Up in the Air
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Up in the Air

· By Mikey G

Meta Prompt
[Level 4] The answer to the meta is a 7-letter word.
We have a toughie on our hands! Follow along with nudges here: https://xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?t=3074
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • oldjudge solved 2024-08-17T17:01:22.413Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-08-17T19:53:14.768Z
  • KayW solved 2024-08-17T22:07:40.510Z
  • Hector solved 2024-08-17T22:09:56.884Z
  • BrennerTJ solved 2024-08-17T23:52:55.126Z
  • Meg solved 2024-08-18T00:17:39.529Z
  • Darth solved 2024-08-18T00:27:10.575Z
  • JHSeeman solved 2024-08-18T05:09:47.362Z
  • Berto solved 2024-08-18T05:13:49.337Z
  • Abide solved 2024-08-18T05:29:11.143Z
  • ELSavage solved 2024-08-18T11:17:21.325Z
  • LesY solved 2024-08-18T11:24:08.923Z
  • boharr solved 2024-08-18T14:27:01.877Z
  • BarbaraK solved 2024-08-18T14:30:16.356Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-08-18T16:04:55.119Z
  • markhr solved 2024-08-18T22:00:37.407Z
  • heidi solved 2024-08-19T03:56:34.706Z
  • DrTom solved 2024-08-20T12:03:45.037Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-08-20T13:08:06.690Z
  • FrankieHeck solved 2024-08-20T20:42:47.687Z
  • spotter solved 2024-08-20T20:57:30.732Z
  • Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-08-21T01:18:27.267Z
  • andeux solved 2024-08-21T04:19:53.147Z
  • DJB solved 2024-08-21T06:58:34.637Z
  • JM solved 2024-08-21T15:25:59.619Z
  • dilly solved 2024-08-21T23:57:43.633Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-08-22T00:59:03.503Z
  • Tyrpmom solved 2024-08-22T03:38:19.195Z
  • woozy solved 2024-08-22T05:24:04.427Z
  • rjy solved 2024-08-22T12:00:14.375Z
  • Toast solved 2024-08-23T00:44:28.876Z
  • DCBilly solved 2024-08-23T13:59:41.239Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2024-08-23T19:17:41.562Z
  • lukadisgre solved 2024-08-23T19:43:54.653Z
  • Laura M solved 2024-08-23T19:53:29.636Z
  • damefox solved 2024-08-23T20:27:36.322Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2024-08-23T22:17:25.616Z
  • Avlan solved 2024-08-24T04:03:35.706Z
  • Meta World Peace solved 2024-08-24T04:04:04.711Z
  • hoover solved 2024-08-24T04:36:24.475Z
  • Qmark solved 2024-08-24T14:51:41.480Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-08-25T22:33:27.124Z
  • Gutman solved 2024-09-10T00:47:37.883Z

Comments

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  • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-17T17:00:23.640Z
    Answer: BALLOON
    Explanation: The main useful component of air to us humans is oxygen, whose chemical formula is O2. Note that several of the down entries - several in fact - have two Os separated by a few letters. For instance: ONAHOP has the word HAN in the middle, and this can also satisfy the clue for OBI. We'll do that with several of the down entries: ONOAHOP (HAN, OBI); SHOEBOX (BE, OWE); OLEOS (EL, LOS); ONION (IN, NEW); BONITOS (TIN, LID); MONACO (CAN; AXE); ROMEO (EM, BEE). The new entries are symmetrically placed, and their initial letters spell out BALLOON, going from bottom-left to upper-right, as if the balloon were being guided upward through the grid.
    As I'm sure Ben would note, the title and prompt are identical to his MGWCC guest puzzle that I was overcomplicating for two days straight. Sometimes, when I get stuck, I ask myself, "Okay, if I had to make up a meta with this title and prompt, how would it look?" Well, this is how it would look. Rest assured doing this did not help me get any closer to Ben's solution whatsoever, haha.
    • benchen71 🤓8:26 · 2024-08-18T02:15:25.912Z
      The title similarity did not escape me. However, the solution to this meta did escape me, until I received a nudge that set me on the right path. The way the BALLOON majestically drifts upwards across the grid is masterful!
      • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-24T03:11:01.589Z
        Very clearly a response meta to yours, since that was my thought. "Okay, Michael, if you had to create a meta with this title and prompt, what would you do?" The title, of course, was very necessary in yours in a clue way, and I still don't know what prevented me from seeing TBD, especially since I use that acronym all the time!! (My love of metas over time has also ballooned.)
    • Pair O Ducks 2s · 2024-08-17T19:55:43.783Z
      Ok WOW! This was one of those puzzles where the whole way I was doubting that that could possibly be the right path, but I just kept going until there it was! Really liked how the final answer stair-stepped up across the grid, too. That's a damn fine puzzle!
      • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-24T03:11:13.221Z
        Thank you! You are a deft solver and constructor both! Keep it up!!
      • KayW 🤓3:28 · 2024-08-17T22:08:29.532Z
        WOW!!! What an amazing meta, and that's not just a lot of hot air. Thanks, Mikey!
        • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-24T03:09:50.575Z
          Oxygen is indeed the air apparent!
        • Darth 🤓17:26 · 2024-08-18T00:33:42.930Z
          Awesome sauce! ;) That was fun! ... I was expecting something with George Clooney and his obsession with Flight 106. :D jk
          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-24T03:09:35.388Z
            I'm already trying to think of the next numeric tie-in, haha.
          • Abide 3s · 2024-08-18T05:31:35.659Z
            Really enjoyed this with a group solve of JHSeeman and Berto. I would never have gotten step one, since I have always believed Oxygen is O.
            • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-24T03:09:06.205Z
              One of those pesky diatomics indeed!
            • Hector 🤓6:13 · 2024-08-17T22:11:23.315Z
              Fun! With MGWCC and Negroni I totally spaced on this. Great to have a Saturday afternoon surprise meta, and an awesome one. Thanks for superb summer Saturday specials!!
              • ELSavage 🤓9:40 · 2024-08-18T11:19:07.704Z
                Wow! That was one of my most satisfying solves. Had to bring a lot of experience and tools to the table, but boy did it all pay off. Thanks for a great puzzle!
                • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-24T03:08:57.949Z
                  You're welcome! This is one of those that I liked but is getting very positive feedback, so I'm humbled as always!
                • boharr 5s · 2024-08-18T14:28:00.171Z
                  Needed a ton of help as I went off on a Star Wars tangent because I had HAH first.
                  • DrTom 3s · 2024-08-20T13:06:07.300Z
                    This one was HARD! I of course went the UP route, trying to reconcile the UP and the U??P and the U’s and the P’s and getting nowhere. I tried reading things “up” and there were some but not enough and nothing made sense. Finally I gave up and sent an e-mail request for assistance, and of course that was the catalyst. I went back and did something that usually does not help me at all until I analyze after the fact; I tried Mechapuzzle. Abnormal number of Os…so what. Now hold on here, didn’t I just have something sort of like this? Yep, O’s as in O2 or oxygen. SO I took the letters between all of them and got NOTHING. How can it be 9 letters???? OK, maybe it is something like “AN ???????”. But the words NAH, EM, EB,…LEW “WHAT”? OK, let’s go UP HAN, ME so, Star Wars, Advanced degree…I see where this is going. Obviously I was off because I tried to use all 9 O2 pairs, but I got enough of the letters that I saw it was balloon and then I got to see what I should have done.
                    VERY clever puzzle and construction, I want to thank my two muggle friends who I asked for help and got to the trick before they could respond. Often just asking makes it easier because you drop the panic of not being able to see what everyone sees and look for what you need to. The alternates were extremely well hidden.
                    • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-24T03:12:50.262Z
                      Yeah, that was another thing on Ben's that was wild; the EGGCUP and NOSHUP (I still remember it, haha) ended in UP, but I couldn't get anywhere with it. Not only that, those entries were 7 rows apart, so I thought that was something! Realizing PEEP and GULP (my goodness, I think I have this whole thing in my head now, haha) ended in P was the epiphany...and that was literally the Easter egg confirmation, hahaha.
                      Definitely limited on this one with the alternates, since the number of entries with words spelled out backward inside two Os was certainly a challenge to put together!
                    • Tyrpmom 6:32 · 2024-08-22T03:40:23.904Z
                      I’m impressed!
