#724 - "So Many Issues"

[BarbaraK]

Thankfully, I do have the 1-Across achievement, but having forgotten that this was the meta needed to get the Eggs-cellent achievement, now I have to wait a full year to wrap everything up... and that could change if Matt adds another achievement. And if he follows up with his plan to stop at MGWCC #1000, there are only about 5 more chances to get the Eggs-cellent badge. So has anyone gotten the "grand slam" yet? Is there a way to check?

If by 'grand slam' you mean completed all the achievements, it appears that at least Peter Gordon has done so. I stopped checking after that.
(you can click a username in the leaderboard to see what achievements someone has)

You can also go to the Achievements page and look at only those who have the 1-Across (since that's got the lowest number) and only check those people to see who might have all the rest.

[KayW]

badge achieved

[ColinM]

If I'm stumped, there is nothing worse for me than seeing a consensus that the the puzzle is not very hard. That is a surefire weekend of frustration. I haven't missed a week 4 or 5 in a long time. Week 3 is my kryptonite.
I can't figure out the next step on this one.

[Barney]

I submitted my “knowingly wrong answer” (and it was) last night, just to get me out of this “wondering zone.”

[SusieG]

I finally submitted after doubting my answer for 24 hours (because it seemed too simple), but it was correct.

[rjy]

Ditto here - solved on Friday, not 100% sure, but waited for Easter Sunday and was beamed up.

[LadyBird]

For the "tiny songbird" in question, there is a wonderful film called "Penguin Bloom"--we watched it last year on Netflix, I think. It is based on a true story about an Australian woman who is partially paralyzed after a terrible accident. Naturally, she and her family are having a hard time coping with all of the changes. They are helped in this process when they take in an injured "tiny songbird" that they name Penguin.

[DrTom]

I looked over the solvers list and was feeling so smug that I managed to climb aboard before so many talented metamasters...and then it hit me, they were all going for the Easter badge (which in retrospect I should have as well), but I am such an "Oh My God I Got It!" that I submitted without even thinking of the potential for a badge (badges, I don't need your stinking badges - well OK don't need but want for some inexplicable reason). So now I have to sit on my eggs for another year. RATS...or should i say BUNNIES!

[MikeyG]

As always, I dip my toe into the waters of discussion post-solve.

I have a rule for me that I am not allowed to look up any clues to a puzzle, or that constitutes a nudge. I did not know 17-Across (perhaps slightly ironic in a way, maybe, haha), and 4-Down and even 5-Down did not do much assistance with me, so I was thinking, "Is there another you-know-what there?" So I had the wrong number in my head and was thinking, "Well, what do I do?"

I saw 1-A and was thinking, "Publications published TODATE totaling that number?" and I was all over the place. Then I made the assumption, recalculated the number, and I still didn't get anywhere, haha. Then it hit me a couple of hours later, and I was like, "Oh, okay."

It's likely a SAD puzzle, and this probably plays like a 2.5 with just slightly decreasing numbers along the way from Week 1 to 3. I look upon Weeks 4 and 5 with both trepidation and anticipation!

[MikeM000]

It's a shame that Gaffney apparently isn't a big Krautrock fan...this woulda been cool, especially since it fit easily into one spot.

[MikeM000]

Also, my problem when first tackling the meta was that I was seeing MA_ instead of MAG, and I thought up a Snappy Answer to the Stupid Question of "what common 3 letter combo starting with 'MA' isn't found in the grid and is also the name of a magazine?"

[MikeyG]

Also, my problem when first tackling the meta was that I was seeing MA_ instead of MAG, and I thought up a Snappy Answer to the Stupid Question of "what common 3 letter combo starting with 'MA' isn't found in the grid and is also the name of a magazine?"

That'd make me mad.

[Joe Ross]

I filled the grid & tried every way to interpret these SEVENTEEN letters following MAG on Friday anag:::shudder:::ramming, other related clues & entries, etc. Saturday was too busy, then Easter Sunday, with its pretty-pretty badge, arrived & I used and drove a friend nuts as a sounding board via text.

GIANT *CLICK* when the idea to count the # of MAGs found gray matter.

In payback, my friend made me open a file of a filled grid to count rather than confirm "in order to preserve your solo status" (note: I didn't write "good friend"), but I knew what I'd find.

I then conceded my blindness and realized how this could be solved toot de suite.