Here's another SSS collaboration by "Wennedy" (fitting portmanteau word coined by @Al Sisti). We had lots of fun creating this puzzle (as a rookie constructor, Wendy finds that it's a great learning experience working with Rick!) and we hope you enjoy it. Nudges follow:
Literally, how do you draw a blank? And how might that apply to the puzzle?
2.What subject do many of the clues allude to (pretty blatantly)? Do you suppose it's relevant that one of the constructors just celebrated a significant birthday?
3. Look for six clues that have something in common.
4. Check out Clark E. Tripe's post #15 on the Muggle Forum, where he asked, "Would somebody please fill me in on what's going on???!"
Thank you to @Abide , @Al Sisti , and @MarkWoychick for test-solving and giving us great advice.
Ready to get started?
to save your puzzle progress/stats
This is a contest/meta puzzle. To submit your answer, first finish solving the grid (or reveal it if you get stuck or solved offline).
Leaderboard (updated hourly)
Hector solved over 1 year ago
BarbaraK solved over 1 year ago
Gutman solved over 1 year ago
SamKat9 solved over 1 year ago
Schmeel solved over 1 year ago
whimsy solved over 1 year ago
Pair O Ducks solved over 1 year ago
Katiedid solved over 1 year ago
Capn Rick solved over 1 year ago
boharr solved over 1 year ago
andeux solved over 1 year ago
KayW solved over 1 year ago
Meg solved over 1 year ago
ajk solved over 1 year ago
Carolyn solved over 1 year ago
Qmark solved over 1 year ago
Cindy Weatherman solved over 1 year ago
michaelm solved over 1 year ago
DIS solved over 1 year ago
Darth solved over 1 year ago
Laura M solved over 1 year ago
Rufus T Firefly solved over 1 year ago
CPJohnson solved over 1 year ago
MatthewL solved over 1 year ago
HeadinHome solved over 1 year ago
ReB solved over 1 year ago
Tyrpmom solved over 1 year ago
I K Snamhcok solved over 1 year ago
Berto solved over 1 year ago
heidi solved over 1 year ago
JM solved over 1 year ago
Dow Jones solved over 1 year ago
Bird Lives solved over 1 year ago
JHSeeman solved over 1 year ago
Sharkicicles solved over 1 year ago
DrTom solved over 1 year ago
Tom Wilson solved over 1 year ago
Cindy Heisler solved over 1 year ago
markhr solved over 1 year ago
hoover solved over 1 year ago
Alvibu67 solved over 1 year ago
Deb W solved over 1 year ago
Kulea solved about 1 year ago
Serafin solved 4 months ago
Comments
Sign in with google to leave a comment of your own:
Well, that took longer than it should have. Spent a lot of time trying to literally fill in the blanks with other things. Or completing blanks by extending entries on the side, etc. Finally got around to looking at the first letters of the clues.
Target audience reached for sure, Wennedy. Now for the influx of AARP ads. Excellent puzzle and obviously thanks for the budges, fudges, oh what are they called again?
I got this after too many failed attempts! I found the hidden message, but the Streisand CORNERS answer had me poking at a scrambled BRAIN in the upper right of the grid! haha My overcomplicated guesses: RACK YOUR BRAIN or SCRABBLE BRIAN -- I mean, drawing a blank can be a good thing in Scrabble, right? ;) Thanks for the fun solve.
SENIOR … moments? Is that somewhere, or just intuited? Whatever… I intuited it, so here I am. I had at first spent time on all the entries whose clues related to memory/memorial/forget/overlook etc… and there are nearly thirteen of them! But of course they led only to (no) alphabet soup (for you!). Considered WAGging NOW LET ME THINK, and CAN’T RECOLLECT. Then I looked at the clues with blanks, and saw the phrase they made (lapses which you may wanna forget), but couldn’t think how to get to a 13-letter answer from 6 things, so i didn’t put much effort into looking for letters to string together. (When I finally did try again, SENIOR was easy to find of course.). Loved the puzzle!