                      • rjy 2s · 2024-08-22T12:04:15.790Z
                        Wow, beautifully executed, Mikey!
                        • lukadisgre 🤓7:56 · 2024-08-23T19:55:12.314Z
                          Wow, INSANELY clever! First puzzle of yours I've played before the reveal and I'm blown away! (no pun intended)
                          Initially I was completely lead on by SEALUP, which I somehow noticed perfectly fit into PUHLEASE when read up. With the clue being [Make airtight, perhaps], I was convinced I was on the right track, and started looking for all kinds of air-related words in the clues. The clues for OBOE, MAXINE, and LAND had wind, gale, and cloud respectively. Plus OBOE anagrammed into SHOEBOX, so I got to one of the actual meta clues by accident.
                          Eventually I figured out something was up with MONACO, BONITOS, SHOEBOX, and ONAHOP by myself, and even found the connection between HAN and OBI, but it took your first batch of hints on the forum to completely figure it out. Finally got BALLOON five days after finishing the actual puzzle lol, very fun!
                          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-08-24T03:14:26.565Z
                            Well, hi there! I'm honored! Are you new to metas or just mine in general? I promise the puns get worse over time, don't worry.
                            Oh my goodness, I don't think I realized SEALUP was even in the grid; that could be a detractor, indeed! Wow, there was a lot going on here that I didn't even catch either! It is wild how a decent amount of cluing doesn't relate to the meta at all, so the constructor might forget about it, but when you're on the solving thing, you have to comb over everything!!
                            • lukadisgre 🤓7:56 · 2024-08-24T18:29:19.401Z
                              This is the first puzzle from you that I solved before the solution was revealed, excited to play the new ones :D
                          • hoover 3s · 2024-08-24T04:36:49.901Z
                            Feel like I've been dragged across the finish line!
                            • hoover 3s · 2024-08-24T04:41:53.303Z
                              This was another super amazing meta that was sadly beyond my meager/meagre skills. After the early nudges, I was like, oh hey, NITROGEN is the most prevalent component of air, and it's really important because you can die if you just suck on pure oxygen (or at least that's what the internet told me). After I got nudged to oxygen, I saw the O-O words, and wrote down HAN BE EM IN EL TIN CAN but I was trying to make that make sense, especially with the TIN CAN at the end. Then after the last nudges, I matched up CAN with LID and couldn't find a place for TIN, but I had OOBNLL which looked like BALLOON if I squinted a bit. Now that I'm typing all this out, I see that EM could match OWE. Fortunately I didn't fall into that rabbit hole. I am not worthy of these metas.
                              • Meta World Peace 16s · 2024-08-24T04:20:02.589Z
                                Whatever the opposite of SOLOED is... nicely describes my aimless drifting this week... until your UBEr nudges (the opposite of NO HELP) came to my rescue!
                                • Qmark 3s · 2024-08-24T14:52:19.656Z
                                  needed the nudges to finally find my way. Thanks Mikey!
                                  • Alvibu67 2s · 2024-08-24T17:52:11.882Z
                                    I was not able to solve, but reviewing the solution I see an alternate alternate clue for the TIN from BONITOS. I feel 37A, [Carnation location] could be TIN. Carnation Milk is available in tins. That gave me the L from LAPEL, in the correct spot to make BALLOON, but not symmetrically placed like the intended solution, but still correct. I couldn’t get the answer anyway, but just saw that in my review. Did anyone else see that? Fantastic puzzle, Mikey!
                                    1A
                                    Bugs' "Space Jam" girlfriend
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                                    Across
                                    1. 1A
                                      Bugs' "Space Jam" girlfriend
                                    2. 5A
                                      Chases away
                                    3. 10A
                                      Trendy
                                    4. 13A
                                      From square one (a bit of a dupe, sorry!)
                                    5. 14A
                                      Berry, for one
                                    6. 15A
                                      Cruciverbalists' favorite woodwind
                                    7. 16A
                                      Be completely in the dark
                                    8. 18A
                                      If you have a red one, it's a baton rouge
                                    9. 19A
                                      "Now that makes complete sense!"
                                    10. 20A
                                      Showed off your aria of expertise, perhaps
                                    11. 22A
                                      If you put caviar in your kayak, you can ___ your boat!
