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Postal Cards (Meta)

· By DavyGravy · Published 2024-11-25T11:00:48.857Z

Meta Prompt
The meta answer is two states
Happy Monday Muggles! Did I say Monday? Ah, you know what that means: a brand new, hot off the press MMM for your puzzling pleasure. I had fun making it - I hope you have fun solving it. Thank you to @Abide for editing and for coining the puzzle's title. And thank you to @JoeRoss, the Muggles' Tech Wizard. Solvers’ scoreboard updates during the week, nudges on Wednesday and solution on Sunday. Enjoy!
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Tom Wilson solved 2024-11-25T12:14:33.670Z
  • Abide solved 2024-11-25T13:47:04.561Z
  • JM solved 2024-11-25T13:58:43.685Z
  • rjy solved 2024-11-25T14:56:16.327Z
  • Eric Porter solved 2024-11-25T14:57:08.854Z
  • DIS solved 2024-11-25T15:03:52.137Z
  • Meg solved 2024-11-25T15:19:41.901Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2024-11-25T15:33:09.991Z
  • boharr solved 2024-11-25T16:12:50.262Z
  • Hector solved 2024-11-25T17:09:28.076Z
  • Adam Doctoroff solved 2024-11-25T17:51:00.851Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2024-11-25T18:31:40.620Z
  • heidi solved 2024-11-25T19:45:20.130Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-11-25T20:29:09.616Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-11-25T20:34:10.617Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2024-11-25T20:46:43.804Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-11-25T21:01:50.174Z
  • Wendy Walker solved 2024-11-25T21:05:49.481Z
  • Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-11-25T21:27:32.225Z
  • markhr solved 2024-11-25T22:01:28.500Z
  • LB800 solved 2024-11-25T22:09:18.386Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-11-25T22:22:21.191Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-11-25T22:26:23.332Z
  • Gutman solved 2024-11-25T22:39:18.991Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-11-25T23:33:14.218Z
  • ajk solved 2024-11-25T23:37:36.089Z
  • woozy solved 2024-11-25T23:41:20.334Z
  • Berto solved 2024-11-25T23:49:22.461Z
  • AZinDC solved 2024-11-26T00:13:24.937Z
  • ELSavage solved 2024-11-26T02:30:50.738Z

