"Call Me"

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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Wendy Walker
Posts: 1699
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:44 pm
Location: Unionville, PA

#41

Post by Wendy Walker »

Another joint Date Night solve by Mark and me!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
hoover
Posts: 1220
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 7:26 pm

#42

Post by hoover »

BrianMac wrote: Tue Oct 26, 2021 9:15 am Thanks to everyone who has solved so far.

Here is your current leaderboard:
  1. woozy
  2. Bird Lives
  3. Meg
  4. RPardoe
  5. markhr
  6. Laura M
  7. boharr
  8. MarkWoychick
  9. Dannyvee
  10. joequavis
  11. BarbaraK
  12. benchen71
  13. ChrisKochmanski
  14. Bbaack
And here is our new Cavapoo (King Cavalier Spaniel x Toy Poodle), and my new office mate, Lola:


Lolz.jpg
Post #9?
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DrTom
Posts: 3763
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
Location: Jacksonville, FL

#43

Post by DrTom »

MaineMarge wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:13 pm Still in the bag with the cat, so I don’t know anything about any flaws. But I do know lots about flawers.
I see you've gone with the South of the Mason Dixon pronunciation. I'm used to that.....

Drawl Naid a hunred.jpg
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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Darth
Posts: 709
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:51 pm
Location: Champaign, IL

#44

Post by Darth »

Kount me off the kouch, too! :lol:
Dplass
Posts: 1739
Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am

#45

Post by Dplass »

Real estate agent: "There's not a single flaw in this house!"
Buyer: "Then what do y'all walk on?"

Kount me off the kouch too, after kuite a konfusing konundrum.
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cbarbee002
Posts: 591
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:02 pm
Location: Philly Area

#46

Post by cbarbee002 »

Duh, just hit me. OTC (unofficially).
Attachments
Dog falling off couch.jpg
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whimsy
Posts: 2716
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
Location: Hopkinton MA

#47

Post by whimsy »

^^ Same here -- OTC with all of Brian's nudges and despite DrTom's :D -- I even tried those since I was grasping at straws.
Hint -- Treating the themers as DrTom did the additional possibilities does not work!!
Should have heard me trying to sound out some pretty strange stuff. :lol:
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rjy
Posts: 1007
Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2021 12:52 pm
Location: Gaithersburg, MD

#48

Post by rjy »

Fiiiiiiiiiiinally off the couch... yikes! Needed every nudge that BrianMac posted and then some noodling.

53A clue... HA!

I couldn't get past the paired clues for the longest words: Certain pig/Certain profile, but couldn't make anything out of them. Or a "Call me" theme with "ATT" sitting in the upper left.

I couldn't find my way without the nudges, but absolutely appreciate the puzzle and a new angle on a meta. Kudos to those who got it early!
Ray
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CPJohnson
Posts: 1078
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:38 pm
Location: Kingsport, TN

#49

Post by CPJohnson »

I’m still sitting on the couch, waiting for inspiration.
Cynthia
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MamaE
Posts: 334
Joined: Tue May 05, 2020 6:15 pm
Location: Maryland

#50

Post by MamaE »

Got it with the help of those Wednesday nudges! :-)
- Just puzzling it out here in Delmarva :D
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MikeyG
Posts: 1346
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:52 pm
Location: Chicago
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#51

Post by MikeyG »

I needed every nudge for this one! Nicely done. Call me impressed!
Less cross words, more crosswords.

