MEOW #107: Appropriately Appropriate

[MarkWoychick]

Congrats to the solvers so far:

"I PMed you with my solve," said benchen71, aggrievedly.

"My apologies," said Mark sheepishly. You did indeed, and I'll update the post

[CPJohnson]

"I haven't solved; waiting on tomorrow's nudges," said Cynthia hopefully.

[MarkWoychick]

We have 10 additional solvers since yesterday, bringing the total to 28

Schmeel
BarbaraK
dplass
Sharkicicles
Mr Tex
MatthewL
imontoo
SJMcK
DrTom
emmie

Given the low number of solvers, I'm releasing the nudges today (nudge 2 is a repeat from yesterday). Nudges provided by Tom Swift - please PM me if you are looking for a more conventional format.

“Pay attention to what I say,” said Tom absently.
“I could use some company,” said Tom firmly.
“It’s like where I work,” said Tom effortlessly.
“Give me less,” said Tom tersely.
“Haven’t I seen something similar around here?” said Tom blindly.

[CPJohnson]

Finally got it, after the translation. Thanks, Mark!

[Cinny]

Cat is out. Needed the nudges, though. Thanks, Mark!

[Thruster17]

Sigh. The nudges helped me as much as … well, they didn’t.

[MarkWoychick]

Here's another update 8 more solvers, bringing the total to 36:

ReB
lbray53
Alex Sisti
CPJohnson
Jim Dean
Cindy Heisler
markhr
clev

[MarkWoychick]

Sigh. The nudges helped me as much as … well, they didn’t.

I PM'd you some nudges - I hope they will help

[MarkWoychick]

One more solver since my last post - congrats to Lance and the 36 other solvers. On to the reveal:

The answer to how you will apply the Swifties is...APTLY

The path to this answer was to apply the "Appropriately Appropriate" title to the company names in the Tom Swift clues - that is, remove the LY - and then find the synonyms in the grid. I was hoping the nudge "'I could use some company,' said Tom firmly" might help make that connection.

Several solvers tried SWIFTLY as the meta answer, which is a great idea. Maybe a future puzzle? Additionally, I made it inadvertently harder on solvers by not noticing several other possible substitutes in the grid (ATEASE for Zen, EGGS for Oat (breakfast alternative), and TWOS or LENTIL for Bit (morsel in clue). Having these entries in the grid made what proved to be a difficult puzzle even harder - definitely not my intent, and I will try to avoid that in the future.

Thanks to all who did the puzzle, whether you solved or not - happy holidays and I wish you a healthy and prosperous new year!

[ajk]

Had TRANQUIL and and YOUTHFUL, but fell into both the LENTIL and EGGS traps (though I was suspicious of the LENTIL one as being not quite on point). Also was trying to force Current into 'Shocked reaction' somehow, even though I knew better. But couldn't see AIRFLOW for some reason.

All in all, my fault rather than the puzzle's.

[DrTom]

Thanks Mark, as usual a big hit. "It was so nice that so many people could seize on the answer", Tom said fittingly