.png)
Relative difficulty: Medium
[In lieu of a finished grid, please accept this picture of my dog balancing a cupcake on her head.]
Pie Jesu (original Latin: Pie Iesu) is a motet derived from the final couplet of the Dies irae and often included in musical settings of the Requiem Mass. // The settings of the Requiem Mass by Luigi Cherubini, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, John Rutter, Karl Jenkins and Fredrik Sixten include a Pie Jesu as an independent movement. Of all these, by far the best known is the Pie Jesu from Fauré's Requiem. Camille Saint-Saëns said of Fauré's Pie Jesu that "[J]ust as Mozart's is the only Ave verum corpus, this is the only Pie Jesu".
Andrew Lloyd Webber's setting of Pie Jesu in his Requiem (1985) has also become well known. It has been recorded by Sarah Brightman, Jackie Evancho, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Marie Osmond, Anna Netrebko, and others. Performed by Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston, it was a certified Silver hit in the UK in 1985. (wikipedia)
• • •
I knew what the meta was before I solved this puzzle. I got an email from a well-known constructor telling me she was able to grok the meta early based on comments I'd made on my blog. This was surprising to me, as I had not solved the meta yet, and so anything I revealed via my blog was entirely accidental. So I made her tell me what it was I said that tipped her, and I was able to figure out the theme from there. My initial hunches were all good—there was just one little connection that I, a reasonably seasoned meta-solver, should've made, but didn't (a connection laid out pretty explicitly in today's grid). When she told me (or hinted at it, anyway), I did a sincere and hearty "D'oh!" The trick is something out of Meta-Solving 101, Rexy! Maybe 102. Anyway, many top meta-solvers were able to smoke out the meta answer early. I wasn't really trying very hard, but still, I think I should've seen what was up, considering I was sniffing around the right places.
OK, so … yeah. See you tomorrow, maybe. I forget what the prize is for this contest, but I hope you win it.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Not all that experienced at the meta solving thing, but this was fairly easy. Ciao Huarte. I think Salt n Pepa doing Pie Jesu will be the new Rick Roll.
ReplyDeleteEasy-medium again for me and I figured out the meta. Rex is right, if you've been doing metas this was pretty straight forward. Now if I could only figure out this week's Matt Gaffney meta...
ReplyDeleteYes, if I solved it this fast, it definitely was too easy. But it made for a fun week.
ReplyDeleteThe meta would have been more interesting, IMO, if the two major hints in this puzzle had been removed...or at least severely weakened in helpfulness.
ReplyDeleteI, CLuelesS was how I felt after finishing the puzzle and having no idea of how to interpret the hints. That didn't surprise me, as I've not been good at other meta puzzles I've tried (@Rex, "fruitless and frustrating" for sure). However, the take-a-break-and- come-back strategy worked: I took another look, got an inkling...and was surprised that it was right. Looking forward to hearing how others fared. So far, it looks like I was the 24A.
ReplyDeleteI liked the puzzle - pleasantly challenging for me.
You know the problem with trying to keep a secret? It always seems to get out somehow.
ReplyDeleteOr you just give away your own secret...that works too, no?
I solved it in about an hour with 4 googles. I'm a meta novice and still have not groked the theme, though I think I might be close! Oh well, I still really enjoyed the week as a whole.
ReplyDeleteYeah, she can balance a cupcake on her head. BFD. The trick of worth is, can she flip her head, peel off the paper, catch & eat the cupcake before it hits the floor?
ReplyDeleteCount me among those who couldn't care less about the meta, was annoyed about the room in my head dedicated to it, yet can't be bothered to figure it out.
Way too easy. I got it immediately and metas are usually over my head.
ReplyDeleteEasy-Medium. I was worried this meta challenge would interfere with my football and world series watching, but figured it out quickly. 50/50 guess at INAPT vs UNAPT.
ReplyDeleteSolved the puzzle ok, but this is my first META. I'll sleep on it, and see what a fresh brain can fathom tomorrow using the clues and looking at the earlier puzzles.
ReplyDeleteI went ahead and submitted my guess to the NYT -- I doubt I'm correct because it probably was too obvious!
ReplyDeleteI finished the grid. With errors. I don't know what's wrong and can't check it. 1:45. Lots of wrongness in today's solve. Several googles to sim me back on the right track.
ReplyDeleteSo...
What's the question we're trying to answer? Seriously. I solved the two theme clues correctly, probably. But they aren't asking a question.
So.
Seriously. What's the question? There's no question.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy puzzle is now a grid made up entirely of uneditable question marks. Well. Thanks for nothing, New York Times.
ReplyDelete@moly I was forced to upgrade to the latest version due to a password recovery. I'm sorry I did. Stick with the old version as long as you can. This is ridiculous.
Sort of a letdown here. Six puzzles that weren't great, and then an anticlimax of a meta. Meh.
ReplyDelete@Casco, I beat you to it. Had to upgrade to get this weeks puzzles. Me and @Hartley70 agree with you, like the old one mo' bettah.
ReplyDeleteOnly one thing to add, handsome dog, Rex.
ReplyDelete@Moly and @Casco I think you'll like the new iPad app when you get used to the controls being in different places. The Magic app was a wretched piece of code. The new app is much better IMO.
ReplyDeleteThe question marks today are due to no solution grid being available, I think. I've never seen them before. You can clear the puzzle and get a fresh grid and clock if you like.
@Casco I had an error or a Google four days this week. You did better, I think, and you should be very pleased how much better a solver you have become.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMost difficult puzzle of the week. NW corner took forever. Now I agree with @NCAPrez, wish I'd never heard the word meta. Not terrible, but not the whiz-bang finish I was expecting. Didn't really want to rehash the weeks puzzles and cipher, but did it anyway. Meh.
ReplyDeleteBest part of the week? Simple, a dog with a cupcake on its head and an X performance featuring a RASPy voiced John Doe and Exene Cervenka singing "Mexican kids are shootin' fireworks below". Thx @Rex and @DaveAlvin.
