#713 - “Who Are You?”

[MikeyG]

Okay... got it with Nudges but one *REALLY* big and serious complaint.

One really big complaint on my puzzles is a slow day, bahaha. No spoilers, of course, but now I'm curious what that complaint is. Let us know after the deadline!

OK, I'm confused - Mikey was the MGWCC your puzzle or is woozy referring to your puzzle in this forum instead of yours?

I have not tried yours yet, I was too busy trying to find my way with Mr. G (not Google, Gaffney)

I was just making a general self-effacing comment meant as a joke, hahaha. Nothing specific, and I think woozy clarified that this Gaffney is still good!

[benchen71]

Oh, Benchen71, when you are ready for that tattoo I've designed it for you...

mgwcc_TATTOO.jpg

and should the IMPOSSIBLE happen and I someday managed to snag a MGWCC spot, I'll join you.

That's amazing! If I ever get a tattoo I will definitely keep this in mind...

[HunterX]

Oh, Benchen71, when you are ready for that tattoo I've designed it for you...

mgwcc_TATTOO.jpg

and should the IMPOSSIBLE happen and I someday managed to snag a MGWCC spot, I'll join you.

Clever surgical work there Doc! I've been looking at that photo, seeing the "-shopped" part, and trying to figure out what the tattoo originally said. Which is not helpful considering I'm having a bad meta-weekend already, what with how long it took me to solve the WSJ. (Visiting kids may be cute, but they are also LOUD, which doesn't seem to help when solving metas, strangely.)

so back I go to the MGWCC. My ideas aren't going anywhere yet. And as "real" work starts again with a vengeance tomorrow, I'm considering a nudge request. Maybe a little more time on it...

[Cinny]

Beamed up, but not without a bit of help.

[Bird Lives]

Beamed up, no nudges, top 200, but not before I spent hours chewing on a bit of ambiguity, wondering if there was a famous American I’d never heard of whose name was very close to that of one I had actually heard of.

[JennyByrd]

I’m stuck and hoping for a gentle nudge. I found what I believe to be the initial step(s) but have been at a loss since Friday night and work starts early tomorrow.

[burak]

I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track confirmed by too many "oh this is unmistakably part of the meta" finds, but I just cannot seem to figure out what to do with everything I have. The prompt is pretty confusing too, which is kinda throwing me off (and will make a ton of sense once I find the answer for sure lol)

Historically speaking, at this point I should stop and just go to bed and with a refreshed mind I'll find the answer within the next day or two.

I kinda feel embarrassed that I couldn't figure out the last step on my first stab at it. Eh, even a QB like Patrick Mahomes can defecate the bed it turns out.

[Katiedid]

I was about to give up on a solo solve. I started writing a plea for a gentle nudge and started listing all the dead ends I had gone down. I came to an idea I'd thought of but put aside quickly, looked at it again, and realized that it was the true path. I'm still not sure of step 3, but with two days to think about it, I may be flying solo after all.

The same thing just happened to me! Composing a nudge request, as I was writing down everything I'd tried, and double-checking those, I noticed something that got me to the end!
If I hadn't missed last week, I'd finally have another 10 streak (it's been years, I think)
Pending confirmation, beam me up!

[MamaE]

I'm also stuck at the end of the first (and perhaps second?) step....anyone want to compare notes?

Thanks to the muggles who reached out - got on the board late last night/early this AM. I was close, but needed a small
Nudge to tell me to continue in a certain direction.

[HunterX]

Thanks to some nudging from @hcbirker and an extended tow from @DrTom's Tugg Boat service, I have made it to the transporter (there's a mixing of metaphors!) and am ready to beam up.

Waiting for confirmation.

Edit: Confirmed.

[gpj73]

First timer here, desperate for a nudge as I’ve been staring at this puzzle for 2 days. Definitely through the first step but then ….?

[gpj73]

Got it with a nudge - many many thanks to @dandre for saving my sanity!

[bottod]

Hi folks,

New to this board and would appreciate a nudge. Tried PMing someone but that seems stuck in my Outbox and I don't know how to fix that.

Can someone reach out and I'll explain where I'm at, can tell me if on track plus a nudge or way off?

Thanks,
Otto

PS - Adding this after. Thanks to those that reached out. Nudges got me to the solution.

[Wendy Walker]

Hi folks,

New to this board and would appreciate a nudge. Tried PMing someone but that seems stuck in my Outbox and I don't know how to fix that.

Can someone reach out and I'll explain where I'm at, can tell me if on track plus a nudge or way off?

Thanks,
Otto

Otto, I just got your PM and responded.
WLW.

[joequavis]

As is my (very bad) habit with week 4 and 5 puzzles, I took one quick look and decided I wasn't going to be able to solve. With 30 minutes left, I decided to follow the one little thing that I had noticed early and it unraveled rather quickly! I wish I'd give myself a bit more credit that these things are actually solvable by mere mortals. Now I wish I would've waited until the last 5 minutes to submit...

[Bird Lives]

SOLUTION:

1. The long entries are all two-word phrases. Take the first letter of each of the two words. (THE VALLEY)

2. For each set of initial letters, find two words or names in the grid that can follow, e.g., TV GUIDE / SET

3. The initial letters of those two entries (e.g., G and S) are the first and last letters of a 3-letter entry elsewhere in the grid (26D, GPS). The letter sandwiched between them (P) is a letter in the answer.

4. Those letters taken in order of the two-word entries spell out the answer: I M PEI.
.

[Jacksull]

257 of 263.

I found one set of matches for the themers’ initials on day one and then a second on day two. On Tuesday morning, I was ready to submit a guess of P. T. Barnum. Then the title “Who Are You?” jumped up and bit me. Who RU? IM Pei.

I’ll take the win, but I could appreciate Matt’s brilliance only after the solution was posted.

[ajk]

As with many of the hard ones, I just didn't see the starting point. Think I could have stumbled my way through after that, but I'm bad at being persistent when I'm not seeing anything to even try. I'm happy to chase down rabbit holes, but just staring gets old.

Too bad, b/c it was a cool puzzle.

[AnswerPfinder]

My girlfriend and I make quite the co-solving duo! Beamed up at #160!

I remember a [redacted] that used [redacted] from [redacted]. (to be un-redacted after the Tuesday deadline).

I remember a WSJ puzzle that used a very similar mechanism from 2020:

https://crosswordfiend.com/2020/06/21/w ... e-19-2020/

I guess this idea was so good that it came swimming back in Matt's brain after a little while!

[Bird Lives]

My girlfriend and I make quite the co-solving duo! Beamed up at #160!

I remember a [redacted] that used [redacted] from [redacted]. (to be un-redacted after the Tuesday deadline).

I remember a WSJ puzzle that used a very similar mechanism from 2020:

https://crosswordfiend.com/2020/06/21/w ... e-19-2020/

I guess this idea was so good that it came swimming back in Matt's brain after a little while!

The three-letter sandwich was also an essential part of Matt's WSJ puzzle in March 2019, "Puzzle People." I think this still remains the WSJ puzzle with the lowest number of solvers. I think it also still remains controversial in its designation of Yma Sumac as a "famous" singer.