XWord Muggles Forum

jmbrodie wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:28 pm New to the forum! I'm stuck on the NYT 2022 mega puzzle! Can't figure out the "hidden progression." Anyone able to help, without spoiling for others?

Pm me what you have.

Like others, wizzed through the puzzles, but stuck on the "hidden progression". Can someone please pm me with a subtle hint? Would be greatly appreciated!

Never mind! Got it as soon as I posted the question!

Had to wait for it to arrive via snail mail, but I plowed through it this weekend.
Quite a workout, but well worth it.

I solved the mega words and mini puzzles but am stuck on the progression. Can’t figure out the order. Help?

Loryn wrote: ↑Sat Jan 07, 2023 3:49 am I solved the mega words and mini puzzles but am stuck on the progression. Can’t figure out the order. Help?

Progression hint:

There are seven of each, and they are supposed to match up. Your job is to find an ordering that is not obvious on the surface. Is it alphabetical? Grid order for the mega words? That wouldn't really be interestingly "hidden."
Where else could an ordering of seven things come from? There are seven deadly sins, but no real canonical order, seven seas, but...same. Snow White's dwarves? Samuris? Same. What else are there seven of, with a well-known ordering?

My son who is living in New Jersey bought me a copy of the PuzzleMania issue of the NYT as part of my Christmas present. I took my time filling the grid (finally finished it yesterday) and had solved the other minipuzzles earlier. The hidden progression didn't come to me right away, but something clicked this morning, and I was able to get the meta answer. What a fun puzzle package! (Now comes the chore of erasing my pencil grid fill so I can "regift" the megacrossword to my son on my next visit).

I bought a paper copy of the NYT on the 18th of December and finished the “super mega” that day. The next day, I did the mini-puzzles that were involved in doing the meta, but I got hung up on two issues: that “progression” and the interpretation of the words “can be arranged” in one of the minis. I then got involved with other things and didn’t return to considering the meta until tonight, whereupon I actually found a way to get around my issues and solve the thing - too late to submit, of course, but still a moral (morale?) victory. Curiously, the meta answer is an entry in tomorrow’s LAT crossword! (Coincidence? I doubt it.)

In any case, my question is,”Have the ‘official’ answers appeared anywhere? In past years, they have appeared online but, so far, I haven’t been able to find the latest ones anywhere.

Okay … After posting earlier, I noticed the spoilers above and used them to finally resolve the “progression” issue, thereby further verifying the meta answer that I came up with earlier today by simply arranging the 13 letters that I was relatively sure of in various orders until they formed a meaningful phrase. Oddly enough, I then remembered having the right idea about how the progression worked at one point back in December, but I somehow failed to make it work. Stupid me. (Or, maybe, more charitably, distracted me … .)

DaveKennison wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 11:41 pm In any case, my question is,”Have the ‘official’ answers appeared anywhere? In past years, they have appeared online but, so far, I haven’t been able to find the latest ones anywhere.

My understanding is that the solution will be posted on the website on Sunday (January 15th,) along with the name of the winner(s.)

@DaveKennison @CromsFury

I was looking for it yesterday, too, but never got it. Just tried again today and found it —

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/15/cros ... =url-share

I did find the answers to the “super mega” online. They’ve posted corrections a couple of times, but there’s still an error: The answer to 211-Across should be “CREEK” instead of “CREAM”, yielding a correctly-spelled “EMPANELED” instead of “EMPANALED” for 119-Down and “KEN” instead of “MEN” for 212-Down. I sent the NYT folks a note about this, but they have not responded. A bit shabby performance, if you ask me … .

For the magnitude of the profits the NYTimes puzzle department brings in, the prizes for this are risible.