XWord Muggles Forum

Dear loyal crossword fans,

Happy Memorial Day! It's Phil from PCC (Phil's Crossword Corner) presenting this week's puzzle "Kindred Spirits"

Prompt: The answer to the meta is my favorite drink of all time.

Notes:

• You may ignore the "PCC#41" in the subject/title as it doesn't have anything to do with the meta... it's just a numbering system for myself.

• 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.

Many thanks to FrankieHeck and Abide for test-solving and suggestions for improvement. Shout-out to Joe Ross for technical help.

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

Please submit your answer for this meta via Crosshare using the link below or by sending me a PM.
Nudges will be posted on Wednesday. Solution shall be revealed Sunday morning.

Kindred Spirits
crosshare
PUZ
PDF

De-couched. Fun one Phil!

Off the couch! I'll have what Phil's having!

OTC. I guess having done some bartending back in the day helped. Thanks, Phil.

Off the couch and onto the floor.

Thanks Phil.

OTC. Wheelhouse. Not in mine. But still fun!

OTC!

Smart choice, Phil.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

I kind of thought it was my wheelhouse. But I'm obviously missing a linchpin. It can't be that obscure or badly presented but somehow I'm completely overlooking it.

EDIT: Totally WAGged it. Apparently *not* my wheel-house at all! But still.... I can't believe I missed the linchpin. Still wouldn't have gotten it.

OTC. Make mine a double - thanks Phil!

Needed a hand but got there in the end.
Definitely needed help from Mr G.

OTC!

My favorite as well. OK. Second favorite.

OTC! Clever and fun.

Stay well all

Off the couch. Got the answer but missed half the fun.
I'll have what Phil's having.

Got the answer, but not the right way I am afraid.

I guess I got spirited away?

Leaderboard update: 28 solvers off the couch (they may or may not be getting drunk):

FrankieHeck (TS)
Abide (TS)
Tom Wilson
LarsCaine
Chris Barbee
hoover
boharr
kymike
Moreo5
Cindy Weatherman
Meg
I K Snamhcok
imontoo
FedexPope
woozy
KayW
Hector
Mg305
Berto
ajk
lbray53
Streroto
antdisp
Johnny Luau
Bird Lives
Anita and Steve
DrTom
heidi

Wednesday nudges

Notes: (1) a lot of googling required for this puzzle which can feel more frustrating than fun so I added italics to 5 of the Down clues (viewable in the Crosshare version of the puzzle) (2) in the strictest definition of the word "spirit" - it refers to alcohol that has been distilled to a higher concentrated amount... i'm not much of a drinker so i'm using the word spirit interchangeably with any generic alcohol/liquor/liqueur

Hint #1: the meta answer is 5 letters long

Hint #2: Did you find all 5 (symmetrically-placed Across) cocktails in the grid?

Hint #3: Each of these Across cocktails intersects a Down entry whose clue contains another cocktail

Hint #4: Using the title "Kindred Spirit" - figure out what alcohol the Across cocktail shares in common with the cocktail in the intersecting Down clue

Hint #5: Instead of extracting first letter of grid entries or first letter of clues or intersecting letters in the grids, the letters we want to extract are what the "kindred spirits" begin with

Hint #6: the meta answer is non-alcoholic

Off the couch with the nudges! Yay!!

Catching up from the weekend, so I am finally off the couch on Wednesday… very cool puzzle Phil! I struggled for a bit until I took a peek at just one of your italicized clues, and I was off and racing to the finish line. Wish I hadn’t needed that mini nudge, but it was a very fun and fair construction. Thanks!

Off the couch. Needed the nudges for sure.

thanks for puzzle and nudges. I'm off the couch enjoying your favorite drink