"Chemical Change" - February 26, 2021

[Scraps]

Ashore from my dives on a lovely calm day in the gulf, and now ashore from my brief meta swim.

I thought I'd try to find a drink named after a chemical compound. Failed. I did find something called the "Periodic Table of Cocktails," but I would blush to say the risqué names of most of those drinks out loud. Never mind.

I'll stick with a nice safe single malt neat. When my youngest son was in the Navy, he was allowed to bring back one bottle of spirits after a port call in Scotland. He gave me his only authorized bottle, a cask strength Auchentoshan. I have just enough left to nurse until sunset.

Sea Tiger, Honolulu Harbor yesterday.
That's a frogfish in the center of the picture that I took from WAY too far away.

GOPR0521r.JPG

That’s a nice site. When I dove it, there was a sea turtle hanging around the mooring buoy. When we descended the line, he fell right in line and swam down with us.

[Joe]

Yeah, I'm here too. Quick one.

[flyingMoose]

Done.

[TeamDoubleTow]

We're going to mourn the arrival of March. February has been just our speed. On shore!

[JRS51]

Ashore! Very straightforward but I really appreciate the clever construction and fascinating clues!
We’ll know in one week whether the difficulty ramps up slowly or if they are going to hit us hard now that Feb. is over.

[M and M]

February has indeed been restful for meta-solving, and along with the rest of you, I'm wondering what March will hold...

Anyway, this was a nice one.

[Cosmo]

Ashore! This was a fun one - clever construction!

[escapeartist]

about 80% there, but something isn't adding up here...

Gotta figure out what I'm doing wrong.

*Furiously dog-paddling*

Let’s just say I was actually less than 50% there until I finally figured it out - slaps forehead.

(Solvers will likely guess what I did wrong)

ON THE BEACH!

[ImOnToo]

Did not have high hopes when reading the answer hint.
But, I’m on shore! 🏖

[TMart]

On shore.

[fstadler]

Ashore, after a short detour. Hope I've rested enough for the puzzles to come.

[Powers2020]

Ashore. Enjoyed this one very much! Nice construction, although I tried to make it too hard! I am a little nervous for what Mike has in store for us in March!

[mbryant]

On shore. Fun one.

[Bob cruise director]

Good evening. It is just after 9 here on the east coast so the contest has been out 5 hours. And we have 110 on the shore. (plus Meg's cabana boy)

Another crowded week.

[lbray53]

On shore. Great intro puzzle. Multiple examples of solving hints were on display here.

[Crest]

Easy and clever!

[Kas]

On shore! Neat construction aside, a Kas 1.
Yet, I have this sense that Matt is using this time to brew up some doozies.
Cauldron boil and cauldron bubble,
Gaffney’s scheming up some trouble...

[Tom Shea]

Ashore from my dives on a lovely calm day in the gulf, and now ashore from my brief meta swim.

I thought I'd try to find a drink named after a chemical compound. Failed. I did find something called the "Periodic Table of Cocktails," but I would blush to say the risqué names of most of those drinks out loud. Never mind.

I'll stick with a nice safe single malt neat. When my youngest son was in the Navy, he was allowed to bring back one bottle of spirits after a port call in Scotland. He gave me his only authorized bottle, a cask strength Auchentoshan. I have just enough left to nurse until sunset.

Sea Tiger, Honolulu Harbor yesterday.
That's a frogfish in the center of the picture that I took from WAY too far away.

GOPR0521r.JPG

That’s a nice site. When I dove it, there was a sea turtle hanging around the mooring buoy. When we descended the line, he fell right in line and swam down with us.

Our excitement (other than the wreck) was an unexpected visitor on our boat when we surfaced. There were two boats diving there and the other guys had a less than experienced guy who panicked, made an uncontrolled ascent, AND held his breath. Not a pretty sight, but he survived. Not really coherent when he surfaced and spit a little blood. Our boat was closest to him and picked him up. First time I'd heard an emergency recall beacon sounding under water. I can do without hearing it again. To add to the intrigue, I found out why my shop switched me to a different boat for this dive. The original boat sank last weekend. Salvageable, but needs some work. It was full returning to the harbor and took on water. Glad I wasn't on that one either!

My friend is coming in a couple of weeks to get his advanced open water cert, so I'll be back to the sea tiger when they check him out. Going to do the YO-257(?) the same day. Getting up early is rough for me, but the increased quality of the deep dives here makes it worth the trouble. And it sure beats work.

[mheverson]

Grateful for the quickie after Matt's last puzzle (which I couldn't work out even with a nudge). Sipping a Stone IPA on the beach trying to find my zen place before the Week 4 drops.

[wordsmith]

On the beach! Feeling like we've sailed through February with flying colors!