. It was another "quick trip" (and actually kinda familiar...)
Count me "Ashore", @Bob cruise director!
Count me "Ashore", @Bob cruise director!
- Bob cruise director
- Cruise Director
- Posts: 4606
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:38 pm
- Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA
Good evening muggles
Our final count is 16 on the ship and 162 on the shore
Good luck winning the mug and have a safe Memorial Day
Our final count is 16 on the ship and 162 on the shore
Good luck winning the mug and have a safe Memorial Day
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
Cruise Director
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- Posts: 78
- Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 3:08 am
Solved on Thursday, but submitting now in the hopes a last minute email ups may chances of winning.
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- Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:32 am
Ashore! Under the wire and no nudges. Just a lot of looking! Phew
- woozy
- Posts: 2325
- Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:40 am
Yeep! I forgot to submit and ... *oh* phew. 6 minutes to spare.
So I just plain couldn't get my meta based on "Up the Down Staircase" to work.
My challenge it to constructors is to make a meta where the meta, theme or metanism is "Up the Down Staircase".
My challenge it to constructors is to make a meta where the meta, theme or metanism is "Up the Down Staircase".
- hcbirker
- Posts: 2089
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- Location: Studio City, CA
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- Location: Pasadena, CA
I had a few four-letter words in mind but I restrained myself.
- Damaged
- Posts: 30
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- Location: San Diego, CA
- Colin
- Posts: 556
- Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:57 pm
I was on the wrong cruise ship and (literally) on the wrong shore. But it was gorgeous here in Cornwall, England.
Well done solvers!
Well done solvers!
One world. One planet. One future.
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- Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 3:37 pm
As an alternative, I submitted "drib." As the inverse of "bird," this answer matches the left to right form of the theme answers which "tern" fails to do. As a synonym of driblet or drop, I suggest that it is a better fit for "what's left up in the air" than "tern."
- Flying_Burrito
- Posts: 308
- Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:24 am
- Location: Johns Creek, GA
Certainly creative. The tern is another bird so from a fitness standpoint the answer is solid. I saw Hawk pretty quickly, but I wished - like probably others did as well - that the 1st step would have included a left AND up mechanism.
Last edited by Flying_Burrito on Mon May 27, 2024 9:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
Senor Guaca Mole
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I thought this puzzle was a nice tip of the hat to the muggles in that I knew I was ashore when I saw the tern!
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- Posts: 146
- Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2022 2:06 am
- Location: Acton, CA
Loved this puzzle. Anyone else think this answer was kind of punny? Can’t wait to read @mikeB’s take on solving this one!
- Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5204
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
TERN is a homophone of TURN. All birds noted in the Theme Entries had their letters TURNed 180°.RST wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2024 5:33 am As an alternative, I submitted "drib." As the inverse of "bird," this answer matches the left to right form of the theme answers which "tern" fails to do. As a synonym of driblet or drop, I suggest that it is a better fit for "what's left up in the air" than "tern."
Patrick Berry doesn't create these details by chance.
- ship4u
- Posts: 969
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- Location: At Wit's End, Shaker Heights, Ohio
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Brings to mind the song:
To everything, TERN, TERN, TERN,
There is a season, TERN, TERN, TERN,
And a time to every purpose under Heaven.
Of course, it was a song by the Byrds!
To everything, TERN, TERN, TERN,
There is a season, TERN, TERN, TERN,
And a time to every purpose under Heaven.
Of course, it was a song by the Byrds!
Don & Cynthia
We are always happy to get to know other muggles and help in any way! PM's are always welcome. The next best thing to winning a mug is helping a fellow muggle win a mug!
We are always happy to get to know other muggles and help in any way! PM's are always welcome. The next best thing to winning a mug is helping a fellow muggle win a mug!
