Tally Who?

[MaineMarge]

@Wendy Walker said I’d better get off the couch and back to work. And none too soon. Must finish mulching here in “The Veggie Garden”. Vegetables here no longer- taken over by the Constant Flower Gardener.

Purple Black Scallop ajuga, white shrub Mt. Airy Fothergilla this week.

[Wendy Walker]

The meta answer is "J" as in Michael "J." Fox, whose name at birth was actually "Michael Andrew Fox". After deciding that the middle initial “A” sounded too close to the Canadian “eh”, he later chose "J" in honor of an actor he respected, Michael J. Pollard.

To solve the meta, puzzlers first needed to heed the title - "Tally Who?" - and go on a "fox hunt" (Wendy's family sport) and locate all entries to which "FOX" could be prepended to make new words/phrases. The 7 symmetrically-placed entries were as follows:

1A - FIRE - FOXFIRE
8A - WOODS - FOXWOODS
16A - NEWS - FOX NEWS
37A - TERRIER - FOX TERRIER
62A - BORO - FOXBORO
66A - GLOVE - FOXGLOVE
68A - TROT - FOXTROT


The second step involved finding other clues that fit the new "FOX" words/phrases:

FOXFIRE - 28D - Emitter of glowing light - HALO
FOXWOODS - 51A - A resort casino - LUXOR
FOX NEWS - 27D - TV network- CNBC
FOX TERRIER - 34D - Dog breed - AINU
FOXBORO - 48A - Massachusetts town - ERVING
FOXGLOVE - 22A - Flower with medicinal properties - IRIS
FOXTROT - 20A - Ballroom favorite - MAMBO

The first letters of the above entries in grid order spell "MICHAEL" - another familiar "FOX" whose middle initial "J" turns out to be "faux".

Thank you all for solving. I again want to thank @Wendy Walker for providing the inspiration for this meta, for helping with pretesting and revealing, and for generously donating a prize from her fox hunting club - "Cheshire Hunt Conservancy".

Tally ho!
Cap'n Rick

[Wendy Walker]

Forty-eight folks (24 "couple" in foxhunting terms) solved this week's delightfully sly challenge by Cap'n Rick. The winner of the Cheshire Foxhounds prize will be drawn later today; I hope I can locate a suitable dignitary to pull the winner's name out of the hat (literally, I am using a hat) but if not it'll just be Mark.
Helmet tip to @BrennerTJ for the graphics!

[whimsy]

^^^^ Nice coverage, Tilly! ^^^^

[Wendy Walker]

And the winner is ... @hcbirker! A beautiful Cheshire Foxhounds bowl will be on its way to Heidi!

[woozy]

And here is my wedding cake:

[benchen71]

I'm loving this trend of meta answers consisting of a single letter! My puzzle, "Social Media", ended up resulting in an answer of "I". Cap'n Rick's puzzle ended up resulting in an answer of "J". So who will build a meta puzzle that results in an answer of "K"?

[Joe Ross]

*koff* @KayW *koff*

[KayW]

*koff* @KayW *koff*

[hcbirker]

And the winner is ... @hcbirker! A beautiful Cheshire Foxhounds bowl will be on its way to Heidi!

As I told @Wendy Walker I am not worthy!

[Bird Lives]

A few years ago, Michael J was filming part of an episode for his short-lived TV show,The Michael J. Fox Show, just next door to the building I live in.
.

[MMe]

Long enough ago that there were pay phones on the Upper East Side, or was that a prop? And, you got Wendell Piece in there too!

[Bird Lives]

Long enough ago that there were pay phones on the Upper East Side, or was that a prop? And, you got Wendell Piece in there too!

Upper West Side realism. It was a real phone, and a real Fairway, and a real Bunk, and that's really my building at the corner.