XWord Muggles Forum

The meta for this puzzle is a singer whose name is 14 letters long.

On the board. At some point I should start thinking about the mega-meta, but I still need to review last year's puzzles to get an idea as to where to start.

Tough grid for me! I had hardly anything in the bottom third for a long time. (I try to finish the grid, without Google if possible, before starting on the meta.) I probably would have found the meta more difficult if not for a reason Which Should Not Be Said (yet).

Seeking post-inspiration again!

On the board! Like Laura, I could hardly get any of this grid for a while. I really try not to google, but I did an embarrassing amount this time.

Got it! Submitted a little while ago actually, just didn't have a chance to post. I also think the grid was more of a challenge than normal, possibly because the density of music-related clues was higher than usual.

On the board!

Argh! I am coming up so empty for this meta!

Fun one! I finished the grid this time, though I agree, it was difficult.

Fun!

For me, this one amounted to just about the right amount of anguished getting-nowhere on the meta (about 20 minutes or a half-hour beyond finishing the grid) before I thought of something that actually proved fruitful, and from there I fairly quickly got to a very satisfying aha.

I’d like to comment on what I especially liked about this puzzle, but it might be too much of a hint to those still solving.

Solved

I usually find the MMMM grids challenging but doable. There's a lot of pop culture stuff I don't know, but I can generally figure it out with crossings and intelligent guesses and feel quite pleased with myself when I make it through. Last month, that wasn't really the case and I had to google too much just to fill the grid. But this month was right back in the zone for me. Struggled with the grid, but got a letter in every square before I started googling to confirm, and ended up verifying that I had all of them right.

Got the meta - a nice round #100 on the leaderboard. Seems like that should be the winning number:) Knowing Pete though, I'm wondering if there's also some kind of bow on top that I haven't noticed.

As for the mega meta, I was feeling some deja vu for a while. Last March, I saw the years in the * clues and bit hard on the red herring. Felt reasonably confident submitting Turn Turn Turn. When that was wrong but the April puzzle came out and continued the pattern, I tried again with Turn Back Time. Finally accepted that that was the wrong path, even though I kept seeing that pattern continue til it didn't.

So this year, after March, I saw something that seemed relevant and led me to an 80s song. But that was wrong. And then, in April, the pattern continued with exactly what I would have expected. So I thought surely I had something, even if I wasn't interpreting it right. But this month, that fell apart. So back to square one.

Barbara, I think there’s a slight bow on the MMMM, unless I missed something else. You may have already seen it.
However, I totally invented a bow for WSJCC last week (while getting the answer right) so take it for what it’s worth. [Richard I was “lion-hearted,” not Richard III - guess it proves I didn’t google! ha ha]

I share your challenges with the mega meta. It’s possible I’m assuming because it’s “mega” it needs to be week 3-4 level difficulty. But maybe that’s not so. I see something that’s now continued for 5 months, but (a) I can’t turn it into anything; and (b) because I saw it so early I’ve been thinking the odds are high it’s the red herring. Haven’t seen anything else. Glad to have something to chew on!

LesY wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:19 am I see something that’s now continued for 5 months, but (a) I can’t turn it into anything; and (b) because I saw it so early I’ve been thinking the odds are high it’s the red herring. Haven’t seen anything else. Glad to have something to chew on!

I saw the same thing (I assume) two months ago, and it's very frustrating to see it continue and still be completely unable to derive an 80s song from it! I don't really care whether it's a red herring or the real thing--I just want to come up with a song and be done with it!

26 people have solved the Mega-Meta
6 people have solved the Red Herring

So it looks like the Red Herring is LESS obvious than the solution. I've only gotten the RH, and I haven't yet returned to the mega quest since then.

This was a fun meta that took me way longer than it should have. I was sure I had the right idea before I finished the grid, but then it took me a long time to get from the idea to the answer. I see a possible very small bow.

On the board. I went down a lot of rabbit holes for this one.

Make it 7 for the red herring - instincts were correct! At least I got 5 points out of it.

Now to find the real thing....and right now I got nothin'.

I spent a long time going in the right direction, but with one incorrect assumption which really delayed me. It's the same kind of mistake I made in the March puzzle.
Pete's metas can do that to me.

I was so close for a while. If only I knew music better.

Got the meta, but submitted my first answer for the mega-meta. Really thought I had it. I thought wrong.