MEOW #167 It's a Disaster
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DrTom
- Posts: 3782
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Well this one may be done, no new solvers. People were probably watching what was a rather unexciting Super Bowl. Neither team really looked like they should have been there, though the last 5 minutes of the game (and OT) were exciting. Still, hardly a reason to ignore a perfectly good meta....
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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DrTom
- Posts: 3782
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
So, one in under the wire! Reveal tomorrow but thanks to my 48th solver:
48 Jeremy Smith
T
48 Jeremy Smith
T
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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DrTom
- Posts: 3782
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
REVEAL
So, “It’s a Disaster”…
There were 6 clues that had a distinct link to the environment which, I hoped, would make them stand out as the theme answers. Each one of those answers had a silent letter in it, with one of them being a bit “forced” by a needed Bostonian pronunciation. The result was supposed to be a watershed moment as you said “why did he spell SPRING with silent letters….”
Disasters within the Disaster:
My one nudge mentioned symmetry when in actuality the theme answers were not symmetric. That no doubt happened because I originally DID have them symmetric but questionable fill made it necessary to rearrange and I forgot I did that.
CORPS – one of the theme answers has the requisite silent P, but as one astute solve pointed out, it also has a silent S. DRAT!!! I originally was going to use PSALM, but because I also knew I was going to use HYMNS I was really afraid that the two very “religious” references would point people to other written environmental treatises; Genesis (the flood), Exodus (the plagues). Since I needed a 5 letter words for symmetry (well we know how that worked out don’t we!) CORPS got the nod.
HYMNS – this was the odd clue out since in its original form it was: “Reverent songs that laud the beauty and abundance of nature” I thought that was sufficient enough wording to evoke an environment thing, but hey all the rest actually had the word environment (or a form of it) in the clue which gave solvers enough pause to think, “well is that a theme answer of not?” So, I finally added “and our environment” to the clue.
LIGHT - Probably the worst choice I could make for the G. As someone pointed out to me, "the "H" is also silent. I was quite indignant and thought, "no it is not, without the H it is LIT and I was not when writing this". but of course an instant internet replay revealed that I indeed made the foul because it says: "In fact, if the 'gh' pair is preceded by an 'i', the 'i' makes a long vowel sound as in the words 'light', 'fight', 'night', and 'sight'." I should have tried to align my thinking, DAM(N).
Easter Eggs – well the biggest one is the graphic which is an illustration by Peter Kuper from the NYT on Earth Day 2020 that looked back at Rachel Carson’s book. What is seen is a graphic representation of Ms. Carson’s message that not only insects were being affected. The only “Tomism” there is the toxic clouds of DDT in the background.
Another “egg” or subtle nudge was in the intro where I said: “So, quietly so you do not disturb the monster…” I thought about saying “So silently”. But figured that was too much and also adding: “So,… see if you can jump on the answer. Again, I thought "quietly jump" a bridge too far for a "Silent Spring" answer.
Finally you have 28D: "Spray that deters, but does not kill, mosquitoes". Now OFF may indeed prove to be more dangerous than it seems, but it was developed partially because it (DEET) did not kill mpsquitoes like DDT (it's sound alike) did.
I did get one comment that the answer was far too easily guessed since there was only really one famous environmental book. That there are not as many as on some issues is true, but only one? That disregards any of Ms. Carson’s other books (ex. The Sea Around Us), Ex VP Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”, Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Sixth Extinction”, Bill McKibben’s “The End of Nature”. Then if you want novels (which can also be a treatise in a broad manner) you have JB Ballard (The Drowned World) and even John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath) whom I must confess I considered for the answer, but a 16 letter 4 part answer is VERY tough to put in a grid. So, hopefully, this was not an easy "guess and backsolve" for most folks.
Thanks to the many solvers (there were 48 of you!!!) and kind comments I received. Now get ready for a kitten tomorrow so that you can spend less time with the meta and more time with YOUR kitten!
So, “It’s a Disaster”…
There were 6 clues that had a distinct link to the environment which, I hoped, would make them stand out as the theme answers. Each one of those answers had a silent letter in it, with one of them being a bit “forced” by a needed Bostonian pronunciation. The result was supposed to be a watershed moment as you said “why did he spell SPRING with silent letters….”
My one nudge mentioned symmetry when in actuality the theme answers were not symmetric. That no doubt happened because I originally DID have them symmetric but questionable fill made it necessary to rearrange and I forgot I did that.
CORPS – one of the theme answers has the requisite silent P, but as one astute solve pointed out, it also has a silent S. DRAT!!! I originally was going to use PSALM, but because I also knew I was going to use HYMNS I was really afraid that the two very “religious” references would point people to other written environmental treatises; Genesis (the flood), Exodus (the plagues). Since I needed a 5 letter words for symmetry (well we know how that worked out don’t we!) CORPS got the nod.
HYMNS – this was the odd clue out since in its original form it was: “Reverent songs that laud the beauty and abundance of nature” I thought that was sufficient enough wording to evoke an environment thing, but hey all the rest actually had the word environment (or a form of it) in the clue which gave solvers enough pause to think, “well is that a theme answer of not?” So, I finally added “and our environment” to the clue.
LIGHT - Probably the worst choice I could make for the G. As someone pointed out to me, "the "H" is also silent. I was quite indignant and thought, "no it is not, without the H it is LIT and I was not when writing this". but of course an instant internet replay revealed that I indeed made the foul because it says: "In fact, if the 'gh' pair is preceded by an 'i', the 'i' makes a long vowel sound as in the words 'light', 'fight', 'night', and 'sight'." I should have tried to align my thinking, DAM(N).
Easter Eggs – well the biggest one is the graphic which is an illustration by Peter Kuper from the NYT on Earth Day 2020 that looked back at Rachel Carson’s book. What is seen is a graphic representation of Ms. Carson’s message that not only insects were being affected. The only “Tomism” there is the toxic clouds of DDT in the background.
Another “egg” or subtle nudge was in the intro where I said: “So, quietly so you do not disturb the monster…” I thought about saying “So silently”. But figured that was too much and also adding: “So,… see if you can jump on the answer. Again, I thought "quietly jump" a bridge too far for a "Silent Spring" answer.
Finally you have 28D: "Spray that deters, but does not kill, mosquitoes". Now OFF may indeed prove to be more dangerous than it seems, but it was developed partially because it (DEET) did not kill mpsquitoes like DDT (it's sound alike) did.
I did get one comment that the answer was far too easily guessed since there was only really one famous environmental book. That there are not as many as on some issues is true, but only one? That disregards any of Ms. Carson’s other books (ex. The Sea Around Us), Ex VP Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”, Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Sixth Extinction”, Bill McKibben’s “The End of Nature”. Then if you want novels (which can also be a treatise in a broad manner) you have JB Ballard (The Drowned World) and even John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath) whom I must confess I considered for the answer, but a 16 letter 4 part answer is VERY tough to put in a grid. So, hopefully, this was not an easy "guess and backsolve" for most folks.
Thanks to the many solvers (there were 48 of you!!!) and kind comments I received. Now get ready for a kitten tomorrow so that you can spend less time with the meta and more time with YOUR kitten!
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!