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ROTTEN TRICK

· Di DrTom · Pubblicato 2023-03-15T04:00:30.099Z

Meta Prompt
This 10 letter answer has caused many people restless nights.
So, a Rotten Trick! Well if any day is prime for a Rotten Trick puzzle it is today. Granted it is not as rotten as the one played on Julius Caesar, I mean stabbed to death by a group of your allies has got to top the chart for pure, unadulterated mean. Hah, and all you have to contend with is a DrTom Meta that is, admittedly, at least a 3.
Still relatively few solvers!!! Maybe 3 is the wrong rating? Actually I'll bet a lot of you got what you were supposed to but then said "WHAT?" There is a reason for that and an included nudge clue to help you, though you may not have recognized it as such. So let me do some nudging:
What in the world is he doing... Clue 47A is so funkily worded that it MUST mean something. Think of the day's victim, does that give you any ideas?
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears (well eyes I guess). Counsul Doctorus Thomus doth decree this day an assist to those fighting the Metagoths. This will continue for the next few diems or possible longer if the Metagoths are not defeated and cattus magna is not released from his sacculum.
Indicium I: Scan the Clues/Grid for "rotten" things people do or did, then do what YOU usually do
Indicium II: Google Caesar code
Indicium III: II refers to a term that has been used MANY times in the Muggle forums, I just hit upon a way to hide that in plain sight
Indicium IV: As some of those who already solved commented to me; "you could have pretty much solved without having to fill the grid..."
Indicium V: Going back to II and III. If Caesar codes are a form of a rotation code, like the ROT 13 that has been discussed from time to time on the Muggle forum, how might I have hidden what ROT number code you were supposed to use?
Indicium VI: You can either use the theme answers letters or the theme clue letters to find the letters you need to solve
Indicium VII: Good puzzle have the letters in Grid order. This is probably not a good puzzle, but the letters are in Grid order
OK, the "reveal"
The idea was supposed to be that solvers found the “rotten” things in the puzzle (1D, 7D, 19A, 39A, 41A, 43A, 45D, 46D, 59D, 64A) and used the clue letters to form a 10 letter answer. The ROTTEN TRICK was that I used the trick of encoding with ROT TEN (ROT-10) a variant of the Caesar cipher. If you took those letters that gave you the 10 rotten things and ran them through a ROT decoder you ended up with the rotten trick that has caused restless nights. SHORT SHEET
I realize that it was difficult and that I probably should have made the answers the needed letters as opposed to the clues since, as some have mentioned, you probably did not even need to solve the grid to get the letters if you paid attention to the rather pejorative adjectives. But, 30 of you did manage to release the cat, so not a complete bomb. Thanks to all who solved and I look forward to our next meeting!
Controllo se esistono file di gioco salvati...

Classifica (aggiornata ogni ora)

  • whimsy solved 2023-03-15T14:21:24.269Z
  • Hector solved 2023-03-15T17:56:27.740Z
  • boharr solved 2023-03-15T18:40:35.236Z
  • benchen71 solved 2023-03-15T20:20:21.687Z
  • Darth solved 2023-03-15T20:57:01.666Z
  • Meg solved 2023-03-15T21:21:02.063Z
  • markhr solved 2023-03-16T00:35:11.679Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2023-03-16T00:46:22.053Z
  • Gutman solved 2023-03-16T01:01:10.708Z
  • Laura M solved 2023-03-16T05:55:59.866Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2023-03-16T13:44:13.679Z
  • KayW solved 2023-03-16T14:17:55.709Z
  • Bbaack solved 2023-03-16T17:00:20.831Z
  • MatthewL solved 2023-03-16T18:03:25.192Z
  • ReB solved 2023-03-16T21:51:39.534Z
  • woozy solved 2023-03-16T23:30:31.853Z
  • lbray53 solved 2023-03-17T10:19:31.699Z
  • Ergcat solved 2023-03-17T14:15:36.438Z
  • Mikey G solved 2023-03-17T14:53:03.283Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2023-03-18T16:38:17.269Z
  • Tyrpmom solved 2023-03-19T20:32:10.796Z
  • rjy solved 2023-03-19T21:28:13.813Z
  • Teamdoubletow solved 2023-03-21T00:15:06.196Z
  • Mortdestro solved 2023-03-21T01:06:33.560Z
  • SeamusOL solved 2023-03-21T04:35:57.933Z

Commenti

Accedi con google per lasciare un tuo commento:

