MGWCC #755 - “What a Character” by Mike Graczyk

[edestlin]

In classic fashion, I drafted a plea for a nudge and before I hit send I looked back at the puzzle and saw what I needed. Such a fun puzzle and meta. Great work, @MikeyG !

[Joe]

I've got the first bit, but don't know where to go from there. Here's hoping that posting this will clear some cobwebs. I've been so bad at these lately that finding step 1 feels like a win.

[woozy]

I don't know if my inability to solve it is that I really can't, or that I just feel there is no point as I already submitted a wrong answer (that's actually kind of clever). I'll take any nudges.

.... or I'll wait till Tues.

[SJMcK]

I was getting ready to post about how stumped I was, and was composing a nudge request in my head, when a loose thread of an idea appeared in my mind which, when pulled, unraveled the solution fairly quickly.

[DrTom]

OMG, that was such a slog, made all the more difficult by my inability to see what was right in front of me. I'm going to chalk it up to abject frustration and surrender after too many wounds. Of course what I eventually saw I had to arrive at the very hardest way possible and only after some substantial nudges. Still, I'm back on the Enterprise having had my molecules badly rearranged during the transport.

EDIT: In at 180, whew apparently I was able to turn that one around
(admittedly with help that gave me a couple of right angles)

[HeadinHome]

Great puzzle, @MikeyG! Very satisfying solve with an assist from @Wendy Walker following the Zoom call yesterday. Thank you for not answering my question, Wendy, which would have given away too much. I had a big smile on my face as I realized I was on the right track as I worked out the answer.

she is a master not only of metas, but of subtle and perfect meta nudging!!

[KayW]

Great puzzle, @MikeyG! Very satisfying solve with an assist from @Wendy Walker following the Zoom call yesterday. Thank you for not answering my question, Wendy, which would have given away too much. I had a big smile on my face as I realized I was on the right track as I worked out the answer.

she is a master not only of metas, but of subtle and perfect meta nudging!!

I would love to hear about the question, non-answer, and these brilliant nudges... post-deadline of course. I often find it's harder to give a good nudge on a puzzle than it is to solve it in the first place!

[Abide]

Finally got to this one today. Brilliant idea, execution, and one heckuva construction!

[DrTom]

To MikeyG, a Muggle we all know and love. You have now joined the Muggle Meta Royalty Plaque along with Benchen71. All of us schleppers can at least say - Oh, Mike and Ben...yeah we hang out with those guys, we knew them before they were writing MGWCC puzzles.

Great work and I can only imagine the time it took to build.

[Joe]

Omg. I got it. MikeyG, so good.

[MountainManZach]

I know it's late in the game, but would love a nudge if anyone would be willing! After a lot of time, I still don't see anything

Edit: I'm beaming up thanks to the shortest ever nudge from @oggy !

[firefly]

It's even later in the game and I'm also stuck. Any nudge would be appreciated!

[ricky]

I need a nudge too. Running short on time. EDIT: thanks to @Joe - one nudge got me there immediately. I had just been barking up the wrong tree for days.

[HoldThatThought]

If anyone still needs a nudge, reach out to me, real quick, by PM, and I will try to help.

Remember though, when you ask the community for a nudge, it's helpful to come back and let us know that you've been assisted; most importantly, it increases the likelihood that you will still get offers!

[jimmyd]

Last minute epiphany!! Great puzzle!

[MikeyG]

A small note from yours truly, without pontificating too much (I probably still will, haha).

I was completely touched by all of the kind comments from all of you over the past several days. I find the meta sacred; obviously, in fairness, I decided to remain taciturn on this thread until the very end, but I read every one, and they made my heart swell with joy.

I still have a steadfast, wide-eyed enthusiasm about making and solving puzzles (I give some of my enigmas to my students without their asking; they are not as eager!). Moreover, this entire community is filled with such creativity and vivacity - the amount of puzzles that people make out of their own selflessness, and the camaraderie that has been created as a result, is truly something special.

There is a lot of vitriol and difficulty in the world. Just read the headlines, and you'll see it. So some refuge against the perilous waves is necessary sometimes. That is what puzzles often do. I cannot solve the problems of the world, but - as I've said before - solving puzzles somehow becomes a consolation, a form of self-care, a way to relax and even to grow.

So many of you in this thread have posted great puzzles and have helped me become a better constructor (and, more importantly, human being) in the process. But I do need to give a special shout-out to @MattGaffney on this one. In the midst of the health crisis in the summer of 2020, I stumbled upon the concept of the meta, first through MGWCC. I had just rediscovered crosswords during that time, but this special hybrid awoke something in me that I felt was desperately needed during a time in which the world felt pitched in turmoil.

After striking out on trying to solve some metas, and just barely understanding difficulty rankings, I solved my first meta, a Week 1, in early September '20, and I have MARTINA NAVRATILOVA to thank (the answer to the first meta I cracked). Since then, I have been stunned how Matt has continued to make these metas fresh and engaging - even moreso in light of the fact that he had created over 600 of these before I discovered it (and all those through WSJ as well).

After solving metas and wading into the pool to create my own (and still recognizing what works and what doesn't), I took a chance and submitted an idea to MGWCC that I thought could work (the one you solved!); the fact that Matt said he liked it completely floored me. It'd be like sending a demo tape to Taylor Swift and having her say she wants you to open at her next concert (and if her fans can't get tickets, they'll have to shake it off).

Perhaps some of the most hilariously touching moments were from those who started to solve this without noticing the byline and then musing, "This cluing seems Mikeyesque." I am realizing typing this how that could be construed as arrogance, a fear of mine, but it's meant to be the opposite. I am humbled that I get to put my wacky voice out into the world, and I have also guffawed likewise at so many of your cruciverbal creations. I only hope there are many more to come.

So, in short, thank you to all of you who continue to foster a love of puzzles in me and make me a better human. You fellow solvers, after all, are JUST MY TYPE.

A happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Mikey G

[rjy]

Thanks for posting such lovely comments, Mikey! It was so very cool to see your name in the MGWCC, and although I didn’t get to the finish line on this one - prepping for week-long house guests and feeding 25 on Thursday - I always look forward to your puzzles and the indelible stamp that’s uniquely yours with both the whimsical clueing and the twisted metas. Hope Matt takes another week off sometime, and that it’s in the dead of winter when things are not quite so hectic here!

Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving, all!

[jhseeman]

Mikey,
Finally got across the finish line earlier today, didn't get the chance to get on as the four letter word called work got in the way.

Great puzzle....I was writing to ask for a nudge as it was a jumble of letters and part way through it, the last step smacked me right upside the head (which is often required for me)....amazed at the overall puzzle and meta. Always enjoy your puzzles and of course the quirky clues.

Congrats on getting Matt to use one of your puzzles.

[ajk]

Too much time spent on travel / winery visiting this weekend to really tackle this, but in retrospect a very cool puzzle. Nice work.

[rjy]

Missed the deadline, but got a nudge to still get the AHA, and a pretty great AHA it was too… really very cool and intricate construction, Mikey! Glad I stuck with it…