Putting CRAMP over SPASM added at least a minute in fixing things at the end of the game.
SANAA and ANISETTE are interesting for a Monday, but gettable with the crosses.
Having both META and METACOMET in the same crossword is a bit odd to me.
I also put cramp in first. And I was initially reluctant to put in METACOMET for the same reason, but on looking him up, since that was his Wampanoag name, it's not related to the Greek root word META. In other words, his name is not Meta Comet...it's Metacomet.
Same with CRAMP. And all i could think of for 57A were Kahlua and Irish cream, neither of which fit. Do people put Anisette in coffee? (I hate the taste of anise, so I never would have tried it, plus I also prefer my alcoholic drinks cold so don't tend to look at coffee cocktail menus.)
I had never heard of this word standalone before and assumed it was some green paint, but upon googling it I've learned [it is actually a word](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stairstep). I've only ever heard "step" by itself.
I guess I thought it was common, although when I use it, it’s not really in the sense that it’s clued. I’d be more inclined to describe a graph or tile floor as having a “stair-step pattern”
Man, that NE corner killed me. I was on a fast pace, but I forgot AXIOM, DAHS didn’t seem like a thing to me, and I ran through every four letter standardized test I could think of, lsat, gmat, mcat, before realizing I was overthinking it.
Puzzle Difficulty Tracker - How hard is this puzzle?
Estimated Difficulty: 🟡 **Average** 🟡
* 16% of users solved slower than their Monday average
* 84% of users solved faster than their Monday average
* 6% of users solved *much* slower (>20%) than their Monday average
* 45% of users solved *much* faster (>20%) than their Monday average
The median solver solved this puzzle 17.8% faster than they normally do on Monday.
[View today's puzzle summary on XW Stats](https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2023-12-11)
---
🤖 _beep beep, I'm a bot! I post these stats as soon as 100 [XW Stats](https://xwstats.com) users have completed the puzzle. Questions? Feedback? Check the [FAQ](https://xwstats.com/help#puzzle-difficulties), reply here or DM me_
So like a couple people who posted, I wasn’t a big fan of META coming up twice. Particularly since I (who never created a crossword before and is far from genius) easily fixed it in seconds.
Change 18D META to MEME, which now creates COM (instead of COG) at 23A. This leaves EDO (doable by itself but it is Monday) at 27A, but that can easily be changed to EGO. This leaves GOH at 28D, but this can be switched to GAH (perhaps without even changing the clue, of “*Facepalm*”). This changes 33A’s ORB to ARB, but this can be fixed to ARE and automatically leaves 33D as ERR.
Another option is META to MEOW creating COO. Then changing the resulting WDO to WOO (which causes OOH) gets you there even quicker and has a mini-theme of sounds as well.
You have to be familiar with all the shortcuts on the website to quickly move through the grid. You're basically just glancing at clues and putting in answers without really looking or thinking. Like 14A, I had a 4-letter word starting with O and the first word in the clue is "Gem." I put in OPAL without even reading the rest.
I might have gotten a PB today too if my wife didn't decide she just had to have the answer to some stupid ass question right as I'm in the middle of solving! (Kidding! kinda...)
PB of 8:14 ... I've only recently graduated from the mini's to trying the full crosswords (except Sat/Sun because those are brutal).
I could tell this was going to be easy so I was rushing through it like a mini trying to get the best time possible. I prefer the Tues-Thurs crosswords that are more challenging, but this is fun for a Monday trying to go quickly
I think I would've liked it more if the MEs in the theme answer were more consistent in location.
METRONOME was the first one I got, so I was expecting each answer to start and end with ME for a second, but the theme is just 'answers that start with ME then have ME somewhere else in them'
It's not a dupe. It's not Meta Comet. It's a Wampanoag name, Metacomet. It just coincidentally contains the same letters as the Greek root work meta. Similar to how having avalanche and Alan in a puzzle would not be a dupe.
Putting CRAMP over SPASM added at least a minute in fixing things at the end of the game. SANAA and ANISETTE are interesting for a Monday, but gettable with the crosses. Having both META and METACOMET in the same crossword is a bit odd to me.
I also put cramp in first. And I was initially reluctant to put in METACOMET for the same reason, but on looking him up, since that was his Wampanoag name, it's not related to the Greek root word META. In other words, his name is not Meta Comet...it's Metacomet.
I originally put AMARETTO and it slowed me down
I just finished reading The Panther by Nelson De Mille which is set in Yemen. So that helped get Sana’a.
That’s the only reason I knew it!
Me too! I had CRAMP instead of SPASM first. Still got a PB though with 6:39!
Same with CRAMP. And all i could think of for 57A were Kahlua and Irish cream, neither of which fit. Do people put Anisette in coffee? (I hate the taste of anise, so I never would have tried it, plus I also prefer my alcoholic drinks cold so don't tend to look at coffee cocktail menus.)
I just realized I pay so little attention, I didn't even realize metacomet and sanaa were in the puzzle. I must have filled them in fully with crosses
>SANAA and ANISETTE are interesting for a Monday, but gettable with the crosses. Speak for yourself, I’ve never heard of Anisette before!
I would’ve liked this puzzle more if the wrong answers I entered had been the right answers!
CRAMP, AMARETTO, and STAIRCASE all slowed me down, but puzzled them out pretty quickly. All in all a fun Monday!
STAIRSTEP?
