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Face the Music

· By DrTom · Published 2023-08-30T11:30:55.301Z

Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is what you see from people who cannot face the music
Even if you are not Bill or Ted you might still have to face the music, and you certainly do in this Wednesday offering. I got a lot of help with this one from Al Sisti, and I think it might be a tad harder than some of my usual offerings. Still, it is quite getable, and I would say it was a Persian or Puma (and no that is not the answer, I would only pull that trick once).
Kitten
Calico
*Persian
*Puma
Lion
There will be Friday Nudges and of course I am always just a PM away.
FRIDAY NUDGES:
Nudge 1] When you hear the word "Face" where does tha make you want to look for something?
Nudge 2] Isn't clue 32A just the silliest thing you have heard? (well OK, this is one of my puzzles so probably not the silliest by a longshot, but still...)
Nudge 3] It might have helped if I had Julie Andrews sing you the clues?
SATURDAY NUDGES
Nudge 4] Consider the Solfège system for a minute, it is composed of those "syllables" made famous in "The Sound of Music"
Nudge 5] Still considering? Good! Now, the magic of those "syllables" is that each corresponds to a note on the scale A - B - C - D - E - F - G
One more left for Sunday
Here it is:
Nudge 6] If a constructor was being sneaky, he could swap out a syllable for a note!! Now certainly we don't know anyone sneaky enough to do that but, it is possible
The Reveal:
There are Solfege (Clue 32A) syllables that start 6 words. Each “syllable” corresponds to a note , thus the series of “syllables” that start words in the Grid are: Fa, La, Do, La, Re, Mi (FAiled. LApse, DOris, LAirs, REads, MIngle). Taking those from the scale you get FA=F, LA=A, DO = C, LA = A, RE = D, MI = E or FAÇADE (using the "Fixed DO Solfege"). Alternatively, each of those words has a corresponding “alternate” word that arises when you substitute the FACE of the word (the syllable) with the actual note.
FAILED = FILED = F
LAPSE = APSE = A
DORIS = CRIS = C
LAIRS = AIRS = A
READS = DADS = D
MINGLES = ENGLES = E
So yes, there were two ways to arrive at the answer, but I was almost certain everyone would have to use the 2nd method. Obviously, I had not reckoned on the musically inclined Muggles (I had Al Sisti help me with the scale so you KNOW it is as musically perfect as it can be) just using the FACE and EGBDF mnemonics to arrive home. Either way they “Faced” the music, giving it a new Face to discover the FAÇADE that has been presented.
For a fuller explanation and graphic reveal go to: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=140983#p140983
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Hector solved 2023-08-30T04:24:08.932Z
  • Schmeel solved 2023-08-30T10:47:22.519Z
  • boharr solved 2023-08-30T13:15:29.759Z
  • lbray53 solved 2023-08-30T14:23:57.626Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2023-08-30T15:42:46.611Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2023-08-30T15:51:19.003Z
  • SamKat9 solved 2023-08-30T16:35:14.585Z
  • woozy solved 2023-08-30T16:56:56.151Z
  • MatthewL solved 2023-08-30T17:58:43.906Z
  • Meg solved 2023-08-30T18:22:16.745Z
  • Mikey G solved 2023-08-30T19:16:23.954Z
  • markhr solved 2023-08-30T20:27:33.528Z
  • Philip Chow solved 2023-08-30T20:36:17.872Z
  • merlinnimue solved 2023-08-30T20:41:40.081Z
  • Tyrpmom solved 2023-08-30T20:43:33.151Z
  • hoover solved 2023-08-30T21:23:10.139Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2023-08-31T00:02:59.883Z
  • Gutman solved 2023-08-31T00:26:36.870Z
  • Laura M solved 2023-08-31T06:35:25.199Z
