MEOW #9: Number Sixteen

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.
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Joe Ross
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#21

Post by Joe Ross »

madhatter5 wrote: โ†‘Tue Feb 02, 2021 1:49 pm
Hector wrote: โ†‘Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:45 pm No offense to Joe, but the Excel file produces gibberish on my system (Windows, in the Chrome browser) -- dozens of copies of the grid, etc. Didn't need it to guess the answer, but out of curiosity, what does "grid #16" mean?
I don't think those copies are gibberish. There are intentionally 16 grids, all of which are normally blacked out except for the first one (they unblacked when you fill out the previous grid, if I understand correctly). So the answer is found on the 16th grid in the file:
The Excel form is set-up so that all 15 grids (triskaidekaphobia allows for a skipped grid #) are filled in when Grid #1 is completed. All grids are then available to chase numerous rabbits via highlighting, building lists to the right of the grids, etc.

Per feedback received, most use the form for highlighting, having already solved via online form, paper/PDF, or PUZ. (I think that Inca may solve directly in Excel.) In any case, it's a convenient way to explore many paths to the answer without paper. It's clean, fast, colorful, and repeatable.

For this puzzle, grid #16 was not blacked out until grid #1 was filled in, so that anyone scrolling to the end - to "Number Sixteen" - would then see the answer revealed. It was presumed that the grid would have to be filled-in in order to find the X, which would lead the solver to the Excel form.

Those who might have chosen to solve via the Excel form may have had the opportunity to find the solution without filling in a grid space.

Here's a MGWCC from September, "Listen 'Til the End" (when the form still sported grid #13):
20200925 MGWCC LISTEN TIL THE END jpr.png
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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Joe Ross
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#22

Post by Joe Ross »

Here's Joshua's MEOW #9 Number Sixteen, before grid #1 is filled-in:
20210127 MEOW No9 Number Sixteen jpr.png
Whole blood, platelets, or plasma: Donate 4 in 2024

PLATELET ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ.
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ENORMOUS ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ:
๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ% ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ,
๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ & ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—”๐—ฆ๐—˜ ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜!
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whimsy
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#23

Post by whimsy »

Thanks to this puzzle I now know a lot more about the Baseball Hall of Fame --
They say a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing -- so true -- My "insider information" (not test-solving this time but keeping mum about it) led me down a wonderful rabbit hole. I thought the inability to solve the puzzle before last Wednesday had to revolve around a time sensitive event. (I jumped to the idea of Groundhog Day but that obviously couldn't have been it.) So I went to the sports world and then political current events. The HOF (non)announcement was last Tuesday night; did you know that if you add one letter to certain grid entries you can get: Jeter, Ruth, Rice, Kiner, Mize and several others I can't recall at the moment. (Oh, Ott, too of course! :D ) Other entries like ORIOLES, EARLE, EJECTED, and JEERED only encouraged me. :) As for the political events path, let's just leave it with (good old 16A) Tries again?

Even shortly before Joe Ross expressed that land/sea dilemma of Sunday evening as Schrodinger's Muggle, I thought that concept could serve the uncertainty of solving -- and perfect for a MEOW of course! I was sure I could tease out that nearly comatose Maltese in the SW and that thriving civet in the SE.

But what really put the brakes on me was failing to see Joe Ross in the diagonals and not being able to get past J Lo! Slippery slope indeed.
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