MEOW #37: Josh and Tom's Terrible Horrible No-good Very Bad Puzzle

A weekly meta crossword on the forum started by member Josh (aka madhatter5). These puzzles are often very creative with solving mechanisms out of the norm and skewing towards the more challenging. Puzzles are posted every Wednesday, and the solution appears the following Tuesday.
madhatter5
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MEOW #37: Josh and Tom's Terrible Horrible No-good Very Bad Puzzle

#1

Post by madhatter5 »

Hi all and welcome to the thirty-seventh installment of the MEOW!


This one was co-constructed with DrTom. Feel free to send submissions to either of us.


The answer to this meta is something repugnant.


Good luck!

http://crossword.info/madhatter5/Josh_a ... Bad_Puzzle

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Excel form

PDF from PUZ - 1 page


Kitten

Calico

Persian

Puma

Lion

Borneo Bay Cat
Last edited by madhatter5 on Thu Aug 12, 2021 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
https://pandorasblocks.org/crosswords-for-cancer
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auee89
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#2

Post by auee89 »

Just downloaded for some Wednesday fun! Love the title.
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#3

Post by whimsy »

Just in case you don't quite remember the meaning of RE- PUG - NANT --
Here's the picture next to its entry in the dictionary --
Capturerepugnant.PNG
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#4

Post by madhatter5 »

Very minor non-meta-related thing I just spotted: the clue for 63A should start with an open quote. Just adding to the repugnance :)
https://pandorasblocks.org/crosswords-for-cancer
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Bob cruise director
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#5

Post by Bob cruise director »

Just starting but could the answer be @DrTom 's puns?
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#6

Post by hoover »

Finished the -- I hesitate to call it a grid, exactly -- and now cursing Josh and Tom for their use of ().
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#7

Post by Bob cruise director »

By the way, 5D was one of the great humorists of all time - totally irreverent. I will post some of my favorites when this is all over
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#8

Post by RPardoe »

Bob cruise director wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 2:41 pm By the way, 5D was one of the great humorists of all time - totally irreverent. I will post some of my favorites when this is all over
Agree trying to think of whom else the clue is referring to as another one just does not come to mind. :P
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#9

Post by Bob cruise director »

And 44A is classic Tom i.e. awful
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#10

Post by KayW »

Accomplishment #1 (pardon the expression) - I finally filled in the grid completely. That last uncrossed letter of 44A took way too long :lol:

Now to :shock: at all those un42n8 parenthetical numbers...
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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#11

Post by DrTom »

Bob cruise director wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 1:20 pm Just starting but could the answer be @DrTom 's puns?
HEY, I resemble that remark!!! Besides, if that were true it would be, "The answer to this meta is something repungnant!" or even PUNGENT. but I guess that would stink.

Just for that Bob, GO RAYS!!!!
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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#12

Post by DrTom »

KayW wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:51 pm Accomplishment #1 (pardon the expression) - I finally filled in the grid completely. That last uncrossed letter of 44A took way too long :lol:

Now to :shock: at all those un42n8 parenthetical numbers...
Mwah Ha Ha - so Earthling, you think you can beat the mighty Tomosh (Thanos' 2nd cousin on his mother's side)
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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#13

Post by DrTom »

hoover wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 1:21 pm Finished the -- I hesitate to call it a grid, exactly -- and now cursing Josh and Tom for their use of ().
Well then grid your loins my friend because you are in for a wild ride....you'll curse, you'll swear, you'll beg for forgiveness - but the GIRD will persevere, or is that perverse...ah, ends up being the same.

Josh has listed this as a Puma, but I'd say Borneo Bay Cat (guess who has been watching Nature on PBS) because it is very rare and hard to spot....
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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oldjudge
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#14

Post by oldjudge »

I’m not sure that coming up with a puzzle that no one can solve is a positive.
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#15

Post by DrTom »

oldjudge wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:15 pm I’m not sure that coming up with a puzzle that no one can solve is a positive.
Take heart because someone just solved it! We may have overestimated the difficulty, perhaps because it was rather hard to make. The fill is ugly, but then we implied that at the beginning...Terrible Horrible No-good Very Bad.....
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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#16

Post by LadyBird »

Well, I received quite the education while Googling "Dutch wife"! :o
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#17

Post by Hector »

LadyBird wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 12:02 am Well, I received quite the education while Googling "Dutch wife"! :o
Glad I wasn't the only one!

Solved with an assist from oldjudge, whose comment unstuck my wrong assumption that there were n-1 things where there really were n. It's a solid, amusing, and interesting meta.
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#18

Post by RPardoe »

LadyBird wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 12:02 am Well, I received quite the education while Googling "Dutch wife"! :o
Guess I was lucky having spent some of my childhood in Holland and remembering a few words.

Team effort solve, but there. Less charitable than Hector about the meta at the moment.
In fact, finding myself disappointed by it. I think it has to do with all the work put in for very little pay off in the end.
There is another factor as well - but it would be a spoiler this early in the solve window.
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#19

Post by oldjudge »

Thanks Hector, all credit to you. I can’t say that this was one of my favorites puzzles, but it was interesting.
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#20

Post by madhatter5 »

Rating updated.

As this seems to be even harder than we anticipated I am going to do the same as Matt and release a bonus extra easier puzzle this week in another thread.
https://pandorasblocks.org/crosswords-for-cancer
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