  • rjy solved 2023-08-31T13:15:15.626Z
  • JM solved 2023-08-31T13:19:50.632Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2023-08-31T13:47:55.042Z
  • heidi solved 2023-08-31T16:13:09.246Z
  • BarbaraK solved 2023-08-31T16:46:36.418Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2023-08-31T21:01:12.775Z
  • DIS solved 2023-09-01T15:06:12.400Z
  • andeux solved 2023-09-01T16:05:24.379Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2023-09-01T17:32:16.688Z
  • Ergcat solved 2023-09-01T17:58:20.383Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2023-09-01T19:16:50.468Z
  • DCBilly solved 2023-09-02T00:08:47.071Z
  • Darrell solved 2023-09-02T05:00:38.840Z
  • ajk solved 2023-09-02T20:07:02.641Z
  • whimsy solved 2023-09-02T20:41:36.340Z
  • ReB solved 2023-09-02T21:32:38.669Z
  • Katiedid solved 2023-09-02T21:35:22.266Z
  • KayW solved 2023-09-02T22:42:24.489Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2023-09-02T23:05:56.894Z
  • SeamusOL solved 2023-09-03T02:37:14.045Z
  • edestlin solved 2023-09-03T14:26:14.738Z
  • Berto solved 2023-09-03T14:49:22.391Z
  • kurtalert solved 2023-09-04T14:14:59.010Z
  • Carolyn solved 2023-09-04T23:54:04.000Z

Comments

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  • Hector 3s · 2023-08-30T11:30:55.301Z
    I C what you did there; thanks!
    • DrTom constructor · 2023-08-30T11:36:21.272Z
      Well after last week I wanted a SOLo attempt and I didn't have to look FA. though I needed some help on the scales because music is not a natural for MI, Thanks for solving!
    • boharr 5s · 2023-08-30T13:16:17.292Z
      Not an easy one for the tone deaf.
      • DrTom constructor · 2023-08-30T15:17:19.535Z
        I'll make note of that. 😁 Thanks for solving
      • lbray53 3s · 2023-08-30T14:25:09.331Z
        I was SO confused until I remembered that it is actually SOL so I could ignore SONO.
        • I K Snamhcok 2s · 2023-08-30T15:44:43.312Z
          Same as with lbray53, I at first used SONO. Also, I didn’t initially see LAIRS. Fun! Thanks, Dr. T!
          • woozy 19:32 · 2023-08-30T16:57:50.482Z
            32A Um... why wouldn't I believe you?
            • DrTom constructor · 2023-08-30T17:52:32.780Z
              Because some people think it is an Italian word, and besides if people didn't know the term, when they looked it up it would be a nudge towards the mechanism.
              • hoover 2s · 2023-08-30T21:24:07.645Z
                It's got a Frènch accènt; why wouldn't it be Frènch?
            • MatthewL 🤓9:46 · 2023-08-30T18:12:00.286Z
              Definitely more towards the Puma side of things, I think. Saw the first step fairly quickly, but needed a little nudge to see the second step. And then got confused with ANGLER, which led me to FADACAR. Took a bit to sort that out. Nice one, Tom!
              • merlinnimue 🤓8:13 · 2023-08-30T20:46:47.338Z
                finally off the struggle bus... i just could not see this without writing everything out with pen & paper and coloring the grid and getting out feet of red string to connect the dots...
                i did have all the right notes from the start, i just could not put them in the right order... hopefully i can still be part of the wolfgang... i'll see myself out
                • Tyrpmom 2s · 2023-08-30T20:48:04.869Z
                  Nicely constructed. I really appreciate 32A.
                  • Philip Chow 11:44 · 2023-08-30T20:38:19.787Z
                    nice mechanism - i appreciated the hint for looking up solfege :)
                    • woozy 19:32 · 2023-08-31T01:11:17.605Z
                      Well, I'd put this on the kitten side. But I guess I can see how it might be a puma. But I'd rate it kitten.
