MEOW #169 - Lateral Thinking

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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KayW
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Location: Chicago

#21

Post by KayW »

:crossed_swords: :rabbit: :cat: Cat's out.
Image
This meta was more than enough treat for me. Very cool, thanks, Darth!
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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Cap'n Rick
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Location: Nahant, MA

#22

Post by Cap'n Rick »

Cat's out! Nice one, @Darth!
Ahoy! Check out my meta puzzles here! Check out "Smooth Sailing Sundays" here!
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Clark E. Tripe
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Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2023 10:14 am
Location: Linux Habitation, CA

#23

Post by Clark E. Tripe »

My kitty has escaped. Loved the clue/answer to 62-Across!
"I'm a paper tape guy in a punch card world"
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Darth
Posts: 739
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:51 pm
Location: Champaign, IL

#24

Post by Darth »

OIP221.jpg
What a terrific turnout today! So far, 55 have debagged the cat...
Here's the Leaderboard (compiled from Crosshare and our Xword Forum):
boharr
Cindy Weatherman
Pair O Ducks (schmidzy)
MaineMarge
Tom Wilson
LarsCaine
rjy
FrankieHeck
atsiricajr111191
hoover
I K Snamhcok (Chris)
Meg
LindaPRmaven
Cinny (Cindy Heisler)
Alex Sisti
Sharkicicles
Bird Lives
Ergcat
MatthewL
dannyvee
Hector
Carolyn
markhr
woozy
DIS
Mwoychick
michaelm
JM
hcbirker (Heidi)
DrTom
emmie
lbray53
Dow Jones
Berto
whimsy
ajk
benchen71 (Ben)
kurtalert
Paul S
Danny K Bernstein
LB800
Sobekneferu
Samwise
Archie
Tim
Laura M
HeadinHome
BarbaraK
CPJohnson
rfj
KayW
Philip Chow
Gutman
Cap'n Rick
@Clark E. Tripe (Yes, and 62A was worked into the puzzle in his honor!)

Let me know if I missed anyone, and I'll add more tomorrow.
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MaineMarge
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Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:57 pm

#25

Post by MaineMarge »

Great fun @Darth!
Cat is out of the bag and back to bed
IMG_2492.jpeg
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edestlin
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#26

Post by edestlin »

Cat liberated. Nice puzzle, @Darth! Thanks!
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Darth
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Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:51 pm
Location: Champaign, IL

#27

Post by Darth »

Here are some updates to the successful solvers list. We're at 63 so far...
Tyrpmom
frostyjhammer
andeux
nate
Larry Edelstein
Sendhil Revuluri
hbxwords
edestlin

And here are some Friday nudges...
* Nudge 1: The title to the meta may give you some direction. (It doesn't involve football.) * Nudge 2: The meta answer consists of 10 letters, which you probably already expected.
* Nudge 3: Besides 37A, which already declared itself a hint to the meta. 34D and 35D may offer ideas of what to do! * Nudge 4: Alternate suggested titles for this puzzle include "Think Outside the Box" or "Expand Your Horizons".
images.png
The solution will be revealed on Tuesday, so there's still time to solve. :D
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DCBilly
Posts: 261
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2021 4:40 pm
Location: Washington DC

#28

Post by DCBilly »

Got it! Took my paper solve on travel hoping the nudges would get me there and they did...
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whimsy
Posts: 2785
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
Location: Hopkinton MA

#29

Post by whimsy »

Neglected to post earlier, but cat is out of the bag and into his costume --
Untitledzzkittyewok.png
Guess what I'm watching right now! The Ewoks just log-rolled a Walkie-Stalker (that's what my kids called the transports.)

Thanks for the fun puzzle, Darth!
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Abide
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#30

Post by Abide »

Solved sans nudges. Well done Darth!
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
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Alvibu67
Posts: 141
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 2:18 pm

#31

Post by Alvibu67 »

The cat is out of the bag and hanging out with friends for an activity!
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ReB
Posts: 673
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:34 pm
Location: East Tennessee

#32

Post by ReB »

Didn't start until earlier today, second look tonight led to a satisfying nudge-free AHA as the cat slipped out of the bag. Enjoyable solve, thanks.
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Darth
Posts: 739
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:51 pm
Location: Champaign, IL

#33

Post by Darth »

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Adding more to the running "List of Solvers". We're at 72, and there's still time remaining...
DCBilly
SJMcK
MrTex
Abide
Chris
Alvibu67
ReB
Salty
Bob the cruise director

Go ahead and give this one a shot... The solution reveal is Tuesday.
Last edited by Darth on Thu Apr 25, 2024 8:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Bob cruise director
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Location: Any golf course within 500 miles of Littleton MA

#34

Post by Bob cruise director »

Finally got around to this. CATapaulted to the answer.

Fun meta.
Bob Stevens
Cruise Director
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Darth
Posts: 739
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:51 pm
Location: Champaign, IL

#35

Post by Darth »

00EBIZ1-facebookJumbo.jpg
Thanks to everyone who tried out this puzzle!

Here's the solution: If you look at the answers to the starred clues, you'll see that a letter could be added to the side ("laterally") beyond the grid frame (or "outside of the box" taken literally!): 1A (E)DEN and 9A HIS(S); 19A (C)LAMP and 21A PAST(A); 31A (P)RAISE and 36A POP(E); 52A (R)ACED and 57A BASS(O); 64A (O)REO and 66A ZOO(M). The letters spell ESCAPE ROOM, a group activity in which participants race against time to solve puzzles and find their exit out of the room.
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