64. Change Your Tune

[woozy]

Well, I successfully (with nudges that I was on the right track) got the first five steps done. Not sure what the next seven are.

[hoover]

Nudges are not helping yet. And not for lack of trying. I hope there will be more on Wednesday.

The nudges aren't helping me yet, either, because I've already gotten two steps past the nudges on my own.

[woozy]

Okay, finally got it.

I sort of had every step on my own except ... 1) each keypoint required a long time for the shoe to drop and 2) I needed someone else to tell me I was on the right track.

Tricky clever puzzle.

Hint: The people in my trivia group will NEVER get this. Everybody in this group can, in theory, get it but probably know several who can not, but all of us are probably in denial about the existence of people who can not even though we each know several such people.

[rjy]

Finally had a 100%-er breakthrough that answers Nudges 1, 2 and 3a... that single step this journey of a thousand miles (give or take) required. On to the next!

[MikeyG]

Early morning nudge time (2 pm is early for me) if you don't already have the title:

4. A little more clarity on the "in song" entries if you're not there: These four entries, with some alteration, will produce a single song title.

5a. As for which letters to change, I haven't said that, but I have given you a clue what letter to change these single letters into.

5b. I'm still not even sure what "xerophytic" means.

If you do have the title,

6. There's another across entry that alludes to the next step to be thinking of taking!

Next nudge tonight if and when the Cubs first take the lead.

Mikey G

[hoover]

Early morning nudge time (2 pm is early for me) if you don't already have the title:
(snip)
Next nudge tonight if and when the Cubs first take the lead.

Mikey G

Go Cubs go!

[whimsy]

Hmm -- I checked online ---
Cubs are ahead in the bottom of the second --
Just sayin'.

[MikeyG]

Hmm -- I checked online ---
Cubs are ahead in the bottom of the second --
Just sayin'.

I'M JUST REALLY EXCITED, I TOTALLY FORGOT.

Shove (not nudge) if you don't have the title:

Shove 1. Replace one letter of each "in song" entry with the first character in the clue to get the title.

Nudges moving forward from that:

7a. Note 67-A. The LYRIC of a tune is very important...

7b. ...and that includes this one!

8. There are also important symmetrical across entries you'll need in conjunction with something else!

See if that helps!

Mikey G

[whimsy]

Got it! Finally!
But I just can't bring myself to display a cat pun-ting a football --
Nope, not with the way Ginger was knocking them out of the park tonight!

Fabulous puzzle! Thanks, Mikey!

[Schmeel]

The shove nudged me along.
Many winding paths till I got it.
Thanks for the puzzle!

[lbray53]

Took me forever with all of the hints and MORE! This should have been in my wheel house. I just could not see the path.

[ReB]

Finally shredded the bag string to release the cat with an extra bit of help. Certainly the most exhausting and exhilarating meta in a long while. Most ingenious. But it also actually got my wife interested - a rare occurrence that happens maybe once every few months. So thanks.

[hoover]

So all of the nudges so far are all things I already found. Maybe I should just reach out to someone who already solved?

[MikeyG]

So all of the nudges so far are all things I already found. Maybe I should just reach out to someone who already solved?

Some nudgy shoves as we near WSJ and MGWCC (but a Week 1, thankfully!):

9. There are at least 6 relevant symmetrical entries that need changing in the grid.

10. As for how to change them, that's why you need the 67-A!

11. And if you're stuck trying to spell something with the letters you found, that might be a 42-A!

Shoviest nudge: 12. Seven symmetrical entries, with one letter changed, become a word in the lyric in question. As a bonus confirmation, each of these entries' clues also ends in a word from the lyric.

Mikey G

[MikeyG]

Also, I'm pretty impressed that we've gotten 38 correct answers (even with nudges!) so far on a tough, tough Level 5! A much deserved Level 1 coming Saturday!

[DrTom]

Managed to solve with hints, nudges, shoves. Quite the feat of construction young squire (hmm. never notice how close squire is to squirrel, makes one wonder about the root). Anyway this was deserving of its level 5 status. Great job.

[hoover]

Sweet Jesus on a toasted cheese cracker. (Can I say that here?) I had almost the whole thing before any of the nudges (and actually none of the nudges told me anything I hadn't already figured out), except for the very last bit, getting from the "something" that the pieces assembled to, to the "something else" that is the real answer. I repeated the "something ... ?" "something ... " to myself until the right answer hit me. I was led in the wrong direction by the "something" and that's all I'll say before the reveal.

[whimsy]

Off topic, but your exclamation reminded me of a conversation I overheard between a couple of 3 year olds when I was teaching in a child care center. It was around the holidays, and one of them was emphatically discussing having seen the babe in the manger in the nativity scene on display outside the neighboring church. The other one was agreeing wholeheartedly about the delight of having some Baby Cheez-Its packed in her lunch that day. Glitches in communication seemed to have no bearing on their satisfaction with their sociabilty.

[Joe Ross]

Um, if it's the #1 requested flavor (& it used to be the standard flavor before sales fell off), shouldn't it be the standard flavor?

[hoover]

Um, if it's the #1 requested flavor (& it used to be the standard flavor before sales fell off), shouldn't it be the standard flavor?

(Cheez-It Extra Toasty box)

No, sorry, there's no way that the #1 requested flavor is not "extra CHEESY"!