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Call Letters

· By Mikey G

Meta Prompt
[Level 1.5] The answer to the meta, 7 characters long, is a certain U.S. radio station's nickname.
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • oldjudge solved 2024-08-10T17:01:06.108Z
  • KayW solved 2024-08-10T17:09:36.847Z
  • Hector solved 2024-08-10T17:18:28.332Z
  • frostyjhammer solved 2024-08-10T17:20:59.276Z
  • Bob J solved 2024-08-10T17:35:32.841Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2024-08-10T17:38:58.930Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2024-08-10T17:43:01.669Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-08-10T17:45:05.177Z
  • hoover solved 2024-08-10T17:46:55.912Z
  • Meg solved 2024-08-10T17:53:51.359Z
  • JM solved 2024-08-10T18:11:24.377Z
  • boharr solved 2024-08-10T18:13:39.932Z
  • FrankieHeck solved 2024-08-10T18:18:31.489Z
  • Berto solved 2024-08-10T18:33:39.919Z
  • Toast solved 2024-08-10T18:35:37.483Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-08-10T18:49:58.484Z
  • Rick solved 2024-08-10T19:11:31.682Z
  • BarbaraK solved 2024-08-10T19:14:12.437Z
  • Schmeel solved 2024-08-10T19:54:34.213Z
  • Philip Chow solved 2024-08-10T19:58:17.726Z
  • DCBilly solved 2024-08-10T20:00:07.319Z
  • anopheles solved 2024-08-10T20:06:44.575Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-08-10T20:31:30.776Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2024-08-10T21:22:18.509Z
  • Alex W solved 2024-08-10T22:10:27.574Z
  • DJB solved 2024-08-10T22:19:04.048Z
  • Sendhil Revuluri solved 2024-08-10T22:20:57.162Z
  • Bird Lives solved 2024-08-10T22:27:34.576Z
  • LesY solved 2024-08-10T23:43:02.775Z
  • Gutman solved 2024-08-11T00:06:40.364Z
  • andeux solved 2024-08-11T00:26:34.842Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2024-08-11T00:57:37.133Z
  • Joe solved 2024-08-11T01:58:02.266Z
  • Carolyn solved 2024-08-11T02:02:14.335Z
  • JHSeeman solved 2024-08-11T02:44:02.955Z
  • spotter solved 2024-08-11T03:25:29.919Z
  • kurtalert solved 2024-08-11T05:02:52.644Z
  • Zimodo solved 2024-08-11T06:48:16.305Z
  • Tom Wilson solved 2024-08-11T07:23:29.285Z
  • Salty solved 2024-08-11T09:24:00.128Z
  • Account solved 2024-08-11T09:26:10.235Z
  • Darth solved 2024-08-11T10:45:56.498Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-08-11T11:46:48.154Z
  • Julie bookworm solved 2024-08-11T11:58:40.978Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2024-08-11T13:28:25.875Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-08-11T13:48:29.814Z
  • damefox solved 2024-08-11T15:46:15.702Z
  • Chris solved 2024-08-11T15:47:31.690Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-08-11T16:19:39.125Z
  • Eric Porter solved 2024-08-11T18:55:11.605Z
  • Laura M solved 2024-08-11T20:14:23.815Z
  • DrTom solved 2024-08-12T04:01:03.603Z
  • Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-08-12T08:05:36.086Z
  • Alex Sisti solved 2024-08-12T15:41:08.718Z
  • iceman solved 2024-08-12T16:00:21.965Z
  • DIS solved 2024-08-12T17:12:07.473Z
  • BrennerTJ solved 2024-08-12T17:12:30.252Z
  • Bbaack solved 2024-08-12T22:10:42.758Z
  • Abide solved 2024-08-13T03:47:54.757Z
  • Qmark solved 2024-08-13T12:05:14.864Z
  • rjy solved 2024-08-13T20:33:10.943Z
  • syoustra solved 2024-08-14T02:51:51.767Z
  • Darrell solved 2024-08-14T18:11:46.215Z
  • Lanny Gilbert solved 2024-08-15T18:23:46.591Z
  • Tim solved 2024-08-15T20:25:14.605Z
  • Sue Adams solved 2024-08-15T21:30:15.604Z
  • Dave C solved 2024-08-16T02:01:00.431Z
  • heidi solved 2024-08-16T20:10:26.321Z
  • woozy solved 2024-08-17T00:07:18.093Z
  • health goethe solved 2024-08-17T05:37:26.696Z
  • Meta World Peace solved 2024-08-17T12:33:37.744Z
  • ELSavage solved 2024-08-17T14:46:27.261Z
  • Tyrpmom solved 2024-08-17T14:50:57.321Z