Holy criminy you meta brainiacs. I guess this would have been a thrill if you're into 18D....I'm with @Carola in the 24A department.
ReplyDeleteOK, I'll sleep on it; won't read the blog until I have something that pops up in my head.
THIS IS NOT EASY!
It's been a fun week and there was excitement in the blog. It was fun and fun to figure out. I must say that it wasn't as satisfying for me as Patrick Berry's meta a while back, but I did greatly enjoy this week.
ReplyDeleteI loved the clues 28D, 29A, 14A, 47A, and 49D.
I've never felt so much like an idiot as I do now. Not only do I not know the meta answer, I don't have the first clue how to go about figuring it out. Lousy start to my weekend.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think I went to bed with an error. I went with the person, not the condition at 5D, but I think the cross might be a heraldry reference. So it is possible to get the meta with an error in the puzzle(s).
ReplyDelete@Mike Rees -- been there before. You aren't alone it seems.
@Casco - just because there's an answer doesn't mean there's a question.
I was proud of my first three intersecting answers: CARLSAGAN (31D), AFRO (57A), and ZEBRA (46D). All wrong.
ReplyDeleteI would rather that a meta be too easy than too hard, since I would have hated not being able to get it. I got it.
As I told Patrick through his website earlier this week, I understood the mechanism on Monday, but I had to wait a few more days to see how the exact answer phrase played out. Since there was no penalty for waiting, I waited for all six puzzles, just in case there was a trick at the end. (There wasn't.) If this has been a timed competition, I'd probably have submitted around Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteToday's giveaways were a bit heavy-handed in my opinion, but overall, I enjoyed the contest and appreciate Patrick's skill in putting it all together.
It took me about 38 minutes to grind through the puzzle on my iPad. Everything looked kosher to me, but a little pop-up window informed me "Almost there! Click the button to see where you've screwed up" (that is my interpretation)
ReplyDeleteI did. Every single square was wrong.
Working in finance, we try to generate alpha with high-beta bonds, and we keep an eye on gamma and make sure that we are delta-hedged. Meta, not being a Greek letter but more of a prefix, is not part of my world. Very simply, I have no idea how I could possibly get every single square wrong. This puzzle's karma ran over my dogma.
if anyone could throw me a bone here, I'd appreciate it. I feel like the wheel's turning in my head, but the hamster is dead as far as this puzzle is concerned.... probably because I'm not part of the in-crowd since I don't know what "meta" implies.
This was a fun week puzzlewise, meta contest aside. Friday's was the best puzzle, I think, but today's came in a close second. The secluded culs-de-sac in the four corners could have been Natick city, especially the NE with TOMEI, RENEE and IRENE stuck in there. Chances are, at least two of the three were not immediately obvious for most solvers. Other than that, a very clean Saturday puzzle, and some excellent cluing. Sure, after APTEST and SEDATEST we have INAPT and POKIEST today, and a few more clumsy plurals (MISOS, STES and STETS), but B-SIDES these, it was an overall satisfying solve.
ReplyDeleteAs for the meta, I may not submit my solution. Or maybe I will... I haven't decided yet.
But I definitely want to offer this beautiful PIE JESU from the Requiem, Op. 9 by Maurice Duruflé.
Enjoy your weekend.
Enjoyed this medium Saturday on its own merits, the hell with the meta. It was one of those fun romps where you find words and phrases you knew, but didn't know you knew. PIEJESU, EPISC, PEPA, i.e.
ReplyDeleteMy second attempt at a Meta (crashed and burned on Berry's a while back), and I want to thank @Rex for his "fruitless and frustrating" comment. Most here are tooting horns about how easy the meta was and we're sitting here scratching our heads. Think I'll listen to @carola and take a break and come back to the week's puzzle stack during the Syracuse game tonight - it'll give me something to do when they fall behind by two TD's.
Anyhow, meta or no, I thought it was a solid week of puzzles from Mr. Blindauer. Thank you.
I retyped my soln in Puzzazz this a.m. Puzzazz is not giving me an AOK. So I checked with my expert solver buddy who a) found the puzzle very easy/Wednesday-hard, b) gets stumped only 6 times/year, and c) has the same answers I have. Ok, to be fair, he corrected an error I had at RANa/XaS. No matter. Puzzazz is still rejecting the answer.
ReplyDeleteDoes everyone have NENES for leche drinkers? I wanted BEBES, but the crosses seem to want NENES. RENEE could be RENAE, but that still doesn't make Puzzazz happy.
Shall I load the puz in my binary microscope and extract the soln? There's always that. Calling @r.alph. Come in @r.alph. Shall we hack?
LIONS and PANDAS and KUALA bears, Oh my!
ReplyDeleteSo @Zeke's grapes are sour and @Z went to bed with a person, not a condition. Top that off with a regular cupcake of a dog, and this aftermath is looking better every minute. The meta? Seemed...um, mezzo-mezzo to me, so I'm probably overlooking some chunks.
Didn't Will Rogers say he never meta man he didn't like? Given this 6-Act play, seems that PBII likes us, he really, really likes us!!
Didn't get it, don't get it. No fun. I won't bother with a meta anything again. Not in my wheelhouse. The best thing about today is the dog and cupcake. What a great dog. I wanted to just hug and kiss him.
ReplyDeleteHave no idea how to solve the meta. Have never done one before. Look forward to tomorrow when it might become clear
ReplyDeleteBrett -- you likely did nothing wrong. I had the same issue (every square in the grid was marked wrong by the software). This is merely a glitch caused because they didn't load the correct answer into the software.
ReplyDeleteNote that it is possible (in fact very likely) that you could have a letter or two wrong in today's grid and still have no problem getting the meta puzzle. Like others, I found the metapuzzle particularly easy based on observations in the comments on this blog earlier this week. There is a puzzling convention (involving a kind of conversion) used that is very familiar to some of us, but would not necessarily be intuitive in this context if you'd never used it before.