                      • Laura M 🤓8:01 · 2023-08-31T06:39:07.872Z
                        Nice one! I can't believe how long it took me to get there, considering how many years of piano lessons I had as a kid :-)
                        • rjy 3s · 2023-08-31T13:26:42.337Z
                          Terrific, Tom! (reversing that works too). Very clever with a rewarding aha! moment. Did not parse “Rock” properly for 27A, and not knowing surfing lingo either, I hastily entered MORIS (sic, as in Morris Day and the Time, a rock group) rather than DORIS, so my journey took quite a bit longer. Very cool when the scales finally fell from eyes!
                          • JM 🤓11:46 · 2023-08-31T13:27:17.229Z
                            Noteworthy contribution!
                            • HeadinHome 🤓7:53 · 2023-09-01T17:41:57.798Z
                              Forgot I had abandoned this one to wait for nudges. Came back and looked at nudges… no help at all (I had all that). Couldn’t figure out what to do with “face.” I first tried just singing the syllables to see if it sounded like a tune that would yield and answer, but no (very few tunes would start with FA). So I tried scoring the syllables on a musical clef (since the spaces of the treble clef are F-A-C-E, I thought maybe that was a hint). In the key of C, placing fa-la-do-la-re-mi on the treble clef gives them these notes: F-A-C-A-D-E. WAS THIS INTENTIONAL?? Because I see that the more “normal” solution is to de-face the theme entries of their musical syllable, then find an entry that uses those leftover letters (in order) with a new “face” (first letter) on it… also yielding FACADE. If this double way of solving was intentional, holy cow Dr. Tom how clever are you???!!
                              • DrTom constructor · 2023-09-01T21:11:19.326Z
                                You are a more clever solver than I am a constructor. plus you seem to have a musical ability I don't have in my toolbox. My intended path was the new "Face" for the "musically" starting word and then the new word started with the letter that corresponds to the Solfège syllable. So now there are three ways to solve it. We may set a record for paths to the finish that do not intersect a rabbit hole!!!
                                • HeadinHome 🤓7:53 · 2023-09-01T23:23:37.280Z
                                  What are the odds that putting those syllables on a basic treble clef would yield FACADE?? I mean, that is amazing !!
                                  • whimsy 🤓14:25 · 2023-09-02T21:02:42.763Z
                                    I actually understand both of your methods, Wendy, and agree -- great coincidence! But for me the "normal" solution was the first you listed!😄 Not sure I understand yours, DrTom -- sort of a cross between the two, maybe? Did I once test a very old version and get equally lost back then? 😄 No matter -- lots of paths! Thanks for the puzzle!
                                    • HeadinHome 🤓7:53 · 2023-09-03T17:26:17.969Z
                                      I think DrTom’s method is the same as what I was describing (take off the musical syllable & fine another grid entry theat puts a single letter in the syllable’s place). I wonder if anyone else other than us did the musical score method??
                                  • woozy 19:32 · 2023-09-04T05:53:30.494Z
                                    I think I understand Wendy's method (although I haven't tried to figure it out) but I can't understand Dr. Tom's explanation at all. I simply figured the obvious first thing to always try when you got things the correspond to letters is to try that. Since FA to TI are C,D,E,F,G,A,B that was always the first step to try.
                                    That's why this is a kitten
                                • Ergcat 21:23 · 2023-09-01T17:59:11.388Z
                                  Needed some help ! Guess I’m tone-deaf! Thanks DrTom!
                                  • ajk 10:08 · 2023-09-02T20:07:59.292Z
                                    Never seen the Sound of Music and don't know music per se, so needed all the nudges here. Fun in the end though. :)
                                    • DrTom constructor · 2023-09-02T21:36:58.564Z
                                      Oh Dear, no deer no female deer and no drops of golden sun! Well then sir you indeed had a long, long way to run. I'm glad you were able to see beyond my façade.
                                    • ReB 3s · 2023-09-02T21:37:56.842Z
                                      Too much knowledge led me astray on this one, I'm afraid, but that was unavoidable I'm afraid. I needed the 5th nudge to realize that you were operating under the common misconception that the DO-RE-MI sequence corresponds to the C-major scale. Since I had already found the theme answers, things then fell into place.
