MGWCC #756 - “Consonantal Drift”

[gppasco]

Hey, if you've got 46/47 solves this year and a streak of 1, does that mean he didn't count your meta last week as a solve?

I knew it. I knew it. I posed that question to @MikeyG

Assuming I have a solid December, and that's absolutely not a guarantee, I'll take 51 + 1 guest puzzle any year.

I actually get to breathe a sigh of relief as I build again, and I'm pretty sure all former guest appearances by people who also solve on the regular (Paolo and Will come to mind) do begin a streak anew.

Can confirm—I asked Matt if I could submit for my week and he said not to, which really threw a wrench in the one week I knew I could beat e.a. to the leaderboard

[Bird Lives]

With some help -- mostly big strikethroughs on all my mistaken ideas leaving the good ideas untouched --- I am beamed up. I think. No leaderboard updates since yesterday at 5:47 pm. I actually found Step Two before Step One, which took me down a couple of wrong paths.

[HoldThatThought]

With some help -- mostly big strikethroughs on all my mistaken ideas leaving the good ideas untouched --- I am beamed up. I think. No leaderboard updates since yesterday at 5:47 pm. I actually found Step Two before Step One, which took me down a couple of wrong paths.

Indeed!

[schmidzy]

Still very much whatever the opposite of beamed up is... But determined to get this one by tomorrow's deadline!

[mattythewsjpuzzler]

Definitely not my fav.

[Cinny]

Beamed up.

[schmidzy]

Got it (with some kind nudges)! But the website says submissions are now closed... I thought we had till Wednesday this week. Oh, well.

[BarbaraK]

Got it (with some kind nudges)! But the website says submissions are now closed... I thought we had till Wednesday this week. Oh, well.

The deadline is noon tomorrow.

Sometimes the website is flaky. You could try to submit again and see if it says you’ve already submitted. Or just email Matt and he’ll take care of it.

[Joe Ross]

Got it (with some kind nudges)! But the website says submissions are now closed... I thought we had till Wednesday this week. Oh, well.

The site is pre-programmed to close at noon, Tuesdays.

You can always email @MattGaffney with your answer on crosswordcontest@gmail.com .

[schmidzy]

Thanks, everyone. I'll wait for the next leaderboard update and then email him if it's still not there!

[Leslie]

I actually found Step Two before Step One, which took me down a couple of wrong paths.

I’m very curious to know how this is possible, unless your step two is my step one. I saw (my) step one almost immediately, but then spent a couple of days trying various things that didn’t work—until suddenly something that had bothered me from the beginning revealed itself as part of step two.

[jhseeman]

Got it (with some kind nudges)! But the website says submissions are now closed... I thought we had till Wednesday this week. Oh, well.

The site is pre-programmed to close at noon, Tuesdays.

You can always email @MattGaffney with your answer on crosswordcontest@gmail.com .

I just loaded my entry, and noticed that he updated it at 8:21, of course I missed that update and will need to wait for the next. But the last entry was 11/29 at 7:12pm

You might go back and check if you're up there.

[DrTom]

With some help -- mostly big strikethroughs on all my mistaken ideas leaving the good ideas untouched --- I am beamed up. I think. No leaderboard updates since yesterday at 5:47 pm. I actually found Step Two before Step One, which took me down a couple of wrong paths.

OK, that one is going to take some "splainin" on a Muggle Zoom or a post-closing posting. I mean the wrong paths I understand ALL too well, but the reverse order not so much.

T

[Sara Dacus]

If anyone is available to give an 11th hour nudge, please message me, and I'll reply with what I've tried so far! Thank you in advance!

Edit: Thank you to the kind muggles who reached out! Making headway . . . I think I appreciate all of you!

[Joe Ross]

[bhamren]

This one did it in for me. I stopped subscribing to MGWCC. It is not worth my time and effort (or even $3) to wrack my brain on something I will never get. I get so few week 3/4/5 puzzles it is just not worth it.
So I guess I am saying HMMPH after all.

[MikeM000]

How about that...I never got past the 2 all-consonant entries that were symmetrically placed in the corners and trying to make them "drift" in some fashion...

[BarbaraK]

I really enjoyed this one! The perfect Kas 3 viewtopic.php?t=35 that left me very pleased with myself once I figured it out.

The Sudafed for headaches clue struck me while filling the grid. Yeah, I guess maybe Sudafed could ease a headache if it’s caused by sinus congestion, but it’s far down the list of what I consider headache treatments. “Colds” is a five letter word for what Sudafed mainly eases. Likewise, botulin is more noted as a “toxin” than a protein. Needless to say, I didn’t get much further with that approach, but it did leave those two readily in mind when I did eventually notice the 5 all vowel entries.

[Leslie]

The Sudafed for headaches clue struck me while filling the grid. Yeah, I guess maybe Sudafed could ease a headache if it’s caused by sinus congestion, but it’s far down the list of what I consider headache treatments. “Colds” is a five letter word for what Sudafed mainly eases. Likewise, botulin is more noted as a “toxin” than a protein. Needless to say, I didn’t get much further with that approach, but it did leave those two readily in mind when I did eventually notice the 5 all vowel entries.

I saw the five all-vowel entries quickly, then couldn't get anything to work. But the weird Sudafed clue kept nagging at me (like a headache?) until I suddenly noticed it had the vowels UAE and I was off to the races! I completely missed the AEIOU order though, and wasn't completely satisfied with just anagramming HMMPH.

[ky-mike]

Thanksgiving with family last Thursday. Grid done and wondering where to start. My brother, who doesn't do many crosswords, noted that there were 5 vowel-only grid entries. That was all that I needed to move forward. Had the answer about 10 minutes later. Sometimes it jumps out at me and other times I need that observation from my wife (or brother) to get started.