"I Spy" - November 19, 2021

[Bob cruise director]

Oleo wasn’t always yellow. It was white, white as a dove, and it still would be if not for artificial color. Buy until the lthe mid-20th century, many states had laws prohbiting manufacturers from adding color that would make oleo look like butter. Pressure from the dairy industry.

So manufacturers packaged oleo with DIY coloring – a small blob of red dye which you would knead into the margarine while it was still in its plastic bag, and gradually, the white oleo would become yellow.
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oleo.png

But OIL is yellow - new engine oil or Wesson oil. Which was my first answer after I got WALD and was looking for an O but @Abide told me I was in error.

[KscX]

Key to my solve was shading all the theme “I Spy” answers in. Seeing the symmetry of the answers and the consistent order of the clues and colors helped me stick to the same color idea. Took a nap, woke up, scanned the grid and saw DO VE. Immediately looked at the corresponding position of AP PLE on the right side and knew I was in. Because of the symmetry I knew exactly where to look for WASABI and LAKE, with OLEO popping out because it was the only postition that would fit the symmetry pattern.

[Bob cruise director]

By the way, this meta was in honor of our Maine muggles. Waldo is a county in Maine and Waldoboro is a town in Maine.

[SusieG]

I never did come back to the meta after Sunday morning. I showed my husband while we ate breakfast. He suggested a mechanism which was the solution, but we never saw it. I said “I’m going to submit Waldo.” We went on with our day and I was so tired that I forgot to submit. But I never feel right about submitting guesses anyway.

I agree that it’s a clever puzzle and feel bad I never solved.

[whimsy]

Other bits and pieces in addition to those mentioned --

SWARD and PASTURE jumping out near GRASS
CABOOSE near ROSES
SHIVERING near SNOW
OAR near DORY

I also wanted to discover more "temperature" words as they're used to direct in a guessing game -- "getting close(r)" --
WARM above GRASS, HOT across ROSES, COLD across DORY.

Another parallel in the actual answer --
I SPY and WALDO are most likely both books found on the Gaffney household shelf.

[TeaJenny]

Wrong beach, again! I came up with CLARK KENT. I'm thinking now that was the red herring others have mentioned. Admittedly, some of my substitutions were a stretch, including an esoteric spelling of KATSUP. We're traveling to visit family for Thanksgiving, so I went with it and submitted what I had to leave more time for packing.

Kudos to everyone who solved it!

[Omnibus]

[Abide]

This was a “magic eye” type gimmick that you either see in a few minutes or you don’t. (It may have helped me to be part of the solution). Even when I had all 5, I spent at least 30 minutes working with permutations of the “close” entries. (ABIPLE etc)

I’m still not sure why the color clues shouldn’t have the close tags. If you are trying to spy a lake, asking “is it blue” is close. Asking if it’s on a fish poster is “No”.

[Hidden in 3D]

Did anyone else notice 31D in today's WSJ puzzle? Surely Editor Mike is not taunting us Muggles who haven't solved the latest bunch of metas?!

[Colin]

My apples are green,
And my doves always a gray,
What is oleo!?!?

[flyingMoose]

I got hung up on the “getting closer” parts of the clues. I was maybe too focused on that. Having seen the answer, I really don’t understand how the second answer for each color is closer than the first.

I did the same thing but the clue says "you're getting close" not "closer." So you might say that having both words helps you get close.

But the clues do not say that- one clue says you are getting close, but both the "No" clue and the "close" clue are equidistant from the grid entry one is supposed to find. I am with @mheberlingx100 on this one. I find this a significant hole in the mechanism.

I will quickly admit that these metas are a diversion, an amusement for me. They are not an avocation. I have little standing to file a complaint.

[Deb F]

Nope. Didn't see it, despite looking for other things that could be the colors--in the clues and the grid. Never connected. Story of my meta life--especially these last weeks.

Congrats to the smart ones of us who got it. Once again, Happy Thanksgiving, Muggles.

[sphorning]

Did think "you're getting close" could mean the letters next to the words, but never that they could mean the next letters over! Also tried to get colored items out of the answers: got bus from anagraming sun/cab for yellow. That didn't work either... Kas 5.

[ship4u]

My first search for colors was a straightforward rabbit hole.
urea = yellow
vein = red
myst = blue
opiate = white
seedlings = green
Thanks to my muggle friends for pointing my head in the right direction!

[Barney]

What's wasabi?

A viciously hot horseradish paste cut with soy sauce to taste for sushi.

I.e., one horror on top of another.

[Gman]

Key to my solve was shading all the theme “I Spy” answers in. Seeing the symmetry of the answers and the consistent order of the clues and colors helped me stick to the same color idea. Took a nap, woke up, scanned the grid and saw DO VE. Immediately looked at the corresponding position of AP PLE on the right side and knew I was in. Because of the symmetry I knew exactly where to look for WASABI and LAKE, with OLEO popping out because it was the only postition that would fit the symmetry pattern.

I would have done the same, except I spelled VEIN as VAIN (karma?) and could not for the life of me figure out what to do with DOVA!

[Mugless]

Lurked here for a while. Here's my latest rabbit hole. I saw the theme - Spy. Oops (not I). Nine of the ten spy clues are fill in the blank, so I tossed Dory. The nine blank clue answers (Jade, Grass, etc.) all contain a letter of the name of that most famous spy, Bond. James Bond. After a few years of trying these metas, I think I've gotten one right. So my average must be .007.

[Joe Ross]

Lurked here for a while. Here's my latest rabbit hole. I saw the theme - Spy. Oops (not I). Nine of the ten spy clues are fill in the blank, so I tossed Dory. The nine blank clue answers (Jade, Grass, etc.) all contain a letter of the name of that most famous spy, Bond. James Bond. After a few years of trying these metas, I think I've gotten one right. So my average must be .007.

Welcome!

[Joe Ross]

I mentioned the year, earlier, but the September 21, 2018, puzzle: BOUND FOR SPACE — JUMPS — by MIKE SHENK AS MARIE KELLY used the jump-over-blank-space mechanism. There may be others.

[docison]

I mentioned the year, earlier, but the September 21, 2018, puzzle: BOUND FOR SPACE — JUMPS — by MIKE SHENK AS MARIE KELLY used the jump-over-blank-space mechanism. There may be others.

I actually thought - in hindsight after I solved - that there was logic for the "jump over blank space" mechanism because the themers were doing the same thing. In other words, "JADE GRASS" with a space was one themer and "WAS ABI" with a space was another. So it felt coherent to me. Maybe easy for me to say since I saw WASABI quickly.

And before finding the answer, I was going to make a joke about how Mr Abide should be able to find it easily but didn't for fear of incurring wrath - little did I know that it would actually have been a spoiler.

The answer is near and dear to my heart, though. Here's my youngest son, circa Halloween 2019.