Solve my latest "Pun of a Kind" Meta!: 89. That's Not Right!
JeanneC
Posts: 616
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 11:25 am
Location: Florida

#52

Post by JeanneC »

Never got this one, alas. Waiting for the solution and the flaw. 🤔
“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions”. Lillian Hellman
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BrianMac
Site Admin
Posts: 787
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 11:45 pm
Location: Connecticut

#53

Post by BrianMac »

Hi everyone, and sorry for going AWOL on this thread. I was laid up most the second half of the week with the Martian Death Flu. Luckily it was not COVID and I am now 90% recovered. Here is your updated leaderboard (sorry for not responding to everyone who submitted answers):

19. hoover (sorry for the omission)
20. michaelm
21. Anita
22. Jeremy Smith
23. Thurman8er
24. Darth
25. Wendy Walker
26. dudeski
27. MaineMarge
28. MikeM000
29. Dplass
30. whimsy
31. auee89
32. cbarbee002
33. Beth Tyrpin
34. Naptown Kid
35. Alvibu67
36. MamaE
37. MikeyG

And here is your solution grid:

Screen Shot 2021-10-31 at 3.12.01 PM.png

The answer to the meta is NAMESAKE, which is derived by taking the first initial of the first name of each of the eponymous words that make up the 8 longest across answers. Schmeel kindly provided the following summary:

CHAUVINIST - named after Nicolas Chauvin.
DECIBEL - Alexander Graham Bell gave his name to the cause.
CICERONE - The ever so eloquent Marcus Tullius Cicero's name is the muse for this word.
MIRANDA - Ernesto Miranda, Mr. Rights himself, got off the hook, and forever his name is remembered.
WALMART - Sam Walton named the company after himself.
BLOOMERS - Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Mrs. Rights this time, got an article of clothing named after her.
DEGAUSS - K, I mean Carl Friedrich Gauss, the Prince of Mathematicians, is recognized here.
SILHOUETTE - Etienne de Silhouette lent his name to this artform.

I tried to make the puzzle limited to "real" words like SILHOUETTE and CHAUVINIST. BOYCOTT was another favorite. But I couldn't quite get there and had to go with WALMART (my least favorite) and MIRANDA, which is not really a word separate from the name. Even DEGAUSS was a too much like PASTEURIZE for my taste - too connected to the individual. But hopefully those "cheater" words provided a bit of a toehold into a puzzle which was already a very Google-dependent solve for most.

The "fatal flaw" that I think everyone picked up on is that Gauss first name is actually spelled Carl. I did a bit research into this trying to figure out why some websites do list him as KARL (although it's about 20:1 against). It seems in 1902 the German Senate passed a resolution attempting to bring conformity to some non-standard spellings in German at time, one of them being the use of C or K for the hard K sound. This resolution make K the standard letter for hard K sound and C the letter for a Z sound (German speakers and/or historical linguists can chime in with more detail or corrections). It's my theory that the websites that spell Gauss' name with a K (one of which I obviously referenced when constructing the puzzle) are trying to adhere to these new rules. However, most seem to honor the way Carl actually spelled his own name, which was with a C, and seems to be to be obviously correct.

Needless to say, I was pretty gutted when test-solver-extraordinaire Al Sisti pointed this out to me about a year ago. I couldn't find a suitable replacement for the K word and didn't have it in me to start the puzzle over fresh. So into the trash it went. However, every few months, Al would mention it to me and say why don't you bring that one back out? So thank Al for that and thanks everyone for solving. Next MMM will be a special Halloween treat from BirdLives that I understand may arrive a day early. So watch this spot!

Screen Shot 2021-10-31 at 3.37.55 PM.png
Dplass
Posts: 1739
Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am

#54

Post by Dplass »

BrianMac wrote: Sun Oct 31, 2021 3:42 pm Hi everyone, and sorry for going AWOL on this thread. I was laid up most the second half of the week with the Martian Death Flu. Luckily it was not COVID and I am now 90% recovered. Here is your updated leaderboard (sorry for not responding to everyone who submitted answers):

19. hoover (sorry for the omission)
20. michaelm
21. Anita
22. Jeremy Smith
23. Thurman8er
24. Darth
25. Wendy Walker
26. dudeski
27. MaineMarge
28. MikeM000
29. Dplass
30. whimsy
31. auee89
32. cbarbee002
33. Beth Tyrpin
34. Naptown Kid
35. Alvibu67
36. MamaE
37. MikeyG

