XWord Muggles Forum

Please see below for the latest puzzle PCC#27 - "On Your Marks"

[Level 3] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta, in 4 words, is what I did at the fashion show

Many thanks to FrankieHeck, Abide, and DrTom for test-solving/suggestions for improvement!

Be sure to check out the bonus puzzle after you finish this puzzle.
You can find the link in "Answer explanation" under "Solution below."

Note: the level is the intended difficulty I had in mind when I designed the puzzle, but may play differently since every solver has their own area of expertise... what one person may find easy, another may find difficult.

Have fun and keep in mind if you're ever lost at sea, google is your best friend (actually, I don't know if you'd get internet service in the middle of the ocean)
-Phil

Links courtesy of Joe Ross (thank you as always for the tech support!)
crosshare
PUZ
PDF
spreadsheet




Nudges below:

Hint #1: 1-Down, 31-Down, 41-Across

Hint #2: 57-Across is clued that way because knowing it's pronounced KEY is key to the meta

Hint #3: Can you pair up QUAY with another grid entry to sound out the name of a shoe brand?

Hint #4: NIGH + QUAY = NIKE... there are 7 shoe brands and their halves are symmetrically placed

Hint #5: Once you find all 7 shoes, you will need to extract the first letters from the entries AND the clues

Hint #6: Extract the first letter of entries in grid order by name of shoe (Puma, Reebok,...) + first letter of clues for first half of shoe (POO, RHEE,...) + first letter of clues for second half of shoe (MAA, BACH,...)

Solution below - SPOILER ALERT:

Answer explanation: Answer explanation: POO + MAA = Puma, RHEE + BACH = Reebok, ACE + SIX = Asics, NIGH + QUAY = Nike, COAL + HAHN = Cole Haan, ECK + COE = Ecco, DOCK + CURS = Dockers. The first letter of these shoes in grid order = PRANCED. The first letter of the first half of clues = DOWNTHE. The first letter of the second half of clues = CATWALK. So the meta answer is PRANCED DOWN THE CATWALK (I'm not a model but one can dream right? )

Constructor notes: Pronunciation puzzles can get tricky because not everyone pronounces things the same way. I got the idea for this puzzle from QUAY. If you've never seen the word before, "KWAY" seems like a logical guess. I clued that entry in such a way that knowing it's pronounced KEY can help you solve the meta. Some of the brands are not as well-known (for example ecco I've only heard of before from crosswords). Dockers is a bit of an outlier as the other brands specialize in shoes, whereas Dockers is more general apparel that happens to sell shoes. Finally, I didn't realize until after constructing the puzzle that "Ace Marks" is a shoe brand as well (hopefully that didn't trip you up as the symmetry should help you lock in the intended 7 pairs, but I do apologize for that oversight!)

Another tiny inelegance is that a native Korean speaker may take issue with the RHEE pronunciation. The Hangul character for RHEE, 이 in Syngman Rhee is pronounced more like "ee" (without the R sound). I figured that the Romanized spelling will dictate its pronunciation. For example, my last name Chow is pronounced "chow" as in puppy chow but its Chinese character 周 is pronounced more like "joe" in Mandarin Chinese and "jau" in Cantonese.

Bonus puzzle: I created a just-for-fun PCC-branding mini-puzzle that you can play here: PCC#0
(for those that prefer solving on paper, there is a "Print Puzzle" option in Crosshare... on the top right, click the three dots for "More" options)

The puzzle is free and suggested donations to any charity (shoe-related or not) is encouraged and appreciated. March 15 is National Shoe The World Day. The day sheds light on the importance of footwear and the need for quality footwear for millions of people worldwide who can't afford or don't have access to it. The one I donated to this year is called Because International. I really liked the "shoe that grows" innovation. It's an expandable shoe that can be adjusted as a child grows.

Really impressive, Phil! Your puzzles consistently delight and astonish!

Turned the corner - twice! VERY impressive construction on "On Your Marks". And wow - a fun bonus meta to boot. Thanks!

Solved, but really needed the nudges!

My fashion is flannel and khaki. Will that help me solve this? Stay tuned!



(Not Ginger, but it looks like her twin!)

Wow -- my jaw is dropping right about now! I really needed some of the nudges, and even with them I got a workout. Thanks for this, Phil, and for some interesting things I learned from your crosshare comments.

Finally wrestled this to the mat, could not get without nudges, but wow! impressive construction, amazingly intricate. Kudos, Phil!

Pretty cool cruciverbalism!

Came to this one a week late (missed it while traveling), and while I caught on to the basic idea on my own, I definitely needed the nudges to bring the solution home.

Wow, that’s quite a puzzle! Phil, I’m impressed!

I absolutely needed the first couple nudges here. If it's what I'm thinking we have to do then, there must be a lot of content here! (I'll need to do some research on it, nonetheless!)

Edit: Every single nudge taken, haha, but that was a tour de force indeed, holy cats!