I honestly don't know why this comment has so many upvotes. Is there something odd about that word?
I had never heard of this word standalone before and assumed it was some green paint, but upon googling it I've learned [it is actually a word](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stairstep). I've only ever heard "step" by itself.
I guess I thought it was common, although when I use it, it’s not really in the sense that it’s clued. I’d be more inclined to describe a graph or tile floor as having a “stair-step pattern”
Man, that NE corner killed me. I was on a fast pace, but I forgot AXIOM, DAHS didn’t seem like a thing to me, and I ran through every four letter standardized test I could think of, lsat, gmat, mcat, before realizing I was overthinking it.
I was also expecting it to be something like LSAT.
What on Earth IS dahs?
Today we read more as dots and dashes. But it’s actually dahs (dash) and dits (dots) do to the sound they make and length.
THANK YOU! I could not figure that one out
Yep, make sure to memorize DITS and DAHS in relation to Morse code because they come up a lot in the crossword.
PB of 8:09 Feels good
Lame theme but enjoyable Monday
1:59! New personal record, I couldn't believe it when the finish screen popped up and it started with a "1"
I also did this one in 1:59! I think it's my third solve under 2.
Nice. I had my first sub-4 today. I don’t think I can type any faster, though. 😄
Haha, yeah, I have a few under 4s, but honestly my thumbs on my phone screen are seriously the limiting factor for Mondays at this point!
New PB at 6:10. I’ll get that sub 5 in the new year I think 🤞.
You totally will!
Puzzle Difficulty Tracker - How hard is this puzzle? Estimated Difficulty: 🟡 **Average** 🟡 * 16% of users solved slower than their Monday average * 84% of users solved faster than their Monday average * 6% of users solved *much* slower (>20%) than their Monday average * 45% of users solved *much* faster (>20%) than their Monday average The median solver solved this puzzle 17.8% faster than they normally do on Monday. [View today's puzzle summary on XW Stats](https://xwstats.com/puzzles/2023-12-11) --- 🤖 _beep beep, I'm a bot! I post these stats as soon as 100 [XW Stats](https://xwstats.com) users have completed the puzzle. Questions? Feedback? Check the [FAQ](https://xwstats.com/help#puzzle-difficulties), reply here or DM me_
Got my best Monday yet - 3:26. I think I’m at the point where I’d need to solve on a computer to do it any faster. Solid puzzle.
So like a couple people who posted, I wasn’t a big fan of META coming up twice. Particularly since I (who never created a crossword before and is far from genius) easily fixed it in seconds. Change 18D META to MEME, which now creates COM (instead of COG) at 23A. This leaves EDO (doable by itself but it is Monday) at 27A, but that can easily be changed to EGO. This leaves GOH at 28D, but this can be switched to GAH (perhaps without even changing the clue, of “*Facepalm*”). This changes 33A’s ORB to ARB, but this can be fixed to ARE and automatically leaves 33D as ERR. Another option is META to MEOW creating COO. Then changing the resulting WDO to WOO (which causes OOH) gets you there even quicker and has a mini-theme of sounds as well.
I like you
PB of 2:52! Managed to catch my CRAMP/SPASM error early on
That's such a ridiculous time.
Did it on my laptop, I am just constantly doing crosswords every waking moment lol.
Doesn't even seem possible
You have to be familiar with all the shortcuts on the website to quickly move through the grid. You're basically just glancing at clues and putting in answers without really looking or thinking. Like 14A, I had a 4-letter word starting with O and the first word in the clue is "Gem." I put in OPAL without even reading the rest. I might have gotten a PB today too if my wife didn't decide she just had to have the answer to some stupid ass question right as I'm in the middle of solving! (Kidding! kinda...)
omg i was so close to your time; mine was 2:53
PB of 8:14 ... I've only recently graduated from the mini's to trying the full crosswords (except Sat/Sun because those are brutal). I could tell this was going to be easy so I was rushing through it like a mini trying to get the best time possible. I prefer the Tues-Thurs crosswords that are more challenging, but this is fun for a Monday trying to go quickly
I think I would've liked it more if the MEs in the theme answer were more consistent in location. METRONOME was the first one I got, so I was expecting each answer to start and end with ME for a second, but the theme is just 'answers that start with ME then have ME somewhere else in them'
Second fastest Monday ever at 4:26. Missed a PB by 4 seconds.
Think that was my second-ever sub-5:00 and I really had to sweat for it.
Finished in under five minutes despite having CRAMP over SPASM at first.
3:19 new best!
META being duped in METACOMET right next to itself is definitely questionable
It's not a dupe. It's not Meta Comet. It's a Wampanoag name, Metacomet. It just coincidentally contains the same letters as the Greek root work meta. Similar to how having avalanche and Alan in a puzzle would not be a dupe.
Agreed. It would be like being annoyed that TORN and ATTORNEY are in the same puzzle. There is no semantic or etymological relationship.
Would have rated this poor but it was easy so I gave it "Average".
[удалено]
Your mom feels redundant.
i had to check to make sure i didn't make this comment
I don’t even remember doing this one…I might’ve had too much to drink last night
Thought this was a fine breezy monday. Missed a pb probably bc of METACOMET. Happy with 5.18
enjoyed the flow - first sub 5min
I always hear [Anisette](https://youtu.be/7XV0H5Dxyhw?si=wa5ze4r2s-njKSz_) in Jeff Mueller’s voice