  • Myelbow solved 2024-08-17T16:50:52.035Z
  • David C solved 2024-08-19T00:19:44.361Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-08-22T13:09:57.523Z
  • Josh solved 2024-09-03T23:16:04.201Z
  • lukadisgre solved 2024-09-09T20:37:58.868Z

Comments

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  • KayW 🤓3:44 · 2024-08-10T17:10:53.352Z
    haha half-way there the first time. I shoulda looked at the puzzle number. KOOL! (tho I'd never heard of it. But google helped out)
    • oldjudge 2s · 2024-08-10T17:01:47.532Z
      Very kool indeed
      • frostyjhammer 🤓5:59 · 2024-08-10T17:22:07.199Z
        Fun! Also kool 😎or is that kewl?
        • whimsy 9:28 · 2024-08-10T17:46:32.995Z
          Thanks for playing it cool and easy this time, Mikey!
          • hoover 2s · 2024-08-10T17:49:28.743Z
            I thought this was going to wander into the NATO alphabet, what with starting with PAPA and all. 32A, at first I thought was a BTO knockoff: C-c-cover-vi... but that thought didn't last long.
            • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-12T01:30:38.790Z
              Oooh, a possible meta idea, though I think I've seen something NATO-ey before! I have the right name for it, though!
              • woozy 🤓8:16 · 2024-08-17T00:20:05.034Z
                VI was such an improvement over Line Edit... I figured maybe there was some modification of the unix editing system using CC protocol.... That's the state of my despair when I completed the grid.... you know, in all this only took me about 7 minutes to solve which is pretty dang fast but prior to solving.... wow, I don't remember ever feeling so dismally bleak.
              • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-10T17:12:26.190Z
                Answer: KOOL 105
                Explanation: The four horizontal entries each cue us in to a single letter: STRIKEOUT (K, as strikeouts are indicated on scoresheets), RAYFORMDS (X - RAYVISION was another contender here), POTASSIUM (K, for all your periodic table and banana enthusiasts), CCCOVERVI (300/6 = 50, so L - don't we just love Roman numeral math?). The four letters, in order, spell out KXKL; a quick search on the Google Machine will find these are the call letters for Denver's KOOL-105, the answer to the meta.
                It's a numeric tie-in, as you might have guessed (have to do one soon, as 107.9 is the highest possible FM frequency), but it's also a personal tie-in; I grew up in Denver in the '90s and loved radio stations; I once had all the call letters and frequencies memorized on the FM dial. Do not ask me why, haha, but I was always interested in this. My go-to was the oldies station KOOL-105, playing mostly hits then of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. Since then, it looks like it's pushed into the '80s, and it'll be weird when "oldies" constitute the '90s. Do they already??
                Feel free to share your favorite radio stations or music references below! I'm in Chicagoland now, and my dad loves WXRT, which is adult alternative. My mom eschews that in favor of WLS, a classic staple that played then-modern songs in the '60s and '70s. It went talk for a while but revived itself as a classic hits station of the '60s, '70s, and '80s. I'm also partial to WLIT, soft rock that goes all-Christmas during the holidays. Happy listening!
                • health goethe 🤓10:16 · 2024-08-17T05:46:54.420Z
                  I see a few comments here referring to the puzzle number, and you mention that number was a hint, but I don't see the puzzle number on the description or on the puzzle board anywhere? Does it only appear until you complete the puzzle?
              • boharr 3s · 2024-08-10T18:14:00.731Z
                Clever. Thanks, Mikey.
