"key to the midway" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Carny slang, from the custom of sending a rube on a quest for the (non-existent) “key to the midway”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "keys to the midway",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "keys to the midway"
      },
      "expansion": "key to the midway (plural keys to the midway)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "49 51",
      "word": "red herring"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A fictional item, the subject of a fool's errand."
      ],
      "id": "en-key_to_the_midway-en-noun-qjN23o5k",
      "links": [
        [
          "fool's errand",
          "fool's errand"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "94 6",
          "sense": "fictional item",
          "word": "left-handed monkey wrench"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "94 6",
          "sense": "fictional item",
          "word": "skyhook"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "36 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1985, Rob Karwath, “The Gritty Side Of Life Along The Midway”, Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1985",
          "text": "“I’m a wheel man,” he says. “I’ve been crazy about Ferris wheels since I was a kid. The Ferris wheel is the key to the midway. When it’s up and running and the lights are on, everybody knows the show is open.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A Ferris wheel or carousel, due to their central location."
      ],
      "id": "en-key_to_the_midway-en-noun-VtjNMb-4",
      "links": [
        [
          "Ferris wheel",
          "Ferris wheel"
        ],
        [
          "carousel",
          "carousel"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Carny"
  ],
  "word": "key to the midway"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Carny slang, from the custom of sending a rube on a quest for the (non-existent) “key to the midway”.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "keys to the midway",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "keys to the midway"
      },
      "expansion": "key to the midway (plural keys to the midway)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "red herring"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A fictional item, the subject of a fool's errand."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fool's errand",
          "fool's errand"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1985, Rob Karwath, “The Gritty Side Of Life Along The Midway”, Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1985",
          "text": "“I’m a wheel man,” he says. “I’ve been crazy about Ferris wheels since I was a kid. The Ferris wheel is the key to the midway. When it’s up and running and the lights are on, everybody knows the show is open.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A Ferris wheel or carousel, due to their central location."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Ferris wheel",
          "Ferris wheel"
        ],
        [
          "carousel",
          "carousel"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "fictional item",
      "word": "left-handed monkey wrench"
    },
    {
      "sense": "fictional item",
      "word": "skyhook"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Carny"
  ],
  "word": "key to the midway"
}