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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Team Exercises”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is an NFL team.
Answer: THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Correct entries: 377, of which 312 were solo solves
SAD-dish meta last week: maybe not truly SAD (Simple and Difficult) since 373 got it, but that’s on the low end for a Week 2.
Four theme entries:
20-A: [Quarterback who also co-hosted the hit 1980s show “That’s Incredible!”] = FRAN TARKENTON. I think the name Fran is making a comeback. I know of three Frans (boys) under 10.
25-A: [Baltimore Colts great who later opened an eponymous burger chain with over 300 locations] = GINO MARCHETTI
46-A: [He ran for 2,105 yards in 1984, still an NFL record] = ERIC DICKERSON
51-A: [NFL commissioner, 1989-2006 (I went to high school with his daughter; not meta-related, just name-dropping)] = PAUL TAGLIABUE
Those theme entries all have (4,9) enumerations, so all we need to do is find an NFL team with same and we’re done…except that there isn’t one. Check again? Still no…panic setting in…now what?
The penny dropped for most solvers right then and there, but there was something about this one that just eluded a large number of solvers, veterans included. It’s this weird, hard-to-see sidestep from one part of the brain to another, maybe something related to “49ers” containing both numbers and letters. But that’s all it was — each first name containing four letters and the last name nine.
Mikey G says:
You’ve struck gold with this one!
Clonefitz says:
Looking forward to the NBA team puzzle for the 76ers.
I bet this guy would get it!
JennyByrd liked it:
Very Ingenious
RayGirl had it, but didn’t realize it at first:
Lol at me trying to come up with a team that fits the 4,9 pattern— even looking at a list of nfl teams— before I actually said “oh duh” as I looked down at where I had written 49. Fun and funny! Thx
This is one of my favorite kind of solver story, where they’ve got the answer written down in their own handwriting right in front of them for minutes or hours and then suddenly OHHHHHHH….
dandre found an Easter egg:
Subtle and obvious once you see it. Nice touch with the themers ending in NINE.
Completely unintentional and unnoticed by me until solvers pointed it out. OR WAS IT??? (Yes, it really was)
And finally, jus10 says:
I’m confused by “exercises” in the title.
Pluralized so it’s (4,9).
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer, which is 10 letters long, is what you’ll need to use to solve the meta.
NOTE: Due to the delayed post, the deadline for submitting entries this week is Wednesday, February 22nd, at noon ET.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.