XWord Muggles Forum

Talk about last minute...an absolute Christmas miracle!

This was thought up, built and completely redone in a slightly more than 24 hour period. It came to me that I was not being very seasonal, so hopefully this one is.

I cannot speculate on difficulty since there are some who will IMMEDIATELY see what I am doing, some who will grok it from other things, some who will guess it and some who will struggle through the process. Whichever route you take I hope it is rewarding.


Thanks to my testers @KayW and @whimsy who got this last minute with a plea for quick turnaround, and of course they came through.

Nudges will be Friday and reveal on Tuesday

Christmas Message
crosshare
PUZ
PDF
spreadsheet

This cat's got it "in the bag"... Thanks, and Meowy Xmas, DrTom.

Cat's free! (Mine are currently cuddled up and happy to have their humans back home.)

Cat is free and enjoying the holidays.



Thanks for all the puzzles and puns. And especially for taking time out of your own holiday to bring this meta Christmas message to us muggles!

Cat's out, with a mild case of deja vu!

Cat released from the bag by a very kind @KayW - thank you!

The cat needed much help but is thankful.

My cat is having some trouble getting out...keep at it, kitty!

I got a message on Crosshare that one of my clues may be leading to a lot of searching (and it is unnecessary). It does not affect the meta, but I am changing 31D to be: "Paper containing a picture of all the states"

Day 1
Hmmm, only 13:

1 DIS
2 Hector
3 JM
4 Darth
5 KayW (T)
6 Pair O Ducks
7 benchen71
8 woozy
9 whimsy(T)
10 frostyjhammer
11 Berto
12 boharr
13 markhr

Plus two of those are test solvers...Have I underestimated the difficulty again? Trust me, my mechanism is neither very intricate or new, but it is subtle. Depending on how many solvers I get tomorrow by noon I may have to release early nudges. I had my Christmas tossed in the hopper by a puzzle, I don't want to be the one who does that to others.

T

Cat's finally out with a little help. Thanks and Happy Holidays, Dr. Tom!

The cat has scat!

Though I needed a nudge.

And I shouldn’t have. If I had only …

Oh, I should say no more.

Thanks, Dr. Tom!

I used the cat to slap my forehead. Now I have scratches on my face.

Dr. Tom! Is it noon yet?

Halfway there? Two thirds? Just don’t know what to do with these things.

Finally got it, with a push from a fellow muggle! I should have thought of that strategy....in fact, I did, but didn't execute. Thanks, @DrTom! Hope you create many more!

Hmmmmm, still waiting for a nudge

Thursday Solvers; 8 more join the ranks of cat releasers and it is time for nudges!

14 SamKat9
15 Cindy Weatherman
16 Meg
17 ChrisKochmanski
18 Mr Tex
19 CPJohnson
20 LauraM
21 Darrell

Nudges:

A Christmas meta without carols, holly, elves, sleighs, or tinsel...how odd! I wonder why?

Would the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the hazy dog" be as cool as the original

Here I was thinking I was so clever, then I found out this had idea been used in 2021 by benchen71

There, that should do it!

T

HeadinHome wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2023 2:34 pm Halfway there? Two thirds? Just don’t know what to do with these things.

I have shared that exact pain. I am certain you are trying to make me a better puzzler than I am and have gotten lost in a school of herring.

T