104. All the Ingredients

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Hello hello! Olympics have been incredible so far with Team USA rocking gymnastics, along with Pommel Horse Man living his best life. Great to see some of the emotion in events like fencing, swimming, and trampoline as well. And we got another week to go!

Cubs also made it through the trade deadline relatively unscathed, though we did lose fan favorite Christopher Morel. The Cubs aren't really expected to do much now, so it almost seems like they've been playing a bit lighter as a result, like they've got nothing to lose. Will they squeak into the playoffs after an August and a September surge? We shall see!

This is the last month of the Summer of Solves, which will conclude with the final puzzle on August 31. Let's get to it!

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1. Puzzle #103 answer: TRIATHLON

Correct entries: 70

Shortest explanation: Nine references to the Olympic medals are in the clues: three gold, three silver, three bronze. The initial letters of these clues spell "trickster," which is NOT the answer to the meta, since the prompt is asking for an Olympic event! You might have avoided that red herring altogether had you taken the medal's numeric position in each word: 1st letter for gold, 2nd for silver, 3rd for bronze. These spell TRIATHLON, the answer to our meta.

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2. This one is a bit tough to predict; last week's Level 3 played more like a Level 2 once people surmounted the red herring. I'll put this one again at a Level 3, but your mileage may vary!

Good luck, and may all your solves be beautiful!

Mikey G

The answer to the meta is a beverage.