A Thorny Subject

A weekly meta crossword created by members of the forum. Difficulty levels will vary. Hints are usually available starting Wednesday, and solutions are posted on Sunday.
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TeamDoubleTow
Posts: 444
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2021 1:58 pm

#21

Post by TeamDoubleTow »

We had fun with this one! Very clever! Thanks so much @Cap'n Rick ! About to (hopefully)confirm on Crosshare.
Team DoubleTow=Ali who posts here, Alex & Maya the hound(with occasional assistance from son)
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Cap'n Rick
Posts: 1606
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:44 pm
Location: Nahant, MA

#22

Post by Cap'n Rick »

Day 1 Leaderboard - We're off to a good start with 44 solvers including Test Solvers!

Abide (TS)
Al Sisti (TS)
boharr (TS)
Whimsy (TS)
MarkWoychick (TS)
Cinny
benchen71
Rufus T Firefly
SewYoung
Hector
Tom Wilson
FrankieHeck
BarbaraK
JM
Dannyvee
DIS
oldjudge
ChrisKochmanski
BrennerTJ
Schmeel
madhatter5
Paul S
SJMcK
HeadinHome
DebbieC
Carolyn
Gutman
woozy
Wendy Walker
Bird Lives
hcbirker
LindaPRmaven
Cindy Weatherman
Laura M
Tyrpmom
Bob cruise director
Anita
Hidden in 3D
CromsFury
Meg
Ergcat
TeamDoubleTow
LesY
Bbaack
Dow Jones

Please let me know if I missed anyone!

Edit: I missed LindaPRmaven yesterday, and I added her above. Sorry Linda!
Last edited by Cap'n Rick on Tue Jul 12, 2022 8:09 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Meg
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Location: St. Petersburg, FL

#23

Post by Meg »

Off the couch. That was certainly challenging!
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Dow Jones
Posts: 481
Joined: Thu May 09, 2019 11:02 pm
Location: Yakima, WA

#24

Post by Dow Jones »

Off the Gothic couch. Thanks, Cap'n Rick for this fun grid and meta.
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ReB
Posts: 680
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:34 pm
Location: East Tennessee

#25

Post by ReB »

Off the couch.

At the darkest hour of midnight, 'midst the 32A of the garden 36A, a great light arose in the 56A, a 58D that soothed the 23D blackening my mind...and I saw the mechanism to prove the answer I'd suspected from the start.
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ReB
Posts: 680
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Location: East Tennessee

#26

Post by ReB »

Off the couch.

At the darkest hour of midnight, 'midst the 32A of the garden 36A, a great light arose in the 56A, a 58D that soothed the 23D blackening my mind...and I saw the mechanism to prove the answer I'd suspected from the start.

Appreciated the personal Easter Egg of 35A, of course - and the nod to 61A's long muggle service.
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Cap'n Rick
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#27

Post by Cap'n Rick »

ReB wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:20 am Off the couch.

At the darkest hour of midnight, 'midst the 32A of the garden 36A, a great light arose in the 56A, a 58D that soothed the 23D blackening my mind...and I saw the mechanism to prove the answer I'd suspected from the start.

Appreciated the personal Easter Egg of 35A, of course - and the nod to 61A's long muggle service.
Now THAT ^^ is some creative writing! Thanks for the chuckle this morning, @ReB.
Ahoy! Check out my meta puzzles here! Check out "Smooth Sailing Sundays" here!
minimuggle
Posts: 580
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:33 am

#28

Post by minimuggle »

Off the couch! Really enjoyed the puzzle and very creative construction. Thanks!
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Bob cruise director
Cruise Director
Posts: 4588
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:38 pm
Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA

#29

Post by Bob cruise director »

Cap'n Rick wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 9:26 pm Day 1 Leaderboard - We're off to a good start with 44 solvers including Test Solvers!

