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It's a Breeze

· By Mikey G · Published 2024-04-27T17:00:41.607Z

Meta Prompt
[Level 2.5/3] The answer to the meta is a 6-letter word.
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • oldjudge solved 2024-04-27T17:18:32.465Z
  • Hector solved 2024-04-27T17:23:03.642Z
  • Meg solved 2024-04-27T17:46:44.682Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2024-04-27T17:52:08.529Z
  • boharr solved 2024-04-27T18:18:06.788Z
  • Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-04-27T18:29:43.629Z
  • FrankieHeck solved 2024-04-27T19:00:59.730Z
  • Philip Chow solved 2024-04-27T19:17:32.207Z
  • Carolyn solved 2024-04-27T21:33:18.275Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-04-27T21:34:06.386Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-04-27T21:53:41.377Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2024-04-27T23:41:52.243Z
  • An Ephemeral Collation solved 2024-04-27T23:43:43.981Z
  • markhr solved 2024-04-28T00:35:58.025Z
  • damefox solved 2024-04-28T01:27:43.041Z
  • KayW solved 2024-04-28T03:45:02.811Z
  • Schmeel solved 2024-04-28T04:58:08.537Z
  • Tom Wilson solved 2024-04-28T05:41:24.084Z
  • SJ solved 2024-04-28T08:42:15.920Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-04-28T11:59:10.656Z
  • Darth solved 2024-04-28T12:25:22.999Z
  • Capn Rick solved 2024-04-28T14:15:19.763Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-04-28T14:57:12.223Z
  • heidi solved 2024-04-28T19:58:24.562Z
  • DrTom solved 2024-04-28T20:24:55.409Z
  • DIS solved 2024-04-28T20:25:20.190Z
  • Abide solved 2024-04-28T21:13:00.145Z
  • BarbaraK solved 2024-04-29T00:30:56.301Z
  • ELSavage solved 2024-04-29T01:43:22.473Z
  • Laura M solved 2024-04-29T02:38:34.465Z
  • Elana solved 2024-04-29T04:02:14.545Z
  • DJB solved 2024-04-29T09:58:46.483Z
  • Bird Lives solved 2024-04-29T12:33:47.454Z
  • Berto solved 2024-04-29T15:20:21.582Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-04-29T18:12:54.030Z
  • kurtalert solved 2024-04-30T02:17:06.384Z
  • andeux solved 2024-04-30T13:32:27.521Z
  • rjy solved 2024-04-30T16:04:18.724Z
  • Selene St Satellite solved 2024-05-01T01:41:06.726Z
  • Bob J solved 2024-05-01T21:55:12.899Z
  • Steve M solved 2024-05-02T03:57:05.820Z
  • frostyjhammer solved 2024-05-02T23:39:15.555Z
  • hoover solved 2024-05-03T07:43:54.323Z
  • JM solved 2024-05-03T12:58:36.405Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-05-03T17:47:12.288Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-05-04T00:40:55.389Z
  • syoustra solved 2024-05-04T11:53:59.832Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2024-05-04T14:06:44.232Z
  • woozy solved 2024-05-04T19:57:51.477Z
  • Eric Porter solved 2024-05-04T20:14:23.035Z
  • Tyrpmom solved 2024-05-05T12:59:00.780Z
  • dannyvee solved 2024-05-06T13:53:34.169Z
  • Bbaack solved 2024-05-07T18:02:02.610Z
  • omnilynx solved 2024-05-13T17:18:42.417Z

Comments

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  • oldjudge 4s · 2024-04-27T17:20:48.842Z
    WINDerful job as always!
    • Meg 2s · 2024-04-27T17:47:02.955Z
      Very nice second step!
      • boharr 3s · 2024-04-27T18:18:23.870Z
        Nice one. Thanks
        • Hector 3s · 2024-04-27T18:01:19.933Z
          Blown away.
          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-29T16:52:21.860Z
            I do live near the Windy City, after all!
