"Deal Breaker" - March 18, 2022

[auee89]

Ashore! I will hop on the 4:30 to check in on folks. Great to connect.

[Bob cruise director]

Good afternoon muggles. A quick report before I get back to work

A fun meta by Mr. Shenk. Very cleverly constructed.

We have 9 on the ship with Isaac and 91 on the shore.

[femullen]

A relief to hear from Cruise Director Bob that this week's puzzle is "very cleverly constructed." This explains why I've been staring cluelessly at the grid.

Color me aboard.

[ship4u]

Ashore! @Joe Ross graciously took time this afternoon to teach my wife and I how to use his Excel Spreadsheet technique for solving metas. Whilst in the process, enlightenment occured as if clouds drifted from blocking the sunlight. I feel so lucky to be a part of this group!
I will be there at 4:30 to support other muggle friends.

[BarbaraK]

I am visiting my DD and fellow muggle, Regfish. She has requested that I wait until after she’s off work to do the grid and meta with her! It is killing me to wait!!! Hopefully it will be a quick solve for us!

Waiting to do a meta? Now that is love!

[jenirvin]

On the beach. I think. I hope. Well, I'm on "a" beach, somewhere...

[Barney]

Sometimes there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

The clean way, and the way that makes him scream.

Will say more Monday.

On shore.

[Barney]

Ashore! @Joe Ross graciously took time this afternoon to teach my wife and I how to use his Excel Spreadsheet technique for solving metas. Whilst in the process, enlightenment occured as if clouds drifted from blocking the sunlight. I feel so lucky to be a part of this group!
I will be there at 4:30 to support other muggle friends.

I dropped out of the labor force some years back owing to my refusal/inability to use Excel.

[dot]

Will be at the 4:30pm Zoom room - I have a guess as to the answer bc of the anagram, but no elegant process to explain it… Would love to understand a non-random way to approach/think about it.

[katnahat]

Ashore! @Joe Ross graciously took time this afternoon to teach my wife and I how to use his Excel Spreadsheet technique for solving metas. Whilst in the process, enlightenment occured as if clouds drifted from blocking the sunlight. I feel so lucky to be a part of this group!
I will be there at 4:30 to support other muggle friends.

Congrats, Don and Cynthia, on solving. I'm still in the dark. I don't know what I'd do without Joe's Excel files. I'd probably kill many more trees than I do now. See you at 3:30 my time.

[Joe Ross]

This should be posted in every new meta puzzle topic. If you have never read these, or haven't reviewed them in months, do!

Hints for Solving Meta Contests

[whimsy]

Back on the Ship
I have found out that my preferred answer is wrong, and I'm being put on a tender heading back to the ship --

"What's that you say? An interloper on the island? Here under false pretenses?"

[lisajoy]

Struggling with today's meta, but thanks to a fun group of zoomers, I have lots of new rabbits to chase, lol, and some new ways of looking at things!! Hopefully one of these will lead me ashore!!

[FeelingSlow]

Safely ashore after some great discussion with new friends in the Zoom Room.

[Puzzle mom]

I thought last week would be a breakthrough and I’d be solving all metas by Thursday - especially when a crowded beach is predicted. But, alas, that is definitely not the case. I am firmly planted on my barstool. Isaac is trying to be encouraging but I can see the pity in his eyes. I can barely even find a rabbit.

[dot]

Ashore! Thank you so much, to the 4:30pm Zoom group! We had all the pieces, but couldn't quite put them together - really needed a nudge.

[katnahat]

Thanks to the Friday afternoon Zoomers for leading (dragging) me to the answer and providing lots of laughs and entertainment. There will be no chance of a mug for me this week, but I learned a great deal. The beach is chilly in Texas; I'll take something warm. Muggles are the best! Happy Weekend!!!

[Bill Bovard]

On shore. Fun meta. Will celebrate with a margarita.
I might be on page 1 or 2 if I had done this early yesterday afternoon (Pacific time). No, probably not.

[littlegreycells]

Ashore, finally. But boy I fell down the most interesting and enticing rabbit hole ever. I'm almost disappointed it wasn't the correct mechanism

[lisajoy]

And just like that, sure enough, after a few new rabbit hole makings of my own, just enough of a nudge to lead me ashore in time for the weekend! Thank you my fellow muggle travelers!!

A toast to the occasion:
“There are good ships and wood ships, ships that sail the sea, but the best ships are friendships, may they always be!”
(Irish Proverb)