XWord Muggles Forum

LesY wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 5:59 pm And Xword Muggles Meta has been picked up by Matt Gritzmacher’s daily crossword email!

Brian and Al, I hope the PTO came through with that trademark registration!

Well how cool is that!

ChrisKochmanski wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 4:05 pm Another solver just pointed out an extra little piece to the puzzle, that I hadn't noticed before. Not really needed for the solve, but definitely adding to the delight. Seriously, this is one excellent meta puzzle. Brian should be proud.

I have this

Dplass wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 2:37 pm

Hector wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 12:43 pm Enjoyed the grid and I have a comedian that is certainly "suggested" by the puzzle, but not yet a clicking mechanism.

Same. Suggested but not "spelled" by the puzzle...yet

And this

I’m off the couch! (That does mean I solved it, right?)

Don’t know all that many comedians, so I was glad this was someone familiar.

Another 30 minutes of analysis, and firmly ensconced on the couch....

I knew I was on the right track early on but the entire solve required a night’s sleep and one Google. Nicely done, Brian. Our Muggle Meta Mondays constructors are stepping up big time!

I got it after a couple hints. I must say the construction is impressive. Thanks Brian for the meta and hint (& confirmation).

Off the couch! Though I was lazy and required a shove from BrianMac to get moving.

Cool puzzle Brian (and thank you for the fork-lift sized nudges)!

I solved the grid but I'm still on the couch.
I'll pick it up later and look at it again.

I’m still on the couch. I solved the grid, then moved over to the pgwcc, then got sidetracked by a new meta idea that might actually work. I really need to learn how to focus....and it’s only Wednesday.

Hoisted off the couch. Thank you Brian!

I’m off the couch and headed for the pool! (Is that where we go, because I really am). Great meta, Brian!

My first Muggle Meta Mondays Solve! Off the couch and headed for the tennis court.
Amazing puzzle. I even had solid knowledge in this area and it still took work, but fun each step of the way.

I sent Brian an answer that seemed circumstantial at best, he gave me some gentle encouragement and a nudge, I fixated on another answer that wasn't quite working, then I finally focused on something that had been nagging at me and AHA!

I'm new to metas but am learning that my brain is great at creating red herrings from random letter placements in the grid. I need to stop playing Boggle with my crosswords.

C=64 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 13, 2020 8:28 pm I sent Brian an answer that seemed circumstantial at best, he gave me some gentle encouragement and a nudge, I fixated on another answer that wasn't quite working, then I finally focused on something that had been nagging at me and AHA!

I'm new to metas but am learning that my brain is great at creating red herrings from random letter placements in the grid. I need to stop playing Boggle with my crosswords.

Humans are amazingly good at finding patterns, even when they aren’t really there. Matt Gaffney has commented that he rarely bothers to put red herrings in his puzzles because so many just turn up by chance.

C=64 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 13, 2020 8:28 pm I need to stop playing Boggle with my crosswords.

::: Paging DrTom. DrTom, see the man in Intensive Therapy :::

Thanks to everyone who took the time to solve “Funny Man.” Between posters here and PMs received, there were 28 correct answers, including three new members who joined after seeing the puzzle advertised on Matt Gritzmacher’s daily crossword email - thanks again, Matt!


The answer to the meta is DAN AYKROYD, which is derived as follows:

The grid hides the names of seven well-known Saturday Night Live cast members, each off by one letter:

• 1-Across: CHOSE --> CHASE (Chevy, 75-76 – I would have thought he was on for longer than just two seasons)
• 13-Down: METERS --> MEYERS (Seth, 01-14 – probably the toughest of the bunch because (1) he hasn’t done too much outside of SNL, and (2) That first Y is kind of sneaky in the name AYKROYD – a few people submitted AKROYD)
• 20-Across: ROCS --> ROCK (Chris, 90-93 – I’ve always found this guy hilarious)
• 35-Across: FLANKEN --> FRANKEN (Al, 77-80, 86, 88-95 – Had the pleasure of meeting him once at the airport in Nantucket)
• 51-Across: FALLEN --> FALLON (Jimmy, 98-04 – Never cared much for this guy, on SNL then or on the Tonight Show now)
• 43-Down: CARVED --> CARVEY (Dana, 86-93 – Well isn’t that special?)
• 65-Across: SPARE --> SPADE (David, 90-96 – Another guy I never cared much for)

Reading the changed letters, in grid order, gives AYKROYD. If this were a contest, I would have accepted Peter Aykroyd (who was only on for one season – 1980), but the intended answer was DAN, who is much more well-known and was on for four seasons (75-79). DAN also is consistent with the mechanism as applied to the title – FUNNY MAN --> FUNNY DAN.

A pretty standard meta mechanism, but this one had its share of problems. Originally, I though that having FLANKEN in the middle of the grid would be helpful in tipping solvers off as to what the mechanism was, especially since most of the other changed names were words that did not really jump out as theme entries (CHOSE, SPARE, etc.). This may have backfired, however, as many solvers wanted to stop at AL FRANKEN, which I probably should have foreseen. For some, this was due to an unusual number of ALs in the grid, which was not intentional. I tried to include a hint with the answers to 6-, 18- and 53-Across – LIVE FROM NEW YORK, along with the first words of their clues – SNL, but this was a little too well hidden. In retrospect, I would have done something to draw more attention to this. Peter Abide offered an even better suggestion, which was to change the central down entry from END to SNL – wish I had though of that.

Even that does not necessarily tell solvers to keep looking beyond FRANKEN, however. What I probably should have done was taken the theme entries and combined them into proper theme-length answers, which would have been easy enough. Something like CARVED FLANKEN, FALLEN ROCS, SPARE METERS, all of which would have been fun to clue. That would have solved a lot of problems - lesson learned!

Finally, a number of you pointed out that there is a current SNL cast member named Mikey Day, which works with 57-Down JAY. I had never heard of him, so that one completely sneaked past me. Luckily, his name results in a D, which is good if you didn’t notice SPADE or if you were looking for differentiation between Dan and Peter Aykroyd, but it’s out of order, which is bad. Moreover, it’s obviously a failure to have more than one answer work with the meta mechanism. Sorry to those of you who got tripped up by that.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to solve. Tomorrow, Al Sisti will post a new puzzle, which I'm sure you will enjoy. Over the next month, we be adding some different constructors into the mix, including a new puzzle from a well-known forum member and one from a constructor who was once featured in MGWCC Guest Constructor month.

I enjoyed this puzzle, though I spent the first day trying to make sense of the letters that "flanked" N or EN.

Then I saw the entries that were one letter-change from comedians, but I didn't notice the "live from NY." And unfortunately, the first three I saw gave me K-O-Y, and in my excitement I googled and found a comedian named Jo KOY who seemed to be relatively well known, though not to me. I submitted that, and when Brian told me I was wrong, it took me a while to realize I just needed to stay on that track. Then I found the SNL shout out but still missed a comedian and spelled AYKROYD without the first Y, haha. So I kind of sputtered my way there, but it was a great puzzle!

Excellent meta. Apart from FLANKEN, the themers are very inconspicuous, but not unfairly so. I caught neither the S N L clue initials nor the Man -> Dan idea (I suppose if you gave up the latter you could hint at the mechanism a bit by titling it "Funny Men"?).

I didn't get any farther than FLANKEN = Franken, largely because I had no time (and spent all of maybe 5 minutes on the meta) but I think the meta was completely fair, if a bit on the tough side.