All the Time
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All the Time

· By Mikey G

Meta Prompt
[Level 4] The answer to the meta is a phrase visually depicted in the grid.
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Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • KayW solved 2024-01-13T19:37:20.733Z
  • Hector solved 2024-01-13T19:45:59.130Z
  • DJB solved 2024-01-13T22:11:00.827Z
  • rjy solved 2024-01-13T22:21:11.515Z
  • Joe solved 2024-01-13T22:26:14.080Z
  • boharr solved 2024-01-13T23:24:10.925Z
  • Meg solved 2024-01-13T23:48:38.944Z
  • Philip Chow solved 2024-01-14T00:39:59.542Z
  • Abide solved 2024-01-14T02:08:18.472Z
  • SamKat9 solved 2024-01-14T02:12:29.765Z
  • BarbaraK solved 2024-01-14T02:25:37.941Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-01-14T04:28:57.026Z
  • Berto solved 2024-01-14T09:29:14.744Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-01-14T14:58:48.990Z
  • oldjudge solved 2024-01-14T19:21:30.727Z
  • Schmeel solved 2024-01-14T19:30:38.404Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-01-14T22:17:17.757Z
  • FrankieHeck solved 2024-01-14T23:35:33.432Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-01-14T23:55:12.396Z
  • Darth solved 2024-01-15T03:06:12.581Z
  • Bob J solved 2024-01-15T03:35:50.169Z
  • SJ solved 2024-01-15T14:31:46.260Z
  • Bbaack solved 2024-01-15T17:45:56.658Z
  • BrennerTJ solved 2024-01-15T20:31:34.931Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-01-16T18:42:50.668Z
  • Tyrpmom solved 2024-01-17T22:09:51.093Z
  • markhr solved 2024-01-18T00:07:59.345Z
  • DCBilly solved 2024-01-18T00:31:32.046Z
  • DrTom solved 2024-01-18T03:22:33.093Z
  • Steve M solved 2024-01-18T03:53:21.350Z
  • andeux solved 2024-01-18T06:35:54.900Z
  • Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-01-18T07:29:42.415Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-01-18T11:18:23.120Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2024-01-18T14:27:09.713Z
  • hoover solved 2024-01-18T15:53:41.609Z
  • woozy solved 2024-01-18T17:04:43.322Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2024-01-18T17:26:51.575Z
  • DIS solved 2024-01-18T17:38:31.789Z
  • Laura M solved 2024-01-18T19:12:13.675Z
  • JR solved 2024-01-18T19:27:36.438Z
  • JM solved 2024-01-18T19:38:45.711Z
  • heidi solved 2024-01-18T22:49:56.391Z
  • Gutman solved 2024-01-19T01:38:17.846Z
  • syoustra solved 2024-01-20T03:09:11.153Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2024-01-20T13:19:28.920Z
  • Capn Rick solved 2024-01-20T15:45:32.556Z
  • Eric Porter solved 2024-01-20T22:45:59.146Z

Comments

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  • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-13T18:00:30.254Z
    Answer: TWENTY-FOUR SEVEN
    Explanation: This is a SAD meta. Per the title, highlight all the instances of T, I, M, and E in the grid. You will see the three shapes of the numbers 2, 4, and 7 from left to right, indicating TWENTY-FOUR SEVEN, which certainly means "all the time" and is the answer to the meta! The explanation is a lot shorter than the creation; this probably took about 8 hours or so? The hardest part was the 4 region, especially the top: OCA and NAA are horrendous fill, but not being allowed to use, say, the "E" and the "T" limited things considerably. I did the meta analyzer on this, and the largest side-effect was that we had way more As in the grid than usual! Hopefully, you got an A in solving this!
    • Hector 2s · 2024-01-13T19:53:26.407Z
      Cool; thank you! I was trying to think of a comment that used only letters in TIME, but (if Litscape is to be trusted) it turns out there are few such words, none longer than four letters.
      • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-13T21:06:40.329Z
        Message from a clock, maybe: "I emit time." Yeah, not easy, haha.
        • DrTom 4s · 2024-01-18T03:40:52.033Z
          Well OK, the construction was a MITE intimidating and caused me to EMIT several colorful words along the way while trying to solve this ITEM.
