Metanism: Five entries' clues contain the word "summer." The answers to these clues can be preceded by the first two letters of the clue, also a musical note, to give a new word (for example: Do + UGH = DOUGH). Play "alternate clues" with those five entries (i.e., DOUGH = "Moolah" = CASH). The initial letters of those five entries, in standard order, spell STICE. Well...that's not anything, nor is it an 8-letter word! However, with one of the two notes not yet used in the clues (and the only 3-letter one!), we can apply the earlier metanism once again: SOL + STICE = SOLSTICE, the apt answer to the meta! (Sorry, fa, we'll get you next time.)
oldjudge 3s · 2023-06-17T17:06:53.107Z
Fantastic job Mikey! Very innovative.
Hector 5s · 2023-06-17T18:18:24.138Z
Maybe you can use FA Thursday.
Nice meta!
Meg 3s · 2023-06-17T20:01:23.897Z
Nothing like some practice in delayed gratification. How is he gonna get from 5 to 8? And he did, eventually.
KayW 🤓11:54 · 2023-06-17T20:35:43.430Z
Bravo, Mikey! A great "aha" at every step of the solve. Encore!
Fun! Took me way too long and I kept trying to tie everything I saw in the exact wrong way. Can't tell you how long I tried thinking 15A and 54A have multiple notes expressed in the clue and so, um, I look for clues with lots of notes? and, uh?, look at the notes they don't have? and... cross-reference them. I notice some clues seemed to be more about summer (didn't occur to me they had the word "summer") but somehow was convinced they couldn't be consistent enough to be analyzed. Do'ugh!
Bbaack 23:20 · 2023-06-18T18:46:52.442Z
Wow, a great twist on an oft-used solfege mechanism. This was a lot of fun, thanks!
Gutman 2s · 2023-06-18T19:43:46.726Z
I really wanted it to be a math (addition) problem.
Well done, Mikey
merlinnimue 🤓11:46 · 2023-06-19T01:06:47.407Z
this was a fantastic meta, congratulations. i spotted the solfege early on, but i didn't know what to do with it. i usually try doing these puzzles in my head, so it took me all day until i finally decided to write the clues down when the aha just popped out. i never cease to be amazed by you genius puzzle creators, thank you for sharing your gift with a dumdum like me and the rest of the world (i hope against hope that one day i'll be able to reach a fraction of the level of you smarties, but it has become clear to me that i have yet a long long way to run)
I found the 5 "summer" clues days ago, but didn't see the solfege notes starting those clues until just now. I was still puzzled how to get from 5 entries to an 8-letter word, until quite suddenly I wasn't!
whimsy 27:35 · 2023-06-19T12:38:55.279Z
Whew! Yup, that was a toughie! I found some interesting incorrect answers along the way. Masterpiece, Mikey! Thanks!
Tyrpmom 2s · 2023-06-20T17:19:15.679Z
Awesome meta! Thanks.
Joe 🤓19:39 · 2023-06-22T14:04:17.498Z
Oof. I needed 5 of the hints! I got trapped by noticing all the three letter words. Two of them (GNP and SIR) anagram to Spring. And Spring is the only season not mentioned in one of the clues! This was a great meta! I only wish I could have tackled it solo.
hoover 3s · 2023-06-22T18:38:17.513Z
A day late and a dollar short!
Carolyn 3s · 2023-06-22T19:34:48.560Z
Looked for the notes in the grid and totally ignored the clues! Needed several of the nudges. Cool construction!
PuzNewbie 57:17 · 2023-06-22T23:10:36.746Z
What a great puzzle! Well done!!
ReB 13s · 2023-06-23T02:14:13.530Z
Needed all the nudges. I saw the solfege syllables in the clues after nudge two, but otherwise had to be led step by step. Quite an intricate design there.
Tom Wilson 🤓10:57 · 2023-06-23T13:58:43.818Z
I needed every one of the nudges, but am still overjoyed to reach the finish. (After tripping multiple times over my missteps.) What a piece of work, Mikey. Beautifully done!
Man, this was great! Even with the nudges, I struggled. I somehow never went down the "STICE" path, instead getting stuck on ICETS, as in ICE Ts, and I was off looking for other refreshing summer drinks to play with. Eventually worked on some anagrams involving ICETS, with all of the possible notes as prefixes. But, my dumb head always thinks of the notes as it's DO RE MI FA SO LA TI DO... I always hear it as the L sound belonging only to LA, not both to SOL and LA... so I had a lot more anagrams to work with, as I had a wild in there with each of the notes, not just the notes. Once I saw the answer in my list, though, it finally clicked... perfect answer to a summer puzzle.
Laura M 🤓6:27 · 2023-06-27T04:12:08.601Z
This is really a great meta! Wish I'd managed to solve it without hints and before the deadline!