A&Q

[Bob cruise director]

What a treat!

treat.png

Where is the rabbit. I looked all over but could not find one

[whimsy]

Well, WSJ is bunnies, MMM is couches. Cats, merry-go-rounds, and who knows what, show up elsewhere.
Maybe this was just another hare-pulling puzzle, of the hidden pictures sort, for you to contend with, @Bob cruise director.
Or perhaps, at the risk of blasphemy, I could say he's in the gingerbread house, about to be put into the oven by Hansel and Gretel.

[Joe Ross]

Where is the rabbit. I looked all over but could not find one

You've been warned, Bob: Do NOT click on this:

[Bob cruise director]

Well, WSJ is bunnies, MMM is couches. Cats, merry-go-rounds, and who knows what, show up elsewhere.
Maybe this was just another hare-pulling puzzle, of the hidden pictures sort, for you to contend with, @Bob cruise director.
Or perhaps, at the risk of blasphemy, I could say he's in the gingerbread house, about to be put into the oven by Hansel and Gretel.

@whimsy - then I will let you click on the all day sucker from @Joe Ross below

[Ergcat]

Off the couch! Thanks, Jay! Nice one!
Go Tigers!

[Bird Lives]

After 24 hours, we have 33 solvers. I should add "give or take" since I may have inadvertently omitted some solvers. It's also possible that someone is on the list who hadn't actually solved it. If you are in either of those categories, please PM me.

(TS) Abide
(TS) Al Sisti
1. Hector
2. benchen71
3. Meg
4. Schmeel
5. hoover
6. boharr
7. ChrisKochmanski
8. Cap'n Rick
9. Cindy
10. Bob cruise director
11. DrTom
12. MarkWoychick
13. Dow Jones
14. higgysue
15. Dave C
16. Magistra
17. dplass
18. woozy
19. FrankieHeck
20. TeamDoubleTow
21. hcbirker
22. KayW
23. Darth
24. BarbaraK
25. whimsy
26. Qmark
27. JM
28. markhr
29. Ergcat
30. Bbaack
31. Beth Tyrpin
32. Jeremy Smith
33. Laura M

[rjy]

Monday being a holiday, I didn’t get off the couch until today… enjoyed it, Jay!

[Wendy Walker]

Jay's cluing is just exquisite! Off the couch!

[Joe Ross]

[MaineMarge]

Jay says it’s time to get off the couch and get back to work in the garden
Fantastic meta, Jay

Casablanca oriental lily with blue bush clematis, helenium, and tall Autumn Minaret daylily last week.

[ajk]

Back stateside so just now got around to this. Fun one, thx. I think it would have taken me a good bit longer without the backsolve, but also been less enjoyable.

[lbray53]

Off the couch! Great puzzle.

I did manage to create some rabbit holes as is usually the case for me.

[Cinny]

Off the couch! Nice one, Jay!!

[MikeyG]

Jay's cluing is just exquisite! Off the couch!

Yeah, I definitely 'd several times!

[michaelm]

Off the couch.
Thanks, Jay!

[minimuggle]

This puzzle had me chuckling. Thanks so much. I am off the couch but laughing about that as well

[HeadinHome]

Jay says it’s time to get off the couch and get back to work in the garden
Fantastic meta, Jay
EC35708A-F617-4144-9E8F-7BBE92E2943B.jpeg
Casablanca oriental lily with blue bush clematis, helenium, and tall Autumn Minaret daylily last week.

I WANT TO LIVE AT @MaineMarge’s house!

Enjoyed the puzzle, Jay! Witty cluing to be sure… brought a smile and a snicker several times. (Confirmed on Crosshare.)

[HeadinHome]

Oh - Also - my nature work for the week: monarch babysitting and releasing:

[Bird Lives]

Since last we met, another sixteen solvers have left the couch.

34. rjy
35. MaineMarge
36. Wendy Walker
37. THC
38. DIS
39. lbray53
40. Cinny
41. ajk
42. Mikey G
43. michaelm
44. minimuggle
45. david
46. Richard
47. emmie
48. BrennerTJ
49. HeadinHome

For those still pondering, here are some nudges, more or less in increasing order of nudginess.


Seven of the clues end with a punctuation mark. The entries for these clues are not literal. Maybe you noticed this. Maybe these entries with their clues left you convulsed in laughter. Probably not. Oh well, we try.

Those seven entries do have literal clues.

Unfortunately, those literal clues are being kept busy elsewhere with other entries. You have to hunt around for them.

The iniitial letters of those other entries, once you find them, will confirm the answer — the one you knew all along it would be just from the prompt.

And as a bonus, a bit of cultural history.
The A&Q format goes back at least to the 1950s. Steve Allen on The Tonight Show did this bit as The Question Man (“the man with all the questions to the answers you folks send in”). It became better known with Johnny Carson in the character of the all-knowing Carnac. The joke format is the same. The answer, e.g., “Igloo,” is the set-up line; then comes the question, i.e., the punch line. (“What do you use to hold your ig together?”)

And an apology for the basic flaw in the puzzle.
Ideally, this puzzle would do the same Carnac thing. The answer would be in the clues so that you would see that first. The punch-line question would be the entry in the grid. Unfortunately, those questions are too long to fit in a crossword grid, so I had to reverse the order. To get the Carnac effect, you’ll have to imagine, once you’ve gotten the entry, that you’ve just heard it as the answer without having read the clue, then go back to the clue for the punch line.

[Joepickett]

Nope. Didn't see it.