MEOW #136, "So March!"

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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MarkWoychick
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#21

Post by MarkWoychick »

Had the answer before the grid, which took some time to decipher. Thanks for the puzzle, Wendy
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Bird Lives
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#22

Post by Bird Lives »

Cat is out of the bag and sitting on the couch listening to one of its favorite albums, the one with those Latin declensions.
Jay
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sharkicicles
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#23

Post by sharkicicles »

The American Shorthair is out, the Scottish Fold is still confused.
Qmark
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#24

Post by Qmark »

Cat is out of the bag...thanks Wendy!
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SJMcK
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#25

Post by SJMcK »

I’ve blipped the blorp
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KayW
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#26

Post by KayW »

boharr wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2023 10:55 am
Meg wrote: Wed Jul 05, 2023 9:45 am Wait a minute!! Hold the sofa pillows! This is a MEOW puzzle. Why are people posting about couches? Did you lose your cat in the cushions?? Great puzzle, Wendy! I particularly enjoyed 63a, which, thanks to Ben, I know how to pronounce correctly. This cat has departed the Doritos bag.
Lovely title!
The cat is always getting lost in the couch cushions. Doesn't know which day it is, but did grok the title.
Oops! Looks like I started us off on the wrong metaphor. Mea culpa. But then, even on one of my good days I barely know what day - or puzzle - it is.
Image

Correction: Bag has been de-catified. Not so sure about the couch.
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benchen71
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#27

Post by benchen71 »

Cat is free! That was tricky, but fun!
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta! :D
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CPJohnson
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#28

Post by CPJohnson »

Still working on the grid, but the cat is free! Thanks, Wendy! I like your puzzles!
Cynthia
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Cap'n Rick
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#29

Post by Cap'n Rick »

Cat out. Fun one, Wendy!
Ahoy! Check out my meta puzzles here! Check out "Smooth Sailing Sundays" here!
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Wendy Walker
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#30

Post by Wendy Walker »

What a gratifying turnout for this puzzle, and SUCH nice comments! Thank you all so much! Here's the leaderboard and a few nudges:
[TS] Dr. Tom
1. KurtAlert
2. Kent
3. Schmeel
4. KayW
5. Boharr
6. Ky-Mike
7. Edestlin
8. Cindy H
9. Meg
10. Tom Wilson
11. JM
12. DCBilly
13. Whimsy
14. BarbaraK
15. Hector
16. Hoover
17. IK Snamhcok
18. Bird Lives
19. Sharkicicles
20. HCBirker
21. BrennerTJ
22. Merlinminue
23. AJK
24. Woozy
25. Dow Jones
26. lbray53
27. Berto
28. ReB
29. Abide
30. Pair O Ducks
31. Mark Woychick
32. Laura M
33. Carolyn
34. Ergcat
35. Qmark
36. SJMcK
37. CP Johnson
38. Cap'n Rick
39. Tyrpmom
40. Chris Kochmanski
41. Cruise Director Bob
42. BenChen
Other possible entries were going to be EXCBLE, SPOL, and PRIUTO.
An entry that would have followed the pattern but was just too unpleasant to consider was SINBSCESS.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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jhseeman
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#31

Post by jhseeman »

Cat is off the couch....fun one, tough grid....thanks
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HeadinHome
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#32

Post by HeadinHome »

Solved in the wee hours after working all day Wednesday. Grid fill will baffle you until it delights you! ( :

OTC. Thanks for the fun, original Wendy!
The other Wendy. :roll:
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ImOnToo
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#33

Post by ImOnToo »

Cat’s outta the bag.

Thank you, Wendy. Fun one!
Last edited by ImOnToo on Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Konnie
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Wendy Walker
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#34

Post by Wendy Walker »

Leaderboard additions:
43. JHSeeman
44. HeadinHome
45. ImOnToo
46. SeamusOL
47. Gutman
48. Johnny Luau
49. DIS
50. Jaclyn
and a special shoutout and huge congrats to 51. DSbened from Seattle, who told me this is the FIRST META HE HAS EVER SOLVED!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Wendy Walker
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#35

Post by Wendy Walker »

Final leaderboard:
52. Jbird
53. Flora Wynn
54. Rick
55. Markhr
56. Alex Sisti

USA is the meta answer. Solvers noticed that the letters USA were missing from the seven themers: OCTOP(USA)RM, MING(USA)HUM, SIRI(USA)PP, YO(USA)IDIT, FUNG(USA)MONGUS, ACC(USA)TION, and EM(USA)SPETS. Thanks to all for solving!

Screenshot (244).png
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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Wendy Walker
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#36

Post by Wendy Walker »

I thought solvers might be amused by my notes for this puzzle:
Attachments
Image (146).jpg
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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dsbened
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#37

Post by dsbened »

Wow, Wendy Walker (aka WWW because she's going global, lol!), this was quite the puzzle that took me a few hours to solve & suss the answers, theme, and rebuses. Kudos young lady!
Seattle DB
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