"A Year to Watch" - December 31, 2021

[Kris Zacharias]

On shore. Stumbled around a little before something dawned on me and everything made sense. Since I have a mild case of omicron at the moment, I think I'll settle for a nice MUG of tea in hopes of winning the most desirable of all mugs. Happy New Year everyone!

[JJD]

Done and done.
I only followed a few small rabbit holes before the aha, which is unusual for me.

[cbarbee002]

Settling in for a Saturday "solve session". Total LOS on WSJ and just finishing up the MGWCC grid, which is a Week 5 so . . . . .

[Kris Zacharias]

Meg
Tell the cabana boy - indoors after New Years when he sobers up. Outdoor January 6 or when the weather permits.

I had no idea there were rules. Why did my parents not teach me??

I take it you live somewhere that doesn’t have a homeowners’ association.

This discussion of HOAs brings to mind my son's experience in Florida. He and his wife sold their house, and two days before settlement, they received a note from the HOA that thy would be fined if they did not clean the roof and trim a hedge. The roof was far cleaner than most of the roofs in the development and the hedge was not at all unruly. They managed to comply, not wanting to jeopardize the sale. Their new house in in a lovely, older, established area without an HOA.

[Plymouthrock]

Some leftover Caymus? I think not. S Just so many
Ways to go on this one but then the lightning bolt.
Gratisfied!

[Bob cruise director]

Good MMXXII muggles. With the holidays I am never sure what day it is but I think this is the Saturday report.

First welcome our newest muggles - vandono, bagman, and jeito. Always great to have more muggles.

At present we have 6 with bloody Mary's served by Isaac on the ship and 115 basking (or sobering up) on the shore.

Congratulations to Alabama and Georgia fans and condolences to Michigan and Cincinatti fans.

Our (oops ship and not shore) shore contingent is
dplass
vandono
barney
ship4u
MaineMarge
cbarbee

and our shore partiers are (not counting Meg's cabana boy)

dk letter
MatthewL
benchen71
Beth A
Peter
Scott M
darth
Wendy
pjc
Cindy
woozy
michaelm
MamaE
BEACHEDWHALE
Gman
Cap'n Rick
bagman
Mike H
Meg
Chris
Dow Jones
802puzzler
Laura
oldjudge
Jace54
Beth T
boharr
Georgeall
TeaJenny
sharkicicles
Steveb
ky-mike
Barbara K
mattythewsjpuzzler
Larrry
Amanda Hugginkiss
Begbie
Deb
Les
Tmart
joe
Lacangah
Guffman
HeadinHome
MajorDomoTom
Richard
Prozach
Dannyvee
ImOnToo
Hammertime
C=64
RobM
Fred
JeanneC
ladybird
Tina
dudeski
TeamDoubleTow
Miki
MikeM000
meowmiao71
patpatchica
EVJ
Acari
copperriver
b4alltime
Lube On
Jordanian
Heyitsheyjay
jimmyd
Kay
Mister Squawk
sanmilton
whimsy
MarkWoychick
coffeefrog
Moi
rjy
Katiedid
ALS
cinny
docison
Joey Avocado
Joe R
mindle
Bonnibel
CAe39
Tomgebhard
JennyByrd
hoover
Al
M and M
Omnibus
Shirley
Ergcat
regfish
Beth C
RichA2
Zach
HunterX
Kris Zacharias
Bird Lives
Grover
mlvilv
minimuggle
Janet
Adajeo
Isw
CPJohnson
Barry
James D
Eric P
Secret Adversary
sruss43484
jeito

Have a safe and meta successful MMXXII

[Streroto]

Wow, don't know what I am missing here. Got off to a roaring start then...brick wall aka Isaac's bar. Rang in the new year with a spectacular 2015 CDP-a good thing the ship's wine cellar is well stocked, as I may need more.

I am either overthinking this or missing something very obvious based on the posts. I see what some are talking about as minor issues and I assume that will all make sense when the meta is revealed. Matt does not make mistakes.

I want to echo what others have said and thank everyone for the camaraderie, inclusiveness and positivity that defines this forum. Thanks of course to Matt, Mike and the occasional guest constructor, but everyone who posts and reads here. The muggles have been a beacon of hope in an otherwise dismal couple of years.

Stay well, and Happy 2022.

[Joe Ross]

On shore at the Orange Bowl trying not to get Covid.

Go Blue and Happy New Year everyone!!

GREAT YEAR for Big Blue & Bearcats!

[JaneGummy]

Still at sea, none of my ideas have panned out yet. I'll keep at it with fingers crossed.

Edit: needed a significant tug to shore, but I made it. Happy new year!

[BrianMac]

On shore at the Orange Bowl trying not to get Covid.

Go Blue and Happy New Year everyone!!

GREAT YEAR for Big Blue & Bearcats!

Definitely. Michigan exceeded all expectations this year, and while last night was disappointing, it was a great year and hopefully the first step back to being the kind of program we're used to.

And Cincinnati is amazing, punching above their weight class for years now. Definitely deserve to be grouped with elite teams.

Should be a great championship game, even though it's a repeat of the SEC game.

[mbryant]

On shore, finally. Over thought this one as others have said. Happy New Year.

[aaugusti]

On shore. The Mrs. and I tag teamed it. I saw the first part of the meta pretty quickly and she took it from there.

[Joepickett]

Just got off the cruise ship (that was fun) and now I'm stuck on the Meta ship (not fun at all).

[drbockel2]

I could use a nudge. I think I'm near the shore but I could be swimming in the wrong direction!

[Schmeel]

Finally ashore!
Not my area of expertise by far, and in this case Google provided too much information.

[Deb F]

I had no idea there were rules. Why did my parents not teach me??

I take it you live somewhere that doesn’t have a homeowners’ association.

Does the HOA make religious exceptions? The 12th Day of Christmas (January 6th) is the Epiphany (the visit of the three Magi) and the last day of Christmas.

I'm not trying to start a debate & will redact this post, if requested. I'm genuinely interested in how HOAs approach this & other holidays, religious or not. Our good DrTom is president of his HOA.

All I can say is, Poor DrTom!!! Been there, done that, best day ever was the day I quit.

[Cindy N]

And ashore. Had the first steps, made the last one way too hard. It's all right there and I am right here. Finished up the (non alcoholic) holiday punch this morning.

[Homer Buckle]

Starting out the new year safely ashore. Happy New Year to all of the Muggles!

[DrTom]

Shore me! That took forever. Probably should have seen the rest of the steps soon after I saw the first, but then ain't that always the complaint. Anyway, got it and will be really interested in the "tie-up" because I am obviously missing it unless I go WAY into a hypothetical.

Now to the MGWCC, probably after dinner and definitely with difficulty because I struggled with the darn grid.

I'd like to start the year right, but I'll have to see.

[martimeryard]

On the shore. I liked this one.