"Land Ho!"

[HeadinHome]

Further proof -- not that it's needed -- that @Cap'n Rick is not only an A-team constructor but also an outstanding versifier. Thanks for the fun puzzle AND the shout-out, Rick!

Well that just burst my bubble. .

(JK)

[HeadinHome]

OTC with a smile, just like the one your poem produced! It’s 7A… And I used to TEACH poetry, long ago. Bravo!!

[Cap'n Rick]

Well that just burst my bubble. 😩.

Wait! Wait! "Other Wendy"! Apparently one of the stanzas got lost in the holiday hustle and bustle. Here it is:

And laying his finger, aside of his dome
And giving a nod, he began HeadinHome

[HeadinHome]

Thank you thank you Santa Clause! Feeling seen and special once again.

[Al Sisti]

I found a version I'd written in 2019...

“’Twas the night before Christmas…”,
Well, you know the rest.
Here’s my end-of-year tribute
To the best of the best.

The bookmarks are ready,
Alarms are all cued,
As I wait with impatience
For a puzzle so shrewd.

I refresh the page quickly
And refresh it anew.
Will the trick be engridded,
Or found in a clue?

Will I get a solve early
And crack the Top Ten?
Will my streak be continued
Or zeroed again?

But hark! There’s a “ding”!
Dinner’s done? Even Better!
I sprang to the screen to
See what was the meta.

My heart went a-flutter
At what I see there:
A 15 by 15,
With no cheater square!

My brain’s in a flurry,
My pencil’s a blur!
An answer appears,
And I send when I’m sure.

Now I wait for the update
Of the famed leaderboard,
And tick off tense minutes
To see how I scored.

While I wait, I’ve decided
That, above everything,
I’ll salute these constructors
For the pleasures they bring.

To Gaffney! To Muller!
And for all the Petes’ sake,
To Gordon and Washington
For the puzzles they make.

To Agard! To Berry!
To Rathvon and Cox!
To puzzles like Heaney’s,
And Quigley’s and Pahk’s!

To Ries and Mike Shenk,
For the metas they bring,
And to ensure no Chris misses,
To Adams and King!

Now shoo away, clue away,
Construct and create,
As new five-star ratings
And ORCAs await!

***

Now the pencils, much duller
Are back in their drawer.
Have these guys reached their limit?
Can there be any more?

But I heard them exclaim:
“’Til we see you next week,
Happy Christmas to all,
And to all a long streak!”

[lbray53]

Off the couch! Great fun.

[Cap'n Rick]

I found a version I'd written in 2019...

Awesome poem, @Al Sisti!

"Meta Christmas!" to you, and may all of your "visions of Page 1 solves" come true in the New Year!

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard

We're off to a great start with 46 good little solvers finding the correct answer:

Abide (TS)
Al Sisti (TS)
boharr (TS)
MarkWoychick (TS)
Bob cruise director (TS)
docison (TS)
Dannyvee (TS)
whimsy (TS)
fivehalves (TS)
benchen71
SamKat9
Jeremy Smith
Pair O Ducks
Dave C
Meg
Wendy Walker
LarsCaine
Darth
Hector
Cindy Weatherman
Bird Lives
hcbirker
woozy
Jim23809
Schmeel
Laura M
DIS
KayW
JM
Eric Porter
ChrisKochmanski
Tyrpmom
DOrtiz
Carolyn
MatthewL
DrTom
Philip Chow
david
kurtalert
Berto
Darrell
Streroto
andeux
HeadinHome
markhr
lbray53

Please let me know if I've missed anyone!

[whimsy]

Discombobulated, and way behind on puzzling and posting --
Also an internet outage yesterday.
Feeling like these two --

Thanks, Rick, for the poem and puzzle -- I remember fondly, testing it at Veevee's -- too bad I don't remember the answer!

[jhseeman]

OTC....took a minute. It's amazing how much you are able to stuff into a grid.
THanks for the puzzle.

[CPJohnson]

Solved....thanks, Cap'n Rick!

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard Update

Five more solvers bring our total to 51:

jhseeman
BrennerTJ
CPJohnson
Alvibu67
Dow Jones

Looks like it's time for some Wednesday Nudges...

[Cap'n Rick]

Wednesday Nudges

Here you go. Try these on for size.

Did you notice all those HOs and country names in the grid and among the clues? Well, ignore them.

In olden times, "Land Ho!" meant that land had been spotted by a ship's lookout. Here it's used to draw attention to grid entries that can combine with "LAND" to form other words.

Once you've spotted these 7 symmetrically-placed grid entries, look for other clues that fit the 7 new "LAND" words.

Hmm, I wonder if the first letters in grid order spell anything pertinent...

You could have saved yourself a lot of time by simply reversing the two words in the title.

[Cinny]

Off the couch. Great poem!!

[cbarbee002]

OTC - - fun one, especially with the answer. Thx Rick!

[edestlin]

Finally off the couch! So many rabbit holes and red herrings... needed a couple of nudges. Thanks Rick!

[minimuggle]

Got nudged off the couch by a few nudges. Loved putting the answer together even if I did need some nudges. And thank you all for the meta holiday verses. You are all genius

[ajk]

Just coming back to this. Nudge 1 ruled out the rabbit holes I was perusing on Monday, and Nudge 2 got me to the solution (albeit with a bit of backsolving). Fun stuff, thanks as always.

[MaineMarge]

Such a good meta, Captain!!
Nudged off the couch, and glad to be a country girl.
Here’s the start of my poem version, going out to family-

Guess I’ll stop there…

[JeanneC]

Off the couch with a most enjoyable and fun solve. Ditto the poem.
Northbound tomorrow via train with hubby, car and presents. Doubt AMTRAK will print out the Friday puzzle so I will try to solve on my IPad. *GASP*!