Episode #324 Contest: A Christmas Carol

[bcimmet]

Hello solvers!

There's a new contest puzzle from Fill Me In. I'll rate this one 3.4 bananas on a scale of 5 bananas. (Bananas has nothing to do with the puzzle, it's just a 1-to-5 scale we made up.)

The puzzle is called "A Christmas Carol" and was constructed by me (Brian Cimmet). The solution to the puzzle is an outdoor activity.

The crossword can be downloaded from here. You're welcome to solve, you're even welcome to join in the chat about the puzzle -- but if you want to be eligible for a prize, you have to listen to the podcast for this week's password. The podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, our own website, or wherever you collect your podcasts.

Once you've solved the puzzle, submit your answer and this week's password by email to fmi@bemoresmarter.com. You can also contact us with any suggestions, questions, comments, or ideas. Thanks for playing along!

[Schmeel]

Banana's peeled.
Yet another good puzzle from Brian!

[BarbaraK]

That was fun! Had an idea what the answer might be before I figured out why it all worked out so nicely.

Now I just need to listen to the podcast.

[boharr]

Banana is peeled leading to great winter fun.

[oldjudge]

Solved—very clever puzzle by Brian!

[Laura M]

Liked this one a lot!

[ChrisKochmanski]

Hope no one slips on this banana peel.

Very nice!

[KayW]

Nice!

[LesY]

Solved, as the fun holiday metas continue! Thanks Brian!

[lbray53]

Solved!

I used the Christmas carol referred to in the title as an extra credit opportunity on 8th Grade math tests immediately proceeding the holidays a few times. I accepted two answers for different credit levels, depending on the song interpretation. One was, of course, a better answer in my opinion since math is a very literal discipline and it received more credit.

I think I pursued nearly all of the variations that my former students submitted over the years before seeing the correct path for this meta. I had to back solve to be honest. Very clever mechanism.

[bcimmet]

Hello solvers,

The solution to this contest was SLEDDING.

Each of the starred clues contained a word that was specific to one of the "days of Christmas" in the relatively well known carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." And the indexing method was to use whatever number that day was (n) and take the nth letter of the entry.

• 7A Actress Jones who played Mrs. Partridge = SHIRLEY / 1st day = S

• 18A What I need, according to my wife, when my eyelids get droopy and turtle-like = SLEEP / 2nd day = L

• 21A One laying down the law, but on a basketball court = REFEREE / 6th day = E

• 32A "Jump out of this tree!", as a peculiar example = DARE / 1st day = D

• 43A Common food for birds = SEED / 4th day = D

• 54A French "Stephen" = ETIENNE / 3rd day = I

• 59A Language in which "annuli" means "rings" = LATIN / 5th day = N

• 68A Edvard Grieg's "A Swan," for one = ART SONG / 7th day = G

I had hoped to have something slightly more elegant and not re-use a day, but this was how it turned out.

Anyway, there's another contest puzzle and another post in the forum for it. I hope you give it a try!