"Burns Notice"

A weekly meta crossword created by members of the forum. Difficulty levels will vary. Hints are usually available starting Wednesday, and solutions are posted on Sunday.
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Abide
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#41

Post by Abide »

Nudge #2

if you were trying to clue ORA, how would you do it? Eek!
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Abide
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#42

Post by Abide »

Nudge #3:

The four-word title is a famous novella. So famous it should appear among the top Google searches of “novella”. And if you read the Wikipedia blurb on this novella, you will see the connection to the title.

Now get off the 🛋!
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Anita
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#43

Post by Anita »

Confirmed, we're Off The Couch!
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TPS
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#44

Post by TPS »

I got it - technically before I saw the 2nd nudge but that was because I got another nudge. One thing in this one really screwed me up and the grid gave me a ton of trouble.
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Abide
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#45

Post by Abide »

Wednesday night update:

31. AnswerPfinder
32. miked
33. TPS
34. Anita
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
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SewYoung
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#46

Post by SewYoung »

Very late getting to the puzzle, but quickly off the couch when I did get to it. I did not look at the nudges until after I submitted but they confirmed my thinking. Have not gotten confirmation, yet, but I am confident in my answer.
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DrTom
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#47

Post by DrTom »

OK, well I got the wrong answer the first time round because I went back too far. It is a clever puzzle but I think the title made me go another way. I KNOW I'm being a curmudgeon but for me I'd have rather seen the title RABBITS.

The cluing was tricky, and had a few too many contemporary (or probably author contemporary) references for me to solve without some searching) but there was also GREAT misdirection. Good job Peter.
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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Abide
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#48

Post by Abide »

Thursday night update:

35. Cindy N ♑️
36. SewYoung 🧵 👶
37. DrTom 👨‍⚕️
38. Bob cruise director 🚢
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
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Abide
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#49

Post by Abide »

Friday night update:

39. Geoduck
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Abide
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#50

Post by Abide »

Final leaderboard:

40. Dow Jones
41. Djquimby

Thank you all for playing. Winner, grid reveal and backstory in the morning.
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
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Abide
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#51

Post by Abide »

The meta answer is the four-word title Of Mice And Men
20200920 MMM Peter Abide Burns Notice solution.gif
Credit: The amazing Joe Ross

About half of this puzzle was my previous New York Sun, circa 2002, where OFMICEANDMEN was the revealer.
IMG_1393.jpg
When Al and Brian mentioned on a recent Zoom call they didn't have a MMM in the lineup, I put this together with a little surgery on the bottom half.

Four MEN with the first name of four cartoon MICE. These mice all have the last name "Mouse" (I'm looking at you, Timothy Q. Mouse). When I was cluing last weekend I noticed ORA was fortuitously in the center. I was glad to work that in as a nudge to the answer.

If you are lit-deficicient, you may not have gotten the title connection. Steinbeck based his title on the Burns poem 'To A Mouse' which contains the line 'the best-laid schemes o'mice an' men [go often awry]'. For many this required a Google check; sorry if you learned something!

The grid was clued harder on purpose, as well as the title connection, to make up for the easier meta mechanism. Forty-one solvers followed the cheese crumbs to success.

Random number #20 wins the prize: KayW !
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
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Al Sisti
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#52

Post by Al Sisti »

Great puzzle, and what an unbelievable bit of serendipity to find ORA not only *somewhere* in the grid, but in the coveted center spot... (the "Paul Lynde" spot).
Dplass
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#53

Post by Dplass »

I don't get the ORA reference ...
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Al Sisti
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#54

Post by Al Sisti »

Dplass wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 10:36 am I don't get the ORA reference ...
[Are you a] Man ORA Mouse [?]
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#55

Post by Dplass »

Oh. Thanks. Sadly I needed nudges to get off the couch on this one. Also, I had never heard of "To a mouse" though I had heard of Burns...
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whimsy
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#56

Post by whimsy »

I very nearly "ganged agley" and submitted To A Mouse but hesitated because it's not really Ode To A Mouse and therefore not a 4 word title. Then I noticed -- hey, these are all guys' names......
I first approached ORA from my demure Catholic schoolgirl ;) past and thought it might mean that I would need praying for! ORA PRO NOBIS
Congrats, Kay!
And thank you, Puzzle Constructor --- All together now : Who's the leader etc. etc. P - E - T..... E - R - A ......
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Al Sisti
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#57

Post by Al Sisti »

whimsy wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:40 pm Who's the leader etc. etc. P - E - T..... E - R - A ......
Sorry to do this to you all again, but Annette Funicello is from Utica.
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Abide
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#58

Post by Abide »

......

Sorry to do this to you all again, but Annette Funicello is from Utica.
Your meta day in the sun is over ;)
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
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Al Sisti
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#59

Post by Al Sisti »

Abide wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 1:34 pm ......

Sorry to do this to you all again, but Annette Funicello is from Utica.
Your meta day in the sun is over ;)
Yep, my 15 x 15 minutes of fame.
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KayW
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#60

Post by KayW »

OMG! My very first ever puzzle prize! Peter, thanks so much again for a fabulous meta - which is ample reward in and of itself. The prize is very tasty icing on the cake :)

I'm very impressed that you could so quickly reconfigure an older puzzle to a meta.

And kudos to Joe Ross on the most artistic solve I've seen yet!
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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