XWord Muggles Forum

Jay confirmed earlier today that I am off the couch. Another great MMM!

BarbaraK wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 6:35 pm I'm off the couch. Thanks, Bird!

I try not to nitpick, but my inner bio-nerd is insisting that I point out that in 67A, 23andMe is a reference to humans 23 chromosome pairs. There are many more 67As.

My bio-ignorance is once again on display. But as I said to a solver who pointed this error out in a PM , just wait for my new start-up: 30K and me.

My solving partner and I are OTC.
Great meta, Jay. Gotta love this guy .

Now back to a favorite garden glider with a good view of shocking pink peony, Paula Fay.
(rhymes with Scholar Jay). There’s a nest in the Royalty Crab above, where currently a bird lives!

Let’s see: some ambiguity with at least one of the possibilities in Step Two; a howler of a mistake in a science-related clue; a typo with half the letters in the word being incorrect — about what you’d expect in a Bird Lives puzzle. Nevertheless, thirty-four people have managed to solve it (probably more since I often carelessly fail to record a solver or two).
. .

Some of the suggestions for similar words that solvers submitted are excellent. Even if you’ve already sent in the solution, it’s not too late. I’ll publish them with the answer on Sunday.

For the couchbound who are still hanging in there, here are the Wednesday nudges.

Nudge #1
The theme entries are symmetrically placed in the grid.

Nudge #2
The clue for 38D suggests what to do with the theme entries; it is not one of those theme entries.

Nudge #3
The revised theme entries become clues.

Nudge #4
The entries for those clues appear in correct order in the grid.

OTC and confirmed.
Great grid - exquisitely constructed meta !!

Had two possible answers for one slot, neither of which was correct (which also prevented me from backsolving)! 10th time through the grid had me wondering, "could this be it?". Yup, at least I'm thinking so.

Ohhhh... Finally got it, but it took nudge #3.
(Didn't submit because I required so many nudges.)

I enjoyed this one for sure.

Aha! Got it. Missed one at first, but then put it all together and now safely de-couched.

I am off the couch with generous help from RPardoe. I got the mechanism right away but finding the RIGHT entries was a problem.

I think I’m off the couch (actually a recliner in my study) before looking at the nudges. Fingers crossed awaiting confirmation.

EDIT: Confirmed!

OTC. Thank you for the excellent puzzle.

A couple of twists and turns but I got to put in my 20 cents worth! Off the couch thankfully - may be the only META I solve alone this week!

Thanks Bird!

Forty-seven people submitted the correct answer — SHIFT.
. .
As the clue for 38D OVERTURN suggests, the component parts of the five theme entries can be turned around to form a new word — HEADPIN / PINHEAD and so on. The new word serves as a clue to another word in the grid, in this case IDIOT. The initial letters of those five clues spell out the answer.
.
.

I asked solvers to submit their own examples of similar turnaround word or phrases. My own list had WIND DOWN, ROOM CHECK, TIMES TWO,

WORKHOUSE
OUTLAY
OVERPASS
UPHOLD
STARTUP
LOOKOUT
OVERSLEEP
OVERTAKE
DO OVER
OUTRUN
FAST BREAK

WINGBACKS./ BACKSWING via Laura M was my favorite -- a football position of decades past becoming a component of a golf or tennis stroke. But Laura was not thinking of football players. Her WINGBACKS were chairs. Even better.