                • Berto 1s · 2024-08-10T18:35:05.763Z
                  Phew. Totally whiffed on the beverage - but this came to the Kool aid of my meta ego.
                  • LarsCaine 🤓8:30 · 2024-08-10T19:17:53.865Z
                    #2 had me tripped up for a little bit. Did a lot of Googling for ray form lol
                    • DCBilly 3s · 2024-08-10T21:24:01.273Z
                      This gave me a problem until I did the math correctly...
                      • Bird Lives 8s · 2024-08-10T22:29:44.770Z
                        I thought the answer was going to be Zeisel. (Helmut was a big classic rock fan.)
                        • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-12T01:33:52.768Z
                          I had to look this up, haha. Now that I know 105 is a Zeisel number, I need to find the values of a, b, and p that make this true! (I could look it up, but what's the fun in that!)
                          • Bird Lives 8s · 2024-08-13T01:13:01.346Z
                            It's the lowest (or first, I guess) Zeisel number. I must have gotten it by Googling "105" because I'd never heard of Zeisel numbers either.
                        • HeadinHome 🤓53s · 2024-08-11T00:58:09.176Z
                          Never heard of it but google was helpful! Must give this one a listen!
                          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-11T05:40:04.911Z
                            Probably in this day and age you can give any local radio station a listen. Might have to for nostalgia sake!
                          • Joe 🤓4:25 · 2024-08-11T02:00:33.079Z
                            Rayform DS had me scratching my head until I parsed it correctly. Nice and (dare I say) easy? Even though I'd never heard of the station? Thanks as always, Mikey!
                            • JHSeeman 4s · 2024-08-11T02:47:46.526Z
                              I was trying so hard for it to be KDKA.. with Mike Lange phrase... Michael Michael motorcycle.... and he beat him like a rented mule
                              • Darth 10:09 · 2024-08-11T11:03:58.416Z
                                Kool to know your Denver connection! I lived in Lakewood for 9 years, so this station is familiar. Love that numeric tie-in! :D Thanks, Mikey.
                                • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-12T01:34:42.325Z
                                  Holy cats, we were right by there! Wow!
                                • benchen71 🤓4:46 · 2024-08-11T11:50:27.376Z
                                  I didn't get #2 initially. But when I discovered that KMKL was K-LOVE, my wife's favourite station, I had to submit it, even if the character count was off! ;-)
                                  • Pair O Ducks 🤓6:25 · 2024-08-11T13:52:40.370Z
                                    Whiffed this one thinking STRIKEOUT was X. I don't think I've ever changed my radio dial away for my local NPR station (unless I'm travelling and finding another NPR station!)
                                    • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-12T01:35:50.398Z
                                      My uncle loves NPR - need to listen to it a bit more! Also note the fact that NPR has three consecutive evenly positioned letters of the alphabet!
                                      • woozy 🤓8:16 · 2024-08-17T00:25:12.221Z
                                        I had no idea what strikeout was so I figured it had to be W because in any west coast/east coast dichotomy the bias is always for the East.
                                      • damefox 🤓3:01 · 2024-08-11T15:49:22.505Z
                                        Well, I knew it had to be a radio station that broadcast on frequency 105 😂. Plan B was to just look up a list of all of those if I couldn't parse RAYFORMDS. (Rayfrom ds? Rayform d s? Rayf or mds? So hard to see that one.)
                                        • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-12T01:36:21.133Z
                                          This reminds me of the one a while back that had "LOWERCASE F IN MUSIC" that some parsed as "fin music," initially. Sounds fishy to me!
                                        • DrTom 🤓7:25 · 2024-08-12T04:06:04.870Z
                                          Thankfully Mr. Google knew what I did not. My radio stations were all AM and mostly out of Buffalo, NYC or Philly. As for my FM stations, they are all NPR affiliates. Luckily I got Sirius about listening and now can get TED talks when I drive or walk (after MANY years I finally sprang for earbuds, now I wear them even when not listening so I can feign not hearing).
                                          Thanks for the softball Mikey
                                          • Abide 🤓6:14 · 2024-08-13T03:59:28.052Z
                                            From the Mississippi Delta we split our radio dial between Wolfman Jack (WLS) and Spider Harrison 15- LAC (WLAC Nashville).
