Spiders on Sofas in Sunglasses and Skirts
- BrianMac
- Site Admin
- Posts: 787
- Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 11:45 pm
- Location: Connecticut
Thanks, everybody!
The answer, which I think everyone got, is WRAP AROUND, achieved by taking each of the entries on the right edge of the grid, adding a letter, and adding them to the entry in the same row on the left edge of the grid. The added letters spell the meta answer.
HAY W IRE
TATE R TOTS
SIMP A TICO
GRAND P ARENT
FOR A GER
ADO R ING
REZ O NES
POST U LATE
SERE N ADE
DOO D ADS
I had mixed feeling about this one. I originally wanted to make it a 15x15 with more 9 and 11-letter long theme entries. But it was just too challenging to find words that (1) could be split into two valid words, (2) had a specific letter in between, and (3) could then be stacked to make down entries. I also tried to avoid words that were related to the longer word (e.g., LASE R BEAM). So, the result is a 15x12 grid made 50% of 3-letter words (35/71), many of them ugly abbreviations, foreign, etc. I hope the "aha" was worth all that junk.
As for the title, it's just other things that "wrap around," and I'm a sucker for alliteration. Sorry to Laura M who Googled more than she bargained for .
Thanks again for solving! If anyone has an idea for a meta and would like to collaborate, I would be happy to take your idea and help design and/or fill the grid. Then I would leave the cluing to you. Just shoot me a PM.
The answer, which I think everyone got, is WRAP AROUND, achieved by taking each of the entries on the right edge of the grid, adding a letter, and adding them to the entry in the same row on the left edge of the grid. The added letters spell the meta answer.
HAY W IRE
TATE R TOTS
SIMP A TICO
GRAND P ARENT
FOR A GER
ADO R ING
REZ O NES
POST U LATE
SERE N ADE
DOO D ADS
I had mixed feeling about this one. I originally wanted to make it a 15x15 with more 9 and 11-letter long theme entries. But it was just too challenging to find words that (1) could be split into two valid words, (2) had a specific letter in between, and (3) could then be stacked to make down entries. I also tried to avoid words that were related to the longer word (e.g., LASE R BEAM). So, the result is a 15x12 grid made 50% of 3-letter words (35/71), many of them ugly abbreviations, foreign, etc. I hope the "aha" was worth all that junk.
As for the title, it's just other things that "wrap around," and I'm a sucker for alliteration. Sorry to Laura M who Googled more than she bargained for .
Thanks again for solving! If anyone has an idea for a meta and would like to collaborate, I would be happy to take your idea and help design and/or fill the grid. Then I would leave the cluing to you. Just shoot me a PM.
- Meg
- Posts: 2199
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Did anybody else see the spider in the grid? All 8 legs. It should have meant something! The aha was lovely.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
- FrankieHeck
- Posts: 839
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 8:57 pm
- Location: West Virginia
I can't believe how long it took me to see that, even as I tried to make those short words on the sides into longer words. I kept getting stuck trying to turn TICO into PORTICO. Thanks for keeping me busy!
- Al Sisti
- Posts: 2079
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
Oh man, that is awesome!
- MajordomoTom
- Posts: 1421
- Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:09 am
- Location: St. Louis, MO
PM sent with two meta concepts
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
- ChrisKochmanski
- Posts: 2252
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:51 pm
- Location: Saline, Michigan
Fairly early on, after completing the grid, I noticed TICO and SIMP, and thought of SIMPATICO, but I concluded, at the time, that it was a coincidence.
ARGH!!!!
That kept me from the mechanism and the answer for quite a loooooooooong time.
Still, a very satisfying solve when I finally got there (with a slight hint to bring me back to my start).
ARGH!!!!
That kept me from the mechanism and the answer for quite a loooooooooong time.
Still, a very satisfying solve when I finally got there (with a slight hint to bring me back to my start).
- MajordomoTom
- Posts: 1421
- Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:09 am
- Location: St. Louis, MO
I was thinking about TATER TOTS for a while, then wrote down the R, and it was a wrap shortly thereafter.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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- Posts: 1410
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:49 am
Right, after I solved the meta I had to Google wraparound spiders--I'd never heard of those! Eek.
(Really they don't look at all terrifying, they mostly blend in, which I suppose is the point. I don't recommend doing an image search for "huntsman spider" though...)
Great puzzle, I'm looking forward to the next one!
(Really they don't look at all terrifying, they mostly blend in, which I suppose is the point. I don't recommend doing an image search for "huntsman spider" though...)
Great puzzle, I'm looking forward to the next one!
- Al Sisti
- Posts: 2079
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
You left your Zoom window open; there's one right behind you!Laura M wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:11 am Right, after I solved the meta I had to Google wraparound spiders--I'd never heard of those! Eek.
(Really they don't look at all terrifying, they mostly blend in, which I suppose is the point. I don't recommend doing an image search for "huntsman spider" though...)
- TMart
- Posts: 822
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:13 am
- Location: Malvern, PA
I'm kicking around some meta ideas, and have some completed grids. They are still a little too clunky for prime time, but if I get them to a point where they make some sense, I'll try to get them posted.
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- Posts: 58
- Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2019 5:47 am