Meow #116 A Plus

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.
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DrTom
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Meow #116 A Plus

#1

Post by DrTom »

A Plus.jpg
Josh has been kind enough to give me a few slots for puzzles I had already created, and for that I am grateful. You all, on the other hand, may not be. I had quite a few but there were two that I thought were pretty good but also more difficult and a little tricky. This is one of those and the other you'll see next month.

So you know how I always underestimate the difficulty? I'm not going to do that here. I'd say this one is at least a Persian and more likely a Puma. I will no doubt be posting early nudges, in addition to the inherent ones, as the week goes by.

Believe it or not this puzzle was inspired by a piece in Reader's Digest. RD is my ultimate "little room" reading and it actually gives me some great ideas (and not a few bad jokes!).

So don't hate me, I really do not revel in people NOT being able to solve, but I worked on this one so hard that I'd feel really bad if it never saw the light of day. Remember that I am trying to amuse, not abuse, you! Give it a try and perhaps you'll get an A+ on it?

As the puzzle states: If you fill up on the meta letters, you best not fill up on the meta answer

Kitten
Calico
PERSIAN/
PUMA
Lion

"A Plus" - Crosshare (NOTE: If you enjoy solving on Crosshare, help keep the site running by donating a few bucks).

A Plus - PUZ

A Plus - PDF

A Plus - spreadsheet


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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!
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Darth
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#2

Post by Darth »

The cat is out... amused, abused,
feline full-filled! :o Thanks, @DrTom!
images (24).jpg
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Meg
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#3

Post by Meg »

The cat is outta hear. Nicely done, Dr. Tom. Many, many interesting rabbit holes.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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boharr
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#4

Post by boharr »

Cat is gone. Thanks, DrTom.
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DrTom
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#5

Post by DrTom »

Oh Oh - we've got a typo (thanks to @woozy for noticing)! It doesn't affect the solve (5 people have solved even with it there) but it is wrong. 71A misspelled Kondo's name, it should be MARIE not MARE. Why don't computers come with Intention Check instead of just Spell Check? I suppose Auto Correct (Wow would that ever be a good name for a Meta) is a form of intention check but that NEVER gets what I am trying to say...
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!
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Schmeel
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#6

Post by Schmeel »

Cat's gone.
I needed a nudge to tell me I wasn't quite full enough.
Thanks for the puzzle!
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woozy
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#7

Post by woozy »

I haven't got a dang thing.

That's the only reason I caught the MAR(I)E KONDO typo. When you have absolutely nothing you gotta think "Is that missing I important?"

Well, back to having nothing.

EDIT: I see it. I just can't hold it.

EDIT2: Oh, I had too much. Had to throw away 3 letters.
Last edited by woozy on Wed Feb 15, 2023 9:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I guess I should change my signature, and start promoting this meta: Hungry Little Creature. I was going to sent it to people for testing but I dropped the ball on it.
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Ergcat
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#8

Post by Ergcat »

I’m coming up empty too. Probably going to wait on nudges…..
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DrTom
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#9

Post by DrTom »

Well. almost the end of day one and only 7 solvers. Obviously this puzzle is as difficult as I thought (though I indeed hoped it would play a little easier than it looked like it would. Day 1 nudges are going to be what you might have imagined, kind of soft but hopefully directive:

If EVER there was an informative Title, it is this one (Madhatter came up with it, thank you Josh!)

76A is so oddly worded that it HAS to be important!

Don't some of the clues seem to go on well after they could have made their point, or could have been clued WAY easier?

I'll get more blatant if there is still the same level of "DrTom, what in the heck were you thinking" tomorrow"
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!
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DrTom
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#10

Post by DrTom »

Solvers as of 9:30 PM Wednesday

1 Darth
2 Mikey G
3 Meg
4 Hector
5 boharr
6 Schmeel
7 Laura M
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!
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ChrisKochmanski
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#11

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Cat’s out!

I needed a nudge to get going, then got stuck somewhere warm, but not quite there.

Very devious, Dr. Tom. I like it!
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rjy
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#12

Post by rjy »

Late night cat debagging! Nudge 1 did the trick, but really enjoyed this, DrTom, clever construction!
Ray
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Cinny
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#13

Post by Cinny »

The cat is out and I NOW understand the prompt. Very nice, Dr Tom. Well done!
Cindy Heisler
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MatthewL
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#14

Post by MatthewL »

Cat has been debagged. Had the first 2 steps, but needed Nudge 3 to point me in the right direction. Very nicely done, Dr. Tom!
Matthew
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DrTom
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#15

Post by DrTom »

MatthewL wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 10:10 am Cat has been debagged. Had the first 2 steps, but needed Nudge 3 to point me in the right direction. Very nicely done, Dr. Tom!
Thank you! Now Matt L, you aren't toying with me are you? :D


EDIT: Please, nobody assume MatthewL was making any backhanded compliments or anything like that. I was just being me and using Matt L as a homophone fo the very famous toy company MATTEL. Some times my sense of humor lacks both sense and humor.
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!
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DrTom
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#16

Post by DrTom »

Still dragging a little so....

In reference to Early Nudge 3, does it really matter where you were going when you got the provisions in 14A?
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!
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ajk
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#17

Post by ajk »

Got it with early nudge 3. Had the idea, but needed that nudge to focus me on where to apply it. Very spiffy indeed. Thanks.
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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madhatter5
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#18

Post by madhatter5 »

DrTom wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 11:27 am
MatthewL wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 10:10 am Cat has been debagged. Had the first 2 steps, but needed Nudge 3 to point me in the right direction. Very nicely done, Dr. Tom!
Thank you! Now Matt L, you aren't toying with me are you? :D


EDIT: Please, nobody assume MatthewL was making any backhanded compliments or anything like that. I was just being me and using Matt L as a homophone fo the very famous toy company MATTEL. Some times my sense of humor lacks both sense and humor.
Hahahahaha!
https://pandorasblocks.org/crosswords-for-cancer
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benchen71
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#19

Post by benchen71 »

Cat got out yesterday, but I forgot to post!. Nice tricky puzzle, DrTom!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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KayW
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#20

Post by KayW »

:crossed_swords: :rabbit: :cat:
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No A+ for this stoopid kitty. She needed the nudges to find the fun answer. Thanks Dr Tom!
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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