"Take the Fifth" by Alex Eaton-Salners

Published weekly by expert constructor Peter Gordon, the Fireball crossword is famous for being hard. How hard? Well, in the words of Peter Gordon, if you need to ask, too hard for you! It is not regularly a meta crossword, but does feature a contest or meta puzzle several times throughout the year. Available here for a subscription: http://www.fireballcrosswords.com
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Abide
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"Take the Fifth" by Alex Eaton-Salners

#1

Post by Abide »

Take the Fifth by Alex Eaton-Salners

Attached is Crossword #29.

What five-letter word is hinted at by this puzzle?

Rules: Email Fireball the word no later than 6 p.m. (Eastern time) on Sunday, July 16. Lots of prizes for the randomly-drawn winner.

Subscribe to Fireball: https://www.fireballcrosswords.com/

[I've been wrestling with this tough nut today]
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BarbaraK
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#2

Post by BarbaraK »

Likewise. Fun challenging grid. Nothing yet on the meta.
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.)
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HoldThatThought
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#3

Post by HoldThatThought »

Glad I'm not the only one.
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Wendy Walker
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#4

Post by Wendy Walker »

That's where I am, too, friends.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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BarbaraK
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#5

Post by BarbaraK »

Thought about this one while going to sleep last night. Woke up this morning sure I was on to something. Then I looked and saw that the real puzzle is quite different and doesn’t actually have the things I thought were relevant.

This is what always happens with my dreaming solutions. I’m so jealous of those who actually solve metas in their sleep.
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.)
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Wendy Walker
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#6

Post by Wendy Walker »

Between @meg and me, I think we solved it!
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Meg
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#7

Post by Meg »

@Wendy Walker did it!! Yay!!
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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HoldThatThought
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#8

Post by HoldThatThought »

I'm up a tree without a paddle (imagine how awful that is!), but congratulations!
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Leslie
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#9

Post by Leslie »

I actually have a 5-letter word derived from a plausible meta mechanism, but there’s no click and I’m pretty sure it’s not the answer. Anyone else find a random 5-letter word at the end of a rabbit hole?

Congrats to Wendy and Meg! This seems like a tough one!
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Wendy Walker
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#10

Post by Wendy Walker »

Thanks, @Leslie ! Meg had absolutely the right hunch about what was going on; I just did the last lap.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Leslie
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#11

Post by Leslie »

Well, I was at least halfway there. I found the five answers that were part of a series and wrote down the fifth planet, day, Greek letter, etc. But I didn’t think to use their fifth letters and instead anagrammed the first letters to get EJECT. Which I knew couldn’t be correct.
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BarbaraK
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#12

Post by BarbaraK »

I didn't get even that far. I thought the four long answers were the theme and the answer would be the fifth thing in some series that they started.

In my sleep version of the puzzle, I was thinking numeric prefixes: unicycle, didn't know what to do with emails, had STAR instead of STONE so tristar, and something I forget that worked with quad in the fourth one. Knew I just needed to find some matching grid entries and then another that went with quint or penta. As I said, this is how my sleep-solving always turns out.

Congrats to those who got it!
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.)
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