Comments

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  • DIS 🤓6:03 · 2024-11-25T15:04:55.238Z
    Nice puzzle! I was stumped for a while, then remembered to look at the title.
    • boharr 2s · 2024-11-25T16:13:10.477Z
      Loved it!
      • Abide 5s · 2024-11-25T17:04:48.394Z
        Some very nice layers to this one!
        • DavyGravy constructor · 2024-11-25T17:22:02.329Z
          Right. The working title was “State of Play” which would have made it easier for the solver. However that title was taken a few months back and I didn’t want to copy it. Peter came up with Postal Cards which I think is clever - given that we’re merging postal codes and card games.
          • MatthewL 🤓5:53 · 2024-11-25T20:35:15.253Z
            Fun one. Had the right idea, but needed a little extra push to see the full glory. Thanks for the puzzle, Dave!
            • Wendy Walker 3s · 2024-11-25T21:06:30.497Z
              Very nice, Dave! Just the right amount of brain power required!
              • benchen71 2s · 2024-11-25T22:24:31.805Z
                I made it this far without grokking the significance of the bracketed numbers. Anyone care to explain what I missed?
                • DavyGravy constructor · 2024-11-26T00:09:31.412Z
                  The bracketed numbers represent the order of admittance to the United States. It serves as a hint to look for the state. Some of the card games had 2 states - so this indicated which state to extract.
                • ajk 🤓6:49 · 2024-11-25T23:47:01.839Z
                  Phase 1: 'ok, there are card games.' Phase 2: 'maybe those numbers correspond to order of admission to the Union?' Phase 3: staring. Phase 4: 'maybe delete the states? SPAS, cool. HETS, less cool. 😆 Phase 5: < glances from BRIDGE to BADGE > 'ooooh...' Very nice cascade of aha's. Thanks. :)
                  • DavyGravy constructor · 2024-11-26T01:13:39.017Z
                    That’s a great synopsis. Lots of layers. Thank you for this!
                  • AZinDC 16s · 2024-11-26T00:14:19.044Z
                    Great puzzle! Tricky but tidy.
                    • DavyGravy constructor · 2024-11-26T01:55:01.467Z
                      Thank you. I see you guys were group solving on Discord. That’s a great place to hash it out. Its saved me with the WSJ more than once!
                    • ELSavage 🤓7:44 · 2024-11-26T02:33:00.883Z
                      This one was right up my alley, since I once memorized the order in which the states joined the union. And the answer combination connects with another hobby of mine, so it was in the cards for me to get this one quickly. Thanks for the puzzle.
                      • DavyGravy constructor · 2024-11-26T02:52:50.798Z
                        My pleasure. It was fun to make!
                      1A
                      Mechanical men, for short
                      1
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                      61
                      62
                      63
                      64
                      65
                      66
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                      68
                      69
                      70
                      71
                      72
                      73
                      Across
                      1. 1A
                        Mechanical men, for short
                      2. 5A
                        Christmas Eve church service
                      3. 9A
                        "Me too"
                      4. 14A
                        “I’ll get to that right away”
                      5. 15A
                        "True ___" John Wayne Oscar winner from 1969
                      6. 16A
                        "___ Miner", punchline to "What do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft? (groan)
                      7. 17A
                        A-lister
                      8. 18A
                        Took Uber or Lyft
                      9. 19A
                        "Oh my gosh!" reactions
                      10. 20A
                        West Indian native
                      11. 22A
                        Where you might pick your lox?
                      12. 24A
                        Apt to meddle
                      13. 25A
                        Garden tools (1)
                      14. 27A
                        Boy Scout patch
                      15. 29A
                        Cleverly dodge
                      16. 31A
                        Main arteries
                      17. 35A
                        Summer style drink
                      18. 38A
                        Make a long story short?
                      19. 39A
                        Artichoke centers (25)
                      20. 40A
                        Cancel
                      21. 41A
                        GPS suggestions
                      22. 42A
                        Celtics, on scoreboards
                      23. 43A
                        OJ Simpson trial judge Lance
                      24. 44A
                        Hockey referee's ruling
                      25. 46A
                        "___ bro?" (question from an internet troll)
                      26. 47A
                        Western treaty group
                      27. 48A
                        River expanse (13)
                      28. 49A
                        Dressed to the ___ (all decked out)
                      29. 51A
                        "Little ___ Coupe", Beach Boys hit of 1963
                      30. 53A
                        Begins, as a project
                      31. 57A
                        Turkeys and chickens
                      32. 60A
                        Long lasting hairdo
                      33. 62A
                        Fireplace implement (46)
                      34. 63A
                        "Give ___ ", really care (like an owl perhaps?)
                      35. 65A
                        Area in the back
                      36. 67A
                        Byron of "Myth Busters"
                      37. 68A
                        "Not exactly"
                      38. 69A
                        Beige's cousin
                      39. 70A
                        French verb meaning "to be"
                      40. 71A
                        "Kids ___ days ..."
                      41. 72A
                        Editor's marking
                      42. 73A
                        Distribute cards, and a hint to the meta answer
                      Down
                      1. 1D
                        Golden-brown pears
                      2. 2D
                        Available by the glass
                      3. 3D
                        Fancy headwear
                      4. 4D
                        Take things in ___ (stay calm)
                      5. 5D
                        Boss (abbr.)
                      6. 6D
                        JLo’s ex fiance
                      7. 7D
                        Extra wager
                      8. 8D
                        Type of monument
                      9. 9D
                        Droop
                      10. 10D
                        Tied to a particular time
                      11. 11D
                        In addition to
                      12. 12D
                        Atlas pictures
                      13. 13D
                        ___ -bitsy
                      14. 21D
                        Iced tea, e.g.
                      15. 23D
                        Boise natives, e.g.
                      16. 26D
                        "Let's ride partner!"
                      17. 28D
                        Hits a home run, in baseball slang
                      18. 30D
                        Start to appear?
                      19. 32D
                        Rock music's Rush, for one
                      20. 33D
                        "___ girl!"
                      21. 34D
                        Those, to Pablo
                      22. 35D
                        ___ Davis, portrayer of Alice on "The Brady Bunch"
                      23. 36D
                        Fashion house surname
                      24. 37D
                        Former soldier, briefly
                      25. 42D
                        Fitness mag stat
                      26. 45D
                        Stock buys
                      27. 46D
                        Slouching
                      28. 50D
                        Used a 62 across
                      29. 52D
                        The largest asteroid
                      30. 54D
                        Emulate Lipinski
                      31. 55D
                        Before firma or cotta
                      32. 56D
                        Bay window
                      33. 57D
                        Eschew one's food?
                      34. 58D
                        "This is not good..."
                      35. 59D
                        Eroded
                      36. 61D
                        Part of a stable family?
                      37. 64D
                        ___ -Bo ('90s exercise craze)
                      38. 66D
                        Bored worker's routine
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