Remember the story of the 19th century German chemist August Kekulé who struggled with a carbon bond problem? After some late night work on the issue, he went to bed and dreamt of a serpent eating its own tail (ouroboros). He awoke to create his ring-shaped design for the benzene molecule.
ReplyDeleteI felt a little like Kekulé. Last night I solved the Saturday puzzle, but couldn't figure out what the "meta" was. I was tired and went to bed. At 6:10 this morning (with rain failing in the background), the answer hit me! TA-DA! I had tried to make it more difficult than it was.
As the Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus put it, "Many fail to grasp what is right in the palm of their hand."
I agree with @Lewis. It was fun to solve, tho PB1's had an xtra element that made it more...meta.
ReplyDeleteSome of you are over-thinking it...and you Don't have to finish today's to solve the meta. Just get 9D and 18D- and do what it says!
Good luck!
@Casco and others who tried Reveal Puzzle because every letter was wrong: you can Clear Puzzle and type your answers back in. It doesn't take too long the second time. Ask me how I know...
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle itself found me at my POKIEST, sent me down more Blind alleys than all the other five put together. Had CHOP, then CROP before PARE, so had a hard time thinking of a C-----U word and PIE JESU came late. @Casco, I wanted NINOS, and still don't get the Hawaiian geese drinking Leche. Monroe was dressed SENSUALLY, looked SENSUALLY, but sang BREATHILY. Thought the spelling was PEPPA; PEPA looks like a lady-type gourd
ReplyDeleteQuaked at the swaths of persistent white space in the mid-North and along the Southern long enough that I thought I'd shame myself on these boards, and was bummed to see the Check function greyed out.
My sole consolation now is having had no trouble with TOMEI, IRENE and RENEE. So there's that.
Have some PIE, Patrick.
Couple of write-overs, 2D, RANA before RANI; 23 A, CFOS before CPAS.
ReplyDeleteFinished (on paper) with a mistake at 42 A, PUE JESU instead of PIE JESU, but the Schrodingerish 43 D, where INAPT or UNAPT seemed equally possible could not resolve the question. (Is a PIE JESU a relative of the mock apple pie, made with Communion wafers instead of potato chips?)
But filled my grid, solved the meta a minute later. An observation that doesn't give much away: Seems if your initials are PB, you draw your metas from the same well.
Now, as someone else mentioned, back to trying to find an answer to Matt Gaffney's meta of the week.
Stuck in NW and can't get the first three letters of 18D, so I guess I'm meta screwed.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I like solving on paper. When the instructions said "Keep you solutions handy" I was able to do just that and the Meta was a cinch!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe meta helped me in solvin the SatPuz. Three squares became gimmes.
ReplyDeleteI find the percentage of U's in the meta message powerfully gratifyin.
And, viva HUARTE! (Nice red herring.)
Hope everybody hangs in there and gets the meta message. U can do this.
M et A
Mock Apple Pie is made with Ritz Crackers, not potato chips!
ReplyDeleteTwo extra eternities in Hell for you, Kerfuffle!
Underwhelmed, I am.
ReplyDeleteSort of interesting to see all these comments where we're trying to communicate with those who already got it without giving anything away to those who have are still trying! Somebody could start a whole blog that worked this way -- you'd have to close the comments whenever @Rex posted.
ReplyDeleteI, too, got it a little more easily because of @Rex's earlier speculation -- but I didn't really try to get it until I solved today's very tough puzzle, and then of course it was virtually self-evident. But I could have done without the false POC at 6D and the ridiculous abbreviation at 56A.
And I'm sort of unhappy that you could ignore the bottom half of every grid.
I really wanted WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?! to be the answer for 36A (having HTHAT already in place).
ReplyDeleteWell that was a fun week. I'm in the mood to listen to some Bud Powell now.
Like others, I came here to complain about the question marks in the iPad app.
ReplyDeleteNormally the app automatically halts the clock and gives you the successful completion chime when you have filled everything in correctly. When it failed to do so and the clock just kept ticking, I visually checked and rechecked and then gave up and tried "Reveal Puzzle". It gave the successful completion chime and simultaneously turned every square into a question mark.
I can see why they removed rankings and stats from this app, they would be meaningless until they fix this sort of thing and also find some standard way to ensure that correct rebuses are always recognized properly. I'm still mad that my rebus answers for the "change of heart" puzzle all became "incorrect" squares.
Can't be bothered with the meta at this point, frankly.
If you read the "notes" to the Saturday puzzle on ipad -- it said "the solution is being withheld until the contest deadline has passed." That is the only reason the "reveal puzzle" options are giving you ?'s and /'s.
ReplyDeleteTop things that a (cute) doggie with a cupcakeon its head might be thinkin...
ReplyDelete* How do I Iook? Does it make me look fatter?
* Must humor the master... must humor the master...
* Is this part of that day-um meta contest?
* Piece of cake.
* Feels like a single bite's worth. If they go lookin for a candle to light, I'm wolfin it in midair. (followup: ptuie. paper.)
* Has this family joined some weirdball sect?!?
* Sigh. Kmart econo-brand food again.
* Yecch. I smell grrrrrranola.
* What's the kid over there doin with that bow and arrow... ?
* (To other dog in room): U laugh now, but I hear U get the ice cream.
* Are U sure this is how Ted Cruz got started?
* Wait til they chow down on the "special sauce" I added to all **their** cupcakes...
M&A
Relevant.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for something a little more challenging. Arcane. Intricate. Something.
I do have a point of order question, however. If this was indeed a "meta" puzzle, that is, a puzzle that transcends each puzzle, why would the Saturday puzzle include clues about the meta puzzle? At the point which the meta puzzle was introduced into the puzzle itself, it ceased to be meta.
Today's puzzle was relatively easy for me, for whatever that's worth.
Hey kids...remember to eat your Ovaltine!
