Aug 02, 2011 One Word Wonder Puzzle

Utterly clueless. Googling 'Mystic Meters' returns people asking about meters for tanning beds...

[1] same here.

Lost too! I might have to go get a Mystic Pizza and then come back and try...

FYI: The hint has nothing to do with Mystic© brand meters.

Edit: So, [1], don't bother with that rabbit hole.

[1] I see what you did there! (not salt)
I think you meant Udderly ;)

Sorry, 'bullpen' is not correct. Please try again.

[1] I just did the same thing....lostlostlost!

[5] Wanna clue me in? I have no idea what I did there...

I found it easier not to use the hint, it's not useful in it's current form and needs to be solved separately

Part of the hint got me on the right track.

damn, missed [10]...

Agreed with [9]. The fact that the hint helped me is only because I completely misunderstood the hint...

Still not coming...

I liked this one. Like [9], solved without using the clue.

[14] It's no fun to solve that way anyway ... consider yourself lucky!

[5] LOL

[16] Check your TG

[16] be sure to check your spelling!

[16] I missed your question and haven't solved it yet myself but sometimes we are very close and don't know it and our questions give away too much information, even when we are still lost. ;)

[16] I don't think that's a word...

[16] Perhaps you need to consult a dictionary.

DharmaRn: sending TG

Tried the answer a few minutes ago, but didn't have the spelling right. Ended up at 74th.

I used the clue, but it involves something that I guess not many Tanganites are too keen on?

Yeah, ok, so now that I've got it, I wish the "hint" hadn't been there - I seriously think I would have gotten it sooner without it.

If you want to play with the hint, it's an anagram of something that might, maybe help you out. Good luck with that... your best best is just to solve the picture.

Oh, and don't get me wrong, zxo - I liked the puzzle. Just not the hint. :)

My bad...... really sorry folks! I googled to check and hits came up... I DID need to check a dictionary. It cost me about 50 places in solving~ karma. ;(

[26] Actually, the hint did help me out, but not in the way intended - I just focused on the second word.

[27] That's okay - that can happen from time to time. Just trust everyone when they say it's too salty! *grin*

note to all still trying to solve: IGNORE THE HINT. seriously, just pretend it's not even there, cover it with your hand, whatever it takes. damn thing kept throwing me off.

[27] haha, too funny.

[26] Originally, I made it without the hint. But I felt that was maybe unfair to those who couldn't get it, as it offered nothing in the way of nudges, things to google, etc.

Oh well, I saw [10] and it actually threw me off as my thinking was going down those lines, then I didn't try it. I finally did and got 93 :P
Shouldn't complain. 1, 19 and 93 on the night.

Need salt, no bull.

[32] Actually, some bull. But how much?

Need salt, no bull.

Woot! First time in the top 100! 99th!

Very clever

That was my mistake. I'm glad enough STU's got it out of there quickly. I wouldn't want my AHA moments spoiled either. It was an honest mistake, and if a similar event happens in the future I'll just trust that there are valid reasons for my post being deleted. It's a sound system of checks & balances. Again, my apologies. ~S

Excellent puzzle, zxo..... wish I hadn't stepped in it!

So is the bull behind venetian blinds? He's mad. Wouldn't that make it a "RED BULL"? :-)

Over 100 solves.....so salt the steer.

[36] What happened? Did you inadvertently post the answer? I thought you just mentioned something about anagramming, which [26] has since said as much.

Actually, I think that was [10]. Guess I didn't see [16].

[30] I understand the attempt and the reason behind it, but... as [1] pointed out, Google gets you looking at tanning equipment. And there's really nothing there to tell you to anagram and, well, anagrams are kind of anathema here so most of us wouldn't think to try that (although, I actually did try it - but my tool only produces words, not two word phrases so it didn't get me there). Then, when you are stumped and there's just a picture and a hint, it seems paramount that you solve that hint before you decode the picture.

[38] How much of the bull is visible?

[40] I missed [10] but saw [16] - I gather it was basically a repeat of [10]. She posted it because it wasn't the answer and she couldn't see what was wrong with saying it but the reason it wasn't the answer was because it was misspelled.

I was stuck on "bulletin" (bull - ten) for the longest time. Finally, the AHA moment came when I thought about the second word of the clue.

[42] There was a reason I chose that particular anagram as the clue. Glad it helped you!

Got this relatively easily. Although I work with the Si system.

