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Give Me Five!
◆ · By Mikey G · Published 2023-08-26T17:00:48.699Z
Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is a 5-letter word.
Checking for previous play data...
Leaderboard (updated hourly)
- oldjudge solved 2023-08-26T17:01:01.078Z
- LesY solved 2023-08-26T17:19:52.663Z
- Hector solved 2023-08-26T17:47:38.231Z
- BrennerTJ solved 2023-08-26T18:14:44.487Z
- KayW solved 2023-08-26T21:27:46.307Z
- Cindy Weatherman solved 2023-08-26T22:46:39.955Z
- Meg solved 2023-08-26T22:50:42.374Z
- Abide solved 2023-08-27T00:05:37.199Z
- Berto solved 2023-08-27T01:08:52.711Z
- DJB solved 2023-08-27T08:24:19.518Z
- boharr solved 2023-08-27T12:04:11.653Z
- Qmark solved 2023-08-27T13:34:07.435Z
- Toast solved 2023-08-27T17:57:00.323Z
- Schmeel solved 2023-08-27T20:57:54.783Z
- Philip Chow solved 2023-08-28T05:18:20.773Z
- woozy solved 2023-08-28T06:36:50.328Z
- Laura M solved 2023-08-28T07:17:53.908Z
- markhr solved 2023-08-28T08:15:25.692Z
- Pair O Ducks solved 2023-08-28T10:54:25.354Z
- I K Snamhcok solved 2023-08-28T13:21:40.551Z
- FrankieHeck solved 2023-08-28T15:04:08.617Z
- spotter solved 2023-08-28T15:05:30.833Z
- MatthewL solved 2023-08-28T17:08:08.665Z
- andeux solved 2023-08-28T18:43:14.148Z
- merlinnimue solved 2023-08-28T18:51:19.022Z
- Gutman solved 2023-08-28T22:47:33.040Z
- lbray53 solved 2023-08-29T01:00:58.204Z
- BarbaraK solved 2023-08-29T01:22:24.130Z
- SamKat9 solved 2023-08-29T02:47:49.643Z
- JM solved 2023-08-29T18:17:12.062Z
- rjy solved 2023-08-29T18:49:02.620Z
- Steve M solved 2023-08-30T00:35:27.504Z
- heidi solved 2023-08-30T03:51:24.755Z
- Darth solved 2023-08-30T13:14:10.202Z
- Chaddog solved 2023-08-30T18:56:46.253Z
- CPJohnson solved 2023-08-30T19:43:06.847Z
- DrTom solved 2023-08-30T20:10:20.054Z
- Wendy Walker solved 2023-08-30T23:10:41.409Z
- Cindy Heisler solved 2023-08-31T00:07:34.052Z
- hoover solved 2023-08-31T04:11:59.881Z
- benchen71 solved 2023-08-31T05:27:35.315Z
- Joe solved 2023-09-01T16:25:48.718Z
- Tyrpmom solved 2023-09-01T17:05:35.402Z
- Tom Wilson solved 2023-09-01T19:14:11.056Z
- JHSeeman solved 2023-09-01T19:58:34.323Z
- whimsy solved 2023-09-01T21:35:31.848Z
- ReB solved 2023-09-02T01:59:08.891Z
- Tane solved 2023-09-02T03:46:28.954Z
- Bird Lives solved 2023-09-02T15:54:25.978Z
- ajk solved 2023-09-02T16:55:36.643Z
- JR solved 2023-09-02T18:27:13.420Z
- Matt A solved 2023-09-03T14:13:08.513Z
- kurtalert solved 2023-09-04T14:53:14.440Z
- Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-03-01T22:24:27.492Z
Comments
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- Answer: ABIDEExplanation: The five longest across entries all are one letter away from having a string of five consecutive letters of the alphabet within them. For instance, SUPERSTAR would have PQRST if there were a Q instead of an E, DEIGHTON would have DEFGH if there were an F instead of an I, and so forth. Take these five pairs of the required letter to have this string and the letter this would replace: these are QE, FI, JN, UA, CY. (I almost put KIMNOVAK in here, but I decided I'd rather have repeating strings RST than repeating letters, since the "I" would also have to get replaced in that entry.) Five 5-letter entries in the grid start and end with these letters: QUITE, FIERI, JOANN, UMBRA, and CADDY. From top to bottom, the middle letters of those grid entries spell ABIDE, the meta answer. This word itself could also have a string of five consecutive letters if the I were replaced with a C. (The only two single 5-letter words with this property that I found were ABIDE and ABODE; if we count hyphenated words, NO-PAR could also work.)
