The Plot Thickens

[KayW]

Off the sportsing couch. Well done, Al!


Loved the shout-out at 1-across.

[ReB]

Off the couch in time to take a jog around the block. Or at least a walk... Very tightly constructed.

[lbray53]

Couch vacated. Thanks, Al. It drove me nuts.

Same here!

I was trying different versions of what I assumed the mechanism to be and got nothing. Then when I went back and tried them again I was getting different answers. I finally used Joe Ross' spreadsheet so keep track of things and there it was. Very clever! Loved the title and answer.

[chriscross]

Off the couch. It’s always a nice feeling to get the meta and then suddenly understand all of the cryptic comments about people’s solution experiences in the thread.

[TeamDoubleTow]

It sounds like we are in the antechamber of solving. Might have to follow @lbray53 ’s lead and migrate to Excel. The pdf printout has been written all over...so hard to see things on that now.

[Dplass]

Didn't we do something like this before and we had trouble that everyone had a completely different frame of reference that they each assumed was perfectly natural but each disagreed with everyone else's?

Yes. And quite recently, for some (including me).

Well, if your intention was to misdirect I bought it hook, line, and sinker. Got nothing but considering how many have it, I figure I'm just looking at precisely the wrong thing.

Welcome to my world, woozy; welcome to my world lolsob

[Ergcat]

Off the couch! Good one, Al!

[Al Sisti]

Tuesday evening leaderboard:

1 Emma Oxford
2 I K Snamhcok
3 Capn Rick
4 Meg
5 Schmeel
6 oldjudge
7 michaelm
8 boharr
9 MatthewL
10 Tyrpmom
11 rjy
12 lbray53
13 Abide
14 Laura M
15 edestlin
16 AaronT
17 woozy
18 Mwoychick
19 KayW
20 ReB
21 Carolyn
22 Hector
23 DIS
24 ChrisCross
25 Ergcat

Seeing some great post-solve comments, both on my Private messages and on Crosshare. For the rest of you, keep at it -- there's no penalty for wrong guesses. Nudges coming tomorrow.

[CPJohnson]

Well, I haven't solved. Hope the nudges explain some things.

[Al Sisti]

Think of the six number pairs in terms of [X,Y]

Got the idea now? But where to begin? Start at the origin; I can be found there

A name will emerge as the plot unfolds...

... and I will be the last of the chosen ones.

[Cinny]

Off the couch. Needed nudges for a reason I can't mention at the moment. Blunder on my part.

[markhr]

I had the answer scribbled in my notes and didn’t recognize it. Doh!
Clever puzzle with a nice aha at the end.

[ajk]

Welp, always annoying to need the nudges to make you do what you were already doing but do it carefully enough to make it work.

Fun one. I admit that I missed the added nuance which is quite nice.

[MikeyG]

I've been thinking about this puzzle for two days, which is the sign of a great meta. I had an epiphany this morning that might give me something, but those nudges are tempting to take!

[Al Sisti]

I've been thinking about this puzzle for two days, which is the sign of a great meta. I had an epiphany this morning that might give me something, but those nudges are tempting to take!

You don't need no stinkin' nudges!

[Al Sisti]

If anyone needs an additional nudge, feel free to PM me... I don't want anyone to be/stay frustrated.

[MikeyG]

I've been thinking about this puzzle for two days, which is the sign of a great meta. I had an epiphany this morning that might give me something, but those nudges are tempting to take!

You don't need no stinkin' nudges!

This encouragement helped push it over the line!!

No nudge need, but I did need a fellow muggly exhortation! I'll take it!

[benchen71]

The couch is vacated, thanks to the nudges. Nice one, Al!

[HeadinHome]

got it. i had the method but was missing one bit because of thinking too literally about the system. Nudge 2 helped.

[TeamDoubleTow]

Welp, always annoying to need the nudges to make you do what you were already doing but do it carefully enough to make it work.

Yes... That was our experience... . Fun puzzle!