Spiders on Sofas in Sunglasses and Skirts

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BrianMac
Site Admin
Posts: 787
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 11:45 pm
Location: Connecticut

#21

Post by BrianMac »

Thanks, everybody!

The answer, which I think everyone got, is WRAP AROUND, achieved by taking each of the entries on the right edge of the grid, adding a letter, and adding them to the entry in the same row on the left edge of the grid. The added letters spell the meta answer.

HAY W IRE
TATE R TOTS
SIMP A TICO
GRAND P ARENT
FOR A GER
ADO R ING
REZ O NES
POST U LATE
SERE N ADE
DOO D ADS

I had mixed feeling about this one. I originally wanted to make it a 15x15 with more 9 and 11-letter long theme entries. But it was just too challenging to find words that (1) could be split into two valid words, (2) had a specific letter in between, and (3) could then be stacked to make down entries. I also tried to avoid words that were related to the longer word (e.g., LASE R BEAM). So, the result is a 15x12 grid made 50% of 3-letter words (35/71), many of them ugly abbreviations, foreign, etc. I hope the "aha" was worth all that junk.

As for the title, it's just other things that "wrap around," and I'm a sucker for alliteration. :) Sorry to Laura M who Googled more than she bargained for :oops:.

Thanks again for solving! If anyone has an idea for a meta and would like to collaborate, I would be happy to take your idea and help design and/or fill the grid. Then I would leave the cluing to you. Just shoot me a PM.
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Meg
Posts: 2136
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
Location: St. Petersburg, FL

#22

Post by Meg »

Did anybody else see the spider in the grid? All 8 legs. It should have meant something! The aha was lovely.
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FrankieHeck
Posts: 839
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 8:57 pm
Location: West Virginia

#23

Post by FrankieHeck »

I can't believe how long it took me to see that, even as I tried to make those short words on the sides into longer words. I kept getting stuck trying to turn TICO into PORTICO. Thanks for keeping me busy!
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Al Sisti
Posts: 2037
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Whitesboro NY

#24

Post by Al Sisti »

Meg wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:09 pm Did anybody else see the spider in the grid? All 8 legs. It should have meant something! The aha was lovely.
Oh man, that is awesome!
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MajordomoTom
Posts: 1399
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:09 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

#25

Post by MajordomoTom »

PM sent with two meta concepts
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
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ChrisKochmanski
Posts: 2156
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:51 pm
Location: Saline, Michigan

#26

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

Fairly early on, after completing the grid, I noticed TICO and SIMP, and thought of SIMPATICO, but I concluded, at the time, that it was a coincidence.

ARGH!!!!

That kept me from the mechanism and the answer for quite a loooooooooong time.

Still, a very satisfying solve when I finally got there (with a slight hint to bring me back to my start).
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MajordomoTom
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Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2019 12:09 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

#27

Post by MajordomoTom »

I was thinking about TATER TOTS for a while, then wrote down the R, and it was a wrap shortly thereafter.
"Lots of planets have a North", the Ninth Doctor.
Laura M
Posts: 1384
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:49 am

#28

Post by Laura M »

Right, after I solved the meta I had to Google wraparound spiders--I'd never heard of those! Eek.

(Really they don't look at all terrifying, they mostly blend in, which I suppose is the point. I don't recommend doing an image search for "huntsman spider" though...)

Great puzzle, I'm looking forward to the next one!
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Al Sisti
Posts: 2037
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Whitesboro NY

#29

Post by Al Sisti »

Laura M wrote: Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:11 am Right, after I solved the meta I had to Google wraparound spiders--I'd never heard of those! Eek.

(Really they don't look at all terrifying, they mostly blend in, which I suppose is the point. I don't recommend doing an image search for "huntsman spider" though...)
You left your Zoom window open; there's one right behind you!
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TMart
Posts: 816
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:13 am
Location: Malvern, PA

#30

Post by TMart »

I'm kicking around some meta ideas, and have some completed grids. They are still a little too clunky for prime time, but if I get them to a point where they make some sense, I'll try to get them posted.
Djquimby
Posts: 58
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2019 5:47 am

#31

Post by Djquimby »

This was VERY good
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