The Plot Thickens
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JeanneC
- Posts: 624
- Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 11:25 am
- Location: Florida
Not going to happen. 
“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions”. Lillian Hellman
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Al Sisti
- Posts: 2067
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
End of Day 3 leaderboard additions:
26 JM
27 Cindy Heisler
28 markhr
29 BrennerTJ
30 ajk
31 DavyGravy
32 Mikey G
33 Bird Lives
34 CPJohnson
35 Anita and Steve
36 Dave C
37 Johnny Luau
38 SeamusOL
39 BarbaraK
40 HeadinHome
41 benchen71
42 Teamdoubletow
43 Bbaack
44 jbird
Incidentally, I realize that some of you/us have different noms for Crosshare than we do here (I'm LuckyGuest there and on other sites), so if I've duplicated anyone above, let me know.
26 JM
27 Cindy Heisler
28 markhr
29 BrennerTJ
30 ajk
31 DavyGravy
32 Mikey G
33 Bird Lives
34 CPJohnson
35 Anita and Steve
36 Dave C
37 Johnny Luau
38 SeamusOL
39 BarbaraK
40 HeadinHome
41 benchen71
42 Teamdoubletow
43 Bbaack
44 jbird
Incidentally, I realize that some of you/us have different noms for Crosshare than we do here (I'm LuckyGuest there and on other sites), so if I've duplicated anyone above, let me know.
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Dow Jones
- Posts: 476
- Joined: Thu May 09, 2019 11:02 pm
- Location: Yakima, WA
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minimuggle
- Posts: 564
- Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:33 am
Towed off the couch, Very embarrassed since I really like this athlete. Thanks Al
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Alvibu67
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 2:18 pm
Off the couch!!
It took all the hints and a nudge, but finally saw the whole picture after a few “plot twists”
Great puzzle! Thanks, Al!
It took all the hints and a nudge, but finally saw the whole picture after a few “plot twists”
Great puzzle! Thanks, Al!
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whimsy
- Posts: 2786
- Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
- Location: Hopkinton MA
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Al Sisti
- Posts: 2067
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
Few more solvers came in:
45 minimuggle
46 DowJones
47 bhamren
48 THC
49 Alvibu67
50 whimsy
45 minimuggle
46 DowJones
47 bhamren
48 THC
49 Alvibu67
50 whimsy
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Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5084
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
Off to Davenport, ticket punched Tue Jan 17, 2023 1:29 pm.
(That's the hep phrase, yes?)
(That's the hep phrase, yes?)
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Streroto
- Posts: 782
- Joined: Thu Jul 04, 2019 4:24 pm
- Location: Newtown Square, PA
Had most of it before the nudges. Just could not make one thing make sense. I see it now. Really enjoyed this. First MMM I have done. I will for sure do them more often now!!
Thanks Al for some post WSJCC-MGWCC solve fun!!
Thanks Al for some post WSJCC-MGWCC solve fun!!
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Al Sisti
- Posts: 2067
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
Well hello, Muggles! It’s time for this week’s reveal. We’re told we’re looking for a famous athlete... but not much else. So where to go, where to go?
There’s a lot of spelled out numbers here, and – wait – they’re all pairwise clued. That’s odd. Ah, but 18A also gives us some guidance: “Origin in a Cartesian coordinate system (and a hint to the meta),” yielding the entry ZEROZERO (meta noobs, when all is lost, look at the oddly-worded clues; especially if they mention the words “…and a hint to solving the meta”). And given the fact that we also have six number pairs, it’s a short leap to deduce that they’re to be treated as coordinates, and they were:
(7,11) – Convenient store chain
(6,7) – Aaron Judge’s height
(3,6) – Hip hop band ___ Mafia
(10,4) – Cop’s “Gotcha”
(1,2) – Boxer’s combination
(0,0) – Origin in a Cartesian coordinate system
Most people got that part easy enough; the hard part was trying to find the origin. I was hoping that most people would assume the origin to be the southwest corner square, then treat the bottom row as the X-axis, so that the squares in that row would be numbered (0,0), (1,0), (2,0)… (14,0); similarly counting up Y values from zero in the columns. Two things got in the way. One, people didn’t go there; at least not at first… they tried many things I didn’t anticipate. I even gave a nudge to say that “I could be found at the origin” (the “I” in IOS). And Dave Plass settled on the best spot: he chose the I in Utica (so I am the center of Utica? Utica revolves around me?) Anyway, it cracked me up.
