MGWCC #780 — “Spare Parts”

[oldjudge]

On the board. Not a week two but definitely worth the extra days wait—great job by Matt.

[bflock]

Update - may have figured it out via Discord.

Ok - could use a nudge. Clearly have the right data and an idea of what's going on, but can't seem to make the final connection.

[Laura M]

Beamed up, #23! Tougher than the usual week 2.

[dudeski]

Been down some rabbit holes that had to be right until they weren’t.

[jbird]

How does one get an invite to this infamous Discord? Feel like I have the right data. But can’t make heads or tails of what to do next.

To be honest I find discord to be more trouble than it's worth. Maybe if I understood what role it was supposed to serve.... right now it seems a place where if you don't get to it at the earliest moment all it does is taunt you with "we all were awake at this hour and solved the puzzle early but now we are deleting it". Not sure I get the point.

I had the same initial feeling as well but it’s grown on me. It’s been a way to connect with others to do a group solve without a structured schedule. There always seems to be someone online stuck at the same place as me and we can trade notes. The reason why they delete the chats is to avoid giving spoilers. I appreciate that I can come in a day after a puzzle release and find help if I need it without it being completely spoiled. You might say that this forum serves the same purpose to which I would agree. However, the discord interface is a bit nicer and offers a better chat environment rather than trading PMs.

[minimuggle]

this is a toughie for me,..... still searching for the wabbit

[BarbaraK]

Wow, definitely harder than a week 2, but I’ve just confidently requested a solo beam up.

[MikeyG]

Okay, that was brilliant.

Beamed up on a solo solve! Level 3.5 in my book.

[BarbaraK]

It's always interesting when my spreadsheet program offers to auto fill the title because it's been used before, so I had to go back and look at when. It was week 4 of September of 2016, my first month doing MGWCC (and 7-8 months after I got hooked on the WSJ metas.) Didn't solve that one; it was about 6 months before I got my first MGWCC week 4.

[Katiedid]

I haven't solved the meta but I figure there is one correct filling in of the last square but .... ???HUH???

I agree. I assume I have the correct letter, but what now?? Thought I had a pathway but it's quite convoluted!

I am in this camp as well.

I'm in the same boat (to use the wrong meta terminology)!

[ajk]

Beamed thanks to Discord and some kindly additional nudging. Don't think I'd have gotten there solo.

[woozy]

Okay.... One of those frustrating things where you see something but doesn't seem much and think its flimsy but you through it out there for a nudge and as you type your comment it becomes clear.

I can see why Matt didn't think this was hard. It's just a matter of stacking cubes into the shape of a dog. Very easy. But what Matt didn't realize is that when the cubes are made of jello and it is 102 degrees and there are no instructions to stack the cubes in the shape of a dog and there are spheres of whipped cream as well as cubes of jello and many mentions of cats....

Not a week two but it could have been.

[lbray53]

I woke up in the middle of the night with the mechanism clearly laid out. I was trying to think of clever comments to make here. But my dream was a nightmare. That path got me no closer to the answer.

[HoldThatThought]

I woke up in the middle of the night with the mechanism clearly laid out. I was trying to think of clever comments to make here. But my dream was a nightmare. That path got me no closer to the answer.

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress. Unless it's a Gaffney puzzle." - Barack Obama

(ed note: I may have added a few words)

[boharr]

Beamed.

[ColinM]

Beamed. That was probably the hardest I've solo solved in a while. That was a chore, but certainly impressive. I think Matt likes to show us how difficult his job is with some of these puzzles.

[Leslie]

Wow, that took me way too long (and sleeping on it overnight), but it’s a good one! Just not a week 2.

[ZooAnimalsOnWheels]

I'm a decent way along the path with this one (I hope!), but just not able to bring it home. I'm glad we have until Thursday.

[ChrisKochmanski]

Beamed!

With some help from the Discord chatters.

That’s quite a Week 2!

[ky-mike]

Should be on the board soon. Even after knowing what to do, it took some work ( and a couple of nudges) to get to the end.

Edit-#69