MEOW #228 A Good Place to Stop

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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MEOW #228 A Good Place to Stop

#1

Post by DrTom »

A Good Place to Stop Banner.png
I do TERRIBLE with the band type of crossword and even worse with meta band crosswords. I figured the only way to get better at them was to actually make one.

I came up with an idea, tried it and failed. Then to the rescue comes our resident Aussie and Band puzzler par excellence. "What about if we collaborate", he said, "I'll make the grid?" Well, knowing not to look a gift horse in the mouth and that the grid is the most difficult part of the process, I immediately said "YES!"

So what you see before you is the latest (and probably last; at least from me) band puzzle from a two-man band.


I would rate this a:

Kitten

Calico

♥Persian

♥Puma

Lion

You will, of necessity, have to PM me or Ben with your answers since Crosshare cannot handle this type of file. The only good news is that the PDF is a fillable PDF so if you are opening it in Acrobat Reader or a similar program you will be able to fill it online if desired (and no doubt save yourself many sheets of paper and erasure marks).

I will provide nudges by Friday (or sooner if required) and the reveal will be Sunday.

Please take a look at it and start solving, we don't even care if you "band together" to complete it.


Fillable PDF - A Good Place to Stop

JPZ file - A Good Place to Stop PLEASE NOTE: JPZ FILES CAN BE COMPLETED ON-LINE WITH THIS UTILITY JPZ file utility

A Good Place to Stop.png

PDF File with colors - A Good Place to Stop

A Good Place To Stop Colors.png
Attachments
(117.99 KiB) Downloaded 7 times
(2.21 KiB) Downloaded 36 times
(181.14 KiB) Downloaded 71 times
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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#2

Post by DrTom »

Another BIG RED note!!!

Cinny pointed out that the PDF file I included makes the BANDS even harder because it is hard to stay in the "band" and suggested that, like similar puzzles, the bands be colored. I did not do that originally because I know how people like to save ink and also because colored ink is more expensive and I don't know if the light colors I used will translate on other printers. BUT, since they are hard enough as it is, I am adding a second file (see second pic on page) that incorporates colors, and you can use that one if it is easier.

PDF file with colors - A Good Place to Stop
Attachments
(117.99 KiB) Downloaded 3 times
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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woozy
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#3

Post by woozy »

Fwiw filling in the grid was nowhere near as difficult as Dr. Tom implied. And it's quite an enjoyable marching band grid.

As for the meta... well, I can't speak to that yet. (Scratching head.)
GUAVA is not an anagram of VAGUE
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DrTom
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#4

Post by DrTom »

Wow, thank goodness - 6 hours since posting and not a single solver, and until now almost no acknowledgement that the puzzle even existed. I was about to relive a "Left Behind" moment...
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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#5

Post by DrTom »

Hooray!!! We got our first correct solver - Cindy Heisler (@Cinny) just now. I was getting scared!
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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DCBilly
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#6

Post by DCBilly »

Got it after Dr. Tom offered a nudge in response to my wild guess...
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rjy
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#7

Post by rjy »

Definitely some grid-filler-inners out here, not to worry DrT! Tried a few things, no luck, but happy to let it marinate a bit...
Ray
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whimsy
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#8

Post by whimsy »

^^ Same here -- grid this AM but then a day when it has stopped raining had me doing outdoor work for several hours -- tied up with book group tonight but back for more tomorrow!
New grid is lovely -- looks as though there should be Easter eggs hiding in it. :lol:
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MatthewL
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#9

Post by MatthewL »

^^^^What they said -- grid's filled in, but not the slightest clue what to do next.
Matthew
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DrTom
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#10

Post by DrTom »

OK, I am going to let this marinate a bit because people are still pondering, but tomorrow I'll let loose an early nudge (and this one is tough to nudge without giving it away). But let me just say that this is NOT an inferred answer, that has torpedoed me on a few Band puzzles, so this one is a "no doubt, spell it out" answer.
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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#11

Post by DrTom »

whimsy wrote: Wed Apr 09, 2025 3:53 pm ^^ Same here -- grid this AM but then a day when it has stopped raining had me doing outdoor work for several hours -- tied up with book group tonight but back for more tomorrow!
New grid is lovely -- looks as though there should be Easter eggs hiding in it. :lol:
I was originally going to do it Red White and Blue but opted not to make the largest band (and therefore the one that would use the most ink) a color. But there is "kind of" and Easter Egg but it has nothing to do with colors.

T
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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schmidzy
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#12

Post by schmidzy »

Got it — with a teensy nudge from the illustrious doctor after my initial idea was wrong. Nice one!
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lbray53
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#13

Post by lbray53 »

I downloaded the latest puzzle in the thread and was very proud of solving it, only to find out it was the “Blindly Following” puzzle from November! On to the new puzzle.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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HeadinHome
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#14

Post by HeadinHome »

also sitting in front of a complete grid with no ideas other than some WAGS. Will watch this spot.
The other Wendy. :roll:
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KayW
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#15

Post by KayW »

HeadinHome wrote: Wed Apr 09, 2025 7:03 pm also sitting in front of a complete grid with no ideas other than some WAGS. Will watch this spot.
Me three.
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DrTom
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#16

Post by DrTom »

lbray53 wrote: Wed Apr 09, 2025 6:58 pm I downloaded the latest puzzle in the thread and was very proud of solving it, only to find out it was the “Blindly Following” puzzle from November! On to the new puzzle.
Yes, some people are going back and doing puzzles that they missed. WHen that happens, since that puzzle will have been accessed more recently than the MEOW of the day, that puzzle moves to the top. If you are not watching the date or the number you can easily download the wrong file. It is why I put a series number on all of them.

Hopefully "Blindly Following" was fun the second time?

T
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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#17

Post by DrTom »

Goodness, and I thought that my LAST puzzle was a dud! This one is even less solved, despite it being almost as simple a mechanism as the last one. You guys are WAY too sophisticated and you expect me to be similarly sophisticated...I am not. While my wording may be tricky, trust me the Mx is not. Think where I might "hide" an answer that is spelled out! Nudges after the solver's board.

1 Cinny
2 ChrisKochmanski
3 DCBilly
4 Lars Caine
5 schmidzy
6 Antdisp
7 markhr
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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#18

Post by DrTom »

Nudges:

This is hard to nudge without giving it completely away but let me toss out the one I have been giving to people who missed the answer or asked for a nudge (Nudge 1). The rest are new nudges each a little more revealing.

I don't know if it is a good place to stop, but there are certainly LOGICAL places to stop for each row or band,

Doesn't one of the answers just scream out at you that it sounds like something else familiar?

The answer you are looking for is 13 letters long. Maybe an unlucky number but a lucky number of letters for a solve!
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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markhr
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#19

Post by markhr »

Enjoyed this one. I hope Dr. Tom and Ben can collaborate on more of these.
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Cindy
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#20

Post by Cindy »

Solved - SAD!
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