#718 - “One Fluid Motion”

[Barney]

I...just...don't...see...it.

We know what the mechanism has to be, but can’t work it.

At some point the effort is just not worth it.

I often reach that point early, tbh.

[MamaE]

Finally saw it! Beam me up

[mattythewsjpuzzler]

The only fluid in motion is alcohol down my throat.

[norrin2]

This is an historic occasion. The first week 1 I can't even get started with. I can't even find a dead end rabbit hole.

[hashbrown]

Had a bonafide "EUREKA!" moment while typing out and just before sending a PM for help. The Archimedes comparison seems fitting (though without the alleged running naked through the streets!) given that he was also putting Fluid in Motion.

[ship4u]

WOW, I almost gave up on this and then my wife spotted it. She'll be dancing the rest of the evening! Incredible one, Matt.

[mattythewsjpuzzler]

The only fluid in motion is alcohol down my throat.

Beamed. It was fun but again strange how sometimes you just don't see it.

[Jeremy Smith]

Awaiting beam-up after a much needed nudge. Week 1? No way!

[ColinM]

Finally got a chance to look at this one today. I have to say I really liked, especially for a week 1.

[ajk]

What is more embarrassing than having to ask for a nudge on a week 1? Having to ask for two.

I had everything I needed, and had even seen some things that should have been enough to trigger it, but for some reason it just wasn't going to happen.

Very appreciative of the clever and kindly nudges I got, and hoping that I won't need 10 of them by the time we get later in the month.

[MikeyG]

Very appreciative of the clever and kindly nudges I got, and hoping that I won't need 10 of them by the time we get later in the month.

That's linear regression, I think (exponential puts you at 32!!)

[Barney]

What is more embarrassing than having to ask for a nudge on a week one?

Not much.

[rjy]

Beamed up, just In under the wire... filled the grid downs-only but finally had to peek for the 1A clue and instructions. Went thru the exercise of typing up my rabbit holes prior to asking for a nudge when I saw "it"... funny how that works!

Very cool puzzle, I remain amazed by the unending creativity out there. Cheers all!

[auee89]

Beamed per usual on Tuesday morning. In the camp of needing a nudge. Nice puzzle and "should" have seen it on my own.

[802puzzler]

Never saw it but threw up a Hail Mary. SMH

[Joe Ross]

[ajk]

Had the right idea instantly, but a second or two after that decided that only select letters would be relevant because otherwise the answer would be too long. Never occurred to me to think of it spelling out a series of answers and then selecting letters that way. Instead I tried all other means of deciding which letters to pick, with unsurprisingly fruitless results. Then I started wondering if we were supposed to start at W instead of R.

Eventually I was so befuddled that even seeing *both* RHONE and AMAZON (albeit at separate times) didn't trigger it for me. Crazy how sometimes tiny things can throw one off.

[ship4u]

Solving this meta reminded me of a joke from my childhood:
Have you read the book, "Yellow River," by I.P. Daily?

[patpatchica]

This certainly was not a Week 1 to me. I finally got it rather inelegantly, but it took 2 nudges! Thanks @Wendy Walker! I had found Amazon early on, but couldn’t put the pieces together.

Also, I didn’t figure out the “I” river at all and used Yellow instead of Yellowstone. Oh well, it was messy and I’m glad it’s over!

[EmilyW]

Seems easier after reading Joon's write up. I knew I needed a path from the top to the bottom but I ignored the momentum and barriers part of the clue. So basically I was just thinking of rivers and trying to find them in the puzzle and connect them to each other. This got me off track because I was trying to use Niger and Nile. I also had not heard of Isere so took some googling to figure the "I" river out after I had the meta answer. Rapidly was definitely not how this solver figured out the meta.