"Starting Positions" - August 20, 2021

[Laura M]

Ah, RACES makes more sense! I submitted SCARE because I was happy just to get to the point that I had something to submit, and I sort of justified with the different sense of the word start, the thing you might do if someone scares you. But it didn't sit right, and I suppose I should have thought about it longer. (But it also would have been nice if the appropriate letters in grid order didn't spell out a real word, just saying...) Anyway, I'm counting it as mostly a win because I still feel good about finding the main mechanism!

[steveb]

I never got off the starting blocks with this one. Very clever puzzle, though - congrats to all who solved it.

[billkatz]

I submitted SCARE - first miss since PAGEANT in December 2017, so what's that, about a 180 week streak gone? I think the prompt could have been better...

[yourpalsal]

I’ve been swamped for weeks and couldn’t find time for the puzzle. This was my first week back, and I felt like a total rust bucket for not finding any entry into the meta. Is it bad to feel kinda relieved that others had trouble too?

[Streroto]

I believe it would take an entire page to list all of the rabbit holes from this weekend, and I won’t do so, suffice to say that near the end of my travails I noticed that the G in Fargo could be middle G, like a starting position, and since I know nothing about piano playing decided it was time to throw in the towel for good. Kudos to everybody who figured it out, in retrospect it’s classic Mike and shame on me for not figuring it out.

[TeamDoubleTow]

This ended our 30 week streak. We did comment to ourselves on the weirdness of a couple of clues but we didn't go beyond that. Lesson learned! Congratulations to those who found this!!

[MaineMarge]

Well. Put the “2nd Runner-up” sash on me in the ending position of this pageant. Like @Laura M and @billkatz, I submitted SCARE. I even found RACES as the “2nd possible answer”, but nah, the meta is never anagrammed. . . Just didn’t take it that one step further.
I ALWAYS parse the Mike Shenk clues first thing, and my eye caught the FIFTH early on. Like last week when my eye just “saw” the Hope diamond encasing the letters. Too bad my brain doesn’t work as well as my eyes,

[mheberlingx100]

I had submitted POLES. The last non-CAR letter of each of the CAR answers anagrammed to that. I really wasn’t in love with that answer but thought it fit the title as the starting position a car race. I thought I was just missing something to provide order of letters, when I was really down the entirety wrong rabbit hole.

[Dplass]

To all of those who had SCARE as their answer - this was a lather/rinse/repeat solution. Using the order to pull the letters, and then again to order them for the solution - which then fits with the title.

Oh noes! I'm in that boat too... START is a synonym for SCARE so I figured it was the answer...

[PeterLeea1a]

Hats off to those who solved this puzzle!

[Commodore]

No RACES for the Commodore this weekend. Pulled boat early and hid in the hurricane hole only to watch sun come up. Talk about tropical DEPRESSION. Isaac, another for mon ami Monsieur Henri et moi, svp.

Beautiful puzzle.

[Ergcat]

36A was my hook into the meta (after being disabused about another rabbit hole) - - the wording was way too superfluous. Once I caught onto the fact that the first letters spelled second, the rest was downhill. Very clever that the answer was the first, second, etc. letters from the relevant grid fills, AND first, second, etc. after you got those letters.

My first attempt was to think of 31A (DATELINE, with the clue "Story starter" - - was thinking "international date line") as relevant, so I looked at the place grid fills (Guam, Cabo, Fargo, etc) trying to make something of that. Yeah, went nowhere.

Yes, this was my journey too! After following many rabbits (CARS, city names, words one letter off, ballet positions, etc) I decided to stop staring at the grid and look at the clues! That seemed to be the key a couple of weeks ago too ( Three little Words). And the clue for 36a just seemed awkward…. So I applied the title “Starting Positions “ and came up with SECOND! The rest fell quickly into place after that.
So my advice is to look at the clues when the grid is full of rabbits!

[Bird Lives]

[mntlblok]

I had submitted POLES. The last non-CAR letter of each of the CAR answers anagrammed to that. I really wasn’t in love with that answer but thought it fit the title as the starting position a car race. I thought I was just missing something to provide order of letters, when I was really down the entirety wrong rabbit hole.

Ahhh. *That's* how one acquires the "E". . .

[JennyByrd]

I had submitted POLES. The last non-CAR letter of each of the CAR answers anagrammed to that. I really wasn’t in love with that answer but thought it fit the title as the starting position a car race. I thought I was just missing something to provide order of letters, when I was really down the entirety wrong rabbit hole.

Ahhh. *That's* how one acquires the "E". . .

I was in the same rabbit hole. Congrats to those who solved - it was a clever puzzle that I feel like I should have solved.

[802puzzler]

We’ll my Thursday crossword plans were thwarted by a trip to the ER for an emergency appendectomy! I’ve returned home and feeling better — would like to say the same about the meta, but am going to chalk this week up as a big L. Here’s to next week!

Speedy recovery!

[mntlblok]

Maybe if I rewrote all of the clues in monospace font, it would be easier to parse.

This has helped me more than once, with credit going to @Dplass for suggesting the monospace font Consolas for the Excel forms.

I don't see where that capitalizes each word. Is there a value to it that I should be seeing?

[BrennerTJ]

Thought more Indy 500 than ballet...

[mntlblok]

I had submitted POLES. The last non-CAR letter of each of the CAR answers anagrammed to that. I really wasn’t in love with that answer but thought it fit the title as the starting position a car race. I thought I was just missing something to provide order of letters, when I was really down the entirety wrong rabbit hole.

Ahhh. *That's* how one acquires the "E". . .

I was in the same rabbit hole. Congrats to those who solved - it was a clever puzzle that I feel like I should have solved.

So, then why is it a rabbit hole and not a legitimate answer? I had thought that "pools" might have been the secondary answer about which folks might be speaking as there were (convoluted) means for arriving at an additional "O". Yes, pitiful on my part. Had been considering things like "lanes" and "gates" and pools might have lanes. Never mind.

[mntlblok]

Is there a rule about long "down" answers being disregarded as possible theme answers? Just trying to stir the pot. I'm already in the doghouse, so. . .

Oh, and a PSA for others unfamiliar with such an expression (like myself):

Uff da! is an exclamation or interjection used to express dismay, typically upon hearing bad news. Of Norwegian origin, the phrase was brought by Scandinavian Americans to the Upper Midwest, New England, and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States during the 19th century. (from Wikipedia)