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteThought the puz to be Fridayish boardering on Sat tough. Nice misdirect (at least for me) at 46D. Agree with @Leapy, Marilyn sang breathily, wrote that in lightly at first, but with _K_B for 26D, knew it couldn't be right. Got most without the ole Google, but PIEJESU would never have came to me.
As for the Mighty Meta, put me in the easy to get column, what with the instructions. I think it was more fun reading the comments all week about everyone's speculations! It was a nice tie in, however.
Think I'll have a STROHS later! (Do they still make that? Haven't seen it in some time.
POK I EST
RooMonster
DarrinV
The meta is: there is no meta. How meta is that!
ReplyDeleteLike @Lewis, I loved the many clever clues.
ReplyDelete@Leapfinger: You've been into those magic Cheerios again. Wonderful!
My first meta. From this blog I was expecting that it had something to do with xs. I was hoping that it had to do with multiplication, but no. Someone suggested that it had something to do with the numbers in the squares and that also helped. I sent in the solution even though the prize is worthless to me.
p.s.
ReplyDeleteOne more...
* Okay, fair's fair. Now Let's get a pic of @63, with those after-dinner mints in his nose. It'll live on in the Cloud forever.
@CascoKid: yep. There's a meta, and I bet U can get it. This meta is more of a hidden message to be translated, than it is a question to be answered. Go for it. Free puz subscriptions, dude!
M&A
@quitter1, you are the eeyore of the commenters on this blog. Always hilarious.
ReplyDeleteEasy Saturday, easy meta, easy fun week.
I never meta person I didn't like :)
Haven't done a meta before. I came up with a familiar two-word phrase, but I don't see what it has to do with this week's (or today's) puzzle.
ReplyDeleteIs the phrase the meta, or do I need to think harder?
Handsome dog, Rex!
@m&a -- great post!
ReplyDelete@anon 10:44 -- Think of a European mountain
No factoids/quotoids/ today as, following Rex's lead, I'm not revealing any answers.
I almost gave up - that NW was just not filling in - and I had to Google a lot to get to this point.
ReplyDeleteAnd then I said - just step away from that puzzle - and when I went back, those letter went in!
And then I took out the puzzles I had clipped from the newspaper each day this week. And now I'm ready to submit my answer to the altar of metas.
There's some moral to the tale here - but I really understand the frustration of just not seeing it when others do.
@GLR: the phrase is sorta meta. But there is no "payoff" associated with today's puzzle (or any of the others), hence the "meta" puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMy contention is that today's puzzle refers to the meta...so that negates it being truly meta. Something that is "meta" is above the consciousness of the thing it's referring to. For instance, when people post here about Rex's penchant for criticizing dreck fill, without actually referring to specific dreck fill in the puzzle of that day, then it is a meta post. It's pointing out a process or some other "higher" ism outside of the particular puzzle in question.
By cluing the answer to the meta within the puzzle, the meta is no longer meta.
It's sort of like a fish becoming aware of the water it's swimming in.
Personally thrilled!
ReplyDeleteNever even heard of META InRe crosswords before. Ignored rex and still got it.
Probably my first (known) meta, and even though it was easy it was still decently fun. It was easy to figure out the overall theme and the meta clues today were quick to fill. I could really get used to metas, except that means keeping track of a week's worth of papers and in our house (pack-rat haven), that can be a meta challenge in itself. Having a week of connected puzzles does tend to make one more forgiving of weaker fills, but I didn't have any real groaners, so I am a happy puzzler.
ReplyDelete@just shut up - We suggest you do a selfie.
ReplyDeleteThe three post limit, while never enforced, is unofficially in abeyance today.
ReplyDeleteLet's review the bidding:
I believe I've solved the SatPuz correctly, but two devices I have that should tell me I've done so have told me I have not. The timer continues to count and I am hours and hours into the solve now, according to the timers. There are two possibilities:
1. I have solved the puzzle incorrectly, which knowing me on most days and Saturdays in particular, is the odds-on favorite, or
2. I have solved the puzzle correctly but the devices are forbidden internally from telling me so.
Let's eliminate the second option. Does anyone of you have a clear, unambiguous understanding that you've solved the puzzle correctly, or is everyone thinking you have because you believe your devices aren't confirming it for, you know, "contest" purposes?
@Casco,
ReplyDeleteBecause this puzzle leads to a contest with a monetary prize, the New York Times has 1) disabled its online solution checker, and 2) asked independent bloggers and crossword sites to also not share the answer until after the 6pm ET tomorrow deadline.
That's why you can't find the solution to the puzzle.
Got it, not too hard.
ReplyDeletePS: glad I corrected my mistake from Thursday, EXPRESSO for ESPRESSO.
@Anonymous 1:14. OK, then no one knows if he/she has solved today's puzzle correctly. Right? No one. OK, Will Shortz and PB2 have the answer. I just want to be sure of that.
ReplyDeleteHowever, solutions of the last 5 puzzles were made available, so their relevance in the meta solve is considerably smaller than today's. It is not that the question is in today's puzzle, because that would be fair to expose. It is that the ANSWER is in the puzzle. Revealing the solution would reveal the answer.
Note that the two long theme-related clues are not the answer, but only hints, just as every puzzle this week was a hint, so revealing them is not the issue.
With this in mind, and hoping I have the right SatPuz solution, I'll try to see what over the past 5 puzzles is pointing at a solution in today's puzzle.
I will think in base 16, as PB2 has been known to go ASCII in his puzzles, and one of the major clues today is screaming base 16.
I don't know if Shortz or Blindauer have shared the answer privately with anyone.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an insider and I don't make the rules. I'm only telling you why you can't find the solution in the usual places.
And you are telling me that you may or may not have the right answer, yourself. You don't know. Maybe you have a key point wrong. XIS/XaS, RENEE/RENAE. That sort of thing. And that may or may not bear on the meta.