[41] Maybe there needs to be some code word to indicate helpful, but ultimately superfluous information. I like to leave little hints in my puzzles, but sometimes that leads to people solving the hints, not the puzzle!

There I go over-thinking it again!!. I now understand the hint (of course, since I've solved it!). Nice puzzle.

*forehead slap* lol took me 58 minutes!

Great....I must have entered the word incorrectly spelled.....just corrected it.....groan.

finally got it. Think metric, not meters.

blah... would've been more clever is the hint solve method was also used in the answer solve method..:\

Still lost. From all the salt it seems like it must be easy but I am just not getting anywhere with it. None of my metric guesses are working out.

[26] Only 18 minutes in and you gave away the first step?

Cute puzzle. But I agree that the hint is basically superfluous.

Yeah, I'm with you [51]. I've exhausted the system.

My first guess was untenable

144

Ignore the hint as [29] says, and see [41]'s hint to {38}.

In 2003 the answer was considered for, but ultimately was not made a part of the hint!!

Which made things even more confusing for us nerds!!!

Ha! Very clever!

Agreed that the hint isn't that helpful.

FWIW.... I (ultimately, and with much ado) got it ONLY because of the hint. Nice puzzle, zxo. Loved your Hyper (2010) with palindromes, also.

[59] I must admit your first post allowed me to get in the top 100, so bottom line...Thank You.

[52] You thought I gave away the "first step" yet agreed that the thing I referred to was superfluous? Strange...

I felt that if the hint was needed by someone, they needed some help on how to decode the hint. At zxo's own admission, the hint wasn't the puzzle - spending your time figuring out what to do with it was not his intent. It wasn't really the first step. Maybe I shouldn't have said it but I don't feel any guilt over it. People still have to figure out what it anagrams TO, after all. And then figure out how to apply that to the picture. *shrug*

All of this salt flying around here and I still can't figure out what the heck anyone is talking about. Go figure ...

I know what the clue means, I can see how much of the bull is visible, I've ignored the clue, taken the clue into account, but from there.....nothing.Ugh.

NM.....post and solve

[54] is the best salt here. I wouldn't have got that without it. FWIW, I think the clue does help the overall understanding of the puzzle.

What do you mean by "salt", please?

This is NOT a homophone, the pronunciation is completely different.

[65] "Salt" is the Tanga term for hint or clue. Can't remember how exactly it got started but it has something to do with the chemical name NaCl. Someone else may be able to give you a fuller explanation.

[65] Salt is a term that we use on here, which means a hint. Some comments may contain salt on purpose to help, while the "saltier" ones don't realize that what they are saying is very close to the answer (and are sometimes flagged).

Well, then, if you can't give me pure salt, how about some Mrs. Dash at least, please? This is KILLING ME!!!!

Praise the LORD!!!! I just DID it!!!!! I can't believe it! This is my first day as a Tanganite, too. !!! I feel "real" now! LOL

[70] LOL - glad you got it!

[67] Nah, the start of it didn't have anything to do with NaCl. There was supposedly a puzzle with "salt" as the answer and someone typed it into the comments instead of the answer block.

[66] Actually, there are two valid pronunciations, according to dictionary.com, and one of them is the one used here. That's the one that folks around me use - and we have cause to use the term rather frequently.

Freaking finally! When you get it you realize the answer has been blaring at you the whole time.

[66] It's a homophone for me. Actually, until your comment, I didn't realize there was another way to pronounce it, although maybe I should have, given its etymology.

[70] Woo!

Cut me some slack here. My daughter is getting married in three days and my brain is shot. TG anyone?

[75] Sent.

The brain is an amazing thing. You sit and stare and try different things and get nothing. You come back ten minutes or ten hours later, and it hits you like you're sitting in the front row at a rock concert.

I actually pronounce this word quite differently to the cluing so I think this was part of the problem for me too. My emphasis is on the second syllable and is phonetic.

[77] I know exactly what you mean. Yesterday, even knowing the anagramed hint....nothing. I get on it today, and within 1 minute I got it. For those still struggling, SOUND it out

ugh... kept getting stuck on using the word "tenth" for ages... don't think i'd have pulled this one off without the clue..

You solved this puzzle in 1 day, 22 hours, and 45 minutes and were the 280th Tanga member to solve it. You earned 3 points for solving this. wow, i suck. this was driving me insane all day yesterday, i look at it for 10 seconds today, and i got it.

[70] I know how you feel, I had it rough my first day (yesterday) then I finally solved my first puzzle.

Do hints lower the amount of points you get?