- oldjudge 2s · 2023-08-26T17:02:29.762ZThis is a SAD puzzle at its' best. Great job Mikey!
- Hector 3s · 2023-08-26T17:50:01.655ZVery cool! Thanks for these great metas.
- Meg 7s · 2023-08-26T22:51:56.722ZThat was quite a workout!
- Yeah, I will be putting this reveal on a mug... Super cool idea!
- Berto 3:09 · 2023-08-27T01:11:19.477ZLol - I was just writing ABIDE a PM when I noticed it was the middle letter of the words I was staring at!!! Still not quite sure why the middle letter, but I’ll take it. (Although a few minus points for submitting AURAE first, taking the letters out in same alphabetical place
)- With QUITE just above UMBRA I stared at AIBDE for longer than I care to admit
- boharr 4s · 2023-08-27T12:07:10.077ZMe too.
- Just me trying something different with middle letters, haha. Still spells it out and still locks in the right words with first and last. Oh! If you ABIDE by something, it really centers you. (This is what we call a reach, folks.)
- Hector 3s · 2023-08-27T05:05:22.101ZGiven that AB[C/I]DE fits the pattern, I suppose I should really have checked to see if the grid had something like CAPRI or CORGI --- which would have been a great/evil way to PAGEANT us. :-)
- DJB 2s · 2023-08-27T08:26:08.840ZLoved how the steps presented themselves!
- boharr 4s · 2023-08-27T12:05:53.022ZVery tough. Thanks, Mikey
- Qmark 3s · 2023-08-27T13:34:37.202ZGreat meta, Mikey! Thanks!
- Toast 🤓1:07 · 2023-08-27T18:31:47.894ZSOSAD indeed. So, was the bowling PIN a clue by way of The Big Lebowski?
- thank you for the nudges - needed them all! genius puzzle
... i should've known the cat was a red herring... i spent way too long looking for cats in the puzzle... YESIAM almost had "siamese"... XER had a backwards "rex"... then i tried taking the central entry literally and think like a cat... what would a cat want? PLAIT contained lait (milk)... i really thought i was onto something 
- At some point, I promise there will be a cat-themed meta! The original entry there was THINKLITTLEOFIT, and I figured that shifting it (at center) to THINKLIKEACAT with semi-buried longer entries (originally had LENDEIGHTON and FIRSTAVENUE but just couldn't pull it off) would lead to some red herrings (Ginger Cat would probably eat them).
- Laura M 🤓22:44 · 2023-08-28T07:25:42.721ZAwesome meta! I needed all the nudges, at least the 4 so far. Before that, I'd given up trying to find anything in the 5 longest across entries. Did you realize that not only is the grid almost a pangram (except Z) but there is at least one entry that starts with every letter (except Z)? And there's a 5-letter word starting with Z in the clues (zebra). I was sure that had to mean something!
- I'm like, "There's no way an entry started with X." Nope, good 'ole XER! I'm not sure I realized this was a quasi-pangram (basically, not a pangram but quasi-pangram is fun to say). I heard if you do need to get some Zs, just attend one of my lectures! Thanks, as always, for solving!!
- I K Snamhcok 3s · 2023-08-28T13:24:43.849ZBeauty! I’m thinking that Mikey is quickly qualifying for the title of Evil Genius — and I mean that in a good way. I relied on a couple of nudges from another Muggle, so I didn’t enter for a prize.
- FrankieHeck 10:49 · 2023-08-28T15:10:02.834ZWow, I got really stuck on the last step. I had previously written out the alphabet and looked for 5-letter almost-alphabetical strings as potential answers, but somehow when I teased out "abide" from the five words, I rejected it as not relating back to the title. Now that I get it, I really like it.