          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-27T17:00:41.607Z
            Answer: ZEPHYR
            Explanation: Per the echo of the title in 1-D, the word "wind" must be relevant, and that word appears embedded as part of other words in 6 entries' clues: NFL, ONES, TOY, YONDER, ENGLISH, TIDY). Maybe that's the whole mechanism! But the initial letters spell out NOT YET, implying there's at least one other step. (I didn't have to spell out anything here - but this reminds me of an old puzzle in GAMES magazine once. It was a simple matching exercise, where you matched up things in a standard way, and it spelled out something like NOT CORRECT. You then had to think of a more lateral way to pair them, and the final message was I FOOLED YOU or something similar.
            So, then, we look elsewhere. And six entries in the grid are those windy words with "wind" substituted for another letter. For instance, REZ going down comes from replacing the "wind" in "rewind" with a "Z," and so forth. These six replaced letters spell ZEPHYR, the meta answer and just a cool word in general. (And, no, this has nothing to do with the number 92, haha.)
            A slight inelegance that I didn't catch until last night: the word "rewind" could go to either REZ or REX; however, if it goes to REX, extracting the "X," there is no other way "Windex" could be represented since *EX is nowhere else in the grid. A very recent MGWCC had something similar, where I think both OUNCE and POUND were two entries that could have fit one alternate clue and you had to go beyond to use logic. Logic's fair in metas!
            • Philip Chow 11:54 · 2024-04-27T19:18:24.061Z
              lol nice trap... so evil but knew it couldn't be the answer since it was two words
              • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-27T21:22:16.243Z
                Right, I'm hoping that led people to look at an alternate path!
              • Carolyn 2s · 2024-04-27T21:34:30.618Z
                That would have been my wild guess, but so nice to figure it out! Excellent puzzle.
                • HeadinHome 7:06 · 2024-04-28T00:00:33.980Z
                  True confession: I saw a Z in the top of the puzzle and couldn’t stop thinking ZEPHYR the whole time. So it was a guess… should have made myself work harder, because that was so clever!
                  • Abide 3s · 2024-04-28T21:16:07.159Z
                    Funny, I had a Natick at the Z square, and I only filled it in after I had the rest of the answer.
                    • Philip Chow 11:54 · 2024-04-28T23:34:37.867Z
                      i was also naticked by that square! i guessed Z first and ran the entire alphabet... only to find out i had an error elsewhere in the grid at TOY/YIP i had TOP/PIP... there are some tops that you wind up!
                      • HeadinHome 7:06 · 2024-04-29T00:34:44.201Z
                        I had TOP there too! I had to reveal the square because I never questioned that answer (pip should have given it away as wrong, but nope).
                      • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-29T16:54:04.209Z
                        I actually figured that would be Naticky (I love putting in the literary references), but I also feared that to try to reference it in anyway forced alluding to the Z, which seemed too much of a nudge toward ZEPHYR, as HeadinHome kind of found out organically!
                        • Abide 3s · 2024-04-30T14:17:55.605Z
                          Yes, I was thinking that was a purposeful Natick 😛
                    • An Ephemeral Collation 🤓10:47 · 2024-04-27T23:45:16.974Z
                      Really nice puzzle on the whole. I really like the freshness of the jocular/punny tone that you go for with your cluing but personally found it challenging to make inroads in the NE owed to it.
                      • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-29T16:52:58.728Z
                        Haha, thanks! Yeah, I let the cluing get wild sometimes, but I do recognize that might make things a bit challenging at times! Thanks so much for solving!!
                      • KayW 🤓3:00 · 2024-04-28T03:55:42.177Z
                        Fantastic metanism and puzzle as usual! I found the trap almost immediately but it took me ages to figure out what else to do with those clues.
                        • lbray53 6s · 2024-04-28T12:01:49.584Z
                          Loved this one! It would have been easier if I did not have RED for 7D unntil I figured out what I needed it to be.