ReplyDeleteI just want to know what I can trust and what I can't. Evidently, I can't trust any part of today's solution, as there isn't one.
This is a META puzzle with one major moving part. Oh boy. It is a much harder problem when you prepare to vary each of ~150 sub-components. That is resource intensive and will limit how much effort I can bring to finding patterns of base16-esque features in all of the puzzles. Maybe the second major clue today will limit my search some. Or maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. Well, I'd better make a thorough search of this place before I move on to the next.
As usual, I try to over-think too much. I submitted my wrong answer too early! Head Slap!
ReplyDeleteFinally got the meta.
ReplyDeleteI was WAY over thinking this.
Was gonna hafta DNF cause I had ALPHANUMERalS; then realized it was RADII instead of RADIa, and the sky opened up. Finished and don't care about the Meta. I agree on the Marilyn comments, tried breathlessly at first. I'm guessing NENES is informal, I was with @Casco on bebes. Didn't know there was a MOAB outside the Holy Land. Hope people will understand why I tried to fit McLaughlin into 31D. @Rex: you've been accused of suppressing some blog entries; if this is so, please exercise that privilege on @just shut up!
ReplyDelete@Casco Kid
ReplyDeleteI think what some are trying to tell you is that....... having the puzzle 100% correct has nothing to do with getting the "meta" correct. Don't sweat the details.
No such thing as over-thinking. There is only thinking well or badly. Take the puzzle on the level it is presented. Use background information if you have it.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, BI-CURIOUS was PB2's most recent triumph. It involves ALPHANUMERICS in the form of ASCII character encoding. It tells you something about how he thinks. Use that.
Meta week was no dog. But, overall it was an easy-medium cupcake.
ReplyDeleteEnd of meta phors.
@CascoKid: Am itchin to help U further, but kinda fun listenin to U talk to yerself, too. Trust me, this cupcake ain't all that complicated, once U get on the right track. Keep up the good work. I'll pop some popcorn.
M&A
I agree with @Cheryl Lynn Helm. This was my first meta and I was able to solve it but it took a little effort. I actually found the solve to be fun and @REX: your blog did not provide sufficient hints to solve the meta - you did a great job of keeping it under wraps!
ReplyDeleteThe solution: Take every 4th letter, divide it by pi, then make sure to match what you get with page numbers in a current edition of "The Joy of Sex," get into the suggested position, get on the NY City Subway F train at the time you see on your alarm clock (being careful to avoid ebola), get off at the stop suggested by the guy with the grey umbrella to your left, order a sloe gin fizz at the first bar you come to, and the bartender will respond with the solution.
ReplyDeleteIn BI-CURIOUS, the grid was 15x15 and there as only one black square in the dead center. When it became clear that the solution involve ASCII encoding, I fretted that 15^2=225 is not divisible by 8. Was I overthinking or not thinking enough. In fact, not enough. When I further realized that 225-1=224 is divisible by 8, I got the full solve and the meta, which I got right.
ReplyDeleteShould I expect less of this one? The difference here is that Will Shortz is not Ben Tausig. OK . . . so how do I use that information . . . ???
expect less
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteRun like an athlete and die like a dead beaten speed-freak
An answer to all of your answers to
Ha @ yes! I guess someone had to do it...
ReplyDeleteI submitted an answer but still have this nagging feeling that I'm missing a whole other layer of cleverness.
ReplyDeleteWhaaaa? I'm about to get meta-physical with this iphone and throw it at the wall! The Saturday completed puzzle gave me red rain, then questions, then disappeared from view. The weekly puzzles are driving me crazy as I try to see a pattern by viewing them one at a time. I thought I was on the right track until U U U started getting bandied about. hUh? I thought this was all about the X? The sun is shining. I should be outside. Aargh!
ReplyDeleteBoy...I have no idea what you guys are talking about!!
ReplyDelete@metarevealed -- that was a hoot!
ReplyDeleteUsing "Time" -- that is to say "clockwise" -- with X marking the spot, here was your week (starting as close to 12-high as the grids allow)
ReplyDeleteAPEETIASIREROOELIBOMOOIEALKAPRAEARSTNINILEDIMTOM
This makes use of the Thursday trick.
Sadly, it broke the anagram generator.
I think (underline think) I got this puppy in the bag... My husband, (he of the retired engineer persuasion,) say's I worry everything to death!
ReplyDeleteI did lots of pacing, dissecting, talking to myself, staring at the previous puzzles, got nothing, so I just walked away. [Sigh}.. I came back rested and out of the blue got a huge AHA moment. Ooh boy, but now I'm convinced I'm probably wrong......
@just shut up: Good grief, neither @Bob nor @Leapy gave ANYTHING away. They talked about a few of the puzzle answers that have absolutely nada to do with the Meta...Even Deb over at Worplay talks about some of them. Why so incredibly rude?
I think I solved this puzzle correctly but since I solve M - F in syndicated time all thoughts of meta-solving will have to wait 5 weeks - I'll set today's grid aside but probably won't remember where I put it when I need it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the meaning of humiliated until today.
ReplyDeleteSolved every puzzle this week.
Had no idea what a meta puzzle is.
Explanations on the web didn't help.
"What benefit is there to having a genius IQ?", I asked.
Submitted a cleverly crafted comment around 10:30 AM.
Comment never showed up.
How is that for a perfect Saturday?
Yea I've tried that too @Casco and using the X Square numbers as letters of the alphabet. Bletchley will not be ringing us any time soon I'm afraid. We need our own enigma machine!
ReplyDeleteNo sweat, @Gillyfleur! In all truthiness, I'm kinda chuffed: here I am, a relative newbie, and already get to share billing with the Big Boys. Have to give @just shut up a tip of the old fedora for the gender neutrality, bien sur.
ReplyDeleteI see some real potential there!!