        • KayW 🤓11:14 · 2024-01-13T19:41:38.451Z
          whoa!!!! Brilliant! And yep the first thing I saw was all the A's. but then I remembered that wasn't the title. Mechapuzzle definitely helped here. 6-As for you Mikey, this was fun. Great clues, too!
          • Philip Chow 🤓11:02 · 2024-01-14T00:48:30.705Z
            yeah there were so many A's! it was the first thing I highlighted but it didn't make any shape... so I dismissed making shapes for the longest time until I reread the title... i first misread the title as "at all time" and highlighted all the As and Ts... and could almost make out numbers and check marks
          • Joe 🤓9:32 · 2024-01-13T22:27:51.358Z
            So well done! For whatever reason, I keyed right into it. If I'd done it next week, I'd probably flounder. We that do metas. Our brains are weird.
            • DJB 2s · 2024-01-13T22:14:18.727Z
              Nice one! Appreciated the nudge in the prompt about the meta being visually depicted, as I'm normally pretty bad at exploring those mechanisms unprompted!
              • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-16T20:21:38.589Z
                I figure even with that, it was still a Level 4! So, that was the consolation, haha.
              • boharr 4s · 2024-01-13T23:27:08.350Z
                I saw those As and despaired. A nudge helped me not get my clock wiped. Thanks Mikey.
                • Philip Chow 🤓11:02 · 2024-01-14T00:46:58.426Z
                  wow!! awesome construction - it's so damn hard getting letters to fall in specific places - first thing i noticed was that grid symmetry was violated in the middle under salem so i focused near that area more... thought of time-related phrases that could be synonymous with the title including "around the clock" and "24/7" which was gonna be my first WAG guess before all the letter clusters jumped out at me. When I was first playing with "around the clock" idea, i tried to make words in round shapes around the black squares and i saw "anal sex" going clockwise where genoa and emeet meet... thought i was really onto something there 😂
                  • DrTom 4s · 2024-01-18T13:21:47.135Z
                    Well that must have been a pain...oh never mind.🫣
                  • SamKat9 🤓16:18 · 2024-01-14T02:14:44.609Z
                    Really awesome puzzle, I needed a nudge though because I was trying to make something out of the entire grid...it looks like a double helix....kinda :P
                    • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-16T20:22:15.910Z
                      makes mental note to do something like that where the answer is DNA
                    • Abide 3s · 2024-01-14T02:15:29.795Z
                      Me: Tite!
                      • benchen71 10:59 · 2024-01-14T04:30:08.286Z
                        I caved and asked someone for a nudge! Not sure I would have made the required leap without it, though.
                        • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-16T20:22:42.547Z
                          Yeah, it's a bit to do that! I think NIMIETIES and seeing a lot of letters in "TIME" might be an in? But, yeah, it's a bit trickier! Tricky to make, that was for sure.
                        • Berto 9:31 · 2024-01-14T09:43:24.535Z
                          I highlighted all the T’s and got nowhere. Saw the one square asymmetry at SNAX / TOOWN, and the odd 10D - and re-read the title. Shaded in a few more squares and “aha, a 2!”. Feverishly shaded the rest like a young Ralphie Parker with his decoder, and… voila. Thanks, Mikey!
                          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-15T00:02:34.729Z
                            I would have loved to do it with perfect symmetry - I tried a bit (about an hour maybe?) without that, and it was nearly impossible. Whew!
                          • oldjudge 7s · 2024-01-14T19:22:19.521Z
                            Brilliant, and very timely
                            • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-16T20:23:03.594Z
                              Thanks, Jay! Hope Stroman does well for you guys this year!
                            • whimsy 17:36 · 2024-01-14T23:48:05.878Z
                              Went down the A path before the alarm went off, then I got the picture! Thank you, Mikey -- nicely depicted!
                              • Pair O Ducks 2:21 · 2024-01-15T00:00:06.673Z
                                So cool! I literally gasped when I saw it. After tugging my hair for so long (I knew NIMIETIES was important... thought it was the letters from MINUTES? NINETIES?) and finally thought, huh it's a lot of letters from TIME, what if I just see where else those are... Definitely didn't expect that to in fact be the mechanism!
