A weekly meta crossword on the forum started by member Josh (aka madhatter5). These puzzles are often very creative with solving mechanisms out of the norm and skewing towards the more challenging. Puzzles are posted every Wednesday, and the solution appears the following Tuesday.
We have a special end of the year treat from Madhatter!
I'm posting for him since he is doing some traveling during his break. Because his availability may be intermittent, you can PM me with answers or whatnot. (There's no Crosshare version this time around.)
I’ve pmed Whimsy. The clueing made me groan a bit, but I'm sure that was intentional. Fun puzzle!
Edit: my submission was correct. So the cat is out of the bag, but now he's kind of wandering through the house looking for something. Perhaps a toy that rolled under the sofa.
Thanks to whimsy as always for testing, etc! I'm happy to be back for a week, and also have been amazed and touched by the amazing MEOW offerings that have been served up in my absence. Happy and healthy new year to all!
Beware! Alphacross (PUZ file player on Android) gets confused when there are 1-box "words"; by the end of the puzzle the clues and answers were misaligned and I had no idea why "74A Pa partner"'s answer was 6 letters long (and was where 75A is in the PDF grid)
Dplass wrote: ↑Wed Dec 28, 2022 10:36 pm
Beware! Alphacross (PUZ file player on Android) gets confused when there are 1-box "words"; by the end of the puzzle the clues and answers were misaligned and I had no idea why "74A Pa partner"'s answer was 6 letters long (and was where 75A is in the PDF grid)
Dplass wrote: ↑Wed Dec 28, 2022 10:36 pm
Beware! Alphacross (PUZ file player on Android) gets confused when there are 1-box "words"; by the end of the puzzle the clues and answers were misaligned and I had no idea why "74A Pa partner"'s answer was 6 letters long (and was where 75A is in the PDF grid)
whimsy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:10 pm
Thanks, @Dplass .
I was just about to say sorry, @DebbieC but it's working OK for me so I don't know how to fix.
Anyone else having issues?
And how about some nudges?
A bit later this afternoon, so no one gets behind on the 35A.
Edit
Hmm -- that tricky online form is not showing up for me now, but not sure it's anything you can fix @Joe Ross? It just seems to have disappeared from the ether. Perhaps madhatter's traveling quite far.
whimsy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 30, 2022 11:04 am
How about some so far solvers?
Meg
boharr
ChrisKochmanski
rjy
Darth
And how about some nudges?
A bit later this afternoon, so no one gets behind on the 35A.
Edit
Hmm -- that tricky online form is not showing up for me now, but not sure it's anything you can fix @Joe Ross? It just seems to have disappeared from the ether. Perhaps madhatter's traveling quite far.
Yes please nudges, I am behind 35A as much as when the answer WAS 35A (got nowhere near that one either!!!)
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!
OK -- here's the first nudge; but it's a 3-parter and I think it will contain something helpful:
8 ball is not part of the mechanism. The four ball-dropper clues are not part of the meta answer. The four "PAUSE" are not precisely part of the meta answer, and (don't be misled as I was ) they don't refer to a cat -- or paws, for that matter.
whimsy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 30, 2022 2:11 pm
OK -- here's the first nudge; but it's a 3-parter and I think it will contain something helpful:
8 ball is not part of the mechanism. The four ball-dropper clues are not part of the meta answer. The four "PAUSE" are not precisely part of the meta answer, and (don't be misled as I was ) they don't refer to a cat -- or paws, for that matter.
Well you just ruled out everything I have highlighted
If you want help with a meta, feel free to PM me. The more specific you are about what you have and what you want, the more likely I can help without spoiling.
(And if I help you win a mug, I’ll be especially delighted.)
whimsy wrote: ↑Fri Dec 30, 2022 2:11 pm
OK -- here's the first nudge; but it's a 3-parter and I think it will contain something helpful:
8 ball is not part of the mechanism. The four ball-dropper clues are not part of the meta answer. The four "PAUSE" are not precisely part of the meta answer, and (don't be misled as I was ) they don't refer to a cat -- or paws, for that matter.
Well you just ruled out everything I have highlighted
) they don't refer to a cat -- or paws, for that matter. 