Holy smokes, @Casco! Stop before your head explodes!! I am confident in telling you that you need to switch off a large portion of your brain, and concentrate on the two long downs. That's it. Stop the madness! (and the math) :-)
ReplyDeleteRooMonster
Oh, and also, try to parse your comments, @Casco, no offense intended, but you don't want to give the answer away........
ReplyDeleteOK, now using the idea that the answer is in the SatPuz (hence it cannot be published) the X's correspond to puzzle clues with only one answer (down or across), so the order M-F, Left-to-right, in the SatPuz gives us
ReplyDeleteXISMANIASASSETCPASMORESAMENSMISOSLIONSXISXDINXMARKSTHESPOT
which is the name of the lake immediately to the west of Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, which lies in the exurbs of Natick, MA.
Taking only the first letters of these clues and interpreting them as Roman Numberals, we have
XM A CM A MLXXX
990 A 900 A 1080
which is PB2's toll-call XW hint service. Charges may apply.
I'm doing all of this because M&A should not be left holding the bag (of popcorn, with no entertainment to aid in its consumption) and to demonstrate that it is easy to find patterns and make up crap.
Oh, take a deep breath, sports fans. I'm miles away from the answer. If I were close, I wouldn't be posting any of this.
ReplyDeleteI am demonstrating how a rational approach to solving this problem will get you nowhere, but you can still have fun while you're doing it.
Funny, isn't it, that so many here said that solution of the meta was easy. What I'm doing is easy, and I'm not solving the meta.
There isn't enough information in the clues to solve the meta. You have to make intelligent guesses. I'm simply demonstrating how to make unintelligent guesses. For your entertainment.
You were MUCH closer when you mused there was no meta.
ReplyDelete@Casco, you are so close, you can almost taste it. Kinda like @Rex's dog and his cupcake. But do be careful, like @Roo said, you don't want to give it away.
ReplyDeleteBy Jove! I THINK I'VE GOT IT!
ReplyDelete@CascoKid: har. This is great. Was gonna watch "Snarknado vs. Metagorgon" on the tube, but this beats all.
ReplyDeleteAll this popcorn is makin m&e thirsty. mm-mm. Strohs...
Here is the difinitive answer @Casco, the meta is... (drumroll)
ReplyDeleteCasco Kid IS the Meta !!!!!
DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUN
RooMonster
@Moly Well. The X's all percolate around the top four rows of each puzzle. I can think of another dozen ways to map the Xs, their locations in (X,Y) coordinates, their locations in enumerative coordinates (1,2,3..,225), onto numbers in base 10 and/or base 16 (0-F) (255=FF). But as @anonymous3:35 points out, I was closer when I asserted that the meta is that the meta "isn't."
ReplyDeleteI was tempted to dial 990-900-1080, but I checked the area code. It doesn't exist. I guess I was spared a minor indignity, there.
@Hartley70 I'm glad to hear that you've figured it out! Good for you!
Ha @ yes! at 2:14. My first thought too! Meta meta if you ask me. PB should have used them instead of his "Queen" clue. You must be my generation.
ReplyDelete@Casco Kid: Probably because you don't solve on paper, you have the numbers of the squares containing xs wrong. They are: 20, 5 13, 16 21 , 19, 6 21, 7 9 20.
ReplyDeleteHey I know! Why don't we just TELL Casco (and everyone else) the answer? Because like a 2-year old, we don't have the patience to wait until 6:00. We are all SO eager to show off how smart and superior we are.
ReplyDelete@mathguy Thanks. I had a 23 rather than a 21. That changes my phone number to
ReplyDeleteXM A LM A MLXXX
990 A 950 A 1080
But you've ordered the numbers by increasing value, rather than left to right, which is the natural way to read them, so my numbers change again
XM A ML A MLXXX
990 A 1050 A 1080
Now no longer a phone number, I'm looking at PB2's SAT scores.
Good job, PB2!
Casco, YOU got me there!
ReplyDeleteNo offense intended to those struggling, but I'm surprised that so many folks are having trouble sussing out the meta-answer. Not only does today's puzzle give a fairly straightforward indication of what to do, but Rex offers a pretty big clue of his own: "My only problem is … I was right. About earlier grids—they were made weaker, fill-wise, because they were meta-weight-bearing." Plus his note that a friend was able to figure out the meta based on Rex's own comments earlier in the week. If you've been reading the blog all week and have solved 9D and 18D in today's puzzle... well, I guess I'm not sure what's holding you back from finding the answer.
ReplyDeleteFor those saying the meta was anti-climactic or too easy, it may not have been that challenging to find the buried treasure, but we were having fun, weren't we? Seems like only yesterday it was Monday...
Not sure I fully grasp the deeper meaning of my solve. Maybe there is none? No meta meta? If I worked this diligently of other projects I might be--who knows what?
ReplyDeleteHey @Genius, my worst answer is better than whatever you came up with.
ReplyDelete@Jyqm, I think my posts have demonstrated how many different ways you can take an under-specified problem and turn it into something useful and interesting. All of my answers are consistent with the instructions in the puzzle. Rather, you should consider why YOU didn't think of all the other avenues of interpretation that were available to you. If you may have stumbled on something you liked on the first pass, you missed a lot of fun with the other encoded messages.
There is no one right answer on this one, guys. There are lots of answers. The question is what you do with them. In my case, I found a reason to mention Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. Fun to say. But a pretty boring place. Not really worth visiting.
Yay! I got it! But I had to read about half of these comments first. That seems a bit like cheating so I won't submit my answer. But it was much more fun than not getting it!
ReplyDeleteI had one letter wrong for quite some time and it led to the Google discovery that there actually is something called ALoHA NUMERICS. Involves 4's and 7's and led me on a wild goose chase, meta-wise. In the words of the great Robert Di Vicenzo, "What a stupid I am."
ReplyDeleteIs Friday's LAT puzzle part of the series? Or is one of those theme answers just a coincidence?
ReplyDeleteReread your posts with your eyes squinted together so the answers are kind of blurry and Voila! Thanks from one Rexite newbie to another.