                                      Not quite sure why your nudges were HARPING on the clues, when it was the grid entries that were KEY.
                                      • DrTom constructor · 2023-09-03T03:53:21.674Z
                                        Well I wish I could have easily clued "Fixed do" because that DOES correspond to the C major scale. Of course with a fixed Do there would never be a Bambi and I loved that movie.
                                        • ReB 3s · 2023-09-03T13:25:14.093Z
                                          But then we also would have been spared "Bambi Meets Godzilla"...
                                          • whimsy 🤓14:25 · 2023-09-03T20:14:11.413Z
                                            I'm sure you meant to say: "Deprived of..." 😁
                                            • ReB 3s · 2023-09-04T00:28:11.946Z
                                              Sure, I've enjoyed it.
                                            • whimsy 🤓14:25 · 2023-09-03T20:11:49.760Z
                                              Advertised as "...second for second, the funniest flick ever..." or something like that! 😆
                                        • KayW 🤓6:57 · 2023-09-02T22:43:19.090Z
                                          do(h)!! I saw everything but the last step. I needed that last nudge to get the cat out of the bag. Thanks DrTom!!
                                          • Mwoychick 🤓10:46 · 2023-09-02T23:06:38.558Z
                                            Got it with nudges- thanks, Dr Tom!
                                            • Berto 🤓4:56 · 2023-09-03T14:56:50.198Z
                                              Oh my - I whiffed on that one. I got confused by having 2 LAs with a SO in between, and a TE coming down. (Thought should be “SOL” and “TI”…) Made a puma out of a kitten! Thanks DrTom!
                                              • DrTom constructor · 2023-09-03T18:23:45.264Z
                                                So your hiccup involved a L and an I...are you sure you are doing this weeks? Last week was the LI FELINE.😁
                                              • kurtalert 🤓6:03 · 2023-09-04T14:19:38.993Z
                                                Very nice! Had the do-re-mi part, but wasn't ever thinking to convert them to "traditional" notes! Nudge got me there. Fortunately, I guessed that this would be in C major, otherwise the notes would include flats/sharps, which would be a weird conversion- so I didn't have to work my way through all of the permutations of possible scales.
                                                • Carolyn 3s · 2023-09-04T23:58:15.204Z
                                                  Very clever. I've been out of the country so am just now getting to the puzzles. Having picked up Covid along the way, my brain is a bit fuzzy and I did need the clues!
                                                  1A
                                                  Apt name for a dentist
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                                                  71
                                                  72
                                                  73
                                                  74
                                                  Across
                                                  1. 1A
                                                    Apt name for a dentist
                                                  2. 5A
                                                    Early alphabet run
                                                  3. 10A
                                                    OJ's judge
                                                  4. 13A
                                                    Where to go for a recess in church
                                                  5. 14A
                                                    Danny who played Louie on "Taxi"
                                                  6. 15A
                                                    What it would be if you checked behind a novice's ears
                                                  7. 16A
                                                    Cooking amounts
                                                  8. 17A
                                                    Couldn't pass
                                                  9. 18A
                                                    Rock with a side of angst
                                                  10. 19A
                                                    Can't be easily found
                                                  11. 21A
                                                    Brotherly love
                                                  12. 23A
                                                    Momentary mistake in judgement
                                                  13. 26A
                                                    Benchmark: Abbr.
                                                  14. 27A
                                                    Costar with Rock, ___ Day
                                                  15. 28A
                                                    Wiggle words in estimates
                                                  16. 30A
                                                    Winter-time in L.A.
                                                  17. 31A
                                                    Purple Polynesian paste
                                                  18. 32A
                                                    Whence the term solfège (look it up if you don’t believe me!)
                                                  19. 36A
                                                    Quick read in bars: Abbr.
