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Hex Key (meta)

◆ · By damefox · Published 2024-04-10T22:00:51.198Z

Meta Prompt
The meta answer is a color.
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Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-04-10T19:26:14.655Z
  • Meg solved 2024-04-10T21:56:35.119Z
  • Philip Chow solved 2024-04-11T00:57:18.792Z
  • hoover solved 2024-04-11T11:42:18.485Z
  • boharr solved 2024-04-11T11:49:55.607Z
  • kurtalert solved 2024-04-11T14:38:17.120Z
  • AuLeaf solved 2024-04-11T16:26:40.822Z
  • Account solved 2024-04-12T01:57:50.913Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-04-12T02:07:16.736Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-04-12T12:34:14.514Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-04-12T17:40:46.308Z
  • DIS solved 2024-04-12T19:56:14.204Z
  • Laura M solved 2024-04-12T21:12:08.027Z
  • omnilynx solved 2024-04-14T04:47:27.819Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-04-17T20:29:53.682Z
  • Abide solved 2024-04-18T00:17:40.559Z
  • rfj solved 2024-04-25T12:06:28.509Z
  • TerminatorX solved 2024-04-25T17:16:04.785Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-05-12T14:33:58.708Z
  • Adam Simon Levine solved 2024-05-15T23:33:35.159Z

Comments

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  • damefox constructor · 2024-04-10T22:00:51.198Z
    The answer is MAUVELOUS. There are six entries in the puzzle whose clues end with a number in parentheses. Those entries are all Crayola crayon colors (hinted at by 22A and 53A). As hinted at by the title, you need the hexadecimal code for those colors (specifically for the Crayola version - this is pretty easy to find on Wikipedia or Google), and the number in parentheses tells you which number or letter to take from the code. So:
    17A TIMBERWOLF (6) -> D9D6CF -> F
    25A RAZZMATAZZ (3) -> E30B5C -> 0
    37A MANATEE (3) -> 8D90A1 -> 9
    39A APRICOT (6) -> FDD5B1 -> 1
    49A OUTERSPACE (6) -> 2D383A -> A
    59A CORNFLOWER (1) -> 93CCEA -> 9
    In grid order, the six numbers/letters you get gives you another hex code: F091A9, which is the hex code for the Crayola color MAUVELOUS.
    Thanks for solving!
    • Pair O Ducks 🤓8:22 · 2024-04-10T22:00:51.198Z
      Woo, this was tough! I was confident enough to stick with the mechanism, but the first couple sites I tried turned up wildly varying results. Thankfully, Wikipedia pulled through with the right dataset. (I don't think it's a Crayola color, but I really wanted the answer to be "Oxford Blue"!) Thanks for the fun puzzle!
      • damefox constructor · 2024-04-10T22:00:51.198Z
        Thanks for solving! Yes, that's what I think keeps this puzzle being ready for mainstream, just that Crayola itself doesn't have official hex codes for its colors, so there's some concern people might have the right mechanism but be pulling the wrong string of letters and numbers. Maybe I'll post a link to the Wikipedia page as a hint in a couple days...
        • Hector 🤓8:04 · 2024-04-11T15:30:20.295Z
          Yeah, I got the wrong hex values by just googling "hex color code razzmatazz" and the like... Fun concept, though!
      • DrTom 15s · 2024-04-11T18:54:06.648Z
        I agree, I was surprised you did not make the hex code be: #002147 but then you would have probably run into the different sites have different hex codes for the same named color. I think benchen71 (or it might have been Josh Rubin, the original MadHatter) had a color code puzzle a while back that a similar thing happened with. Unless you somehow give the reference (which in fairness you did but I ignored it) people will get divergent answers. But it was a MAUVELOUS puzzle just the same.
      • Meg 2s · 2024-04-10T22:00:51.198Z
        Very nice!! I liked figuring out the last step.
        • Philip Chow 🤓6:50 · 2024-04-11T01:02:59.003Z
          Marvelous!! Great job choosing colors that didn’t sound like colors… razzmatazz was my way in because I wasn’t sure what that was and googled it and the first thing that popped up was the crayons hex code for it… beautifully done! ☺️… I’m going through the list and there are so many of them I’m like “that’s a color?!” Fuzzy wuzzy, inchworm, macaroni and cheese, bittersweet
          • hoover 8s · 2024-04-11T11:43:55.429Z
            I'm old, so CORNFLOWER and APRICOT were my way in, led confidently by -OLA -ONS.
            • DrTom 15s · 2024-04-11T18:45:48.994Z
              Ditto, when I saw those I knew I had the right idea (though I did not execute it correctly)
          • boharr 3s · 2024-04-11T11:50:54.603Z
            Very nice, thanks!
            • hoover 8s · 2024-04-11T11:42:27.978Z
              Oh, that was fun!
              • DrTom 15s · 2024-04-11T18:45:18.008Z
                Whoops, I should have tumbled to the CRAYOLA because I saw it and it was in the back of my mind, but I went with "regular" net colors (the tip off I missed was that RAZZMATAZZ Hex code varied depending on where you looked. After I got two non-distinct blues and found them to be wrong I hit reveal and just as I did I thought "hey I'll bet you were supposed to use Crayola® colors" and obviously I was. THat would have narrowed it down. Well, what the heck, I had the right idea. THanks for the puzzle
                • whimsy 14:29 · 2024-04-12T02:11:49.914Z
                  Bluetiful! (#3C69E7) Thanks, Emma!
                  • Laura M 🤓7:48 · 2024-04-12T21:13:53.790Z
                    Very clever! Thanks for subbing (for me) for the delayed MGWCC today :-)
                    • omnilynx 🤓23:36 · 2024-04-14T04:54:05.959Z
                      In order to make it less dependent on the exact sources, it would be nice to use digits 1, 3, and 5 only, as those are the most significant digits in hex colors. Digits 2, 4, and 6 are more likely to vary.
                      • Abide 🤓12:17 · 2024-04-18T00:24:52.139Z
                        Very fun, more like a puzzlehunt! I was going to post "I wouldn't have said no to an asterisk on the OLA clue", but I see I missed the connection with the ONS clue. I laughed at the 6-Down hockey clue, wondering if Will P was your editor.
                        • damefox constructor · 2024-04-18T02:08:49.185Z
                          He was not, but man, I think I spent 10 minutes on Google trying to figure out if "down a man" and "on the penalty kill" could reasonably be considered equivalent expressions. Still not 100% on that.
                          Thanks for solving!
                        • rjy 🤓14:42 · 2024-04-18T19:21:34.839Z
                          DNF, but loved the concept... look forward to the next one!
                          Play today's daily mini crossword
                          1A
                          Remove, as wallpaper
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                          Across
                          1. 1A