                                • Darth 🤓22:07 · 2024-01-15T03:08:24.628Z
                                  Lol. Just what I wanted the answer to be! I'm a visual person, so this was perfect. I just need to print screen and draw on the filled grid to see what I needed to see. ;) Thanks, Mikey.
                                  • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-16T20:23:51.746Z
                                    I think when I started doing metas about 4 years ago, I thought all metas would spell out some big picture in the grid. Sometimes, I would shade a bunch of letters, usually to little-to-no avail. 🤣
                                  • MatthewL 🤓20:08 · 2024-01-16T18:45:45.018Z
                                    This one was pretty darn cool. I had the right idea at first, but needed to take it a bit further, which I finally did. Will also say that the nudges didn't really help, because I honestly didn't understand them (par for the course). Thanks for the puzzle, Mikey!
                                    • Mikey G constructor · 2024-01-16T20:24:47.388Z
                                      Well, yeah, they start out cryptically but will get a bit more "nudgy" as the week progresses! And thank you for solving!!
                                    • DCBilly 🤓2:09 · 2024-01-18T00:36:19.369Z
                                      Needed the latest nudge, then I made the pretty pattern to get the answer...
                                      • hoover 2s · 2024-01-18T15:55:29.108Z
                                        Ingenious! Turns out I kinda had the right idea to start with, but dismissed it because NAA, who would do such a thing?!
                                        • DrTom 4s · 2024-01-18T03:38:28.002Z
                                          Talk about rabbit holes!!! This was a zen rabbit. I looked at all the possibilities and completely discounted filling in all of the TIME squares because, well because it seemed to be just soooo unlikely. I guess I should have known immediately that was the Mx. When I finally did, thanks to nudges, I used my grid which was incorrect because I had ILLUSIONS instead of ALLUSIONS which meant I had 2.47. Now interestingly the question of Karma arises because 2.47 is a Bhagavad Gita verse and verse 2.47 alludes to the "you do not get your reward here you get it in "heaven" so I thought AHA, Eternal Life, which you gotta admit fits the concept of ALL THE TIME. Then, using the Crosshare reveal, I went back and saw 2 4 7 and figured it was the FAR more common 24/7 (and yes I looked for 365). Difficult one, and lots more difficult because of the way I did it, but still quite entertaining.
                                          • Laura M 🤓9:50 · 2024-01-18T19:15:41.964Z
                                            Finally got it with nudge #3. Amazing construction!
                                            • HeadinHome 2:40 · 2024-01-20T13:23:48.781Z
                                              Had to reveal for PLANA and CPO. I had reversed the top and bottom letter: POANA is a grass used in golf courses in the spring sometimes because it’s quick growing and greens up quickly… so it could be the “first course” ?? I had CPL for the USN rank (because what to I know about military ranks?). That made OIFL as the accounting acronym (no idea… was just guessing… I hates all things accounting, and most maths for that matter). ANYhoo… I had actually thought to guess 24-7 as a good answer to the title, and wondered if there were perhaps 24 7-letter words (no, but good try, right?). The nudges made me focus on the grid fill related to T-I-M-E, and coloring those in was like kindergarten days — great fun!
                                              • Capn Rick 🤓11:44 · 2024-01-20T15:50:09.556Z
                                                Excellent job, Mike! I really love this type of metanism!
                                                1A
                                                First course?
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                                                60
                                                Across
                                                1. 1A
                                                  First course?
                                                2. 6A
                                                  Shout of adoration
                                                3. 13A
                                                  Fast ___ get-out (how I try to solve some metas)
                                                4. 18A
                                                  Some of them make pans
                                                5. 20A
                                                  Evangeline, e.g.
                                                6. 21A
                                                  Where cats put money into at poker night
                                                7. 23A
                                                  In reality
                                                8. 24A
                                                  New Haven collegian
                                                9. 25A
                                                  Dried-up body of water between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
                                                10. 26A
                                                  USN rank
                                                11. 27A
                                                  Some bluffs
                                                12. 29A
                                                  New Haven collegian
                                                13. 30A
                                                  Kitchen wrap you shouldn't eat
                                                14. 32A
                                                  Ring result
                                                15. 33A
                                                  Italian city known for its salami
                                                16. 34A
                                                  Make the virtual acquaintance of ("Nice to ___ you!")
