[Level 4] The answer to the meta is an 8-letter word.
Comprobando datos de juego anteriores…
Tabla de clasificación (actualizada cada hora)
FrankieHeck solved 2025-02-21T23:27:37.598Z
DJB solved 2025-02-21T23:32:04.733Z
rvkal solved 2025-02-21T23:45:28.385Z
Pair O Ducks solved 2025-02-22T00:02:37.263Z
Meg solved 2025-02-22T00:29:22.151Z
BarbaraK solved 2025-02-22T00:33:36.958Z
Alex Sisti solved 2025-02-22T00:50:36.768Z
KayW solved 2025-02-22T00:51:01.014Z
LarsCaine solved 2025-02-22T01:59:32.715Z
whimsy solved 2025-02-22T02:16:01.951Z
Darrell solved 2025-02-22T03:47:41.689Z
I K Snamhcok solved 2025-02-22T04:37:21.903Z
HeadinHome solved 2025-02-22T04:41:44.295Z
Berto solved 2025-02-22T05:14:56.412Z
Danny K Bernstein solved 2025-02-22T05:49:11.168Z
markhr solved 2025-02-22T09:33:58.347Z
LesY solved 2025-02-22T13:15:20.665Z
JM solved 2025-02-22T13:18:21.739Z
Darth solved 2025-02-22T13:23:45.908Z
Cindy Heisler solved 2025-02-22T13:56:46.563Z
boharr solved 2025-02-22T14:47:39.228Z
DCBilly solved 2025-02-22T16:10:15.125Z
rjy solved 2025-02-22T16:24:10.555Z
andeux solved 2025-02-22T16:41:53.896Z
dannyvee solved 2025-02-22T16:43:32.750Z
Dave C solved 2025-02-22T17:05:25.301Z
woozy solved 2025-02-22T17:40:09.676Z
Gutman solved 2025-02-22T17:46:48.723Z
DIS solved 2025-02-22T18:24:00.285Z
Tim solved 2025-02-22T19:44:04.253Z
Bob J solved 2025-02-22T22:25:17.533Z
Cindy Weatherman solved 2025-02-22T22:35:27.643Z
CPJohnson solved 2025-02-23T00:31:04.516Z
Hector solved 2025-02-23T01:01:49.211Z
Toast solved 2025-02-23T02:13:39.923Z
BrennerTJ solved 2025-02-23T05:51:14.689Z
Abide solved 2025-02-23T19:08:00.191Z
DrTom solved 2025-02-23T19:27:20.977Z
Myelbow solved 2025-02-23T21:31:47.781Z
heidi solved 2025-02-24T00:53:35.535Z
MatthewL solved 2025-02-24T18:57:52.550Z
Carolyn solved 2025-02-24T18:59:01.801Z
lbray53 solved 2025-02-24T20:35:42.103Z
hoover solved 2025-02-24T22:47:18.106Z
benchen71 solved 2025-02-25T06:32:37.809Z
SJ solved 2025-02-25T11:39:04.719Z
oldjudge solved 2025-02-25T21:02:05.988Z
Kulea solved 2025-02-27T03:06:49.263Z
Bbaack solved 2025-02-27T23:53:48.121Z
Meta World Peace solved 2025-03-01T14:28:15.353Z
Alvibu67 solved 2025-03-05T01:11:32.235Z
Bird Lives solved 2025-03-08T04:39:33.870Z
ajk solved 2025-03-14T19:23:52.563Z
Comentarios
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DJB 9s · 2025-02-21T23:32:29.354Z
Loved it - great construction!
rvkal 🤓7:54 · 2025-02-21T23:48:06.219Z
Very ingenious theme and mechanism! I started out looking for double letters in vertical entries. Great fun moment when I finally caught on to the trick!
Very clever, with rewarding click after "hmmm... what if...?"
KayW 🤓3:25 · 2025-02-22T01:17:41.781Z
Brilliant puzzle!
And of course, quite appropriate since 128 = 2 ^ 7.
But sorry to see Winter Solvestice come to an end. Thanks for all the puns and fun!
HeadinHome 🤓1:40 · 2025-02-22T04:43:03.505Z
Autocorrect turned my submission into exponential… c’mon! This was fun to figure out and then to search the matches.. love these kinds!
Berto 1s · 2025-02-22T05:17:04.616Z
Cancan was my way in.
