XWord Muggles Forum

Finally getting around to posting my old puzzles here on this forum.

Please see below for PCC#17 - "Aaugh!" originally posted on Crosshare 11/26/23

[Level 2.5] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta is an oxymoron

Note: the level is the intended difficulty I had in mind when I designed the puzzle, but may play differently since every solver has their own area of expertise... what one person may find easy, another may find difficult.

Have fun and keep in mind if you're ever lost at sea, google is your best friend (actually, I don't know if you'd get internet service in the middle of the ocean)
-Phil

Aaugh!
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Nudges below:

Hint #1: An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction such as "jumbo shrimp" and "wise fool"

Hint #2: The five theme answers all start with a surname... do these people have anything in common?

Hint #3: The five theme answers all end with a word... is there anything "shade-y" that they share in common?

Hint #4: Combining hints #2 and #3 would lead you to a comic book character

Hint #5: The answer to the meta is a two-word catchphrase of this comic book character. One of the two words is hinted at by the sentiment of the clues of the five theme entries which follows a certain pattern

Hint #6: The clues progress through the five stages of ___ (deep sorrow)

Solution below - SPOILER ALERT:

Answer explanation: Answer explanation: The five theme answers all start with a famous Charlie and end with a shade of brown... so "Charlie Brown" is one half of the puzzle... then the clues go through the five stages of GRIEF: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. And so the meta answer is Charlie Brown's catchphrase "Good Grief!"

"Good Grief Day" on November 26 honors the life and the legacy of "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles M. Schulz: https://nationaltoday.com/good-grief-day/

The title of the puzzle "Aaugh!" is a phrase used when Peanuts characters scream out of frustration. Many times they yell, facing up with their mouths almost as big as their faces.