Yes, "MOMENTS" is inferred. Originally we had MOMENT in the grid where LAPSES appears, and the answer was simply SENIOR, which is spelled out by the first letters of the fill-in-the-blank clues.
HeadinHome 🤓1:39 · over 1 year ago
The fact that the letter total is odd helped me give up on trying to get all the letters directly from the 6 clues/grid once I’d seen “senior.” The theme of memory is so strong, and really nothing else could go with “senior” in this vein… perfectly legit.
SENIOR is spelled out via the first letters of the 6 symmetrically-placed fill-in-the-"blank" clues, which, when read in grid order say "Lapses which you may wanna forget". (i.e. Senior Moments).
HeadinHome 🤓1:39 · over 1 year ago
ALSO — they say that two of the best things for keeping aging brains in good condition is puzzle challenges and community connection. Wish I could find a pastime that combines those two things!
Be careful all of you or we will start seeing infomercials for “Mugagen memory enhancement tool. Created from the collective brains of nice people, this remarkable new product will expand your knowledge and brighten your life. Be one of the first 25 to reply and we will throw in camaraderie and gentle hazing as a bonus.”
HeadinHome 🤓1:39 · over 1 year ago
I would buy that.
HeadinHome 🤓1:39 · over 1 year ago
(Ha ha ha ha ha)
ReB 4s · over 1 year ago
Needed the nudges to get the phrase, but then it was being reminded that the significant birthday event was Wendy turning 65 that gave me the answer (the traditional age when one becomes a senior = SENIOR MOMENTS, which turned out the be 13 letters. Definitely a bit off the beaten path for metas. Thanks
Thank you so much -- we had a great time putting in every reference to memory that we possibly could!
I K Snamhcok 2s · over 1 year ago
Very satisfying solve! I struggled just long enough to not get frustrated. And found time for my own senior moment — a nice nap — in process. Thanks, Wennedy!
Glad you enjoyed it! I have been a happy napper even since my college days.
Berto 🤓2:52 · over 1 year ago
Needed the nudges. Was drawing a blank, figured out the SENIOR part, and then just went with the first phrase of 13 letters that made sense.
I have the big 5-0 coming up next year. I’m always telling my wife that these puzzles are keeping my brain active!!
Thanks Wennedy!
It was our pleasure -- thanks for solving! And that is exactly what we wanted solvers to do: see the SENIOR part of the answer via the clues with blanks and infer the MOMENTS.
JHSeeman 3s · over 1 year ago
Nice challenge... read the blanks... jumped to Sr moments. Didn't realize the clue part until I saw the comments... nicely played
lol I did the reverse -- saw the clue starts and failed to read the blanks :)
Bird Lives 8s · over 1 year ago
My first hunch was that it was going to be about Scrabble. My first guess after filling the grid, finding the blanks, and reviewing the clues was FREUDIAN SLIP, even though FREUDIAN is in one of the clues. I totally missed the initial letters hint, but guessed the right answer.
My mother used to tell a great senior moments joke. Too long for here, but maybe Tueday evening.
Needed the nudges because I was trying to use the letters of the”forgetful” things, then was looking for things in the corner, then was trying to draw squares that might be blank….
Finally saw the blanks reference and after one attempt at using the answer letter tried the clue letter. When I only got “SENIOR” I thought”what” but then counted up the letters and decided you forgot to put the last part in That will start to happen you know, welcome to the club!!!!
SENIOR is spelled out via the first letters of the 6 symmetrically-placed fill-in-the-"blank" clues, which, when read in grid order say "Lapses which you may wanna forget". (i.e. Senior Moments).
I took the first letter of the grid entries for (several of) the memory related clues —LISA, BACH, BOBBY EWING, CORNERS, ANITA, SHE — and got 6/8 of the letters to make the word SCRABBLE. I just needed to find the R and E somewhere. You can of course draw blanks in a game of Scrabble. I didn’t see the SENIOR part from the clues until every nudge was read. Then I thought it was SENIOR MOMENT, with the blank space between the words representing the blank tile to make a 13-letter phrase. I definitely overthought this one!