ReplyDeleteYou can do a lot of things here. Calling people "assholes" isn't one of them.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
RP
Hey everybody. SunPuz is here. I'm moving on.
ReplyDeleteThanks to @RooMonster for the encouragement and good-natured chastisements. I hope I dialed it back so I didn't the big but-it-inst-there away.
@Leap, @Z, @Scarab, @mathguy, @Fred you were right, each in your own special ways! ;)
@Moly, you told me I was as close as Rex's dog was to that cupcake. Not really, but it was reassuring to know that my barking could be heard across the forest by everyone sitting in the "right" tree.
@Hartley70, I'm only glad PB2 metas aren't on the 1st graders syllabus, or I'd never make it to second grade.
@John Child, unless/until I can annotate my grid with circles/colors, I won't be happy with the iPad app 2.0.
@M&A, at your service, as always, sir.
@Naysayers, and you know who you are, please pause for a moment to consider the epistemology of metas. There really, really is no one "right" answer as there (nearly always) is for any one clue the XW puzzles themselves. A cross word must satisfy crosses; a meta has no such constraint and really can be anything.
P.S. I predict the contest will be won by solvers whose talent is inversely proportional to the value they will accrue from their use of the prizes. The rich get richer and hardly notice their gain. But we wouldn't have it any other way, I say!
Didn't save the puzzles. Don't care about "metas." Just a good daily solve, thank you. Unfortunately, that did not apply from Wed. to Sat. for me. I dislike the constant reliance on product clues. Yesterday was worse than today, but Strohs, Drano, OralB, Benson and Hedges, Pop culture - Sean Bean?? Pepa? Xtina? 7 down is contrived, 12 down I think I got, but never heard of unless it is applied to birds, 33 down was unfamiliar as well. Am very glad that "meta week" is over. Better puzzles (for me) next week, I hope. However, I do think I completed Saturday's correctly.
ReplyDeleteThis week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak I've made to my method. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.
ReplyDeleteAll solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)
Mon 5:44, 6:02, 0.95, 26%, Easy-Medium
Tue 9:18, 7:54, 1.18, 88%, Challenging
Wed 13:57, 9:30, 1.47, 98%, Challenging (6th highest ratio of 251 Wednesdays)
Thu 14:20, 16:43, 0.86, 23%, Easy-Medium
Fri 16:02, 19:02, 0.84, 22%, Easy-Medium
Sat 27:23, 25:57, 1.05, 70%, Medium-Challenging
Top 100 solvers
Mon 3:55, 4:04, 0.96, 25%, Easy-Medium
Tue 6:23, 5:22, 1.19, 91%, Challenging
Wed 8:11, 6:12, 1.32, 96%, Challenging (11th highest ratio of 251 Wednesdays)
Thu 9:48, 10:29, 0.94, 35%, Easy-Medium
Fri 11:13, 12:34, 0.89, 28%, Easy-Medium
Sat 20:54, 18:28, 1.13, 77%, Medium-Challenging
So, I just realized I had the answer written down in front of me the whole time and just didn't know it.
ReplyDeleteThis is DEFINITELY worth a listen. (Also, I am certain we will have PROG rock as an answer very soon...)(And no, this isn't a juvenile rickroll)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNs9fiEJIr4
A DNF on the puzzle and an easy on the meta. I should get my own prize. ALoHA NUMERalS was all I needed, even if it is wrong. Oddly, I like it better than the right answer/clue. It is oddly descriptive.
ReplyDelete@CK and others - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was my introduction to the limits and problems of "rational" thought. My first thought on getting the meta answer last night was "that was too easy." Hearing that so many smart people struggled means it wasn't easy and I just happened to see it quickly.
We're heading back to the mitten from western NC so now a little REO Speedwagon
Loved this one. Medium in 38 minutes and two sittings.
ReplyDeleteLoved clues for ALPHANUMERICS.
Broke it open after deciphering DRANO.
Best puzzle by PB this week by far.
Meta is times.
Thanks PB.
I'm running through the woods with @Casco on the meta. I haven't spent hours on it 'cause I don't have that kind of stick-to-it-ness necessary but thanks for all the great comments!
ReplyDelete@Rex -- I love, love, love, love, LOVE your dog photo. It's more wonderful than any puzzle grid I've ever seen. You can post it any time.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, the meta. I suspect that it's going to be pure tedium getting it, if the trick is what I think it is (based on the answers to 9D and
18 D.) Haven't looked at all 5 puzzles yet to see if I'm on the right track and am not sure I'll bother. After all, the last thing in the world a technophobe like me wants is an online subscription to the puzzle. I'd sooner walk on a bed of nails than have to solve a puzzle on a computer. And I don't look forward to using alphanumerics to solve this thing. Let's see how I feel tomorrow a.m.
@Casco: Bless you! Turns out I was right in my theory, but your providing where the Xs were to be found in all the puzzles saved me a lot of trouble. Even better, I used the computer to find a Table of letter/number equivalents, so I didn't have to plod through 26 letters myself. And thus I avoided all the tediousness I was not looking forward to. I then solved easily. I'm thinking, though, was the game really worth the candle? OISK -- you're really not missing that much!
ReplyDelete@mathguy -- it's YOU, not Casco, I meant to thank for saving me the drudgery of slogging through 5 puzzles. I misread the comment section. Sorry!
ReplyDelete"Meta"-ta Puzzle...
ReplyDeleteDo you people remember that the contest closes at 6 PM SUNDAY, not Saturday?
ReplyDeleteOK, I'm looking again. Evidently, my klingon suggestion was deleted by the powers that be. Perhaps I was right about the Klingon. If you remember, the clue was a jumble of letters that translated to Klingon as
ReplyDelete"if you can't construct crosswords with decent fill, at least you can construct metas or quadstacks"
Yes, that was the meta everyone was looking for. That's why it was deleted. Good night.