                          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-29T16:55:12.231Z
                            Thank you! I've read both of the Kazuo Ishiguro books and want to read the Talty short story collection! He has a new novel coming out in the fall, I believe. I felt that would be Naticky, which I try to avoid, but it was a bit unavoidable (and I love Ishiguro so when Kazuo came up on the fill, I had to use it).
                            • hoover 3s · 2024-05-03T07:46:32.759Z
                              Same! I ended up using REX twice and thinking there might be a spelling problem. I shoulda had more confidence in MikeyG!
                            • Capn Rick 🤓7:51 · 2024-04-28T14:20:16.466Z
                              Great job, Mikey! Like HeadinHome, I was thinking ZEPHYR from the start, which did help to spot the correct mechanism.
                              • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-29T16:57:32.359Z
                                And it's such a cool word that I'm fine if that was in people's minds initially! SIROCCO is another fun windy word, albeit 7 letters!
                              • Darth 20:01 · 2024-04-28T12:56:59.154Z
                                Lol. My little rabbit connected WIND and CUBS WIN, so tried to think of how the "Windy City", especially with your "It's a meta!" cluing for METROPOLIS. (Chicago?... Nope, only 7 letters!). Trying to parse 1D as WIN "D" and scouring the grid and clues also leads to... well, 8 words! I found the first secret message, which I then followed with another secret message: If you remove WIN from "winnow" and "wintry" clues, it reads TRY NOW! Hmm... I realize I'm now having a conversation with a rabbit! Maybe I should type in HARVEY just for fun?
                                Thanks for the whirlwind adventure, Mikey! =)
                                • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-29T16:57:05.306Z
                                  I've wanted to see "Harvey" for a while! My mom loves Jimmy Stewart, but I think she said that movie was a bit too odd for her, haha. Whoa, you were on a "whirlwind" in this one! 'Tis meta life sometimes!
                                • whimsy 15:05 · 2024-04-28T12:29:55.719Z
                                  I too surmised zephyr and was right, but without looking at any hints or comments here I went back to the grid determined to backsolve. But all the rest of the evening it was a case of success being NOT YET. Finally figured it out after heading up to bed, sometime around midnight. Quoting Dr Seuss: PUP is UP! Thanks, Mikey for this super trickster!
                                  • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-29T16:56:12.807Z
                                    Totally fine if you infer! And sometimes it's fun then to go back and find the path regardless!
                                  • DIS 🤓13:30 · 2024-04-28T20:26:10.646Z
                                    Me gusta!
                                    • Mikey G constructor · 2024-04-29T16:57:47.468Z
                                      Oooh, that's good. 🤣
                                    • DrTom 3s · 2024-04-28T20:47:34.882Z
                                      MAN was I overcomplicating this lovely puzzle which I made a 5 or 6 despite MikeyG's difficulty rating. I got soooo down a rabbit hole with WIND TRAP and a DUNE reference. WIth DROPLET right there and people winnowing water out of DEW condensed from CLOUDS with the METROPOLIS clue containing the word meta and Zendaya's armor a visual reference to the robot in the film Metropolis...how could I be wrong. I did see the "WINDS" but there were only 4 (dummy, look closer). But when I said WOOD wind and WOODY and then saw WINDEX and REX I knew it had to be somehting. I got the PHYR so knew what it had to be and then finally backtracked since there were not that many Z's and REWIND seemed to be a natural (though I did not see it until I went back). The "dwindles" was so well hidden I would never have seen it. I spent a lot of time trying to use WINtry, WINnow. A great puzzle and lovely AHA! Mikey you blew my mind.
                                      So, how does 92 relate to Zephyr? The Lincoln Zephyr was certainly out of production by then, it doesn't seem to tie to Harry Caray, enlighten me please. (OK, just read and see that the puzzle number has no relevance this time)
                                      • BarbaraK 6s · 2024-04-29T00:36:50.991Z
                                        The English horn clue had me thinking about wind instruments, and then seeing KAZUO, one letter off from kazoo, got me totally fixated on that path.
