I was looking for something like that, but not in the right places.
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2024 10:57 am
by Ergcat
Off the couch! Needed the nudges! Very clever!
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2024 11:50 am
by Hidden in 3D
OTC! I didn't need nudges 1,2,4 or 5. But I'm certain I would never have seen the light without nudge 3! Thanks for another great one, Rick!
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2024 12:32 pm
by ajk
lol very nice, thanks. Needed nudge 3, even though I'd noticed bits of the relevant info before. I will also say that even for someone who sucks at sounds like puzzles, that was not a problem.
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2024 1:27 pm
by edestlin
I was so close to the answer but Nudge 3 is what I needed to get there. Thanks for the puzzle, Cap'n Rick!
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2024 6:10 pm
by Jeremy Smith
Like others, I needed the 3rd nudge. Great construction. Thanks, Cap'n!
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Thu Feb 29, 2024 8:07 am
by Cap'n Rick
Leaderboard Update:
17 more solvers have "spoken their minds", bringing our total to 63:
Dow Jones
MaineMarge
Laura M
Eric Porter
LarsCaine
JHSeeman
frostyjhammer
david
Ergcat
Susan
ajk
edestlin
Jaclyn
LindaPRmaven
Jeremy Smith
andeux
Mr Tex
Please let me know if I've missed anyone!
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Thu Feb 29, 2024 5:27 pm
by bhamren
Definitely needed the nudges, but really nice construction.
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 8:35 am
by Cap'n Rick
Leaderboard Update:
Eight more solvers have "spoken", bringing us to 71:
nikhilisvalid
Steve M
bhamren
SJMcK
Tom Wilson
JeffTurnham
axmszr
pchow13
Please let me know if I've missed anybody.
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2024 11:43 pm
by Cap'n Rick
Final Leaderboard
Five more solvers bring our final total to 76:
Charles Montpetit
bergie
Naptown Kid
SJ
Qmark
Thanks for solving, everyone! Reveal coming up shortly.
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:13 am
by Cap'n Rick
Ahoy, Muggles!
The meta answer is "IMHO". Based on the central clue hint at 40A, solvers first needed to find three "SLANTED" words in the grid. Those symmetrically-placed diagonal "entries" - BIASED OPINION PIECES - were intended to evoke "OP-EDs", and in this case, draw attention to six clues whose somewhat forced wording ended in "oped". The answers to those six clues included 1A INN, 27A MAI, 37A HUM, 42A BLO, 58A PIN, and 71A YEN, and per the OPINE hint at 55D, solvers were encouraged to say these six answers out loud to hear the familiar phrase "In my humble opinion" or "IMHO".
So yes, this puzzle took everyone on a rather long journey to arrive at a little 4-letter answer. Understandably, many solvers submitted OPED for the meta answer, and I tried to caution everybody in my intro as well as the quote at 13D "Don't SAY I didn't warn you!"
Thanks for solving, everyone!
Until next time!
Cap'n Rick
Re: "Speak Your Mind"
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:27 pm
by Annabelle
Oh! I was just going to say I was off the couch, but my foot is stuck between the cushions, I guess. I only got as far as OpEd.
