MEOW #203 Lime Ricky

[Qmark]

Cat's out...thanks Cap'n Rick! Loved the title.

[Dave C]

The cat's out. It was fun.

[KayW]

Cat is out. And waxing poetic about this meta. Well done, Cap'n!

[DrTom]

Heck, I should go away more often! Wonderful Cap’n Rick puzzle.

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard

We're off to a great start with 52 solvers on day 1:

DrTom (TS)
boharr (TS)
Wendy Walker (TS)
whimsy (TS)
ajk (TS)
MarkWoychick (TS)
benchen71
andeux
Darth
hoover
Sharkicicles
Berto
Hector
Tom Wilson
woozy
Danny K Bernstein
Pair O Ducks
Cindy Weatherman
rjy
LarsCaine
Cindy Heisler
HeadinHome
Al Sisti
Serafin
LindaPRmaven
ChrisKochmanski
Meg
Bird Lives
imontoo
Carolyn
CPJohnson
DIS
StunGun
MatthewL
lbray53
Jeremy Smith
Zimodo
Mr Tex
iceman
JM
DCBilly
edestlin
Tim
hcbirker
Qmark
markhr
Dave C
Gutman
BarbaraK
Jaclyn
Tyrpmom
KayW

Please let me know if I missed anyone.

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard Update:

Four more solvers bring us to 56:

SJ
Steve M
Angie D
Morendil

Looks like a good time for some Friday Nudges:

► Show Spoiler

So, "Just look for the themers he's CROSSIN'". See anything "associated with themes?"

► Show Spoiler

Ah yes, THEPOETS at 20D.

► Show Spoiler

There are 8 poets distributed near-symmetrically around the grid, and they are definitely "CROSSIN'" one another.

► Show Spoiler

Hmm, the letters where the poets cross spell "LEAR", but King Lear wasn't exactly "a barrel of laughs" (thanks, @KayW!), right? Must be some other LEAR.

► Show Spoiler

Aha! According to Google, there is another LEAR whose "Book of Nonsense" contains several limericks- a poetic form that he popularized. (So now that nonsensical puzzle title makes sense! )

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard Update:

Old pal @michaelm brings us to 57.

And old pal @MatthewL said that our "nonsensical guy" was the answer to one of yesterday's Jeopardy questions! How about that!!

[ELSavage]

A late release for this cat.
Another one where the cat dropped out of the bag while I was fumbling with it.

[woozy]

► Show Spoiler

Aha! According to Google, there is another LEAR whose "Book of Nonsense" contains several limericks- a poetic form that he popularized. (So now that nonsensical puzzle title makes sense! )

Hmm I wonder how many of us as children knew first of this Lear, than of Norman Lear, and eventually King Lear

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard Update

New England Muggle pal @ELSavage brings us to 58.

Who else will join us in this bit of "nonsense?"

[Cap'n Rick]

Final Leaderboard

Meta World Peace brings our final total to 59.

Reveal coming up soon!

[Cap'n Rick]

The meta answer is "LEAR", as in "Edward Lear", a 19th-century English artist, illustrator, author and poet known for his literary nonsense and limericks. His most famous works include ‘A Book of Nonsense’, which contains the much-loved poem: ‘The Owl and The Pussycat’. To solve, you first needed to complete the limerick running through the grid. The last line at 42A "Just look for the themers he's CROSSIN'" should have directed you to 20D THEPOETS "Group often associated with themes". There are 8 poets in the grid including 7A SHELLEY, 10D LEWIS, 34A POE, 29D KEATS, 35A NASH, 36D AUDEN, 72A EMERSON, and 52D HOMER, and the letters where they cross spell the meta answer. Easter eggs/hints included 8D HUMANITIES and 20D THEPOETS.

I've been wanting to include a limerick in a puzzle for a while now, and when Edward Lear turned up in my Google search, I knew exactly what I was going to do with his 4-letter surname. And it turns out that Lear, a cat lover, was the perfect subject for a MEOW puzzle. His ‘unattractive’, ‘portly’ and ‘stumpy-tailed’ tabby cat "Foss" (short for "Aderphos") is featured in many of his illustrations and is believed to be the inspiration for the cat in ‘The Owl and The Pussycat’.

Thanks for solving, everyone! See you on the November 4 MMM!

Cap'n Rick

[Abide]

Solved late, so I will just add my limerick of praise:

A naval constructor by name
Told Tom "Let me play at this game"
The meta excelled,
And was quickly propelled
Straight into MEOW Hall of Fame!