                                        Stepped back enough to see the other wind clues and get "not yet" but then was stuck there for a day until nudged to keep looking at those clues.
                                        • Laura M 🤓16:55 · 2024-04-29T02:39:22.497Z
                                          Love it! Very nice touch with the NOT YET!
                                          • Bird Lives 3s · 2024-04-29T12:38:06.582Z
                                            This was a brilliant puzzle, and I wonder what triggered the idea. I followed the red herring, and it took me a while rethink the windy clues. Now if only I could save this word for Scrabble.
                                            • Berto 1s · 2024-04-29T15:27:09.755Z
                                              Had all but given up on this, waiting for nudges, but whistled through the MMM quickly and had the rest of my 3 hour flight ahead of me so gave it another look. Lots of turbulence maybe helped me see all the wind in the clues. I fell face first in the trap, but started writing all those windy clue words out and WOOD and EX jumped out! Great Aha moment - hopefully the pilot will find some smooth air so I can celebrate with a mid-morning coffee!
                                              • MatthewL 🤓11:40 · 2024-04-29T18:17:39.587Z
                                                Was stuck in the trap forever, but gave it a fresh look today and finally saw WOODY and REX (nice double up on the Toy Story names, by the way) and was off to the races. Like many others, I had fixated on ZEPHYR but could not find a way to make it work until now. Thanks for the puzzle, Mikey!
                                                • kurtalert 🤓6:38 · 2024-04-30T02:21:33.859Z
                                                  Terrific. And I love the "NOT YET" step.
                                                  • frostyjhammer 9:51 · 2024-05-02T23:40:10.601Z
                                                    Lucky guess; now to try and back-solve before seeing any spoilers in the comments here.
                                                    • hoover 3s · 2024-05-03T07:45:28.970Z
                                                      This was actually the first 6LW I thought of way back when I first saw the prompt before I ever looked at the puzzle!
                                                      • benchen71 🤓7:11 · 2024-05-04T00:41:30.232Z
                                                        It took me 5 nudges to get me out of that trap. Definitely an ingenious puzzle!
                                                        • Tyrpmom 3s · 2024-05-05T13:05:19.678Z
                                                          Five star rating.
                                                          1A
                                                          Perambulate
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                                                          Across
                                                          1. 1A
                                                            Perambulate
                                                          2. 5A
                                                            Cake, in Capri
                                                          3. 10A
                                                            First name of the host of "Wheel of Fortune," starting in September 2024
                                                          4. 14A
                                                            Brand that can give you a brain freeze
                                                          5. 15A
                                                            Basketball star who played Scattergories on an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"
                                                          6. 16A
                                                            "That wild hairdo is ___ the wall!"
                                                          7. 17A
                                                            Oahu goose that'll make you repeat yourself
                                                          8. 18A
                                                            "The Remains of the Day" and "Klara and the Sun" author Ishiguro
                                                          9. 19A
                                                            Winnow
                                                          10. 20A
                                                            You just can't dew without one
                                                          11. 22A
                                                            Mikey G and others
                                                          12. 24A
                                                            Bangles' type of Monday, in a song
                                                          13. 26A
                                                            Take out
                                                          14. 27A
                                                            Hardly self-effacing
                                                          15. 29A
                                                            Young boxer?
                                                          16. 31A
                                                            "Uh-oh, better get ___!" (classic ad catchphrase)
                                                          17. 34A
                                                            Appeared
                                                          18. 36A
                                                            "gimme a sec"
                                                          19. 38A
                                                            Parenting author Eda Le___ (anagram of poet Ogden's surname)
                                                          20. 39A
                                                            Goalies make a lot of ___ income
                                                          21. 40A
                                                            Squeals on someone (who's been hoarding lab-maze runners, perhaps?)
                                                          22. 43A
                                                            Verb ending?
