Explanation: We have our four main themers (whose clues were irrelevant, so I just went with general math stuff - sorry, haha): NINETYONE, EIGHTYONE, SIXTYONE, EIGHTYNINE. Now that's all fine and good, but in a puzzle centered around four two-digit numbers, to have the same digits repeated often cannot be a coincidence. In numeric form: 91, 81, 61, 89. What do these numbers have in common? In line with the title, we can all turn them around - literally 180 degrees around (upside-down!), and a new number forms. In order: 16, 18, 19, 68. Note these are now in numerical order also, hence why I wanted to keep those themers as they were and broke symmetry as a result.
Conveniently, all four of these new numbers are in the grid; the letters at those locations are U, O, M, and I. This certainly doesn't look like much at first glance, but let's abide by the title again and turn these letters upside-down (but as a package deal, so U O M I itself gets turned 180 degrees and not just each individual letter). This forms I WO∩, the answer to the meta, and hopefully something said after someone turns things around! (The Texas Rangers turned things around considerably this past season!) This might even be more clear writing the grid letters in lowercase first.
I already can anticipate one possible quibble or question: why would I have the "N" in "I WON" come from a "U" as opposed to an "N" itself (which, when turned upside-down, is also an "N"?). A mix of reasons that maybe won't pass muster, haha. First, if the "N" stayed an "N," the only real exciting thing that happened on turning the letters upside down was the "W" goes to an "M." I also thought some might try mirror-image stuff with that - I almost thought it would spell "I'M ON!" but I think the "N" would be backward. And, honestly, I just thought the "U" turning into an intersection-like "n" looked cool lol.
yay a math puzzle!! i got them all sans calculator ... then skipped to the four numbers, turned them all upside-down thinking i would solve a mikey g puzzle in record time... but then proceeded to get stuck for a long long time... my small brain couldn't convert from capital to lowercase letters, so the N escaped me
i don't get the pun on "UNAGI"... i know it's an eel but what is the expensive studio reference? is that the intro to wheel of fortune?
Yes, or it used to be! That is the very old-fashioned beginning to Wheel of Fortune in the '70s and into the '80s when they actually had to shop for merchandise. Before I was a crossword nerd, I was a game show nerd. Still am!
And though I'm a math teacher, I had to check the work for those clues at least three times, haha.
whimsy 20:46 · 2024-04-14T00:25:07.951Z
I got all the math without a calculator too! -- I used the Downs instead. Had the correct numbers/squares but, yes, the lower case "u/n" held me up too. Made good use of the prompt to get myself to see what the answer should be. Stretch that mind! Fine puzzle! Thanks, Mikey!
NIce puzzle, dense solver. The one thing I did not do was to turn the NUMBER itself upside down. I was so sure it was degrees because of the red herring. Oh, well. Thanks to Meg for a push.
Doh! Talk about running the entire length of the field from the KO and dropping the ball an inch before the goal line… Now I? Now I see? And “Think about IT.” - turn IT around? 68ac becomes TILL??
Aaaaaaaand face palm.
Tyrpmom 35:58 · 2024-04-19T02:56:39.610Z
Revisited this and finally found it. Clever.
syoustra 28:04 · 2024-04-19T03:41:59.562Z
I saw Step One pretty immediately .... and then took forever to take it to Step Two. Really clever!
Meta World Peace 4s · 2024-04-20T13:36:39.801Z
Super click on the final 180 (081?), Mike!
Steve M 47:56 · 2024-04-23T01:15:00.261Z
Started the puzzle early, wrote down 16, 18, 19, 68 and got U O M I, and didn’t think of turning things around. Then, too many other things going on and forgot to return to the puzzle until today, for an after the deadline submission. Another really fun one! Thanks!
"This isn't my lunch order!" "Must be a ___ sandwich"
9A
Saw, perhaps
14A
___ sci (college major that sounds like what your pet parrot will do if she doesn't get a treat)
15A
Pro ___ (proportionally)
16A
"Look at this studio! Filled with expensive ___! Just waiting to be eaten today on 'Eel...of...Fortune!'"
17A
Shrinking sea between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
18A
Harbinger
19A
"Dude!"
20A
Sum of the first six perfect squares, excluding zero
22A
Namesake of the highest accolade given out by USA Track & Field
23A
States
24A
Actress de Armas who remarked, "I remember the first time my name was in the 'New York Times' crossword. Everyone texted me and they said, 'You made it!'"
25A
Section at Blockbuster (what's that?)
28A
Square of the square of the second prime number
33A
What good movies shouldn't be, according to my parents
35A
Nonclerical
36A
"You're such a messy artist!" "Right? ___ goes the easel!"
37A
Bird org., at one time?
38A
Part of 61-Down
40A
"You said you would water the lawn! So, ___ it!"
42A
67.5 deg.
43A
"I'm flat on my back ___ / Hoping these waves don't cover me" ("I Still Believe" lyric from The Call - great underrated band)
46A
Divan
48A
Three more than the sum of the first seven prime numbers
50A
First word in a popular 1953 Dean Martin song title
51A
Poetic preposition
52A
Gaming company whose name means "to hit a target" in Japanese
54A
Adam's son was up to the task: he was ___
57A
Ten squared less than the sum of four cubed and five cubed
62A
He was Sajak's "guest host" (intro only) on "Wheel of Fortune" on April 1, 2024
63A
Legalese term meaning "relevant" that becomes a Spanish mother with initial letter moved to the front
64A
Privy to
65A
"Fiddlesticks of woe!"
66A
___ list
67A
Indy athlete
68A
"___ pass"
69A
"Likewise!"
70A
HHH
Down
1D
Go across
2D
Singer in Hollywood
3D
Joie de vivre
4D
Real pickle ("Hey, what's the big dill?")
5D
Cold treat, for short
6D
Pie ___ (another dessert - I'm hungry, okay?)
7D
Fork, e.g.
8D
Anathema
9D
Early TV network and rival of ABC, CBS, and NBC that folded in 1956 (use 6 of 8 letters in DOCUMENT)
10D
"So getting back to what we talked about previously..."
11D
Did you hear the joke about the domesticated animal? It's pretty ___
12D
"The Candy House" author Jennifer
13D
Cacophonies
21D
Character with a pink mushroom cap who debuted in "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!"