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.)
We have only one data point that determines the difficulty, so take it with a grain of salt!
Kitten
Calico Persian
Puma
Lion
The answer to this meta is a message.
Now go ahead and have a ball!
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 9:18 am
by Meg
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.
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:11 pm
by boharr
The cat is free. Fun puzzle as always.
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 1:29 pm
by madhatter5
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!
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 2:08 pm
by ChrisKochmanski
Cat free of bag!
Fun to have your delightfully deranged meta mind back on MEOW patrol this week, Josh. I’m especially taken by the clue and entry for 6a.
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 2:47 pm
by rjy
The cat looks to have escaped… we’ll see!
Update: fully debagged! Very cool puzzle, Josh. Destination was worth the journey, and for me it was a journey!
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:51 pm
by Darth
The cat is out...
and catching that ball!
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 10:36 pm
by Dplass
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)
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 11:47 am
by DebbieC
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)
Will a corrected PUZ file be issued? Thanks.
I think it's just a bug in Alphacross.
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:10 pm
by whimsy
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?
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:23 pm
by DebbieC
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?
That this link wasn't included in Post #1, is my fault, alone. Josh gave it to Claudia, who gave it to me. I ignored it, promptly and often.
(My dropping the ball on Dropping the Ball is NOT meta-related.*)
*credit: KayW
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2022 6:50 pm
by woozy
FWIW I had no problem with the PUZ file in Across Lite.
(Now if only I could say the same about this unruly cat in a bag...)
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 11:04 am
by whimsy
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.
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 11:39 am
by DrTom
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!!!)
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 2:11 pm
by whimsy
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.
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 4:57 pm
by whimsy
Alrighty then, let's try another, one that madhatter5 gave me when I was stuck while testing.
You might want to check for letter frequency.
Re: MEOW #109 Dropping the Ball
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 5:16 pm
by BarbaraK
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
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.