You Can't Get There From Here

[HeadinHome]

oops just missed the Wed night list. off the couch and chuckling.

The world is so full of places i need to see!!

[ChrisKochmanski]

I came to this one late (vacation), and I'm glad I didn't let it slip by. Fun!

[minimuggle]

Once again I required a tow to get off the couch. Boy did I cover a lot of miles in this one. Has anyone in this group visited any of those cities?

[Cap'n Rick]

Once again I required a tow to get off the couch. Boy did I cover a lot of miles in this one. Has anyone in this group visited any of those cities?

I sure haven't!

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 4 - Four more Muggles have left their couches:

HeadinHome
ChrisKochmanski
BarbaraK
minimuggle

This brings our total to 66. Can we get to 70? Stay tuned...

[woozy]

Day 4 - Four more Muggles have left their couches:

HeadinHome
ChrisKochmanski
BarbaraK
minimuggle

This brings our total to 66. Can we get to 70? Stay tuned...

Hey, If I had a puzzle about traveling to towns in the U.S. and by some coincidence I got 66 solvers, I'd be doing everything in my power to prevent any more solvers and ruining that serendipity.

Edit: That's how I get my kicks.

[Cap'n Rick]

Hey, If I had a puzzle about traveling to towns in the U.S. and by some coincidence I got 66 solvers, I'd be doing everything in my power to prevent any more solvers and ruining that serendipity.

No worries, @woozy . "Serendipity City" is an actual-play podcast - not a real place.

[bhamren]

Forgot about MMM until now. Off the couch confirmed by reading spoilers after submitting.

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 5 - One more Muggle to add to the leaderboard:

bhamren

That makes 67...

[woozy]

Day 5 - One more Muggle to add to the leaderboard:

bhamren

That makes 67...

"It winds from Sibula to Presidio
About 15 hundred miles or so,
You'll break even, on Route 67" just doesn't have the same resonance.

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 6 - And another Muggle has arrived at the correct town:

jbird

This brings our total to 68. With just a few hours remaining, can we reach that elusive 70-solver total?

Paging @DrTom!!!

Hello @MikeyG!!!

[woozy]

This brings our total to 68.

I know Route 68 quite well. Goes from Salinas (It's 142 miles SE of Bolinas) to Pacific Grove by way of Del Rey Oaks. Twenty miles total. Pleasant Drive (assuming you don't have pressing business in Spreckles).

[Cap'n Rick]

The meta answer is "NATICK", a suburb of Boston, and as many solvers are aware, a term coined by Rex Parker (Rex Parker Does the NY Time Crossword Puzzle) to denote obscure/unguessable crosses of two proper nouns:

If your solve went according to plan, then you got stuck at the 6 crosses of the 12 relatively obscure (Google anyone?) cities and towns highlighted below:

The intersecting "Natick" squares spell "NATICK", a town that can be difficult to get to - particularly during Boston's evening rush hour! (Right @whimsy? ) Hopefully this meta didn't make you feel too 22A while you were 58A where the twelve 52A 27A. Those crosses were certainly 40A!

Until next time!
Cap'n Rick

[whimsy]

This brings our total to 68.

I know Route 68 quite well. Goes from Salinas (It's 142 miles SE of Bolinas) to Pacific Grove by way of Del Rey Oaks. Twenty miles total. Pleasant Drive (assuming you don't have pressing business in Spreckles).

Ah, but I do! It looks like it's on the way to the zoo -- and I wanna go to the zoo and see the aminals!
Thanks for the recent geography lessons, @woozy!

[whimsy]

One of my favorite places to go in Natick --

And appropriately enough, all the benches pictured have been vacated!

[Dplass]

The meta answer is "NATICK", a suburb of Boston, and as many solvers are aware, a term coined by Rex Parker (Rex Parker Does the NY Time Crossword Puzzle) to denote obscure/unguessable crosses of two proper nouns:


Rex Parker Natick.JPG


If your solve went according to plan, then you got stuck at the 6 crosses of the 12 relatively obscure (Google anyone?) cities and towns highlighted below:


Grid Reveal.JPG


The intersecting "Natick" squares spell "NATICK", a town that can be difficult to get to - particularly during Boston's evening rush hour! (Right @whimsy? ) Hopefully this meta didn't make you feel too 22A while you were 58A where the twelve 52A 27A. Those crosses were certainly 40A!

Until next time!
Cap'n Rick

As soon as I saw the 2nd "impossible" city I knew the full answer and only later back solved for it


Though I swear I've seen this same exact mechanism (and answer) previously.

[DrTom]

For the record, I did not go to the reveal page first. I PM Cap'n and he said to keep trying it was actually a rather easy one and very crossword themes. After the third city I said to myself, "dang these are all Naticks!". Little did I know I was right,

Another fun puzzle by the good Cap'n Rick and a valiant attempt at misdirection. Enjoyed it immensely!

[madhatter5]

And here I was thinking the answer was gonna be Honolulu

[Dplass]

I don't want to sound ungrateful though. Thank you for the puzzle!

[Cap'n Rick]

And here I was thinking the answer was gonna be Honolulu

Good guess, though. You can't get there from here either, at least by car. Kinda does make you wonder why they have interstate highways in Hawaii.