"Everybody Get Together!"

[rjy]

Nudged onto Page 3, but finally off the couch! Thanks Al, and Happy Thanksgiving all you muggles!

[Eric Porter]

Happy Nudge Wednesday and Thanksgiving Eve! Here's what the chef is serving up today:

Besides its call for unity, the title can also be applied to grid entries

There are seven such entries, symmetrically placed

Remember that old show, Fractured Phrases? This one might have been on there: "Ewe, toucan get tough thug; ouch!"

I'm really bad at these kind of puzzles. I had nudge 1 & 3 figured out before it came, but still can't progress past the first word that I already had. Thank you for the nudges, but nudge 2 isn't getting me off the couch.
I also didn't get the WSJCC Halloween puzzle until I heard someone say 'boo' on the Friday Zoom call.

[MatthewL]

Happy Nudge Wednesday and Thanksgiving Eve! Here's what the chef is serving up today:

Besides its call for unity, the title can also be applied to grid entries

There are seven such entries, symmetrically placed

Remember that old show, Fractured Phrases? This one might have been on there: "Ewe, toucan get tough thug; ouch!"

I'm really bad at these kind of puzzles. I had nudge 1 & 3 figured out before it came, but still can't progress past the first word that I already had. Thank you for the nudges, but nudge 2 isn't getting me off the couch.
I also didn't get the WSJCC Halloween puzzle until I heard someone say 'boo' on the Friday Zoom call.

Right there with you. I've got 2 words figured out, but can't see the rest. Oh well, at least I get to stuff myself to the gills tomorrow.

[BarbaraK]

I needed to use google to solve this one. I’d suggest that those still on the couch not assume they’ll know it when they see it.

[whimsy]

Rather glad to have made it off the couch --

Thanks for a fun puzzle, Al!

[hoover]

I think I am off the couch (or was commonly called in 1969, the davenport).

Also off the davenport.

My 69th birthday was yesterday so I identify with Al’s sentiments.

I'm not as old as y'all, but I think Buffy and Jody had a davenport in the apartment they shared with Cissy and their dad and Mr. French. There's a bar near me called the Davenport.

[Al Sisti]

I needed to use google to solve this one. I’d suggest that those still on the couch not assume they’ll know it when they see it.

That's a good nudge. When you come up with something, try Googling it; it might work (hint: it does... plus you can read about it).

[LadyBird]

I, too, am in the "figured out two of the words" gang. Will look again after our traditional pizza dinner on Thanksgiving Eve with all of the extended family that we won't see tomorrow.

[ajk]

I'm also usually bad at this type of thing, and after first looking at the nudges I had nothing. But looked again just now and it just jumped out.
Thanks for the puzzle and the good vibes.

[Laura M]

I think I saw what I was supposed to see pretty quickly, but couldn't figure out what to do with it, and the nudges (and Google) have failed to enlighten me. I figure it's because I missed being born in 1969 by just a couple of weeks, bad planning by my parents :-)

(No nudges please, I'd just feel silly at this point. Happy Thanksgiving, all!)

[woozy]

There are seven such entries, symmetrically placed
Well, that just limits it to 969 possibilities...

Remember that old show, Fractured Phrases? This one might have been on there: "Ewe, toucan get tough thug; ouch!"
No. Never hear of it

[woozy]

Whoosh! Had to know there was a potato there before I could find it... and even then it was hard to find.

[SewYoung]

Maybe off the couch.
Waiting on confirmation. (or disappointment)
Hope I got it right!

[Al Sisti]

Thanksgiving morning additions to the leaderboard:

28 Jim Dean
29 KayW
30 Tyrpmom
31 FrankieHeck
32 Johnny Luau
33 BrennerTJ
34 minimuggle
35 rjy
36 whimsy
37 JM
38 hoover
39 LesY
40 Anita and Steve
41 andeux
42 ajk
43 dannyvee
44 woozy

If anyone needs more nudging, feel free to PM me (and if you have a phrase that sounds right but you've never heard of it, look it up).

[Eric Porter]

OK, OK. I finally got off the couch.

I was able to get it by looking at the original parts I'd already decoded before the nudges and a little googling. Getting some sleep last night gave me the energy to take another look.

I suppose adding stars to certain clues would have made it too easy. I was trying to decode some meaningless parts of the puzzle.

[Al Sisti]

OK, OK. I finally got off the couch.

I was able to get it by looking at the original parts I'd already decoded before the nudges and a little googling. Getting some sleep last night gave me the energy to take another look.

I suppose adding stars to certain clues would have made it too easy. I was trying to decode some meaningless parts of the puzzle.

Yeah, a very valid point. I considered that -- with no other real starting points -- but decided it would make it too easy; I opted to make it a little more obvious on Nudge Wednesday.

[MatthewL]

Off the couch, finally, with a further helpful nudge from Al. It was right there -- I was just trying to do too much. Hope everyone had a wonderful and relatively stress-free Thanksgiving.

[jbird]

Happy thanksgiving everyone. Finally off the couch (literally and metaphorically)

[SJMcK]

Off the couch. The nudges gave away the game for me, but I don’t think I could have solved it without them. My mind just isn’t wired that way, I think.

[MaineMarge]

Off the couch! And out for a date with Al
Guess I speed read his prompt as
“I’m looking for a date”, so offered myself up in my PM to him.
He said “Let’s Get Together”, so here we go!

Really, Really fine meta, Al