                                                  20. 39A
                                                    Sound start
                                                  21. 41A
                                                    The "N" in Grafton's "N is for ___"
                                                  22. 42A
                                                    Piper's description
                                                  23. 44A
                                                    Movie studio that was Grand
                                                  24. 45A
                                                    Mistress of the Dark
                                                  25. 47A
                                                    Snogging on a park bench; Abbr.
                                                  26. 48A
                                                    Remote needs
                                                  27. 50A
                                                    Nursed
                                                  28. 52A
                                                    Dragon's location
                                                  29. 55A
                                                    Classic site of iniquity
                                                  30. 58A
                                                    Interprets the green
                                                  31. 59A
                                                    Cake workers
                                                  32. 60A
                                                    Invade like vermin
                                                  33. 62A
                                                    Bible book after Ex.
                                                  34. 63A
                                                    Mix it up
                                                  35. 65A
                                                    Sports announcer, ___ Collinsworth
                                                  36. 69A
                                                    It can be brown or golden and might be pale
                                                  37. 70A
                                                    Fisherman
                                                  38. 71A
                                                    Taiwanese computer giant
                                                  39. 72A
                                                    Nova, Comet or Galaxy
                                                  40. 73A
                                                    Brown-___ (teacher's pet)
                                                  41. 74A
                                                    Post-performance exclamation
                                                  Down
                                                  1. 1D
                                                    Androgynous SNL character who got her/his own movie
                                                  2. 2D
                                                    Some computers for short
                                                  3. 3D
                                                    Comcast or Verizon; Abbr.
                                                  4. 4D
                                                    Not quite as much
                                                  5. 5D
                                                    What grandmas call the kids
                                                  6. 6D
                                                    Throw out
                                                  7. 7D
                                                    Put into folders
                                                  8. 8D
                                                    Pioneer cell phone co.
                                                  9. 9D
                                                    Surfing poseurs, in surf slang
                                                  10. 10D
                                                    "___ the chain I forged in life"; Jacob Marley's ghost
                                                  11. 11D
                                                    Adagio and allegro for two
                                                  12. 12D
                                                    Missouri River Indians
                                                  13. 14D
                                                    Honorary degree held by artists like Taylor Swift and Meryl Streep
                                                  14. 20D
                                                    "What's My Line" panelist Bennett
                                                  15. 22D
                                                    Arose
                                                  16. 23D
                                                    Cuts off
                                                  17. 24D
                                                    "Get___!" (call to those in 47A)
                                                  18. 25D
                                                    Messaging on an XWord-Muggle forum
                                                  19. 29D
                                                    Cousins of ospreys
                                                  20. 30D
                                                    Equals
                                                  21. 33D
                                                    Another one like 3 Down
                                                  22. 34D
                                                    Turkey's most important month
                                                  23. 35D
                                                    CBS TV franchise
                                                  24. 37D
                                                    Will's sister-in-law
                                                  25. 38D
                                                    Agreed to yield
                                                  26. 40D
                                                    Sydney whose newspaper column was out of this world
                                                  27. 43D
                                                    Known for their bods
                                                  28. 46D
                                                    Puts on the TV
                                                  29. 49D
                                                    Kramer's accidental license plate
                                                  30. 51D
                                                    Figaro to Gepetto
                                                  31. 52D
                                                    Light purple color
                                                  32. 53D
                                                    D.C. to Boston train service
                                                  33. 54D
                                                    "When will ___learn?"
                                                  34. 55D
                                                    Car-door jams
                                                  35. 56D
                                                    Robert F. ___; 2003 Noble Prize Winner in Economics
                                                  36. 57D
                                                    September Sunday Player
                                                  37. 61D
                                                    Always, poetically
                                                  38. 64D
                                                    Ending for bamb, or pecor in Italy
                                                  39. 66D
                                                    Company associated with a master's voice
                                                  40. 67D
                                                    Mil. roadside danger
                                                  41. 68D
                                                    Madrid Mrs.
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