Welcome to Phil's Crossword Corner (PCC)! Philip Chow (aka Phil) is an auditor at NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation who makes crossword puzzles for fun in his free time. A new meta puzzle posts every other Saturday weekend on Crosshare.
Phil’s metas will usually include immediate nudges, a great tool for new solvers. You can reach him at pchow13@gmail.com
Finally getting around to posting my old puzzles here on this forum.
Please see below for PCC#4 - "Spoiled Rotten" originally posted on Crosshare 08/19/23
[Level 3] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta is a two-word term my friend Yim uses to describe her puppy Peanut... all she does is lie in bed doing nothing all day long!
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
Hint #1: The meta answer has 6 letters in the first word and 8 letters in the second word
Hint #2: The central clue hints at "Royals"... maybe the starred clues are somehow connected?
Hint #3: The starred clues are all associated with the word "princess"
Hint #4: Isn't 12A such an unusual way to clue Leia? Why wouldn't you clue it with a "Star Wars" reference? Oh wait a minute...
Hint #5: Each of the 6 starred "princess" entries can match up with a clue elsewhere in the puzzle... Read out the first letter of the corresponding entries for those clues in grid order (from top to bottom)
Solution below - SPOILER ALERT:
Answer explanation: Solution is "Pillow Princess" - the starred clues relate to princesses: Princess Mononoke, The Princess Bride, Princess Beatrice, Princess Leia, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Princess Peach... each of these princesses can be the answer to another clue: Princess Mononoke is a Miyazaki film (as is PONYO), The Princess Bride gave us the INIGO Montoya quote, Beatrice is a niece of King Charles (as is LOUISE), Leia is LUKE's twin, Xena is a sword-wielding character played by Lucy Lawless (ORENISHII from Kill Bill is played by Lucy Liu), and Peach is a playable character in Mario Party (as is WARIO)... The first letter of the answers of the alt clues spell out PILLOW... and so the answer is PILLOW PRINCESS (which is a slang term for a partner that just lies in bed and doesn't do anything but expects to receive all the pleasure in the world... which is pretty befitting of Peanut - she just lies on her mountain of pillows all day long and expects tummy rubs and treats)...