                            Remove, as wallpaper
                          2. 6A
                            Mil. decorations (if you add an "I" after the first letter, it becomes [Things which might be compact])
                          3. 10A
                            "The world is not going to be saved by legislation" speaker
                          4. 14A
                            The "I" of TIFF
                          5. 15A
                            Words after "Get" or "Movin'," in song titles
                          6. 16A
                            Hydrox competitor
                          7. 17A
                            Canine featured in Algonquin mythology (6)
                          8. 19A
                            See 26-Down
                          9. 20A
                            Maine college town
                          10. 21A
                            Elena's colleague
                          11. 22A
                            Cray ending?
                          12. 25A
                            Glitz and glam (3)
                          13. 28A
                            Bobby Savoy in "The Natural," for one
                          14. 31A
                            Class with a waiting list, maybe
                          15. 32A
                            Cool
                          16. 33A
                            Clerical title: Abbr. (I definitely thought this was an abbreviation for "messenger," but crosswordtracker.com indicates otherwise)
                          17. 34A
                            Canadian interjections
                          18. 37A
                            Marine mammal of the Caribbean (3)
                          19. 39A
                            Brandy flavor (6)
                          20. 42A
                            Amaze
                          21. 43A
                            Pennsylvanie, par example
                          22. 45A
                            "Born Sexy Yesterday," for one
                          23. 46A
                            French toast
                          24. 48A
                            "Pick another movie"
                          25. 49A
                            Astronaut's destination (6)
                          26. 53A
                            Cray ending?
                          27. 54A
                            Bartender on "The Love Boat"
                          28. 55A
                            "Everybody ___" (Neon Trees hit)
                          29. 58A
                            ___ Walter Alvarez (1968 Nobel Prize in Physics winner)
                          30. 59A
                            Fieldmouse in "Redwall" (1)
                          31. 64A
                            Thus
                          32. 65A
                            Goad
                          33. 66A
                            Point of concern for linguists
                          34. 67A
                            Hanks' frequent romcom co-star
                          35. 68A
                            Regarding
                          36. 69A
                            Martindale of "The Americans"
                          Down
                          1. 1D
                            Take a load off
                          2. 2D
                            "OMG stop talking!"
                          3. 3D
                            Butt
                          4. 4D
                            Nigerian language
                          5. 5D
                            Potential juror
                          6. 6D
                            ___ man (on the penalty kill, in ice hockey)
                          7. 7D
                            Plans to wake up in nine minutes, perhaps
                          8. 8D
                            ___-de-sac
                          9. 9D
                            Cover letters?
                          10. 10D
                            Tundra maker
                          11. 11D
                            Setting for a Taylor Swift concert
                          12. 12D
                            "¡___cumpleaños!"
                          13. 13D
                            November birthstone
                          14. 18D
                            Alexis's "Gilmore Girls" role
                          15. 21D
                            Two cents worth
                          16. 22D
                            "Dreams from My Father" author
                          17. 23D
                            TV title on a California license plate
                          18. 24D
                            Make up (for)
                          19. 26D
                            "___ Survey" (19-Across precursor)
                          20. 27D
                            Car sticker no.
                          21. 29D
                            It's rather constricting
                          22. 30D
                            Frequently, infrequently
                          23. 33D
                            Got together
                          24. 34D
                            Low-budget prefix
                          25. 35D
                            "C'mon, I'll give you a ride!"
                          26. 36D
                            Leaves in, editorially
                          27. 38D
                            Fish caught in pots
                          28. 40D
                            66, e.g.
                          29. 41D
                            Anger
                          30. 44D
                            Pretty quickly
                          31. 46D
                            There's one to everything
                          32. 47D
                            Rainbow shape
                          33. 48D
                            Reflexive suffix
                          34. 49D
                            Edmonton skater
                          35. 50D
                            Loan-sharking
                          36. 51D
                            Tundra neighbor
                          37. 52D
                            "No problem"
                          38. 56D
                            Supermodel Heidi
                          39. 57D
                            Slugger Sammy
                          40. 59D
                            Number cruncher often busiest in Apr.
                          41. 60D
                            Hosp. rooms where music is often playing
                          42. 61D
                            "This means ___"
                          43. 62D
                            ___ on (goad)
                          44. 63D
                            Classic roadster
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