XWord Muggles Forum

Yeah ok now I can see the sheer elegance of this one. Wow! Well done Cap!!!

Leaderboard Update:

Seven more solvers bring our total to 92:

ellequin
Jim23809
Bodegas
Streroto
JR
bhamren
Jerry Miccolis

Please let me know if I've missed anyone.

Final Leaderboard:

We picked up two more solvers to bring our final total to 94! Awesome!

Tane
Prog

Thanks for solving, everyone! And now for the reveal...

Ahoy Muggles!

The meta answer is "Frank Sinatra", American singer/actor and one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s with an estimated 150 million record sales. His nicknames included "Old Blue Eyes", "Chairman of the Board", and "The Voice" among others.

To solve, puzzlers first needed to interpret the title literally and look for grid entries that could be paired with "BOARD". Those entries were 14A STAR, 16A EXAM, 40A OUT, 68A TOTE, and 70A DASH. The next step involved looking at the grid entries directly above (or "OVER") the BOARD entries. Those were 1A NICK, 10A NAME, 36A OLD, 65A BLUE, and 67A EYES. For those of you of a certain age, this was probably enough information to solve, but some solvers may have had to consult Google.


Frank was part of an informal group of entertainers who made films and appeared together in Vegas casinos. The other members of the "Rat Pack" included Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis Jr., and you will find their first names scattered around the grid. Other Easter eggs included the cross of 15A CHAIR and 7D MANOF, 44A RCA (an early Sinatra record label), and 63D ISA from "The Lady is a Tramp" - a Sinatra classic.

Thanks for solving, everyone!

Until next time!
Cap'n Rick

Wonderful meta! I saw a clue “stretch” in “SNL” and the words “take” and “off”. Joe Piscopo, a one time cast member of SNL would do an occasional impersonation of Sinatra on the show. I thought it was funny. Lord knows what Frank thought of it.

Frank was part of an informal group of entertainers who made films and appeared together in Vegas casinos. The other members of the "Rat Pack" included Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis Jr., and you will find their first names scattered around the grid. Other Easter eggs included the cross of 15A CHAIR and 7D MANOF, 44A RCA (an early Sinatra record label), and 63D ISA from "The Lady is a Tramp" - a Sinatra classic.

Thanks for solving, everyone!

Until next time!
Cap'n Rick

[/quote]

Great puzzle, Cap'n Rick! And if I'm not mistaken, Angie Dickinson was part of the Rat Pack also?