                                    12. 23A
                                      Honshu port that becomes a ride-sharing service with an "R" added to the end
                                    13. 25A
                                      "What'd you think of that long sandwich?" "___-par"
                                    14. 26A
                                      Troy sch.
                                    15. 29A
                                      Short albums, for short
                                    16. 30A
                                      QB Tony
                                    17. 32A
                                      I'll buy a lot of these dishes if the rice is right
                                    18. 34A
                                      "Right Back Where We Started From" singer Nightingale
                                    19. 36A
                                      Switch positions
                                    20. 37A
                                      Carnation location
                                    21. 40A
                                      Part of a canister set
                                    22. 41A
                                      Many, colloquially
                                    23. 42A
                                      When reunion attendees fence, they use an ___-inum foil
                                    24. 43A
                                      "Sure thing!"
                                    25. 45A
                                      Worthless
                                    26. 48A
                                      Sgts. and cpls.
                                    27. 49A
                                      A foot has about 305 of these: Abbr.
                                    28. 52A
                                      Tierra __ Fuego
                                    29. 53A
                                      "Look, honey, I bought you a new ___!" "Awww, how row-mantic!"
                                    30. 55A
                                      Middle of dinner?
                                    31. 56A
                                      At one point, half (!!) of the world's manufactured CDs had this co.'s logo on it
                                    32. 57A
                                      Mosey along
                                    33. 60A
                                      Fourth through sixth words in the lyrics to the Beatles' "Hello Goodbye"
                                    34. 62A
                                      The big picture?
                                    35. 64A
                                      "You said it!"
                                    36. 66A
                                      That smells!
                                    37. 67A
                                      "Peachy keen!"
                                    38. 68A
                                      Kind of support
                                    39. 69A
                                      Famed aunt
                                    40. 70A
                                      Former froshes
                                    41. 71A
                                      "Famous" Wally of sweet treats (I hear he's one smart cookie)
                                    Down
                                    1. 1D
                                      Punjabi capital
                                    2. 2D
                                      How some ground balls are played
                                    3. 3D
                                      Imposes, as a tax
                                    4. 4D
                                      Bowls over
                                    5. 5D
                                      Place for loafers?
                                    6. 6D
                                      Yes, in Yokohama
                                    7. 7D
                                      REO part
                                    8. 8D
                                      Margarines (not an exciting clue, but I'll get butter at this)
                                    9. 9D
                                      Make airtight, perhaps
                                    10. 10D
                                      Hawks make selections here
                                    11. 11D
                                      That's quite a stretch
                                    12. 12D
                                      Unite
                                    13. 15D
                                      Verb that's a homophone of a single letter
                                    14. 17D
                                      Kind of network
                                    15. 21D
                                      Part of a "Star Wars" name
                                    16. 24D
                                      St. John Mandel who wrote "Station Eleven" and "Sea of Tranquility"
                                    17. 27D
                                      "Yeah, right!"
                                    18. 28D
                                      Rae of "American Fiction"
                                    19. 31D
                                      Bulb in your kitchen
                                    20. 33D
                                      Game show winnings
                                    21. 34D
                                      Lolcats, for one
                                    22. 35D
                                      Elicit
                                    23. 37D
                                      "Cloud Cuckoo ___" (2021 novel by Anthony Doerr)
                                    24. 38D
                                      Emollient ingredient
                                    25. 39D
                                      "Gimme a break!"
                                    26. 41D
                                      Not as much
                                    27. 44D
                                      Tuna relatives
                                    28. 46D
                                      Spanish article
                                    29. 47D
                                      Hymns of praise
                                    30. 49D
                                      It's chaos!
                                    31. 50D
                                      Microstate on the French Riviera
                                    32. 51D
                                      They work at the DMV in "Zootopia"
                                    33. 54D
                                      Rival of Paris
                                    34. 58D
                                      Fire
                                    35. 59D
                                      Said the Road Runner discussing the latest tidal patterns, "___! ___!"
                                    36. 61D
                                      Boy or girl lead-in
                                    37. 62D
                                      "Mass ___ Minor" (noted Bach work)
                                    38. 63D
                                      Szyslak of Springfield with an eponymous tavern
                                    39. 65D
                                      Advanced degree?
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