I did for a moment think I was on to something when I saw that you could “double up” the G in EAGER to get REGGAE and the B in ELBOW to get WOBBLE… but died shortly after…
Explanation: Eight symmetrical down entries form a new word/phrase when doubled, going up. (For instance, HAR at 4-D would become RAH-RAH, NOB at 10-D becomes BONBON, and so forth. Play "alternates" with these in the grid and, in standard top-down order, the alternates will spell EXPONENT, the answer to the meta.
For completion: HAR (RAHRAH) = EAGER; NOB (BONBON) = OREO; NAC (CANCAN) = POLKA; ENO (ONE-ONE) = TIE; RAT (TARTAR) = XRAY; MOT (TOMTOM) = EAR; KID (DIKDIK) = NYALA; RUM (MURMUR) = NAG
Few notes: I was originally going to asterisk the eight downs, but that would make it too much like Level 2.5/3, but that's where the early nudges will take you. However, there's another indicator! These are the only eight entries whose clues have either a) two words or b) any double letters. In fact, both of the two words in each of these 8 down entries have double letters. There are no other 2-word clues or any words with double letters in any other clues!
And, per the answer, an EXPONENT (specifically, 2) is a great way to get numbers to double in math! This ties in with the puzzle number of 128, which is the seventh power of 2. Maybe the answer to puzzle #256 will also be EXPONENT - you'll have to stay tuned!
whimsy 19:50 · 2025-02-22T15:05:10.034Z
Dik-Dik was what Did Did it for me -- I Kid Kid you not!
Thank you muchly for this one and all the Saturday winter fun!
Well, because of the title I know I had to read entries backwords and going through them all CAN I realized could be can-can the lively dance. That could have been a coincident but TOM made it certain. I made nearly to the end of the grid when I thought maybe there'd be only four such doubles and 8 would be near impossible when I figure a few more could be and then, yes, eight could be done (and they were symmetric).
Couldn't find the alternates for MURMUR and TARTAR and my letters EPOENT didn't look good (COPY CAT?). Went through grid three time. Reread the clue to 40A word by word and decided that could work. ANd that made my letters look better (OPPONENT?). TARTAR still eluded me ("He can't possibly be mistakenly assuming Steak Tartar is creamy, can he. Or that putting tartar sauce on a cracker [yuck] is common?") On more time through the grid and this time finally the dentist clue (Ha-Ha!) jumped out.
Got it without nudges but not without rabbit holes. My first impulse, which was working in a way, was that a clue led to another which led to the theme entry and solution so:
1A - Computer works, for short (?) -> 27AGATEWAY (Entrance - but several of my early computers were GATEWAYS with the cow packaging) -> 9DOPENTO
25A - Do a laundry chore -> 58ADYE (Color) -> 51ALEBLANC (the white)
22D - Delicious chocolate... -> 41ACACAO (Bean) -> 59ABLOKE (the British love chocolate and Mr. Bean)
41D Creamy concoctions... -> 69ASMEAR (Besmirch) -> 47DCLEAVE (Not liking the gem was a besmirching)
But I saw how convoluted that was and said, "no way"
Then I decided it was double letters going up but there are only 5, they spell nothing and that is hardly a "possible level 4"
Finally I started to analyze the grid. The Pharmacist in me was aghast at the cavalier way NAC was listed (if anything, it is an anti-oxidant) and surprised it was used anyway since it probably is not generally known so I figured it was a necessity. I was amazed that the common ENO was William and not Brian, but of course Brian ENO is often paired in a cryptic to ONE, and when I saw the World cup thing I immediately thought ONE-ONE. Finally the dentist clue/answer kind of bugged me; yes it was true but seemed forced.
It was my "name" that opened my eyes because I saw NOB and MOT and thought "that could be BON MOT" Or hey MOT turned upside down and done twice is TOM TOM...hold on a minute wasn't there a drum? Then the BON became BON BON, and that was a treat. The third (I base almost all my solves on a series of three things that work WAY too well not possible being a coincidence) was CAN CAN, particularly with the POLKA. Although I speak some French my background is Eastern European and I can Polka even if I cannot poke at a CAN CAN.
Lovely sayonara, or actually au revoir, puzzle (since one means "forever" and the other "until the next time") and I am delighted I was able to be doubly up to the task.
Came back to this b/c Gaffney delayed today (I always forget Saturday puzzles). Very glad I did, though I needed the nudges to nudge me out of my I-know-it's-not-this-but-can't-see-past-it fixation on double letters Very fun once I got on track, thanks. :)