The nice thing is that it rather organically evolved to support a rolling sharing of ideas and rabbit holes, while at the same time remaining spoiler-free. Don’t know that it will always manage that so deftly, but it was a nice place to communally pull our hair out, only to then be amazed by Matt’s creativity and brilliance.peteg wrote: ↑Sun Jun 26, 2022 8:00 pm Yep! The intent was to have people solve together, but not be able to join after the solve and glean the answer with no effort. And I think it worked out great. The nice thing about Discord is I can create a new channel for the next puzzle and do the same thing all over again. I probably won't do this every single week but definitely stay tuned for the next time we're all in despair.
MGWCC #734 - “Three-on-Three Matchup"
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rjy
- Posts: 1032
- Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2021 12:52 pm
- Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Ray
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Andrew Bradburn
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:51 pm
- Location: Los Angeles
Cannot say I beamed up. More like "clawed my way across the finish line with a helping hand gently redirecting my aim when it was leading me astray."
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ajk
- Posts: 965
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
- Location: Colorado
I officially give up on this one. Was in the discord thread in time to read everything, got a couple of kindly nudges, and am still basically at square 1. Just not my week I guess. Or month I suppose, as the same thing happened last week. 
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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EmilyW
- Posts: 241
- Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 10:03 pm
Considering I didn't even get week 2 or 3 this month, I think I'll sit back, relax and enjoy the weather. I finished the grid at least! Looking forward to reading about the solution tomorrow.
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MikeyG
- Posts: 1397
- Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:52 pm
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
I don't think it's even that extreme to say that some of these metas are art. I remember I said the same about the categories on Jeopardy! on Twitter, and a writer reached out to me and said that was super kind. And it is! The creativity in both - crafting clever metas or great categories/clues - is of the highest order.
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Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5081
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
Holy WOW!
What a weekend for metas! Matt Gaffney & Patrick Berry have given us two of the best.
What a weekend for metas! Matt Gaffney & Patrick Berry have given us two of the best.
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ky-mike
- Posts: 1986
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 4:22 pm
- Location: Near Louisville Ky
One was a bit tougher than the other.
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gpj73
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2022 10:00 pm
- Location: St. Louis, MO
If anyone out there is willing to help, we could certainly use a nudge. Second straight week of staring at the completed grid for a couple hours and getting absolutely nowhere…
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hcbirker
- Posts: 2017
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:24 pm
- Location: Studio City, CA
Finally! Thanks to all who teamed up on this diabolical meta! Sometimes it takes a village.
Heidi
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Guffman
- Posts: 194
- Joined: Tue May 18, 2021 10:02 am
- Location: Prairie Village, Kansas
Remember the good old days when you'd complete one of Matt's puzzles, look at the four or five long entries and immediately see a word or common start letter that connected them all? Gee, I miss those days.
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firefly
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:10 pm
I would gladly accept a nudge from any of you fine meta solver extraordinaires! I don't think I've gotten the hang of this yet.
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paige11
- Posts: 134
- Joined: Sat May 09, 2020 6:02 pm
I wasn't sure if I'd wake up to my name on the leaderboard, but beam me up!
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KayW
- Moderator
- Posts: 3273
- Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 12:10 am
- Location: Chicago
non-solo but non-nudge thanks to @peteg Discord channel. IMHO everyone did a fantastic job of collaborating without spoiling.Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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patpatchica
- Posts: 131
- Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2021 9:58 am
- Location: Memphis, TN
Beamed up thanks to helpful nudges. Thanks @Wendy Walker ! Really clever and fun meta, but I would have never have solo solved this one! 
Overthinking is my super power. 
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DrTom
- Posts: 3782
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Nudged, or rather shoved, to the finish. After a couple of false starts I had an idea that something like this might be in play but I could not believe it could be done. Thanks to a kind muggle who did not leave me flailing in the surf. I cannot imagine, even for a moment, trying to construct this meta,
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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HunterX
- Posts: 1184
- Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 9:17 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
One minute before the hour and I asked for beam up. Hope I materialize in one piece aboard the Enterprise....
And I never would have gotten it without help.
Edit: Beamed up at exactly 12:00 according to Matt's website. Phew!
And I never would have gotten it without help.
Edit: Beamed up at exactly 12:00 according to Matt's website. Phew!
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MattGaffney
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:07 pm
@Al Sisti
This was the "White Whale" meta that I couldn't get to work for last year's Zoom talk. Note AHAB and THAR in the grid...
This was the "White Whale" meta that I couldn't get to work for last year's Zoom talk. Note AHAB and THAR in the grid...
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MMe
- Posts: 293
- Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:27 am
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HoldThatThought
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 11:09 am
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DrTom
- Posts: 3782
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Now there's your buzzer beater!
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!