- I'm really trying to figure out how this all came together, and I honestly don't know, haha. I was struggling with Week 4 ideas and had to ham-and-egg at least 10 ideas or so. And I think I realized the word "ABIDE" (hi, Peter, haha) was so close to "ABCDE" months prior. And I started fiddling around and somehow it morphed into a puzzle? Fun fact: THINKLIKEACAT was not actually the seed entry. In fact, I had THINKLITTLEOFIT when I was trying to do 15-by-15 and realized this title (I do have this book!!) worked perfectly.
- MatthewL 5:29 · 2023-08-28T17:13:41.709ZNice one Mikey! Did not check the box for the prize, because I needed all 4 nudges plus another one from a friendly Muggle. But can still appreciate the construction (and the clues). Especially 56A, which gave me a good laugh. Thanks!
- merlinnimue 🤓9:53 · 2023-08-28T19:02:41.862ZDude... that was a trip and a halfI went down so so many rabbit holes, including seeing consecutive letters but I would never have thought to look for imperfect sets of 5 without nudges... and then I was thrown off because I listed the 5-letter words by initial letter and didn't immediately see anything... it took me some time later and some squinting to see how to arrange the middles... I guess power hasn't been restored to my brain quite yet and won't quite make it to the left column... alas... thanks anyway for another great puzzle
- Gutman 5s · 2023-08-28T22:49:19.017ZBravo. The Dude(ski) abides.
- SamKat9 4s · 2023-08-29T02:49:27.435ZVery nice puzzle, thank you!
- Steve M 1:16:52 · 2023-08-30T00:36:41.749ZStarted late, but solved without nudges! Fun meta! Thanks!
- Well I certainly waited for that.... I was all over the place. I had all the parts before the nudges and was desperately looking for the final 5. I had some of them but could not see the "hook" until I sent my work to someone and they said, "well I agree with this and this but not that" and I saw the pattern. I had been through the word so many times I knew exactly which words to use. I now know why Peter liked the puzzle so much. Great job Mikey.
- I WONDERED why Peter was so revved up about this puzzle! Fun clues, Mikey.
- hoover 3s · 2023-08-31T04:16:00.204ZI had all the parts, even noticed that JOANN can have its middle three letters replaced to be JKLMN, started looking in the clues and other entries for synonyms of JOANN etc., took the first words of the clues to the last five words, ... ordered the five words three different ways, finally noticed that one of the three ways I ordered them spelled AIBDE, thought, nahhh, he wouldn't, would he? Looked where those letters fell in the grid, decided to enter it, and here I am!
- I never saw step one until the second set of nudges was published. And I required a shove to get to the answer. This one was definitely too hard for me!
- Joe 🤓11:56 · 2023-09-01T16:26:14.751ZHoo boy. Finally made it. Brilliant, as always.
- Tyrpmom 2s · 2023-09-01T17:14:01.774ZUntil center yourself all the nudges were unhelpful. You cant believe the crazy methods I tried with those five words and without a reason to use the middle letter I don’t know why it makes sense. All’s fair in meta world so I can’t complain too much.
- And my apologies for the avant-garde-ness on this. You can still complain a little bit, haha. Probably needed a clue referencing "center" in the grid somewhere - I just did it a little differently with starting with one letter, ending with another, and so that was my next thought to place the letter. (Initially, they were to be five 3-letter words with two letters apiece, the replaced and the replacer, and one remaining, and that would've been it - but I wanted to keep it to 5). Thanks for solving in any case - I appreciate it!! I'm trying to be a little kinder in the final four months (I say that now, haha).
- whimsy 18:08 · 2023-09-01T22:56:15.229ZWhew! Was on my last gasp of breath until I centered myself. What a work out -- what a puzzle! Thanks, Mikey!
- ReB 3s · 2023-09-02T02:01:38.951ZOh for PETE[R]'S sake!!! Needed all the nudges, but I did finally crawl ashore. Well done.
- Bird Lives 4s · 2023-09-02T15:56:33.755ZWithout the nudge, I never would have thought to look at middle letters. I must remember to write key words down rather than just look at them in the grid.