Abide (TS)
Al Sisti (TS)
boharr (TS)
Whimsy (TS)
MarkWoychick (TS)
Cinny
benchen71
Rufus T Firefly
SewYoung
Hector
Tom Wilson
FrankieHeck
BarbaraK
JM
Dannyvee
DIS
oldjudge
ChrisKochmanski
BrennerTJ
Schmeel
madhatter5
Paul S
SJMcK
HeadinHome
DebbieC
Carolyn
Gutman
woozy
Wendy Walker
Bird Lives
hcbirker
LindaPRmaven
Cindy Weatherman
Laura M
Tyrpmom
Bob cruise director
Anita
Hidden in 3D
CromsFury
Meg
Ergcat
TeamDoubleTow
LesY
Bbaack
Dow Jones

Please let me know if I missed anyone!

Edit: I missed LindaPRmaven yesterday, and I added her above. Sorry Linda!
@Cap'n Rick Isn't it fun keeping track of a bunch of muggles - kind of like herding cats.
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
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Cap'n Rick
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Location: Nahant, MA

#30

Post by Cap'n Rick »

Bob cruise director wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 10:38 am @Cap'n Rick Isn't it fun keeping track of a bunch of muggles - kind of like herding cats.
Amen, Cruise Director! Don't know how you do it every week with 200+ Muggles to keep track of! :D
Ahoy! Check out my meta puzzles here! Check out "Smooth Sailing Sundays" here!
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DrTom
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Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
Location: Jacksonville, FL

#31

Post by DrTom »

Ah, trust the Captain to steer us towards a fun meta. Got the answer early but had to search for why and was delighted by the path.
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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CPJohnson
Posts: 1118
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:38 pm
Location: Kingsport, TN

#32

Post by CPJohnson »

I got it! Thanks, Cap'n Rick! A great construction.
Cynthia
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ajk
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Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
Location: Colorado

#33

Post by ajk »

Was on the right track yesterday but took until today to execute it properly. Fun one, 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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Cap'n Rick
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Location: Nahant, MA

#34

Post by Cap'n Rick »

Day 2 - Another 15 Muggles are off the couch:

clev
michaelm
Snood
MaineMarge
Ash
ReB
dplass
minimuggle
LisaT
DrTom
markhr
CPJohnson
Qmark
ajk
Dave C

This brings our solver total to 59. Please let me know if I missed anyone.

Nudges tomorrow!
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JeanneC
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Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 11:25 am
Location: Florida

#35

Post by JeanneC »

Have a thought of an answer but not a Gothic reader. Will wait for Wednesday nudges and see if my answer fits.
“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions”. Lillian Hellman
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Cap'n Rick
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Location: Nahant, MA

#36

Post by Cap'n Rick »

Nudge Wednesday!

Fun Fact: The Gothic literary genre gets its name from Gothic architecture, which was characteristic of the settings of early Gothic novels.

^

The answers to 21D and 52D are hints.

Based on the spelling of the author's name, the title more correctly would be "A Thorne-y Subject".

The answers to 21A, 27A, and 55A pretty much spell out the answer, but can you find the 7 Gothic architecture features hidden in the grid? (Hint: They're arranged like Nudge 2)
Ahoy! Check out my meta puzzles here! Check out "Smooth Sailing Sundays" here!
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jhseeman
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2020 3:33 pm
Location: Charleston, SC

#37

Post by jhseeman »

Off the couch, nudge 2 nailed it for me. Should have seen it earlier.

Great fun, thanks Cap'n.
mkmf
Posts: 939
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 12:22 pm

#38

Post by mkmf »

Nudge 1 did it for me, but ditto on the "shoulda seen it". It had been my first thought, but I got distracted by the title and a couple other rabbit holes.

Very nice puzzle!
jhseeman wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 8:35 am Off the couch, nudge 2 nailed it for me. Should have seen it earlier.

Great fun, thanks Cap'n.
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bhamren
Posts: 243
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:15 pm
Location: Urbana, Ohio

#39

Post by bhamren »

Got it after the nudges. Was my first thought from the grid, but I gothic means nothing to me. I still don't know what the Gothic features of the grid are, even after reading the hints.
Dplass
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Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am

#40

Post by Dplass »

bhamren wrote: Wed Jul 13, 2022 3:01 pm Got it after the nudges. Was my first thought from the grid, but I gothic means nothing to me. I still don't know what the Gothic features of the grid are, even after reading the hints.
Same same and same.
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