MEOW #102: Initial Impression

[Dow Jones]

Great grid and meta, DrTom. Thanks for the entertainment.

[edestlin]

Finally off the couch after some kind nudging. I've been staring at the answer for days when I finally saw it. "I'm an idiot!" I exclaimed, and my wife didn't correct me.

[DrTom]

OK then! More have joined the "freed cat" society since the nudges:

33 DebbieC
34 ajk
35 Dow Jones
36 BrennerTJ
37 edestin
38 BarbaraK

With no other puzzles until Monday I am hoping all of the rest of you will take the time to join the crowd near the litterbox (that's what happens to the beach sand and cats I'm afraid) and push the MEOW into the 50's!!!!

[MaineMarge]

Cat is out of the bag at last, and ready to fight off those other cats heading to the sandbox
Well done, DT!

[ReB]

Finally off the couch after I went back and tried again an idea I had tried earlier, only this time I did it correctly. Lots of scratches from the briar patch.

[DrTom]

Sunday Solvers

39 MaineMArge
40 ReB

I guess I don't completely understand Crosshare because according to that over 160 people have completed the puzzle but only 43 have submitted answers. I guess a lot of folks just solve the Xword and don't try the meta?

Anyway, with a day to go I am hoping for a rush of last minute solvers. Let me do one more tiny nudge, based on feedback I have gotten:

The clue nudge is NOT Caesar Cipher, it involves one more of what you have already found!

[DrTom]

OK final count, with the testers, was 44! Thanks everyone:

Cinny
Whimsy
KayW
woozy
Schmeel
Dave C
JM
Qmark
boharr
DIS
Hector
rjy
Carolyn
Mikey G
Darth
Cindy Weatherman
Meg
Ergcat
Abide
Laura M
SJMcK
Gutman
Mwoychick
Benchen71
Cap'n Rick
Ckochmanski
Beth Tyrpin
dplass
ChrisCriss
heidi
markhr
lbray53
Dannyvee
CPJohnson
Teamdoubletow
DebbieC
ajk
Dow Jones
BrennerTJ
edestin
BarbaraK
MaineMArge
ReB
Al Sisti

[DrTom]

The Reveal:

It seemed like it would be easy at first because many quickly saw 5 Presidents in the GRID, but then most of the following ideas got vetoed!

People tried:
First letters of the names in GRID order: MCGPT…nope
First letters of the clues in GRID order: BTAPJ…nope
First letters of the names in order of when they served: MPGTC…nope
Middle INITIALS – good thought but they did not all have them

OK, darn it Tom what is it? Well clue #33A was doubly helpful. First because it tipped you to the mechanism. I could have easily entered Obama or even Barak there but I chose his PRESIDENTIAL NUMBER, #44. What were each of the listed Presidents’ numbers (see graphic).

So you have 5 things with 5 numbers and you need 5 letters…that should be easy now! (Oh, and Clue #33 was helpful a second time because it was both a clue to the mechanism AND one of the letters since TRUMAN was #33). I did get notified, after I said I had a nudge clue, that several people thought the Caesar Cipher was the clue and went looking for a way to turn the first initials into a word with a ROT code. Great idea, but obviously I am a lot less creative than that.

The answer POTUS is certainly initials and there are hardly more important initials in the world.

Thanks to everyone who solved, all 44 of you.

On Wednesday you will be treated to a brand new constructor, get your thinking caps on!!!

Tom

[ajk]

Got all the way to PSTOU after the first nudge, but didn't think to order them in service sequence. Came back later and it jumped out.
Before the nudge I was hung up on 5 alliterative clues:
Blonde Bombshell / Caesar Cipher / Babe's babies / Spooky sky sightings / Cork's county

The fact that there were 5 had me hung up, even though (a) alliterative clues are common and [almost] never meaningful, and (b) the fact that one of them was 3 words instead of 2 should have made clear it wasn't the path.