Secondly, just a couple weeks ago, @Pete Muller revealed his solution to the MMMM megameta, which was also based on a coordinate system; this time, with the origin in the upper left corner (btw, I hadn’t solved his megameta when I wrote this puzzle… in fact, I was going nowhere with it until test solver extraordinaire @Abide snickered at me, asking “Um, have you solved the MMMM megameta yet?”, and suggested we wait a few weeks to schedule this one. Shakes fist at Pete!! And while I'm at it, at @Matt Gaffney too, for throwing Steffi Graf in the most recent MGWCC).
Anyway, once people got to the correct spot for the origin, the letters found at each coordinate spelled out, in top to bottom order, STEFFI. (see “Diamond" @Joe Ross' beautiful graphic below -- on graph paper, no less). And people submitted that as their answer, only to be told it was incorrect. WHAT!? Yeah, there was one more step… the Steffi I chose was the great tennis player, Steffi Graf. And given the wordplay of Graf/graph and the title, well that wrapped it up in a nice bow.
Okay, enough talk. The winner of either a Utica Club keepsake, or a Blarney Rebel Band CD, or $15 donation to any charity – randomly picked from our 56 solvers – is @Ergcat. Congrats, and let me know what prize you want…
There’s a lot of spelled out numbers here, and – wait – they’re all pairwise clued. That’s odd. Ah, but 18A also gives us some guidance: “Origin in a Cartesian coordinate system (and a hint to the meta),” yielding the entry ZEROZERO (meta noobs, when all is lost, look at the oddly-worded clues; especially if they mention the words “…and a hint to solving the meta”). And given the fact that we also have six number pairs, it’s a short leap to deduce that they’re to be treated as coordinates, and they were:
(7,11) – Convenient store chain
(6,7) – Aaron Judge’s height
(3,6) – Hip hop band ___ Mafia
(10,4) – Cop’s “Gotcha”
(1,2) – Boxer’s combination
(0,0) – Origin in a Cartesian coordinate system
Most people got that part easy enough; the hard part was trying to find the origin. I was hoping that most people would assume the origin to be the southwest corner square, then treat the bottom row as the X-axis, so that the squares in that row would be numbered (0,0), (1,0), (2,0)… (14,0); similarly counting up Y values from zero in the columns. Two things got in the way. One, people didn’t go there; at least not at first… they tried many things I didn’t anticipate. I even gave a nudge to say that “I could be found at the origin” (the “I” in IOS). And Dave Plass settled on the best spot: he chose the I in Utica (so I am the center of Utica? Utica revolves around me?) Anyway, it cracked me up.
Secondly, just a couple weeks ago, @Pete Muller revealed his solution to the MMMM megameta, which was also based on a coordinate system; this time, with the origin in the upper left corner (btw, I hadn’t solved his megameta when I wrote this puzzle… in fact, I was going nowhere with it until test solver extraordinaire @Abide snickered at me, asking “Um, have you solved the MMMM megameta yet?”, and suggested we wait a few weeks to schedule this one. Shakes fist at Pete!! And while I'm at it, at @Matt Gaffney too, for throwing Steffi Graf in the most recent MGWCC).
Anyway, once people got to the correct spot for the origin, the letters found at each coordinate spelled out, in top to bottom order, STEFFI. (see “Diamond" @Joe Ross' beautiful graphic below -- on graph paper, no less). And people submitted that as their answer, only to be told it was incorrect. WHAT!? Yeah, there was one more step… the Steffi I chose was the great tennis player, Steffi Graf. And given the wordplay of Graf/graph and the title, well that wrapped it up in a nice bow.
