"Small Animals" November 3, 2023

[moron]

Okay, maybe that's not it. Then I noticed alternate meanings. BOA>SCARF (S) -- ASS>NITWIT (N) -- DOG>TORMENT (T) -- COW>AMOEBAS (A) -- YAK>CHAT (C) -- CAT>HOMBRE or HUMVEE (H). But wait, that spells SNTACH. Okay, this is Matt being a mere mortal again and requiring an anagram to SNATCH. A quick Google search shows that a snatch is a group of magpies. A magpie is very similar to a JAY. How nice--a bird-related answer!

Well, let's take one more look.... Oh. INTIMIDATE for COW makes it SNITCH (RAT). Although, in my defense, Gary Larson has A LOT of cows! Here is one of my favorites.
Screenshot_20231105-124322_Facebook.jpg

Wow, I completely understand that Cow => Ameobas move. Also possibly the single worst mistake one could make here given that SNATCH is a real word as opposed to missing any of the other connections and getting a nonword. I def wouldn'tve noticed the error if I had made it and been stuck trying to rationalize SNATCH in some way. Glad you were able to make it out.

[JAQT]

I almost submitted RAT as a Hail Mary (I guess I should have). The last across answer (UPEND) suggested to me that the down answers should be read upward, and RAT was the only thing I found.

Oh well.

[Ben B]

We did not have a lot of time to work on this over the weekend but I like to think we may have gotten there eventually. We saw the 3 letter animals quickly and were working on alternate answers.

But I could not get past alternate answers for the 2 longest Down clues at 3D and 44D. I was convinced these were acroBATs and ANTwerp. Trying to force those into the mechanism doomed us to spend the night with Isaac.

[NDStegs]

I really didn't like this one. Mostly because my MIL, who, once she has decided on a solution refuses to consider any other options, noticed the not at all "sneakily included" TAR and insisted the answer was Rat.

We weren't happy when that was the actual answer.

It's annoying when a guess is as accurate as spending so much time finding the actual mechanism.

[The XWord Rabbit]

That breezy “Deathtrap” puzzle for Halloween seems long ago and far away now, doesn’t it?

This week you Muggles had to get back to work with Mr. Gaffney’s “Small Animals” puzzle. The “small” referred to the length of the beasts that appeared in the grid, notably of the 3-letter variety. Step #1: Identify them hidden among the entries: ASS, YAK, CAT, BOA, DOG and COW. Step #2: Find an appropriate definition for each among the clues: 1A. Long neckwear, 11D. Pinhead, 17A. Push around, 26D. Cause persistent stress to, 47A. Shoot the breeze and 57A. Dude. Step #3: Note that the first letters of the original entries to those clues spelled SNITCH, a synonym for RAT, the puzzle answer.

Okay, we have a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get right to it. Given that most of you Muggles immediately recognized there was an abundance of 3-letter creatures involved, there was also a lot of duplication in your stories, so your Rabbit asks for your understanding that uniqueness of method played an important role in his choices, as always.

It’s a delight to nominate a brief but wonderful story, as they are so very rare. We have a great one from FrancesY this week with an “oh-so-lovely” tale of spinning around and around and then winding up with the correct answer in spite of it all.

Wow. I got the right answer but was stunned to see the method. I started with the six three-letter animals. So far so good. But I took the first letter of the Across animals to get AC DC and of the Down animals to get BY, so I must be looking for a song by AC/DC, right? (Plus the line connecting the A-C-D-C is a lightning bolt.) Apparently they have a hit song “Back in Black” which leads to spelling backwards 42D Black gunk or TAR to get RAT.

DB Miller , the Jedi master of telling tales of Muggles lost, was back this week with his first nomination of the new year. His Post #231 made the Rabbit’s brain hurt as much as his did.

But your XWord Rabbit was quite pleased to also see a young Skywalker to come along and challenge Mr. Miller. moron now has a second nomination in less than a month with a tale of ameobas, animals, gonias (the fly in the ointment) and lots of replacement letters (Post #262.) If you fully understand it, can you explain it to the Rabbit? He needs a rest.

[KayW]

I had a hometown advantage in solving this one:

Nine years running! (or should I say, scurrying)

[JoDave]

I was so far off on this one. I found the six animals in the grid and then UPEND gave me RAT. But I didn’t stop there. SKIP and COL next to each other indicated I should skip every other column. Being right next to PEI and IGA that gave me PIG. With STYe nearby it seemed plausible.

But then I wondered since I found eight animals, was that enough? (Pun intended). How many more could I find? And how would I know the correct answer? Then DOG RAT PIG, do these animals sound familiar? Clues 24A (Chinese) and 60A (No. 4 of a dozen) led me try to somehow fit them into the “Chinese Zodiac” signs. ASS is a 3 letter animal in the Horse category. CAT is the Tiger, BOA is the Snake, Cow is the Ox and perhaps YAK could be the Goat. Scanning the clues I found APE (Monkey) in 15A. For Rooster I found AUK on a diagonal, a bird that is known to roost. For Dragon how about a ROC (anagram of Orc)? Since the fourth animal in the Chinese Zodiac is the Rabbit, I didn’t expect to find it. Applying the same logic to get the answer, a 3 letter word for rabbit is DOE.

Of course I knew that I went too far down that literal rabbit-hole and went back to submitting PIG. But it was a fun and satisfying journey anyway.

[Conrad]

I really didn't like this one. Mostly because my MIL, who, once she has decided on a solution refuses to consider any other options, noticed the not at all "sneakily included" TAR and insisted the answer was Rat.

