XWord Muggles Forum

And after more consideration, we're on the board! Great meta, and a favorite song.

ChrisKochmanski wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:08 pm I was thinking I was done with puzzling for the day -- "Now to some reading" -- when I suddenly realized, "It's the first Tuesday of the month -- MULLER MONTHLY MUSIC META !!!! !!!!" ("The Guest List" could wait.)

Tough grid; slogged through almost all of it, needing to google just a bit. Then did the usual staring, until noticing something, and ... there it was!

Good one!

I actually have a reminder in my calendar for the first Tuesday of the month to get the MMMM, but then I signed up for the mailing list and I get it automagically the first Tuesday of the month.

I agree with the sentiment that grid was a tough one. Very innovative meta. I have that slab of vinyl. Appropriate song.

This is the toughest time I've had with an MMMM in over a year! I guess I need to stare at it some more...

I've been getting emails about new puzzles for a year now and this was the first one that went into my spam folder. Fortunately I remembered today that it was the first Tuesday of the month yesterday.

I always use Google to get the clues because I suck at crosswords. I had a strange experience with Google's autocomplete and I'll share after the contest is over.

Like usual, I hadn't heard of the song, but I was at least familiar with the artist.

Now that I have 9 monthly puzzles correct, I've qualified for the grand prize.

If anyone's willing to share a hint I'd be grateful.

Agree! Killer grid, but fabulous meta! And it's even a hit song I know.

...I hope I'm not speaking too soon - I submitted 30 minutes ago and am not yet on the board (unusual as I thought MMMM was automated), but this is as close to 100% as I've seen a meta.

I finally just got this one. Phew! I thought it would be my first miss of the year! Great meta!

Dplass wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:19 am If anyone's willing to share a hint I'd be grateful.

Likewise.

Seeing lots of interesting things, but nothing coming together.

Whew! Finally got there, not confirmed yet* but 100% sure. This was a good one! And I'm another fan of the song.

*As others have mentioned, it does seem like the leaderboard is taking longer to update; I noticed that last month too so I'm not worried (yet) that my name isn't on the board. Maybe there were some problems with the automated system so he's doing them by hand.

Edit: On the board at last, looks like maybe the updates are only once a day after the first day. So don't despair if your name doesn't show up for a while after submitting...

One really tough crossing square for me. Had to Google. But the meta came very easy.

Getting really frustrated by the mega-meta though. I'm nowhere on it.

Got there following confirmation from a fellow solver that one of my first ideas was the right one.

Staring on and off, with a good night‘s sleep in between, helped.

Dplass wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:19 am If anyone's willing to share a hint I'd be grateful.

ky-mike wrote: ↑Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:54 pm Likewise.

Seeing lots of interesting things, but nothing coming together.

You've probably already got replies, but if not, you can PM me.

Got it after a couple of nudges confirming my initial path.

It took writing down words on another sheet of paper to see step 1. Then after trying many things, it took highlighting in the grid to finally figure it out (and that was after I guessed the song)! Very clever meta. Tough week with MMM & MMMM. Feeling especially scrambled. Now onto the WSJ.

I've been staring at this tantalizing grid for too long. Might I have a nudge, please?

Saw something and immediately thought of a song that would fit the meta perfectly. Of course, that usually means wrong one. Not this time! I just wish some sort of inspiration would hit on the mega meta. Found the red herring early on, just banging my head on the keyboard over the mega.

Woo-hoo! Finally got the mega meta. Now that I see it, I can’t believe it took me this long. Now to find the red herring...

... and why are those darn Swedish fish so easy to spot only when there’s no reward for them?

Whoa, man, this grid was brutal, but at least I’m not the only one who thought so! Still staring and waiting for something to jump out. As usual, I thought I saw something, and even though it hasn’t panned out, I can’t get away from it.

Haven't seen anything all week, but ignoring it since Thursday... going to have to give it another crack today and see if anything pops out.