MEOW #96: She Sells Sea Shells

[benchen71]

It's great that there's a place for the, shall we say, more unusual crossword puzzles that come to mind every now and then. And MEOW is that place! I trust you will enjoy the unusual grid and are able to find your way to the meta answer, which is a name. (Note that the numbers in brackets are word enumerations and are not meta-related; they are provided to help fill in the uncrossed entries.)

PM me with your submissions or submit on Crosshare. Either way, I'll compile a list of those who successfully solve the meta.

She Sells Sea Shells - Online Form
She Sells Sea Shells - PUZ
She Sells Sea Shells - PDF
She Sells Sea Shells - spreadsheet

Kitten
Calico
Persian
Puma
Lion

Nudges are here.
The solution is here.

[HeadinHome]

Solved the grid (I think?…. never heard the solve music but don’t see any crossed-out letters). Gave up and submitted a wild guess that a few seeming hints in the grid suggested, but of course that was wrong. I still like it. I’m sure there’s a genius method to this madness that I do not see!

[rjy]

Ditto - tho I had a legitimate answer to 1A that fit but not what was intended…

For me, that’s 3 grids filled this week, 0 metas solved. Not a great streak going into Thursday…

[lbray53]

My first entries for 1A and 1D conflicted at 1. I eventually found two possiblities for both and needed to pick between starting letters. I picked the wrong pair. It appears that I am at the same point as HeadinHome and rjy in that I have completed the grid but not the meta. I have inklings but they are not very strong.

[MikeyG]

This looks like a fun one! About halfway through the grid and no leads on the meta, as of yet anyway!

[benchen71]

This is proving difficult - like many MEOWs before it! I may need to bring the nudges forward, though.

One thing I should say: the uncrossed entries make it harder than I wanted it to be, hence the enumerations. I would definitely recommend solving on Crosshare so that you can be 100% sure of the completed grid.

[sharkicicles]

This is proving difficult - like many MEOWs before it! I may need to bring the nudges forward, though.

One thing I should say: the uncrossed entries make it harder than I wanted it to be, hence the enumerations. I would definitely recommend solving on Crosshare so that you can be 100% sure of the completed grid.

I was actually surprised how easy the uncrossed entries were, I only had trouble with one. There is some stuff going on the middle that’s intriguing but overall what a crazy grid and a fun solve. Would like a nudge though.

[markhr]

Verified with Crosshare that I completed the grid correctly. Still 0% on the meta, though. This is a tough one.

[dudeski]

The grid was tough enough (thanks for the parentheticals).
Had some great guesses, but "incorrect".

[benchen71]

It's almost bed time here in Australia, but I think I need to release nudges early:

1. The puzzle title includes one word that should help. (The title might also confirm your answer once you have one.)

2. The key word is "shells".

3. I was going to add that "sea" sounds like "C" which could very well stand for "Chemistry" but when I ran this by @DrTom he said that was Bohring.

4. The distribution of letters in this puzzle is not even: you only find Es in the "shells" and Ps in the "nucleus".

[lbray53]

The cat is out of the torn and tattered bag. I needed all of the spoilers and still stumbled with the prompt. This is actually an impressive construction upon review. There were just not enough cues for me to know what to do.

[Qmark]

I needed the 3rd spoiler to get me thinking the right way. Super construction, Ben!

[Darth]

De_MOATed...uh, De-MEOWed!! And confirmed early on Crosshare that the answer is NOT Peter Piper!

[lbray53]

De_MOATed...uh, De-MEOWed!! And confirmed early on Crosshare that the answer is NOT Peter Piper!

That was going to be my Hail Mary!

[MMe]

This time, Ben's a "Tom". (Re: Adele -- mental!)

[markhr]

The cat is free. Definitely needed the spoilers.

[rjy]

Freed the cat - needed the nudges, though probably gettable without had I thought more about it. Neat concept, Ben... now to get MMM and MOAT by 4pm

[ChrisKochmanski]

Rid of cat. Though only via nudges. Thanks, Ben!

[oldjudge]

I think with a different title this could have been a really good puzzle. I think the title sends people in the wrong direction. A good test solver could have helped with that.

[benchen71]

I think with a different title this could have been a really good puzzle. I think the title sends people in the wrong direction. A good test solver could have helped with that.

DrTom did try to warn me but I didn't listen.