  • whimsy 🤓10:16 · 2023-03-15T14:40:15.704Z
    It's a toughie all right! Even after test-solving a while back (with considerable guidance!) I had trouble reenacting the experience just now.
    I hope it's not gonna be Knives Out time for the good doc. :) K+ puzzle!
    • whimsy 🤓10:16 · 2023-03-15T19:46:51.421Z
      Emoji "translation":
      :) = smile
      K+ is the puzzle's rating (in rot/ten, that is!)
      (DrTom was concerned that taken together they showed a "smiling dead guy". Rest assured - No pitchforks are being sharpened. :)
    • boharr 2s · 2023-03-15T18:41:21.003Z
      Down right devious! Thanks, DrTom.
      • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-16T03:01:21.324Z
        If I could have gotten DEVIOUS in there I would have!!! Glad you enjoyed it (he said making the assumption of enjoyment...)
        • boharr 2s · 2023-03-17T00:18:38.645Z
          Enjoyed for sure!
      • benchen71 4s · 2023-03-15T20:21:45.376Z
        I was convinced you had hidden pig latin in the grid!
        • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-16T03:01:09.286Z
          Imay ockedshay, Inay ouldway otnay oday athay!!! Besides I think someone else did a Pig Latin one. If I had been smart I would have had the answers spell out the solution but I wanted SHORT SHEET and there were not any good Y named rotten things that I could think of at the time.
          I tried so hard to have words that could be spelled with a ROT 10 alphabet and be actual words. I imagine it can be done (given that there are 26 different possibilities) but I tried for about 4 hours with ROT 10 (because that is how I got the idea for the meta) and could not.
          Thanks for taking a stab at it!
        • Darth 🤓11:53 · 2023-03-15T20:57:23.304Z
          Ok, that was evil! haha
          • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-16T03:02:40.891Z
            Mwah Ha Ha...OK, it was evil, but the key was there Iding in plain sight!
            Thanks for sticking with it
          • Meg 2s · 2023-03-15T21:21:26.305Z
            That was quite the workout!
            • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-16T03:04:47.595Z
              Well if it is as cold there as it is here in JAX you probably needed it to keep warm. Oh, and no attacking me in the Forum - I know it would be tempting to Caese the opportunity but....
            • markhr 🤓21:45 · 2023-03-16T01:03:20.689Z
              A tough one. Even after figuring out what Rotten meant, it took some doing. Well done, Dr. Tom!
              • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-16T03:12:43.300Z
                Well yes, and I think I'd better return to DrTom softballs after this or I'll be the next one to be beaten by a group of friends and colleagues!
                Thank you for solving!
              • Laura M 🤓16:14 · 2023-03-16T06:02:20.186Z
                Facepalm when I realized what to do... This was (devilishly) great!
                • I K Snamhcok 11s · 2023-03-16T13:49:57.481Z
                  With help. I more or less caught on to the idea, which I’m admiring of (ROTTEN = ROT-10 — very nice!) fairly quickly, but I couldn’t quite make it click. I suspect that the inconsistency in the styles of the ten key clues made this tougher for me. Thanks, Dr. T!
                  • KayW 🤓8:02 · 2023-03-16T14:20:40.942Z
                    Whew! Finally nudged home. An evil genius! And I will confess that before I cracked the code I tried entering DR TOMS META as a WAG
                    • Bbaack 19:16 · 2023-03-16T17:12:23.116Z
                      Et tu Brute? Another meta where the grid is almost irrelevant! That was a clever meta idea based on one word; now I'm hungry for a salad!
                      • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-16T18:50:16.196Z
                        Agree, and as I have said elsewhere, this is a process. This meta was made almost a year ago and if I were doing it now I would certainly try to make the answers the letters needed to solve. I thought about that a few days ago but realized I would never have time to change everything and get it tested so I went with this completed, though admittedly non-grid centric, puzzle. Thank God I don't do this for a living....😊
                      • MatthewL 12:59 · 2023-03-16T18:05:24.652Z
                        Good Gracious. Got nudges from a lot of people, but it was the good Doctor who finally made it click for me. Definitely not up my alley.
                        • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-17T03:40:11.018Z
                          I am beginning to believe it may not be up a LOT of people's alley....but thanks for seeing it through to the end.
                        • ReB 3s · 2023-03-16T21:55:50.241Z
                          Eight of the theme clues were straightforward, but finding the other two required a rather brutal/brute-force [Brutus?] backsolve. This answer brought back ancient camp memories.
                          • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-17T03:39:30.645Z
                            Hopefully you did not get a short shrift from my short sheet!
                          • Ergcat 16:05 · 2023-03-17T14:18:31.282Z
                            Ha, took me to hint IV to google Caesar Code. I had tried a straight alpha code on every letter! Funny, though, as soon as I saw the prompt on Wednesday my very first thought was “short sheet” but I didn’t guess it because I didn’t see a meta-mismatch to get there! Clever one! Very rotten trick, indeed!
                            • Cindy Heisler 3s · 2023-03-18T16:41:19.688Z
                              The first time I looked at this and thought about a bedtime trick, I came up with Short Sheet. I knew I had to use the Caesar Code, but it took me a while to figure Rot- ten for the number. Finally got it and verified my guess. Clever meta, Dr Tom!!
                              • Tyrpmom 3s · 2023-03-19T20:39:16.509Z
                                So many things to rotate. I was rotating the wrong way so extra difficult. Was also wondering if compass points were involved. (Moral code/moral compass and 36A)
                                • DrTom costruttore · 2023-03-20T02:43:49.436Z
                                  Well good thought, I can see the compass thing. Still, glad you got the right combinations nd found your way home to the fussing cat.
                                1A
                                Half a knicknack?
                                1
                                2
                                3
                                4
                                5
                                6
                                7
                                8
                                9
                                10
                                11
                                12
                                13
                                14
                                15
                                16
                                17
                                18
                                19
                                20
                                21
                                22
                                23
                                24
                                25
                                26
                                27
                                28
                                29
                                30
                                31
                                32
                                33
                                34
                                35
                                36
                                37
                                38
                                39
                                40
                                41
                                42
                                43
                                44
                                45
                                46
                                47
                                48
                                49
                                50
                                51
                                52
                                53
                                54
                                55
                                56
                                57
