MEOW #138 Checkmate

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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Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
Location: Jacksonville, FL

MEOW #138 Checkmate

#1

Post by DrTom »

I asked Chris Barbee if he could help us out with a MEOW and almost before you knew it he had this beauty. It is a bit tricky (how it gets it's Calico + rating) but certainly doable; plus the AHA is a chuckle. Oh, and in case you are wondering, it has nothing to do with Ben's CHECKMATE MEOW from last week, it is just that great minds think alike!😊

Satisfaction comes from both the meta answer and the meta title

Kitten
CALICO/Persian
Puma
Lion

List of the usual:
Pay attention to the things you are supposed to pay attention to - check
Leader Board - check
Nudges (if needed) - check
Available by PM - check
Admiration from your coleagues if you are the first to solve - check
$100,000 prize if you are the first to solve - we are sorry but that feature is temporarily unavailable for this puzzle. In speaking with our trouble shooter we are informed it should be available Friday or Saturday around the turn of the century

Checkmate online form

Checkmate PUZ

Checkmate PDF

Checkmate spreadsheet


Image
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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benchen71
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#2

Post by benchen71 »

Cat's out! Nice to have a time-zone advantage when $100,000 is on the line! :D
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta! :D
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hoover
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Location: at the intersection of grits and breakfast tacos

#3

Post by hoover »

benchen71 wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 1:53 am Cat's out! Nice to have a time-zone advantage when $100,000 is on the line! :D
Ha! I was awake when the puzzle dropped and tried to work it last night, but the grid fill was a bear and I only just now figured out the left 2/3 of the upper 1/3. But I did it without searching, so there's that. Now for the meta... I see something, but who knows whether it's a coincidence or deliberately planted.

BTW, if you win, that's $100,000 in AUD, not USD.
I don't have anything clever to say, but if I did, it would go here.
Eli
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DrTom
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#4

Post by DrTom »

hoover wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 8:23 am
benchen71 wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2023 1:53 am Cat's out! Nice to have a time-zone advantage when $100,000 is on the line! :D
Ha! I was awake when the puzzle dropped and tried to work it last night, but the grid fill was a bear and I only just now figured out the left 2/3 of the upper 1/3. But I did it without searching, so there's that. Now for the meta... I see something, but who knows whether it's a coincidence or deliberately planted.

BTW, if you win, that's $100,000 in AUD, not USD.
Both are wrong, it is actually MON (Monopoly) :lol:
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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Meg
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Location: St. Petersburg, FL

#5

Post by Meg »

Tough grid, but nice Aha! click. The cat has departed and is outside hunting lizards.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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boharr
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Location: Westchester, NY

#6

Post by boharr »

No cat here. Thanks, Chris.
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MatthewL
Posts: 1128
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:57 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

#7

Post by MatthewL »

The cat has been debagged. Agree with Meg -- tough grid, but gettable. Thanks Chris!
Matthew
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whimsy
Posts: 3752
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
Location: Hopkinton MA

#8

Post by whimsy »

Challenging grid for me but nevertheless --
Off the board... or maybe it's on the board... or...whatever..
Untitledzzcheck.png
Thank you, Chris!
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ChrisKochmanski
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Location: Saline, Michigan

#9

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

A catless bag. Thanks, Chris!
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hcbirker
Posts: 2527
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:24 pm
Location: Studio City, CA

#10

Post by hcbirker »

Cat is out. I need an explanation for one thing, though.
Heidi
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HeadinHome
Posts: 1461
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 9:06 am
Location: Charlotte, NC

#11

Post by HeadinHome »

i think i have a start, but don’t know what to do with it. Anybody available for nudging?

UPDATE: Have someone nudging me (thanks @benchen71 but still floundering. (He’s a tapper not a shover ;) )

Waiting for those published nudges…

UPDATE AGAIN: Solved. That was way easier than I was making it. I was sniffing in the right vicinity though! OTC
Last edited by HeadinHome on Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:01 am, edited 3 times in total.
The other Wendy. :roll:
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DrTom
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#12

Post by DrTom »

OK, end of the first day and this is playing harder than anticipated:

1 benchen71
2 Hector
3 Meg
4 boharr
5 MatthewL
6 whimsy
7 Sharkicicles
8 ChrisKochmanski
9 LauraM
10 heidi
11 Gutman

Eleven solvers...there may have to be early nudges depending on the "before 4" crowd tomorrow. Since it is Chris's puzzle I will leave that up to him.
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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Berto
Posts: 651
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2022 4:10 pm
Location: Michigan

#13

Post by Berto »

Cat has been checked out of the bag with some satisfaction!
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markhr
Posts: 500
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:56 pm

#14

Post by markhr »

A bit slow on the uptake, but I finally de-bagged the cat.
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sharkicicles
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Joined: Fri May 10, 2019 12:03 pm
Location: Chicago, Walter the Shih-Tzu's home town

#15

Post by sharkicicles »

Kinda surprised at the low number of solvers so far, but I think this might be one of those SAD ones. I found it to be relatively, ah, e-wordish, but I think you either see it right away or you don't.
If you like Rows Gardens check out my mini ones here: viewforum.php?f=41. Nudges are free on the off chance I’ve solved the meta.
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DrTom
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#16

Post by DrTom »

OK, day two an still not a lot of action:
12 Flora Wynn
13 Tyrpmom
14 andeux
15 Berto
16 markhr
17 HeadinHome
18 sharkicicles
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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DrTom
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Location: Jacksonville, FL

#17

Post by DrTom »

OK, then some nudges....

The Title, The Title, The Title...what is it telling you to look for?

Clue 1A was intended to be a "foothold". It probably would have been better if we had not had the "you" at the end
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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hoover
Posts: 3171
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 7:26 pm
Location: at the intersection of grits and breakfast tacos

#18

Post by hoover »

I think week 3 must be my limit. I've had to get nudged on everything this week.
I don't have anything clever to say, but if I did, it would go here.
Eli
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Qmark
Posts: 461
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:33 pm
Location: Ottawa, Canada

#19

Post by Qmark »

With the help of nudge #2, the cat is now out of the bag for me...thanks Chris!
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lbray53
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Location: Elkhorn, WI

#20

Post by lbray53 »

The cat it out. Got it with the nudges.

The most fun part of this meta was reading the comments on Crosshare! Some great stuff there.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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