We weren't happy when that was the actual answer.

I saw UPEND in the final horizontal entry and spotted the two upside-down RATs. I dismissed RAT as the answer because I thought it was too flimsy. Mike Shenk famously includes an extra clue in the final entry, but Matt normally doesn't.

Then I found the actual intended path (IMO) that also lead to RAT. I didn't say much about that in my Crossword Fiend writeup, other than noting that I thought the meta was rough around the edges. For that reason and others I mentioned in my writeup.

I love this art form and the community that we have created around it. I also know it must be insanely difficult to do what Matt does. I can't think of a better form of entertainment that costs zero to be part of (which is true for the WSJ meta). I don't see my role as a critic: my job on Crossword Fiend is to explain the mechanism.

That being said: I thought this meta was rough around the edges.

[Omnibus]

Here’s one more: three hidden 3-letter animals each holding, in order, a single letter to spell another 3-letter animal.

Take 47 Across - cHat/cat with H
In 49 Down - bOat/bat with O
And 64 Across - doGg/dog with G

Spells out the word HOG.

Maybe too simple for the sophisticated mind of Mr. Gaffney, but is still a valid answer.

[mlvilv]

absurdly I saw the 'upend' answer and saw that rat was spelled backwards in a down answer. I don't like to submit when I clearly don't know what the metanism was but I'm kind of irritated that that ended up being the answer. I saw the multiple animals in the middle of other answers but I didn't figure out the next steps. But apparently I could've just seen the upside down rat and called it a day.

[HoldThatThought]

Several solvers have mentioned that they went with "Amoebas" as the substitute for "Cow", making the point that anthropomorphic cows were frequent subjects of Gary Larson Far Side strips.

While it's certainly true that cows starred in quite a few Far Side strips, the metanism for this puzzle required that the six 3-letter animal "key words" all fit the exact definition for the alternative entry

"Scarf" is the appropriate substitute for "boa" because both scarf and boa fit the 1A clue "Long Neckwear "

Similarly, "Chat" is the substitute for "Yak" , because they both fit the 47A clue "Shoot The Breeze".

"Amoebas" can not be the substitute for "Cow", because the Amoebas clue at 45D reads "Organisms in the 'Far Sides Cartoons." A single "Cow" is not organismS. The correct substitute had to be "Intimidate ", because both "Cow" and "Intimidate" precisely fit the 17A clue "Push Around ".

I might also point out that each of the intended substitute words relied on an alternative meaning of the animal name. Boa is both a snake and a type of neckwear. Cat is both a feline and a cool dude that originated from jazz slang. Ass is both a donkey and a jerk. Using cow as a substitute for Amoebas is applying only the bovine meaning of the animal cow - further evidence that that could not be the intended answer.

However, a tongue can be called both pink and silver, so it all comes down to one person's interpretation, right?

[Kas]

Well, I wish I had gotten that, because I’d be walking around this week with a preeeeetty swelled head, by gum. (Not remotely deriding those who got it, I’m just not that smart, lol.)

I saw the animals. (I went back and forth about “Roo,” as well…but didn’t make that critical next leap of intuition.

Definitely no “leaping.” It was more like multiple failed, spasmodic mini-hops…in the wrong direction…and I tripped and fell, and couldn’t get up, so I just laid there, moaning pitifully to myself, punctuated by occasional belly-flops into new, equally wrong rabbit-holes.

In short, “Hi, Isaac.”

[vandono]

Late reporting in but I report myself planted firmly on a barstool with Isaac. I did see 5 of the 6 3-letter animals (missed BOA) but never figured out what to do with them. Saw a few very shallow rabbit holes but nothing worth pursuing after having found the small animals.

A toast to the solvers and cheers to all my friends hanging out on the ship.

[sharkicicles]

I had a hometown advantage in solving this one:
RattiestCity2.png
Nine years running! (or should I say, scurrying)

“How often do the rats run by?” “So often you won’t even notice!”

[Grover]

I had a hometown advantage in solving this one:
RattiestCity2.png
Nine years running! (or should I say, scurrying)

LOL! I can verify that. A few years ago I stayed at a hotel on MIchigan Avenue. My room overlooked the alley behind. I amused myself by watching the rats scurrying back and forth from 10 floors above.

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is RAT. Six three-letter animals hide in the grid: SASS, KAYAKS, CATHER, UBOATS, BOONDOGGLE, SCOW. Each is also an alternative answer for another answer’s clue: SCARF/boa, NITWIT/ass, INTIMIDATE/cow, TORMENT/dog, CHAT/yak, HOMBRE/cat. In grid order, the first letters of those answers spell SNITCH, suggesting the contest answer (hiding sneakily upwards at 42-Down).

This was a tougher-than-usual one for our solvers. We had 932 entries, with about 54% correct (below our usual level around 75%). So many other 3-letter words to guess, including PIG (61), YAK (27), EEL (20 -- apparenty because ass/cat/dog/cow = ACDC = electricity!), ANT (14), HOG (13), BAT (12), COW (12), FOX (12), and a menagerie of many others.

Congrats to this week's winner: John L. Wilson of Shoreview, Minn.!

[Joe Ross]

This was a tougher-than-usual one for our solvers. We had 932 entries, with about 54% correct (below our usual level around 75%).

NOT EASY

[Mister Squawk]

[KayW]

Today's NYT Connections game may be of particular interest to solvers of this meta.

[MatthewL]

^^ What she said.