@Nancy, on behalf of @mathguy, you're welcome.
ReplyDeleteFablous. Many thanks to our Raving Correspondent, the inimitable Casco Kid. Quite aside from his being personally responsible for all replies over 100, I hope someone is working on the Collected Sayings of.
ReplyDeleteAlso appreciate all who introduced me to ALOHA NUMBERS; must consult @mathguy regarding same.
With a small jump of the gun, I'm offering my answer of Zubin META.
Not having a degree in whatever I would need a degree in (philosophy? Epistemology?) to decide if the puzzle is really a "meta" or not, I can only say that it took me five minutes after getting the two crucial clues that others have alluded to. But to all of you who have come so close to revealing the answer: please stop spoiling the fun for the Casco Kid et al.
ReplyDeleteWell, I had never done a Meta before. So this one was fun for me. I thought surely the answer was 10X or something like that, especially because I didn't know the year FANTASIA was released, so I had a blank there....And that meant that there were only 10X's spread out over the six days. When I googled that clue and then counted 11X's, I knew something was amiss with my initial theory. Ah well. I agree that the Meta is pretty self-evident given the two long down clues once you realize it. Just translate the numeric X entries into their alpha equivalents - But I'm sure most of you on this blog have already figured that out! I am posting this at 6PM so after the contest deadline in case my entry gives too much away.
ReplyDeleteShane,
DeleteI did that, but I get:
TEMPUSFUGIT
spent all weekend trying to anagram that. I see time in there, but can't get anything.
anonymous@6:18
ReplyDeleteTempus fugit means "time flies" in Latin so I doubt that you need to look for an anagram.
Thanks for the explanation. Wouldn't have gotten that in 1000 years.
ReplyDeleteDisappointed with the whole week and the Saturday puzzle was just stupid. Who hired that guy?
ReplyDeleteHas the answer been posted, along with the meta answer? I don't care about the contest.
ReplyDeleteYou suck for not publishing the finished grid.
ReplyDeleteWell, good morning all, and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And an uninjured Black Friday--a tradition in which I have never participated. Not a crowd-fighter.
ReplyDeleteToday I cannot blog about the puzzle, or the meta, because my idiot paperboy left me with two identical half-papers. Naturally, the half containing the NYT puzzle is the half I DIDN'T get.
No problemo, you say, just call the paper and report a missed delivery. And here, folks, is where my holiday went sour.
I am here to report, in public forum, that the Las Vegas Review-Journal has seen fit to FULLY automate their phone system. After business hours (including Staurday and Sunday, natch) there is NO OPTION for talking to a human being. Press the number for a missed paper and you get "We're sorry, but we are unable to process your request at this time. Please call back during normal business hours." *click*
So, not only did I not get it: I CAN'T get it! I AM NOT HAPPY!!!! Employees of the R-J, if you read this, be assured: you do NOT want to be the first person I reach on Monday. Happy solving, everybody!
101: as in, How to Deliver Newspapers 101, moron!
Rex did post the solution.
ReplyDelete@spacecraft - I do believe I can send you a pdf if you email me.
Sheesh - "time flies" even when it's not that much fun. I saved all those grids for this? OK I guess, and probably some difficult construction, but would have preferred something with more, what to say, pizzaz. Maybe the powers that be are setting us all up for future metas that will be more difficult?
ReplyDeleteNo writeovers today, so this must have been fairly easy.
Don't have much more to say after a holiday week thud.
"usefour purchasing" was the first readable captcha. So maybe I'll use 4. Another thud.
Guess I'm not a meta person. Solved most of this one. Got stuck on Fantasia date, even though I remember seeing it when it was first released in 194?. Decided not to look it up. Also decided not to go chasing all those "x-spots". So, dumping the saved puzzles, I'm off to do the LAT. See you Monday.
ReplyDeleteEven Captcha has nothing for me! 5132
This was the best puzzle of meta week, and the two "revealers", er, hints, gave the solution. However, I'm 5 weeks late (time flies, you know), so it doesn't matter. I wouldn't have entered the contest in any case.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that the various informative and humorous posts by @M&A pretty well gave the game up.
Hey, @Spacey, I'd courier my paper to you, but I've solved the puzzle in ink, so it wouldn't be usable. Sorry.
331 I'm in the game, at least.
Really loved your comments, Spaceman. I've been there with missed papers but the San Diego Union-Trib has delivered in less than an hour.
ReplyDeleteAs far as all this talk about "meta" I say "Forgetta." Much ado about not much. However, I was expecting a real poser of a puzzle today and actually found it pretty easy - with a few writeovers. I don't get the Mon & Tues papers and expected it to be impossible to solve. Not so.
And now it's time to walk the cats and clean out the dog's litter box. And wait for UPS, FEDEX AND USPS to deliver all those dam pkges. ordered over the last few days. Amazon is going to name a day after my last name.
It'll probably be DIEGO DAY. (Of course I'll have to pay the bills first.
Ron Diego, La Mesa, CA (NO NOS.)
To DMG; Absolutely there are two brilliant minds who do both the NYT and the LAT puzzles. It's nice to know there is one more genius this side of Arizona.
ReplyDeleteThe LAT has gotten much better this year and, as you know, has some of the same constructors as the NYT. Hoorah.
Humbly, Ron Diego
Meta schmeta!
ReplyDeleteThanks to @Z I have now solved all of the daily puzzles but I'm still working on the meta-challenge. I'm sure the solution will seem obvious in the light of a new day but tonight my mind is far too foggy to see it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the time for a correct meta entry has long since flown but at least my captchaic formula X=12717 is an ASSET.
ReplyDeleteSo I woke up this morning (Sunday) and noticed that the letters I had written out last night *almost* spelled "tempus fugit" - I went back to the grids to find the missing letters, and done!
ReplyDeleteSad. I had finished the whole week, figured out the meta thing, decoded it, and didn't know I had it right because I've never heard that phrase before.
ReplyDelete