MEOW #137 Black And White

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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MaineMarge
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#21

Post by MaineMarge »

By Jove, Ben finally woke up, smelled the coffee, and wrote I had indeed gotten the meta this morning!
So I’ve let Lewis the cat out of the bag, and he is now getting a long overdue drink of nice cold water. Finally!!!
IMG_5179.jpeg
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ReB
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#22

Post by ReB »

The cat I'm sure was as glad to get out of the bag quickly as I was...
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Qmark
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Location: Ottawa, Canada

#23

Post by Qmark »

Cat's out of the bag...nice one, Ben!
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HeadinHome
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#24

Post by HeadinHome »

OOOF - that was a big, twisty bag but she’s out and proud of herself! Fun challenge… and we challenge you back: finish that thesis! ( :
The other Wendy. :roll:
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DrTom
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#25

Post by DrTom »

Kitty has left the building, uuh bag. Nice one that I fortunately saw pretty clearly, otherwise I would still be looking by WSJ puzzle time. Thanks Ben for a very Black and White answer!
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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Berto
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#26

Post by Berto »

Out the ba_g. Feel like I was tied up in a Dave Matthews band song, but finally figured out the space between.
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benchen71
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#27

Post by benchen71 »

We're nearly at the 24 hour mark. Here's who has successfully got that pesky cat out of the bag:

Hector
Dow Jones
SeamusOL
DIS
MaineMarge
Meg
boharr
Pair O Ducks
whimsy
woozy
heidi
ajk
Cindy Heisler
markhr
Laura M
BarbaraK
rjy
hoover
PuzNewbie
DrTom
ChrisKochmanski
KayW
Mwoychick
ReB
Adam Simon Levine
Qmark
HeadinHome
Berto

28 to get us going!
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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Schmeel
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Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 2:38 pm

#28

Post by Schmeel »

Cat's gone.
It took me some time to see it. Solved the grid on my lunchbreak yesterday (and 58A?). Solved the meta on today's. (Oh, 58A!)
Thanks for the puzzle!
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Bob cruise director
Cruise Director
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#29

Post by Bob cruise director »

@MaineMarge Helped the cat and me get out of the bag. I got step 1 easily yesterday but was too hot to think and needed expert help.

Awaiting confirmation
cat-heart.gif
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
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MatthewL
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Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:57 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

#30

Post by MatthewL »

Cat has been loosed, but I needed a nudge (or two), to get me there. Very clever one, Ben!
Matthew
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dsbened
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#31

Post by dsbened »

Benchen71 is "betchin'" (old S. Cal term for totally rad/cool) and while I'm not good at metas, I like Ben's puzzles -- as I do all of the Muggles -- but when I took a look at this grid I almost pashed on it...
Seattle DB
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benchen71
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#32

Post by benchen71 »

dsbened wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 5:57 pm Benchen71 is "betchin'" (old S. Cal term for totally rad/cool) and while I'm not good at metas, I like Ben's puzzles -- as I do all of the Muggles -- but when I took a look at this grid I almost pashed on it...
Glad you liked it. @madhatter5 is known for doing fun things with grids, so I tried my best to emulate something he might have come up with for this puzzle! :D
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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benchen71
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#33

Post by benchen71 »

8 more solvers!

Schmeel
boharr
CPJohnson
Alex Sisti
Bob cruise director
MatthewL
merlinnimue
Abide

That's 36. And it looks like I forgot to post nudges this morning, so here they are now...
Last edited by benchen71 on Sat Jul 15, 2023 7:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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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benchen71
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#34

Post by benchen71 »

Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. You might have noticed that the answers to some clues don't seem to fit into the grid. Hey, those clues all occur in the mini-grids containing a black square!

2. You'll need to put letters onto those black squares. (If you're solving on Crosshare you'll have to do it in your head!)

3. Did you notice that the letter in the black square can be ignored and the resulting 3-letters are still words?

4. Find a white square in the mini-grids without a black square that can be similarly ignored.
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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ajk
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#35

Post by ajk »

Ah, indeed the nudge 3/4 nuance is what I missed. Very nice.
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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benchen71
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#36

Post by benchen71 »

Solver updated for you:

LindaPRmaven
JM
Tyrpmom
Flora Wynn
Carolyn
Darrell

We're up to 42. One last update before the answer reveal tomorrow morning...
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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benchen71
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#37

Post by benchen71 »

Just two more solvers bringing us up to 44:

Mr Tex
Johnny Luau

Answer reveal momentarily...
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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benchen71
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#38

Post by benchen71 »

Here's the solution to "Black And White":

IMG_20230718_080001_(500_x_880_pixel).png

I really tried to channel my inner @madhatter5 with this one. :D
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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Joe Ross
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#39

Post by Joe Ross »

That's very clever.
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dsbened
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#40

Post by dsbened »

benchen71 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 6:50 pm
dsbened wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 5:57 pm Benchen71 is "betchin'" (old S. Cal term for totally rad/cool) and while I'm not good at metas, I like Ben's puzzles -- as I do all of the Muggles -- but when I took a look at this grid I almost "pashed" on it...
Glad you liked it. @madhatter5 is known for doing fun things with grids, so I tried my best to emulate something he might have come up with for this puzzle! :D
But I don't understand 58A's clue: "An Eastender 58 across with these", and the answer is "Ears". Is that a typo in the PDF?
Seattle DB
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