XWord Muggles Forum

Cat is free! Thanks for the puzzle, @DrTom !

@BarbaraK: Hat tip for the idea to Google for it. I love musical theatre and spent all afternoon wracking my brain for what the implicit answer could be. I had several tries that I thought were defensible but as soon as I saw the entry I knew it was going to work. Can't wait for the post-reveal chat to share what people guessed!

lbray53 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 4:24 pm

DrTom wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 3:08 pm It just occurred to me that I never thanked my testers. That is a real faux pas because believe me, with most puzzles, and mine in particular, they work their tails off trying to get me to make it a better puzzle. You would not believe the stuff I try to foist on you and they talk me out of. So for this one my guinea..rather testers were:
@Cinny and @lbray53 . Thanks guys for making me look good.

Ear to Purse.jpg

I had to work a bit to find the "hook" even though I was a test solver. But the cat is free at last!

I would like to add that I was very pleased to see that you "Doctored" your clues to the Dr. Tom level we have come to expect. There were some really good ones. I was particularly impressed with the 8D/9D combo.

Haven't solved the meta yet, but with the ORCAs coming up I think there's a couple of clues in this puzzle alone that could quality for Best Clue next year.

I think I see the thing from the Early Bird Special spoiler, but it's not leading me to an answer... yet.

KayW wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 5:42 pm I think I see the thing from the Early Bird Special spoiler, but it's not leading me to an answer... yet.

Same - but it led me to an answer, just not the answer!

It's admittedly weak, so not lobbying for alternate...

BarbaraK wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 5:02 pm

You could ask google for a list of hit musical songs.

That's a pretty broad search.....

If I add the keyword I found I don't get much of anything. There was a movie with the keyword as a title and it has a soundtrack album (not sure if the movie was a musical) which ha 53 songs. None of which ring a bell.

My cat is not free. But it has taken up taiko drumming as a hobby (long story)

EDIT: Well, what do you know... a search on "hit musical songs" and basically looking at *all* songs yielded an answer! (Hadn't heard of it by the way but the musical is well known... although now that I think about it, I don't think I know the title of *any* song from it.)

Freed the cat, thanks to @DrTom's early bird nudge and @BarbaraK's suggestion. Great puzzle!

Got it quickly with the nudge, proving that even the musically inept have a shot.

Strong click when you see it, even with an implied answer. So if Google (or knowledge/memory) serves you well it should be no problem.

Also, the 18A clue is pretty great.

The cat scratched her way out of the bag.... after so many feeble attempts at Googling "hit musicals"!
Finally entered something random into Crosshare and got the answer!? [P.S. Pic is not intended as a spoiler. Taylor Swift just seems to pop up everywhere!]

Jeremy Smith wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 5:02 pm I came up with the alternate answer using the Early Bird Special nudge. I was surprised that it was only the alternate answer because it seemed like there were two or three Easter egg-type clues pointing me in that direction. Nice puzzle, though. Thanks DrT!

I can understand that and see why you might have gone down that road, a case of me being WAY too myopic.

sharkicicles wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 5:20 pm

lbray53 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 4:24 pm

DrTom wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 3:08 pm It just occurred to me that I never thanked my testers. That is a real faux pas because believe me, with most puzzles, and mine in particular, they work their tails off trying to get me to make it a better puzzle. You would not believe the stuff I try to foist on you and they talk me out of. So for this one my guinea..rather testers were:
@Cinny and @lbray53 . Thanks guys for making me look good.

Ear to Purse.jpg

I had to work a bit to find the "hook" even though I was a test solver. But the cat is free at last!

I would like to add that I was very pleased to see that you "Doctored" your clues to the Dr. Tom level we have come to expect. There were some really good ones. I was particularly impressed with the 8D/9D combo.

Haven't solved the meta yet, but with the ORCAs coming up I think there's a couple of clues in this puzzle alone that could quality for Best Clue next year.

Why thank you. I am humbled. It is nice to know that something about this puzzle went well.

Tom

ajk wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 7:02 pm Got it quickly with the nudge, proving that even the musically inept have a shot.

Strong click when you see it, even with an implied answer. So if Google (or knowledge/memory) serves you well it should be no problem.

Also, the 18A clue is pretty great.

Thanks for continuing to sing along Alan, and glad you liked the clue. I enjoyed doing it.

Tom

Well, a rocky start! Needless to say, I never intended this to be as difficult as it appears to be. I have 25 solvers which in the old days would have been great, but you have been spoiling me lately. Thos people who are now humming the desired tune are:

1 Cindy Heisler (T)
2 Carolyn
3 Hector
4 boharr
5 Meg
6 Cindy Weatherman
7 Jaclyn
8 Pair O Ducks
9 MatthewL
10 hoover
11 lbray53
12 Jeremy Smith
13 BarbaraK
14 edestlin
15 LarsCaine
16 Chris Kochmanski
17 Gutman
18 SJMcK
19 woozy
20 CPJohnson
21 ajk
22 Mg305
23 Tom Wilson
24 DCBilly
25 Darth

However, perhaps some more nudging is called for?

What is the puzzle's release date?

When you are about to do something dangerous or new what cautionary phrase do people often use?

Just a dab of humor, saw this and laughed out loud:

"Of all the bears that could kill me the gummy has come the closest."

The cat is free! Yay!!

Cat out because of being turned upside-down and shaken. I am on the back side of lots of nudges this week. Love the show and the song (the originally intended show/song, not necessarily the one I submitted that was accepted also). It’s a great show to play the sound track to when doing a mountain of yard work, and you can belt out the tunes to your neighbors’ amusement.

HeadinHome wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 9:46 am Cat out because of being turned upside-down and shaken. I am on the back side of lots of nudges this week. Love the show and the song (the originally intended show/song, not necessarily the one I submitted that was accepted also). It’s a great show to play the sound track to when doing a mountain of yard work, and you can belt out the tunes to your neighbors’ amusement.

I belt them out whether the neighbor is amused or not. "I love to break into song I told him!", he responded, "If you had the right key you would not have to break in!"

Glad you like it (and them) it is my favorite!!!

T

I took @BarbaraK 's suggestion and finally figured it out.

I took all the suggestions and made 3 more incorrect guesses... er, submissions

Rather discouraging to someone who thinks she likes and knows musicals.

Cat is free! Thanks to early nudges….

KayW wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 12:31 pm I took all the suggestions and made 3 more incorrect guesses... er, submissions

Rather discouraging to someone who thinks she likes and knows musicals.

Kay,

There are no incorrect guesses. I am sure all of your submissions were based on solid logic because I am starting to see that some of the things that led folks astray were VERY plausible. I am just happy you arrived before the final curtain and that the cat is out and singing (probably to the tune of "Memory").

Memory, is betrayed by the word plays
I can dream of the old days
Life was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what the answer would be
Let the memory live again

Every desk lamp seems to beat
A fatalistic warning
I sit and mutter but then the idea sputters
And soon it will be morning

(with my sincere apologies to Sir Andrew)