Explanation: The alpha entry (PIANO) and the omega entry (SCALE) imply that we'll be dealing with music here, particularly the musical scale! The eight notes DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI, DO are placed about as symmetrically as possible within the grid (SOL's extra letter disrupts the symmetry slightly), hidden within other entries. These are the only uses of these within the grid! Per the title, take the letters on each note: LO WE RC AS EFI NM US IC. These re-parse as LOWERCASE "f" IN MUSIC, which signals FORTE, the answer to the meta, which also signals your crossword-solving ability! Also note the original name of the instrument PIANO was the pianoforte!
oldjudge 3s · 2024-03-16T17:28:23.998Z
I had a forte after too many beans, but I excused myself. Great puzzle Mikey--thanks!
Got to "forte" and was beating myself up... "What's the next step?!" Forte means loud, or played hard, right? LOLzz. Very well constructed meta puzzle, with one of the best titles/clues I've seen: "On That Note" is really all you need. Thank you!
Yes, in the context of music, that's exactly what it means! (And I only know that from research, as my music knowledge is not as up to par as it could be). So, it's playing off of the other meaning of FORTE, which means a personal specialty or strength (it looks like the root word means both "loud" and/or "strong," and the "strong suit" was probably the metaphorical meaning that evolved over time). Thank you for solving!
whimsy 17:35 · 2024-03-16T18:53:35.524Z
Neat method calling for the translation. But I did wonder briefly if we were dealing with Charlie the (piano) Tuna and his fin music -- whatever that is.
Thanks, Mikey!
When the tuna plays a tune (you can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish)
KayW 🤓8:24 · 2024-03-16T19:08:55.673Z
LOL I can't tell you how long I stared at that and kept saying to myself "What on earth is lower case fin music?! The theme from Jaws?" I finally re-parsed. Bravo, Mikey! Encore!
LOL this was me too. Finally googled lowercase fin music just in case it was a thing, and google was like "uh, I think you meant f in"
HeadinHome 🤓13:56 · 2024-03-16T20:04:12.459Z
HA! You got me… I spelled the whole thing out six ways to China, then went “what the he…. OHHHH.” Very very cute, Mikey!
MatthewL 🤓7:48 · 2024-03-16T21:51:25.421Z
Very, very clever. Really like how it all came together. Although I did spend a few minutes trying to figure out what the heck FIN MUSIC was. Music for sharks? Thanks for the puzzle, Mikey!
An initial idea for this involved trying to change notes into other things, involving sharps and flats, but nothing ever came of this. You have to B-sharp in your solving abilities, though! (Is there even a B-sharp, haha)
Fantastic one. Took me a little too long to back my way out of trying to solve what Lowercase Fin Music was... I was like... WTF is FIN MUSIC? Dolphins or sharks playing instruments? Sigh. LOL.
Meta World Peace 3s · 2024-03-22T17:46:33.027Z
Great HAL clue--acing standardized tests is impressive but I'll really salute AI when it can suss a stumper meta!