MEOW #97: Echo Location

[Dplass]

Took all the nudges and then some. Thanks for the puzzle.

[CPJohnson]

Took all the nudges and extra help from the Cap'n. Thanks, Cap'n Rick! A great puzzle!

[Cinny]

Cat has finally snuck out of the bag. Needed a nudge from @CPJohnson to finally see the error of my ways. Very nice meta, Cap'n Rick! Thanks.

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 3 - Another 8 Muggles' bags are empty:

hoover
Johnny Luau
ajk
KayW
Dplass
CPJohnson
Cinny
BrennerTJ

That brings our solver total to 34. Nudges tomorrow!

[Ergcat]

The Cat is free! Took a bit of jumbling and tumbling but got her to finally relax !

[Cap'n Rick]

Nudge Saturday: Let's see if we can oust a few more felines...

The answer to @DrTom's clever clue at 20A, in addition to being humorous, is also a hint to the mechanism.

Think "echo" = "repeat', and look for entries that can be repeated.

There are 5 symmetrically-placed entries that can be "echoed".

When "echoed", the 5 entries fit other clues.

The first letters of those other clues' original answers (in grid order) spell half the meta answer. Echo this word and you have the relaxing place!

[haydendog]

Got it! Just didn’t know it.

[ReB]

First three nudges sufficed to release the cat, though leaving me with a few scratches.

[Dow Jones]

The cat has been nudged out of the bag. Thanks for the entertainment, Cap'n Rick

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 4 - Nine more cats needed a little nudging, but they eventually left their sacks:

Ergcat
Laura M
BarbaraK
haydendog
DebbieC
Darrell
jbird
ReB
Dow Jones

This brings our solver total to 43. Great job, everyone!

[BarbaraK]

Didn't actually use the nudges, just didn't have time to look at it until this morning. Fun puzzle. Thank you!

[Cap'n Rick]

Day 5 - Four more Muggles join the catless:

BarbaraK
MaineMarge
JM
Rufus T Firefly

That makes 47 solvers.

[rjy]

Popping in at 48 here… needed the nudges but crossed the finish line. Thanks, Cap’n!

[MaineMarge]

Very clever meta, @Cap'n Rick !
Pinky was nudged out of the bag and is relaxing with her fidget spinner

[Cap'n Rick]

The meta answer is "Baden-Baden" - a spa town in southwest Germany’s Black Forest. My neighbor "Rainer", who's originally from that area, said it's a very relaxing place indeed!

Solving this meta turned out to be more difficult than I had expected. Like I mentioned in the intro, I was working on another puzzle when @DrTom suggested that "Echo Location" would work better if Bora Bora, Pago Pago, or BARBAR was the answer. I went with Baden-Baden because its 5 letters worked better with the symmetry, but I knew I also had to get BARBAR in there so I could use Tom's clever Beach Boys clue. Anyhow, while making all of the last-minute revisions I didn't notice that ETC had slipped in there at 47A. I wish I had caught that because I think it contributed to the difficulty for some solvers.

The first step involved finding grid entries that can be repeated or "echoed" to produce new words/phrases. The second step involved finding other clues that fit the new echoed entries. The third step involved taking the first letters of the original clues' answers (in grid order) to spell "BADEN", which can itself be echoed to produce the meta answer.

Thanks everyone for solving!
Cap'n Rick