XWord Muggles Forum

I would say that although it was very easy there is a potential rabbit hole or two that could take you in the wrong direction.

I know I’m new to these puzzles, but does anyone else feel like they’ve discover great new meta mechanics after hitting the bottom of another rabbit hole? Like, “I’m so clever in the wrong way!”

JJD wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2019 8:30 am I know I’m new to these puzzles, but does anyone else feel like they’ve discover great new meta mechanics after hitting the bottom of another rabbit hole? Like, “I’m so clever in the wrong way!”

I've definitely done that!

JJD wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2019 8:30 am I know I’m new to these puzzles, but does anyone else feel like they’ve discover great new meta mechanics after hitting the bottom of another rabbit hole? Like, “I’m so clever in the wrong way!”

Absolutely! And sometimes, a few weeks later it turns out to be the actual method. That's one reason I love reading about everyone else's empty rabbit holes - you never know when one will turn out to be useful.

This took me way, way longer than it should have. I seemed to be looking in all the wrong places. I finally got an insight today and everything clicked. It may be a week 2, but it played much harder than that to me.

Bleagh. I really like my method but I don’t like my answer.

I think I actually befitted from being busy last weekend - no time to overthink. I did the grid late Friday night, wondered about changing the KINC in MAKINCOPIES to zinc and GOLF to gold but didn't see anything else along that line so put it away and went to sleep. Sometime Saturday, I remembered the COPIES and wondered if carbon could be the answer. Maybe the other themes included paper, dating, etc. When I got another chance to look at the puzzle, that didn't work but with that in mind, lead pencil and tin soldier popped right out.

Yeah, I subtracted all the chemical elements’ symbols from all the theme answers and that anagrams to LEAD METAL twice with a few letters to spare. Coincidence? Apparently.

I started by trying to subtract out the elements, as well. (While trying not to bleed all over the puzzle, after I sliced my finger on my nice shiny copy of "The Elements" that I grabbed off the bookshelf.)

Eventually I started thinking "tin," because I could see tin soldier, coffee tin, something golf-related about Tin Cup...but then that was about it. But it got me thinking in the right direction to find the answer shortly after. Very fun puzzle, aside from the paper cut!