#715 - “A City of Puzzles”

[SusieG]

I am ready to beg for a nudge. I kept thinking “surely I can solve a week 2 without help” while staring at the grid and seeing what must be a red herring and looking for four more.

Edit: got some help. (Thank you kind soul.) Should hopefully have it soon.

[DaulbsLCFC]

After 2 days of grid/clue staring without looking at Matt's hint, and another day of staring after seeing the hint, I am caving and asking for a nudge if possible. I feel like I don't even have a start, but am happy to explain the dead ends I have followed so far

[Katiedid]

I would like to join in asking for a nudge. Even after the hint, I'm going nowhere. This must truly be one of those "it's easy when you see it" metas. You either see it or you don't, and so far, I don't. Should I pm someone, or can I just ask here for a nudge?

EDIT:
Thanks to a nudge, I'm about to beam up. Thanks for the replies!

[BarbaraK]

Beamed up (with help). Remainder of comment deleted as it was starting to feel too spoilery. I'm sure there will be much discussion tomorrow.

[patpatchica]

I’ve seen lots of people looking for nudges. Been there, done that myself. I would be happy to help if you’ve not yet gotten a nudge. PM me.

[KayW]

I needed the hint but finally submitted what feels like a week 22 solution. Biting my tongue on saying anything else before deadline.

And I accept full responsibility for jinxing this one. Out of town til Sunday night? No problem, sez smug me. It's only a week 2. I'll solve it on my phone while I'm away, or in 20 minutes when I get back. Hah! That'll learn me.

[michpuzzler]

Well Friends,

I have reached the point where I would love a friendly nudge. Like others I’ve spent a lot of time staring at this one and even with Matt’s bump I haven’t gotten anything to click. If there are any night owls out there who wouldn’t mind giving me a slight push I’d be grateful!

michpuzzler

Edit: thanks to a clever hint from another solver I made it - quite the week 2!

[Joe Ross]

So close. So close and yet so far.

Had it smothered until I caved. Submitted.

As always, huge props to those who solved alone. Well done!

[MountainManZach]

Beamed up. Shoutout to @patpatchica for the crucially helpful nudge!

I can kind of understand how Matt would think this could be a week 2. But if you don't spot the mechanism, it plays like a week 11.

[ship4u]

Beamed up at #215! Thanks to muggle friends. In retrospect, it wasn't as difficult as we first made it out to be. As we keep working at these metas, hopefully we'll develop our skills.

[Bird Lives]

A nudge got me to what I figure must be the criteria for the answer, but I cannot come up with a city that meets those criteria. I need a new atlas. Or a new idea. Or a new nudge.

[MikeyG]

A nudge got me to what I figure must be the criteria for the answer, but I cannot come up with a city that meets those criteria. I need a new atlas. Or a new idea. Or a new nudge.

Nice job under the wire! I love it.

We finish at 293, so I hope this means Matt will be generous with us for Week 3. I actually really like (some have said this shouldn't come into play) that if he misfires on difficulty, he'll adjust accordingly moving forward.

I guess this would be considered a SAD puzzle ("simple and difficult"). If you know what you're looking for, it's a slam dunk. Obviously, I didn't until the hint - and even then, perhaps I got lucky.

Ironically, if you did Monday's New York Times, well...if you know, you know!

I never post the actual solution first because I'm always too scared to, hahaha. Hope that those of you who were wrestling with it got what you needed!

Mikey G

[Bird Lives]

I misread the prompt. I added the extra criterion that the name of the city too had to begin with N. Once I had realized my mistake and had removed the heel of my hand from the large dent it had left in my forehead, I decided to try for a buzzer-beater. Nothing but net, but unfortunately, two solvers grabbed the ball, sped down the court, and sank the three-pointer.

[Joe Ross]

I misread the prompt. I added the extra criterion that the name of the city too had to begin with N. Once I had realized my mistake and had removed the heel of my hand from the large dent it had left in my forehead, I decided to try for a buzzer-beater. Nothing but net, but unfortunately, two solvers grabbed the ball, sped down the court, and sank the three-pointer.

Everyone submitting after 11:55 AM gets a ribbon, Jay!

[auee89]

Couldn't see it even with a great nudge. I kept trying to add vowels to the grid answers. I liked what I came up with for Sundance - Sunday on ice!

[ajk]

Even though I've done at least 250 of these I'm still bad at recognizing things like strange cluing. If I'd realized, as mentioned in Joon's writeup, that there had to be significance to the absence of the state names in the clues, that might have gotten me there, at least with the hint. As is, I don't think I'd ever have thought to look at the combined strings. But once it was suggested via nudge the answer came in week 2-type time.

[woozy]

A nudge got me to what I figure must be the criteria for the answer, but I cannot come up with a city that meets those criteria. I need a new atlas. Or a new idea. Or a new nudge.

Well, of the eight states that start with N, only New York does not repeat any vowels. So it's a city in New York. New York has the vowels and Y of NEYO and doesn't have AIU so it's a city in New York that has one A,I and U and no other vowel and Y. Google "cities in New York" and the city usually shows up fifth or sixth and that it has the criterion is obvious.

[Joe Ross]

Before reading Matt's hint email, any posts beyond #5 here, the email flying about regarding the hint, and a slight, throw-in-the-towel nudge, I had found seven clues using A, E, I, O, U, & Y yet never thought to apply that mechanism to the city & state of each Theme Entry. I first felt relief when solving, then nauseated after waking, today, and realizing how close I had been to the answer.

I'm betting most of those solving don't realize that the title, A CITY OF PUZZLES, leads the way by example.

[Bird Lives]

A nudge got me to what I figure must be the criteria for the answer, but I cannot come up with a city that meets those criteria. I need a new atlas. Or a new idea. Or a new nudge.

Well, of the eight states that start with N, only New York does not repeat any vowels. So it's a city in New York. New York has the vowels and Y of NEYO and doesn't have AIU so it's a city in New York that has one A,I and U and no other vowel and Y. Google "cities in New York" and the city usually shows up fifth or sixth and that it has the criterion is obvious.

What I said at #113.

[Al Sisti]

Before reading Matt's hint email, any posts beyond #5 here, the email flying about regarding the hint, and a slight, throw-in-the-towel nudge, I had found seven clues using A, E, I, O, U, & Y yet never thought to apply that mechanism to the city & state of each Theme Entry. I first felt relief when solving, then nauseated after waking, today, and realizing how close I had been to the answer.

I'm betting most of those solving don't realize that the title, A CITY OF PUZZLES, leads the way by example.

Although it was obviously my first guess, I never did find the mechanism or notice the vowel thing (and now I've learned another word I'll never use). The closest I came was that A City is UTICA spelled backwards (except for the "vowel play" of changing the Y to a U), and Utica has been referred to as the Comeback City. But didn't I warn all you guys? C'mon, you don't remember in the thread for MGWCC #622, when I mentioned that Samuel F. B. Morse married a girl from my hometown, "crossword-friendly Utica"??