1A
Cruciverbalist's favorite fashion monogram
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Across
- 1ACruciverbalist's favorite fashion monogram
- 4ASuffolk neighbor
- 9AShort order for lunch?
- 12AH
- 13A1 is one in the eastern United States
- 14AHis son Jeffrey works at the parks department on "Seinfeld" (HELLLOOO)
- 15AThe tiny pulsar dreamed one day of becoming a ___
- 17ALast step before the majors in MLB
- 18AWhat a concept!
- 19ABraves, on scoreboards
- 20A"Because of ___-Dixie" (2000 Kate DiCamillo book)
- 21AIs down, in a way
- 22ABritish author Len known for his Harry Palmer spy novel series
- 24AHe had a big part in the Pentateuch, pun intended
- 26AFinding a good pun about a steak is ___ (it's certainly not well-done)
- 27AICU drips
- 29AFootnote abbr.
- 33APlace to see a total eclipse (but not of the heart)
- 36ACollege sports network
- 37ABiblical character whose name rhymes with a piece of playground equipment
- 38ASecond word of both "The Raven" and "Run-Around" (Poe was a big Blues Traveler fan)
- 41AWong of Netflix's "Beef"
- 42ABest-selling, even "purr"-fect, Pam Johnson-Bennett book that will help you get inside your feline's brain
- 45ANoshes on
- 46ACatanian peak
- 47AGospel singer Winans
- 48APontificate
- 50ABel-___ (Italian cheese - leave my provolone!)
- 52AEscort to a higher floor, maybe
- 53AAd or Mad follower
- 54AP. R. part
- 56AAn arachnid who likes to help golfers is a ___ longlegs
- 61AManhattan thoroughfare, for short, that Kramer states is at the "nexus of the universe" in "Seinfeld"
- 65ANew, in some German city beginning with "N"
- 66AWrath, in the title of a classic hymn
- 67AS. Dak. neighbor
- 68ARed or Card
- 69ASounds made when I start talking about polynomials
- 70AHow you might win the competition if there's no competition
- 72A"Wow, you bought all that Velcro?" "Yeah, but it was kind of a ___-off"
- 73AEbro : Spain :: ___ : France
- 74AYou should use some for a hair-raising experience
- 75AGood connections
- 76A"Cosi fan ___" (Mozart opera)
- 77AWord I've clued as "before, before" before
Down
- 1D"Indeed, yours truly is!"
- 2DPlace with anchors, perhaps
- 3DPlaces for boutonnieres
- 4DThat interesting mistake is a breath of fresh ___
- 5D"'Tis a pity"
- 6DFamous mill (I rushed to write this clue)
- 7DAcademia's "But wait, there's more!"
- 8DMillennial's mom, maybe
- 9DInterconnected locks?
- 10DDigestion aid whose inventor won the Ig Nobel Prize (this is actually a thing) in 1991
- 11DStore that began as the Cleveland Fabric Shop in 1943
- 16DAbate
- 20DPiques
- 23DGood surname for a horticulturalist?
- 25DPoitier, to Lulu
- 28DSafe place
- 30DSpots in lots
- 31DInterweave
- 32D"Oh, very much so!"
- 33DAdjective that could describe magnets, horseshoes, or the letter "U" (kind of giving it to you there)
- 34D"Game of Thrones" actress Williams
- 35DDog house?
- 37DGroup character
- 39D"Want to go bowling later?" "___ there, done that!"
- 40DMammal also called a "zebra giraffe"
- 43D"Yeah, I don't need that half-finished book of meta crosswords, trust me"
- 44DBig heart?
- 49DSip
- 51DFox competitor
- 53D"Amazing!"
- 55D"___ believe this guy?"
- 57D"___ K: A Love Story" (2020 Jenny Lee novel that retells an 1877 classic)
- 58DInundation
- 59DHamilton, notably
- 60D"The King of all Sala-ma-Sond," in a Seuss tale
- 61DGuy on TV
- 62DBindi who won "Dancing with the Stars" in 2015
- 63DSpeaks hoarsely (I used to neigh a lot, but then my voice got horse)
- 64DAuthor of "I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie"
- 70DShort order for lunch?
- 71DCharge
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