                                                17. 36A
                                                  "Storage Wars" network that looks bizarre written out like this
                                                18. 38A
                                                  Italian city known for its cheese
                                                19. 41A
                                                  Junk food, in adspeak
                                                20. 43A
                                                  Rent-___ (purchasing option)
                                                21. 45A
                                                  Ride in which you don't do anything and just hesitate about getting on it: ___-go-round
                                                22. 49A
                                                  This is for the birds (my puns can't be beak)
                                                23. 51A
                                                  "The eyes of TJ Eckleburg" ("The Great Gatsby") and "Big Brother is watching you" ("1984") are two optical ___
                                                24. 54A
                                                  It's a pretty gourd instrument (don't get rattled by my puns)
                                                25. 55A
                                                  Upholstered piece of furniture (sofa, so good!)
                                                26. 56A
                                                  Ensigns, e.g.
                                                27. 57A
                                                  "You're tellin' me!"
                                                28. 58A
                                                  Houses, in Havana
                                                29. 59A
                                                  Nelson Mandela's mother tongue
                                                30. 60A
                                                  ___ a fox
                                                Down
                                                1. 1D
                                                  Kind of school
                                                2. 2D
                                                  "___ and FIFO!" (acronyms my college accounting professor liked to bellow out) (anagram of FOIL)
                                                3. 3D
                                                  One-time connection
                                                4. 4D
                                                  Crossword construction, e.g.
                                                5. 5D
                                                  Join the cast of (Porky Pig tried to get to Broadway, but he was such a ham)
                                                6. 6D
                                                  Cinematic censor of old Hollywood that some wanted to bale on
                                                7. 7D
                                                  Andean tuber that's in the middle of an avocado?
                                                8. 8D
                                                  West Coast capital
                                                9. 9D
                                                  Fictional book about an agriculturalist who likes a certain British pop star: "The Farmer and ___"
                                                10. 10D
                                                  Excesses (yeah, I didn't know this word either)
                                                11. 11D
                                                  First moonwalker's monogram (this puzzle's not winning any fill awards, I know, haha)
                                                12. 12D
                                                  Author Quindlen of "How Reading Changed My Life"
                                                13. 13D
                                                  Be broadcast by
                                                14. 14D
                                                  Be bold in who you are
                                                15. 15D
                                                  Braves, on scoreboards
                                                16. 16D
                                                  Enumerate
                                                17. 17D
                                                  "This onion appeared out of nowhere on my canoe!" "Guess this boat has sprung a ___"
                                                18. 18D
                                                  Public health agcy.
                                                19. 19D
                                                  Some recitals
                                                20. 21D
                                                  DKNY part (Donna's ___ about fashion)
                                                21. 22D
                                                  Saint, in Portuguese
                                                22. 28D
                                                  Turner or del Rey
                                                23. 31D
                                                  When Ginger Cat needs to refill her crunchies bowl, she puts the movie on ___
                                                24. 33D
                                                  Exams for MBA hopefuls
                                                25. 34D
                                                  "Smooth move, ___!"
                                                26. 35D
                                                  Start to an Irish lullaby
                                                27. 37D
                                                  How I don't like to wake up
                                                28. 38D
                                                  Blundered ballet step: faux ___ de deux
                                                29. 39D
                                                  Nice with?
                                                30. 40D
                                                  Singer Ora whose surname is usually the one in the grid!
                                                31. 42D
                                                  Tirana is its capital: Abbr.
                                                32. 44D
                                                  Switch positions
                                                33. 46D
                                                  Tabula ___ (blank slate - and if you know your philosophers, this clue is a Locke)
                                                34. 47D
                                                  Some HDTVs
                                                35. 48D
                                                  "I solved the meta!"
                                                36. 50D
                                                  "I solved the meta!"
                                                37. 52D
                                                  Wildcats sch.
                                                38. 53D
                                                  ___-caps (extremely healthy theater snack)
                                                39. 54D
                                                  Bad start?
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