                                                          23. 44A
                                                            Other, in Oaxaca
                                                          24. 46A
                                                            Question word that anagrams to another question word
                                                          25. 47A
                                                            Warm wintry quaffs
                                                          26. 49A
                                                            "Cheers" character who shared his name with the actor who played him
                                                          27. 51A
                                                            Squeak from a peke
                                                          28. 53A
                                                            Some spammy senders
                                                          29. 54A
                                                            Ginger Cat and 66-Down, e.g.
                                                          30. 56A
                                                            Pelican in "Finding Nemo"
                                                          31. 58A
                                                            "What light through ___ window breaks?"
                                                          32. 60A
                                                            Type of horn from the woodwind family
                                                          33. 64A
                                                            ___ sci (college major)
                                                          34. 65A
                                                            I was going to tell you a pun about a cow's mate who loves the earth, but it's ___-bull
                                                          35. 67A
                                                            1972 Pure Prairie League hit
                                                          36. 68A
                                                            Analogous
                                                          37. 69A
                                                            Like helium and neon
                                                          38. 70A
                                                            Use Windex, perhaps
                                                          39. 71A
                                                            A couple of tablets, perhaps
                                                          40. 72A
                                                            Quashes
                                                          41. 73A
                                                            Some chemical endings
                                                          Down
                                                          1. 1D
                                                            It's a breeze! (Just avoid the trap!)
                                                          2. 2D
                                                            Lenovo competitor
                                                          3. 3D
                                                            O'Brien's "Tonight Show" predecessor and successor
                                                          4. 4D
                                                            "Did you buy some autumn flowers?" "Yeah, but ___ about it"
                                                          5. 5D
                                                            Memento
                                                          6. 6D
                                                            The waiter found a great new restaurant to work ___
                                                          7. 7D
                                                            "Night of the Living ___" (Morgan Talty story collection)
                                                          8. 8D
                                                            Lacking slack
                                                          9. 9D
                                                            How my students often wish I wouldn't speak
                                                          10. 10D
                                                            Some "regal" soft drinks
                                                          11. 11D
                                                            Said one owl to the other, "___!"
                                                          12. 12D
                                                            Troubles
                                                          13. 13D
                                                            "___ Rewind" (former football recap show)
                                                          14. 21D
                                                            Cryptic time! Potable disrupts glare (5)
                                                          15. 23D
                                                            See 30-Down
                                                          16. 25D
                                                            Phrase shouted by Harry Caray (or Mikey G)
                                                          17. 27D
                                                            Handle
                                                          18. 28D
                                                            "Daily Planet" location ("It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a meta!")
                                                          19. 30D
                                                            For the time being, with 23-Down
                                                          20. 32D
                                                            Haciendas
                                                          21. 33D
                                                            They often dwindle in the till
                                                          22. 34D
                                                            "They're shoveling this blizzard, but the ___ must go on!"
                                                          23. 35D
                                                            Morsel of Morse
                                                          24. 37D
                                                            Tampa Bay NFLer
                                                          25. 41D
                                                            Object you might wind-up playing with
                                                          26. 42D
                                                            "Ain't Too Proud ___" (Temptations hit)
                                                          27. 45D
                                                            A, in DNA
                                                          28. 48D
                                                            Sort, as pages from a printer
                                                          29. 50D
                                                            Since 1/1
                                                          30. 52D
                                                            Only U.S. state capital to have no letters in common with the name of its state
                                                          31. 55D
                                                            Take hold
                                                          32. 57D
                                                            A group of them is called a cloud
                                                          33. 58D
                                                            First name of musician whose palindromic surname often shows up in crosswords
                                                          34. 59D
                                                            Baroque painter Guido whose name anagrams to part of a bridle
                                                          35. 61D
                                                            "Sign me up for the meta tournament!"
                                                          36. 62D
                                                            Fries, maybe
                                                          37. 63D
                                                            Casual greetings
                                                          38. 64D
                                                            Bachelor frog's home?
                                                          39. 66D
                                                            Kingly name of the hamster I had in middle school
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