                                58
                                59
                                60
                                61
                                62
                                63
                                64
                                65
                                66
                                67
                                68
                                69
                                70
                                71
                                72
                                73
                                Orizzontali
                                1. 1A
                                  Half a knicknack?
                                2. 5A
                                  Post work-out condition
                                3. 9A
                                  Walk without care
                                4. 14A
                                  City in Peru (or Ohio)
                                5. 15A
                                  Alternative to Windows
                                6. 16A
                                  Dads with a pedigree
                                7. 17A
                                  Pro at copying
                                8. 18A
                                  Stage where transitions take place
                                9. 19A
                                  Yank away from someone
                                10. 20A
                                  Some sewers
                                11. 22A
                                  Boxed
                                12. 24A
                                  Salad green
                                13. 25A
                                  Yore's your
                                14. 26A
                                  Dory's quest
                                15. 28A
                                  Sowing your oats
                                16. 33A
                                  Source of formic acid
                                17. 36A
                                  Information from all the compass points
                                18. 38A
                                  Puts above all others
                                19. 39A
                                  Baneful message, "Your account has been locked, respond to this e-mail immediately", for example
                                20. 41A
                                  Deceive
                                21. 43A
                                  Cowardly way out for a bride or groom
                                22. 44A
                                  Least risky
                                23. 47A
                                  A good moral one sends a clear message; a good regular one hides the real message
                                24. 50A
                                  President before JFK
                                25. 51A
                                  Cinderella's clothes
                                26. 53A
                                  "Beam ___ Scotty"
                                27. 55A
                                  Spicy Indian lentil stew
                                28. 56A
                                  Sets of beliefs
                                29. 60A
                                  Fix
                                30. 63A
                                  Description of an aging George V's beard
                                31. 64A
                                  Despicable way to win
                                32. 65A
                                  "Cast Away" setting
                                33. 67A
                                  Boat in "Jaws"
                                34. 68A
                                  Barely move
                                35. 69A
                                  Are you sure you're supposed to use butter for Butter Chicken? Let me clarify that.
                                36. 70A
                                  "Go, ___!"
                                37. 71A
                                  Home or farm addition?
                                38. 72A
                                  Pay attention
                                39. 73A
                                  Perry Mason's Gardner "father"
                                Verticali
                                1. 1D
                                  Contemptible assignment of responsibility
                                2. 2D
                                  Turn red or yellow, say
                                3. 3D
                                  Change, as the Constitution
                                4. 4D
                                  Designer Pierre
                                5. 5D
                                  Top notch, like Diana Ross
                                6. 6D
                                  Personal millstone
                                7. 7D
                                  Rankly tear a new one
                                8. 8D
                                  Demands
                                9. 9D
                                  Examined, as ore
                                10. 10D
                                  Berra's glove
                                11. 11D
                                  Marcia Cross on "Desperate Housewives"
                                12. 12D
                                  The elemental reason some tradesmen are called plumbers
                                13. 13D
                                  Citizenship course: Abbr.
                                14. 21D
                                  20-20, e.g.
                                15. 23D
                                  Cruciverbalist bird's South American cousin
                                16. 27D
                                  Hooter (don't even THINK about it!!)
                                17. 29D
                                  Garland location: Abbr.
                                18. 30D
                                  Dry as a bone
                                19. 31D
                                  Steer a bull
                                20. 32D
                                  Direction from which el sol rises
                                21. 33D
                                  Prof on the tenure track
                                22. 34D
                                  Final Four org.
                                23. 35D
                                  Along with Hartley, came up with a very workable act
                                24. 37D
                                  [Not my mistake]
                                25. 40D
                                  Big Apple attraction, with "The"
                                26. 42D
                                  Around the 30th: Abbr.
                                27. 45D
                                  Ruthlessly incapacitated for nefarious purposes
                                28. 46D
                                  Ominous thing to set
                                29. 48D
                                  Made into law
                                30. 49D
                                  Chartres' river
                                31. 52D
                                  Killer ride in the snow
                                32. 54D
                                  Cactus button
                                33. 57D
                                  More pressing
                                34. 58D
                                  Popular calcium supplement brand
                                35. 59D
                                  Odiously debase for all to hear
                                36. 60D
                                  Closed and locked
                                37. 61D
                                  Formally surrender
                                38. 62D
                                  Bombay beat
                                39. 63D
                                  Delight
                                40. 64D
                                  "60 Minutes" network
                                41. 66D
                                  Cardi B's "___ Bad"
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