"United in Duet"

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.
Naptown Kid
Posts: 56
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2020 1:08 pm

#61

Post by Naptown Kid »

For some reason the third nudge got me where I needed to be. Pending confirmation, of course. One of these days I’ll solve sans nudge, but not this time. Happy New Year, all.
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ReB
Posts: 667
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:34 pm
Location: East Tennessee

#62

Post by ReB »

I had to be almost picked up off the couch with additional nudges from the author, managing to find every rabbit hole I could find, but I'm on my feet now.
damefox
Posts: 477
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:18 pm

#63

Post by damefox »

Final leaderboard update, then I'll type up the solution:

42. LesY
43. ReB
44. Naptown Kid
damefox
Posts: 477
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:18 pm

#64

Post by damefox »

The answer is TANDEM. The title strongly hints at anagrams being the key here, and specifically "apt" anagrams, where the anagrams are words that are related to each other in some way. UNITED is an apt anagram of IN DUET. There are six symmetrically placed across entries in the grid that have a crossing down entry whose clue starts with an apt anagram of the across entry:

1A TONES; 1D Notes may not be allowed when taking one -> TEST. TONES and TEST cross at T.
22A ACTORS; 9D Costar of Clint in "Million Dollar Baby" -> HILARY. ACTORS and HILARY cross at A.
38A LISTEN; 21D Silent vexation at a cocktail party -> STAIN. LISTEN and STAIN cross at N.
39A ROUTED; 34D Detour signs might indicate these streets -> SIDES. ROUTED and SIDES cross at D.
49A PETALS; 50D Pastel shade of brown -> ECRU. PETALS and ECRU cross at E.
67A MELON; 48D "Lemon, attack!" (command to a dog named Lemon, perhaps) -> SICEM. MELON and SICEM cross at M.

The crossing letters spell TANDEM. Here is a more visual explanation, courtesy of Joe Ross:
202101050925 MMM United in Duet jpr solution.png
This took me ages to wrangle into a grid, mostly because I was trying to make it fit into a 72-word grid (the maximum word count for most themelesses, and I generally like metas that are able to stand on their own as themelesses), and that was just not happening, so I caved and went for 74.

Believe it or not, I didn't have the crossing downs planned out ahead of time. The only one I chose pretty deliberately was HILARY, because I knew "Costar" would be easier to make work in the clue if the entry was a name. I also hadn't decided which of the anagrams I wanted to put in the grid and which to use in the clues when I started constructing; I just went with what made the grid easiest to fill and then backed into the clues. This mostly worked out (I was especially pleased that TEST was able to be clued so easily with "Notes"), but in order to make the SE corner not contain a bunch of crosswordese, I was unfortunately left with the task of finding a clue for SICEM that started with the word "Lemon." And so the dog named Lemon was born, and he (or she I guess) led most solvers pretty quickly onto the right path. STAIN being clued with "Silent" wins second most awkward of the six, but it's still far behind the dog named Lemon. In fact, I think I would like to coin "a dog named Lemon" to mean "a very obvious entry point into an otherwise tricky puzzle." Abide pointed out STEAM would've been nice there (clued as "Lemon tea emanation"); I think I tried that and rejected it on the basis of two much incidental crosswordese in that corner, although now I can't remember what that crosswordese was. Using SICEM ended up being just as well though, because many solvers commented that they would've really struggled to get a toehold without that very obvious entry point, and I wasn't trying to make an impossible puzzle.

Thanks for playing all!
FKelly
Posts: 315
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 9:09 pm

#65

Post by FKelly »

I solved it, but didn't get around to PMing damefox until just now. Missed the deadline.
damefox
Posts: 477
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:18 pm

#66

Post by damefox »

FKelly wrote: Sun Jan 10, 2021 2:35 pm I solved it, but didn't get around to PMing damefox until just now. Missed the deadline.
Well, "deadline" is a strong word. There's no prize, so it's not like your name was left out of a hat. If you solved it you solved it.

45. FKelly
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FrankH
Posts: 242
Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 4:15 am

#67

Post by FrankH »

Anagram is not my favorite cup of tea especially when I usually have to bring up an anagram solver webpage. So until I got a shove, I was not even thinking about it. And the first rabbit hole or red herring? That would be LEOI and ELOI at 15A and 16A respectively.
minimuggle
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:33 am

#68

Post by minimuggle »

I'm embarrassed to say that even with the nudges you posted I didn't get this one. But it was a fun puzzle not to get ... Can you message me the answer or is there a forum where the answer is posted? I would obviously take another nudge but at this point I think it would be like carrying me over the finish line. Thanks and happy Monday
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Abide
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Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:16 pm
Location: Biloxi
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#69

Post by Abide »

minimuggle wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:30 am I'm embarrassed to say that even with the nudges you posted I didn't get this one. But it was a fun puzzle not to get ... Can you message me the answer or is there a forum where the answer is posted? I would obviously take another nudge but at this point I think it would be like carrying me over the finish line. Thanks and happy Monday
Yes there is such a forum. Look four posts above yours ;)
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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