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Speaking of... what's up with FASTENUP, INHERENT, and AIREDALES? This was so distracting. The only purpose they seem to serve is to make you realize NOSTALGIC is an outlier, and then the clue for NOSTALGIC tells you what to do. But... why? This actually seems pretty haphazard and inelegant to me, two words I don't usually associate with Patrick Berry puzzles. There is just no way those three entries are an accident, but there also doesn't seem to be a good reason for them to be there. There are a million other routes he could've gone to get people to think along the "look backwards" line. And also, what's up with the clue for INN?? [Airbnb alternative] - why??? I don't understand why he included all these distractions. They don't seem to add anything to the puzzle, which once you see the actual mechanism is very straightforward. What am I missing about this?
- Yoda66
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2023 4:01 pm
- Location: Dagobah
I mean, the title did say "left" which indicates 'go backwards'. There were plenty of 'INs' embedded in the answers, but that's the case with many other grids. I thought it was the typical elegant PB.
“You must unlearn what you have learned.”
- Joe Ross
- Moderator
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- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
Maybe the key is that Pat Berry's puzzles of all stripes are simple, at heart. , sometimes, but straightforward.damefox wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2024 10:21 amSpeaking of... what's up with FASTENUP, INHERENT, and AIREDALES? This was so distracting. The only purpose they seem to serve is to make you realize NOSTALGIC is an outlier, and then the clue for NOSTALGIC tells you what to do. But... why? This actually seems pretty haphazard and inelegant to me, two words I don't usually associate with Patrick Berry puzzles. There is just no way those three entries are an accident, but there also doesn't seem to be a good reason for them to be there. There are a million other routes he could've gone to get people to think along the "look backwards" line. And also, what's up with the clue for INN?? [Airbnb alternative] - why??? I don't understand why he included all these distractions. They don't seem to add anything to the puzzle, which once you see the actual mechanism is very straightforward. What am I missing about this?
I'm stuck tugging similar mind-bending, frustrating spaghetti trails on MGWCC #834. Unfortunately, they're all well-past al dente & snap when tested.
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This is when being simple-minded helps. Four letters in the Meta, 4 horizontal themers. Go there first. I never gave any of those distractions a thought. I probably should have, espdamefox wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2024 10:21 amSpeaking of... what's up with FASTENUP, INHERENT, and AIREDALES? This was so distracting. The only purpose they seem to serve is to make you realize NOSTALGIC is an outlier, and then the clue for NOSTALGIC tells you what to do. But... why? This actually seems pretty haphazard and inelegant to me, two words I don't usually associate with Patrick Berry puzzles. There is just no way those three entries are an accident, but there also doesn't seem to be a good reason for them to be there. There are a million other routes he could've gone to get people to think along the "look backwards" line. And also, what's up with the clue for INN?? [Airbnb alternative] - why??? I don't understand why he included all these distractions. They don't seem to add anything to the puzzle, which once you see the actual mechanism is very straightforward. What am I missing about this?
Airedales, but once I saw crow…
Last edited by Zobo3737 on Mon May 27, 2024 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Lyman
- Posts: 129
- Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2020 7:15 pm
Here's my not-very-long rabbit hole:
The title is "Left Up IN the Air." So perhaps "IN" is important.
There are four grid entries with "IN" as part of the entry: 44A (sIN), 47D (reINed), 63D (INn) and 5D (tIN). The letters adjacent to the IN in each case (in the case of reINed, on both sides of the IN) spell "SENT." Something that's been SENT, but not yet received, is "Up In the Air."
Of course, the letters forming SENT aren't in any order that I can discern, but sometimes an anagram is present. So I continued on to find the correct answer.
The title is "Left Up IN the Air." So perhaps "IN" is important.
There are four grid entries with "IN" as part of the entry: 44A (sIN), 47D (reINed), 63D (INn) and 5D (tIN). The letters adjacent to the IN in each case (in the case of reINed, on both sides of the IN) spell "SENT." Something that's been SENT, but not yet received, is "Up In the Air."
Of course, the letters forming SENT aren't in any order that I can discern, but sometimes an anagram is present. So I continued on to find the correct answer.