And here is your solution grid:


Screen Shot 2021-10-31 at 3.12.01 PM.png


The answer to the meta is NAMESAKE, which is derived by taking the first initial of the first name of each of the eponymous words that make up the 8 longest across answers. Schmeel kindly provided the following summary:

CHAUVINIST - named after Nicolas Chauvin.
DECIBEL - Alexander Graham Bell gave his name to the cause.
CICERONE - The ever so eloquent Marcus Tullius Cicero's name is the muse for this word.
MIRANDA - Ernesto Miranda, Mr. Rights himself, got off the hook, and forever his name is remembered.
WALMART - Sam Walton named the company after himself.
BLOOMERS - Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Mrs. Rights this time, got an article of clothing named after her.
DEGAUSS - K, I mean Carl Friedrich Gauss, the Prince of Mathematicians, is recognized here.
SILHOUETTE - Etienne de Silhouette lent his name to this artform.

I tried to make the puzzle limited to "real" words like SILHOUETTE and CHAUVINIST. BOYCOTT was another favorite. But I couldn't quite get there and had to go with WALMART (my least favorite) and MIRANDA, which is not really a word separate from the name. Even DEGAUSS was a too much like PASTEURIZE for my taste - too connected to the individual. But hopefully those "cheater" words provided a bit of a toehold into a puzzle which was already a very Google-dependent solve for most.

The "fatal flaw" that I think everyone picked up on is that Gauss first name is actually spelled Carl. I did a bit research into this trying to figure out why some websites do list him as KARL (although it's about 20:1 against). It seems in 1902 the German Senate passed a resolution attempting to bring conformity to some non-standard spellings in German at time, one of them being the use of C or K for the hard K sound. This resolution make K the standard letter for hard K sound and C the letter for a Z sound (German speakers and/or historical linguists can chime in with more detail or corrections). It's my theory that the websites that spell Gauss' name with a K (one of which I obviously referenced when constructing the puzzle) are trying to adhere to these new rules. However, most seem to honor the way Carl actually spelled his own name, which was with a C, and seems to be to be obviously correct.

Needless to say, I was pretty gutted when test-solver-extraordinaire Al Sisti pointed this out to me about a year ago. I couldn't find a suitable replacement for the K word and didn't have it in me to start the puzzle over fresh. So into the trash it went. However, every few months, Al would mention it to me and say why don't you bring that one back out? So thank Al for that and thanks everyone for solving. Next MMM will be a special Halloween treat from BirdLives that I understand may arrive a day early. So watch this spot!


Screen Shot 2021-10-31 at 3.37.55 PM.png
Tbh I had only heard of about half of those namesakes! I didn't even know that decibel was names after AGB...
Dplass
Posts: 1739
Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am

#55

Post by Dplass »

Oh, and thanks for the puzzle!
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MikeyG
Posts: 1346
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:52 pm
Location: Chicago
Contact:

#56

Post by MikeyG »

Count me in as another who was completely gobsmacked by the Bell/decibel connection - that alone was worth the price of admission.
Less cross words, more crosswords.

Solve my latest "Pun of a Kind" Meta!: 89. That's Not Right!
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hcbirker
Posts: 1985
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:24 pm
Location: Studio City, CA

#57

Post by hcbirker »

Never would have gotten this one. Great idea!
Heidi
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Bird Lives
Posts: 2605
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:43 pm
Location: NYC
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#58

Post by Bird Lives »

Count me among the decibel-eponym ignorant. BTW, someone (can't remember who) asked me for a nudge. My answer was a single word: eponymous. I wonder if that was more a shove than a nudge.
Jay
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sharkicicles
Posts: 798
Joined: Fri May 10, 2019 12:03 pm
Location: Chicago

#59

Post by sharkicicles »

Once I figured out the Carl/Karl thing the clue made me laugh, and if anything it pushed me to realize I was on the right track. So, not a bug but a feature.
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