MEOW #110: Drink You Under The Table

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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benchen71
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#21

Post by benchen71 »

woozy wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 7:07 pm Boy, a lot of people are talking about 6D when we said we wouldn't talk about it.
If they're talking about it because they liked it, I don't mind! :D
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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benchen71
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#22

Post by benchen71 »

Solver update for you:

Tyrpmom
Bird Lives
ChrisKochmanski
DrTom
edestlin
MatthewL
ReB

That's an even 30. Keep 'em coming!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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HeadinHome
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#23

Post by HeadinHome »

The method to find the CORRECT answer (not the obvious but incorrect answer) finally came to me. A thoroughly enjoyable, break-all-the-rules puzzle.
The other Wendy. :roll:
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MarkWoychick
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#24

Post by MarkWoychick »

Cat is (finally) out of the bag - thanks, Ben!
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 contest-style (meta) crosswords that we've created to help raise money for cancer-related organizations - get the bundle at http://crosswordsforcancer.com
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#25

Post by benchen71 »

Solver update:

ChrisCross
SeamusOL
HeadinHome
Mwoychick

Were up to 34 now. Time for some nudges...
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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benchen71
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#26

Post by benchen71 »

Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. There are five themers in this puzzle. Their clues have something in common.

2. The puzzle title provides you with a hint to the meta mechanism.

3. You want to look below the element. But don't be misled: a cocktail really isn't the meta answer!

4. You will need to consult the Periodic Table. I recommend the one on Wikipedia (because, yes I know, the meta mechanism has one highly inelegant "element"; so sue me!)
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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KayW
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#27

Post by KayW »

:crossed_swords: :rabbit: :cat: :handbag:
catdrinkingmartini.jpg
Nudged to the correct drink. After trying the obviously wrong one, of course. Thanks Ben!
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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TeamDoubleTow
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#28

Post by TeamDoubleTow »

Needed the nudges to confirm that we were on the right path and to look where we went wrong.
Team DoubleTow=Ali who posts here, Alex & Maya the hound(with occasional assistance from son)
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DCBilly
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#29

Post by DCBilly »

Got it. Similar to TeamDoubleTow, I was doing everything correctly but I had kind of a fat finger error in my marginal notes. The nudges made me double check and correct myself.
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#30

Post by Dave C »

Solved with the last nudge, which should have been obvious...
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#31

Post by ajk »

OK, got it. The clearly-not-right answer came quickly, but took the last nudge and a couple of tries before the right path revealed itself. Thanks.
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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ky-mike
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#32

Post by ky-mike »

Well, solved but not a big fan of this type of puzzle.
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#33

Post by benchen71 »

Final solver update before the answer reveal:

Teamdoubletow
woozy
KayW
jbird
Dow Jones
DCBilly
Dave C
Johnny Luau
ajk
Darrell
Jaclyn
Gutman
kymike
bhamren

That's 48 in total.
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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#34

Post by benchen71 »

Here's the answer to "Drink You Under The Table":

Drink You Under The Table (solution).png

I'm in two minds about this puzzle. On the one hand, it has a couple of flaws: the repetition of Bromine in the mechanism; and the use of a Lanthanide appearing "under" an element with a much higher atomic number simply because the Lanthanides are often displayed below the Table of Elements. (And before you say, "What about CRORF?", you will recall that we agreed not to speak of it again!)

On the other hand, this is such a fun meta mechanism! I love the way it utilises two different "unders", one that leads to RED HERRING (with a space in the grid right where you need it in the phrase, too!) and the other that leads to the meta answer proper. That was the original idea. It's just that when I started trying to form the name of a cocktail (this was before I discovered that RED HERRING was a cocktail!) using element symbols that appear under another element symbol (thereby ruling out all of the elements across the top of the table), I discovered that it was far harder than I thought it would be. And then, of course, RED HERRING is 10 letters long, so if the element symbols have two letters, then that seriously cuts down potential candidates. So I extended the search into liquors and wine names. When I stumbled across ICE WINE, even with the problems noted above, I jumped at it. I hope that you felt that it was all worth it in the end!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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#35

Post by KayW »

I loved the RED HERRING. A very clever way to get two variations of the metanism into one puzzle - both of which fit the title and the prompt. I had no idea that was actually a drink! And even tho you explicitly said the answer was NOT a cocktail, of COURSE I had to try entering it on crosshare anyway. Thanks for twice the fun this week Ben!
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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ky-mike
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#36

Post by ky-mike »

There is a Red Herring smoked ale brewed in England. Alcoholic and not a cocktail.

http://www.green-jack.com/tastingnotes.html
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#37

Post by benchen71 »

ky-mike wrote: Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:16 am There is a Red Herring smoked ale brewed in England. Alcoholic and not a cocktail.

http://www.green-jack.com/tastingnotes.html
I guess that completely invalidates the entire puzzle. Ah well, back to the drawing board... ;)
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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#38

Post by SJMcK »

I did not like the RED HERRING mostly, but not entirely, because the fill had to be made so much worse to fit it in. I may be in the minority here, but I believe that a good meta has to be a good crossword as well, and this was not. It was not fun to fill in the grid, and the fake meta answer just made my mood worse, so I remained dissatisfied even after finding the real solution.

In other words, :x

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#39

Post by dsbened »

Ouch! This puzzle didn't work for me. Nice try, but maybe next time!
Seattle DB
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