Okay, enough talk. The winner of either a Utica Club keepsake, or a Blarney Rebel Band CD, or $15 donation to any charity – randomly picked from our 56 solvers – is @Ergcat. Congrats, and let me know what prize you want…
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benchen71
- Posts: 2448
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Oh, I didn't connect GRAF / graph. That's amazing!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! 
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boharr
- Moderator
- Posts: 3209
- Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
- Location: Westchester, NY
Now there's a novel idea. Once you find out where to begin bottom left, you can just number the coordinates on the grid up and down and save endless counting and recounting. Doh.
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Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5084
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
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BarbaraK
- Posts: 2615
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
@Joe Ross solved a puzzle on paper?!?! 
And what beautiful (and perfectly consistent:) handwriting!!
Fabulous reveal graphic!
And what beautiful (and perfectly consistent:) handwriting!! Fabulous reveal graphic!
If you want help with a meta, feel free to PM me. The more specific you are about what you have and what you want, the more likely I can help without spoiling.
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
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Joe Ross
- Moderator
- Posts: 5084
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
- Location: Cincinnati
No trees were harmed in the production of this reveal. 100% digital.
TY
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JeanneC
- Posts: 624
- Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 11:25 am
- Location: Florida
Confused point and space. My bad. Brilliant meta!
“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions”. Lillian Hellman
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Al Sisti
- Posts: 2067
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
What you did/tried is natural, coordinates are the points of intersection.
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BethA
- Posts: 633
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:44 pm
- Location: Beaver, PA
One mistake I made, was never even including (0,0) in my list of coordinates! Oops.
I looked at the meta Monday, did use the southwest corner as the origin, hastily got the letters at the coordinates, and not focusing on the order, got CHI SS -- obviously a hint to the meta. Seemed a little vague, but I was easily convinced when I looked for a Chicago ShortStop, that he was SO great, the answer was surely Ernie Banks!! NOPE. Still being hasty, I thought OK, I remember a very famous Chicago player with initials SS -- Sammy Sosa. Still NOPE. Decided to wait for Wednesday hints!
After reading the hints on Wednesday, I felt I had already done everything in them. However I did recheck everything, and briefly toyed with the idea that the origin was shifted, and did get STEFF. Didn't like it because then there was no I square (because I didn't have (0,0)) which was specifically mentioned in the hints! Just unable to bend my mind to that.
Still enjoyed it even if I didn't solve. I was a great fan of Steffi, and watched tennis all the time then. Also really like the Graf / Graph aspect!!
Now hopefully they won't revoke my engineering degree!
I looked at the meta Monday, did use the southwest corner as the origin, hastily got the letters at the coordinates, and not focusing on the order, got CHI SS -- obviously a hint to the meta. Seemed a little vague, but I was easily convinced when I looked for a Chicago ShortStop, that he was SO great, the answer was surely Ernie Banks!! NOPE. Still being hasty, I thought OK, I remember a very famous Chicago player with initials SS -- Sammy Sosa. Still NOPE. Decided to wait for Wednesday hints!
After reading the hints on Wednesday, I felt I had already done everything in them. However I did recheck everything, and briefly toyed with the idea that the origin was shifted, and did get STEFF. Didn't like it because then there was no I square (because I didn't have (0,0)) which was specifically mentioned in the hints! Just unable to bend my mind to that.
Still enjoyed it even if I didn't solve. I was a great fan of Steffi, and watched tennis all the time then. Also really like the Graf / Graph aspect!!
Now hopefully they won't revoke my engineering degree!
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Al Sisti
- Posts: 2067
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
They wouldn't dare. Engineers have all the answers; sometimes the questions are wrong.
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Dplass
- Posts: 1739
- Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am
How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
None. It's a hardware problem
--software engineer