                                            • Qmark 3s · 2024-08-13T12:05:29.904Z
                                              Enjoyed it...thanks Mikey!
                                              • Dave C 3s · 2024-08-16T02:02:26.396Z
                                                Got to it late, but got after googling the call letters. Cleverly done.
                                                • woozy 🤓8:16 · 2024-08-17T00:28:38.641Z
                                                  So I ONELOOKed w?kl and there were gazillions of christian stations. RAY FOR MDS should have been the easiest but I kept thinking "Gamma? Laser? Delta? Ray Kroc?"
                                                  Hey! OneLook is KOOL-ENO backwards!
                                                  • Meta World Peace 3s · 2024-08-17T12:34:52.229Z
                                                    Incredible milestone, Mikey--gotta put it on your CV!
                                                    • ELSavage 🤓10:01 · 2024-08-17T14:47:49.606Z
                                                      Wow! Four Clues that could only be filled in by crossing. Got stuck on #2 (still not sure how DS fits into it), but #3 was right in my wheelhouse. #4 was fun for a math guy, too.
                                                      1A
                                                      "A rollin' stone," per the Temptations
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                                                      Across
                                                      1. 1A
                                                        "A rollin' stone," per the Temptations
                                                      2. 5A
                                                        What Keats wrote when his balance was overdrawn: "___ on a Grecian Urn"
                                                      3. 9A
                                                        "If you drop this ticket, you might ___ your toe!"
                                                      4. 10A
                                                        If you want these and the lines are long, you'll have to mind your peas and queues
                                                      5. 11A
                                                        #1
                                                      6. 13A
                                                        Plaid
                                                      7. 14A
                                                        They're cookies, this is a crossword - you know what to do
                                                      8. 17A
                                                        #2
                                                      9. 21A
                                                        Put away
                                                      10. 22A
                                                        They have a cure for the common code: Abbr.
                                                      11. 23A
                                                        #3
                                                      12. 27A
                                                        ___ Bornes (French card game)
                                                      13. 28A
                                                        What you'll have to do in the directory if you see a shop you want to go to
                                                      14. 32A
                                                        #4
                                                      15. 35A
                                                        Threads
                                                      16. 36A
                                                        Yuletide (if I need any holiday puns, Yuletide me over!)
                                                      17. 37A
                                                        "___ la vie!"
                                                      18. 38A
                                                        43,560 square feet
                                                      Down
                                                      1. 1D
                                                        "Hey! You over there!"
                                                      2. 2D
                                                        "___ boy!"
                                                      3. 3D
                                                        [Thank you for that tuna!]
                                                      4. 4D
                                                        Some
                                                      5. 5D
                                                        First game in a series
                                                      6. 6D
                                                        Court
                                                      7. 7D
                                                        End of a professor's address?
                                                      8. 8D
                                                        Summer hrs.
                                                      9. 12D
                                                        Big brand in corn syrup
                                                      10. 15D
                                                        Start to present?
                                                      11. 16D
                                                        Campus close to Petco Park, for short
                                                      12. 17D
                                                        Knock on wood
                                                      13. 18D
                                                        "But I know tiny particles make up everything! I'm ___-ant about it!"
                                                      14. 19D
                                                        Abominable sight
                                                      15. 20D
                                                        Froot Loops bird (toucan play this game!)
                                                      16. 24D
                                                        "You were this close!"
                                                      17. 25D
                                                        Pole, e.g.
                                                      18. 26D
                                                        Williams who was the answer to Matt Gaffney's meta "Quartet for Strings"
                                                      19. 29D
                                                        Keaton played him in 2016's "The Founder"
                                                      20. 30D
                                                        Penultimate fairy tale word
                                                      21. 31D
                                                        Said one mosaic artist to another, "___ be seeing you!"
                                                      22. 32D
                                                        Atlanta health agcy.
                                                      23. 33D
                                                        "That's my ___!" (me, playing pool)
                                                      24. 34D
                                                        IRA options
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