90. Into a Corner

NOTE: I have changed the title from "That's Right!," which doesn't give as much pertinent information as I'd like, to "Into a Corner." Nothing else is affected. 

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Hello hello! Baseball is back, so I'm happy about that! Looking forward to seeing my beloved Cubbies finish with a winning record and ideally make it to the playoffs! Second-favorite team right now would have to be the Orioles, whose newfound energy is electric (and Burnes sparkled in his first outing).

On the puzzle front, this will be the last one of the Winter Solstice! That means I get a week off as we go to every other week for a bit. Onward!

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1. Puzzle #89 answer: ACUTE

Correct entries: 52 - solid Level 3 or 3.5 with the nudge spike (about 35 before any).

Shortest explanation: Five symmetrically placed horizonal entries are the only across entries to contain an "R," often the abbreviation for "right." And what's not right? Wrong, of course, but also left! There are no "L"s in the grid, which is another hint to change these "R"s to "L"s to form valid words, and then play alternate clues for these entries. The initial letters in order of the original horizontal themers spell ACUTE, the fitting answer for meta #89, the largest integer value for an acute angle!

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2. Winter Solvestice concludes with this puzzle, which makes sense now that the flower tent is up at our local market!

We've had some arduous, but geniusly crafted, Level 5 metas this week ("Factored Out" by Shenk and "Sound Alternatives" by Gaffney); I guess I'll throw my hat in the ring with this smaller creation. You might see what to do early on? We shall see! Level 4 is probably safest; I don't see this being below a Level 3, SAD or no SAD.

Until next time, my friends, may all your solves be beautiful!

Mikey G

The answer to the meta is 16 letters long.