MEOW #121: Someone Special

A weekly meta crossword on the forum started by member Josh (aka madhatter5). These puzzles are often very creative with solving mechanisms out of the norm and skewing towards the more challenging. Puzzles are posted every Wednesday, and the solution appears the following Tuesday.
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hoover
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#21

Post by hoover »

madhatter5 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:24 am
woozy wrote: ↑Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:18 am
hoover wrote: ↑Thu Mar 23, 2023 11:29 am I'm with those whose catdog is still in the bag. I mean, I see the thing, and I see the other things, but I don't know what to do with them yet.

There's another thing?
There should be three things.

I'll post nudges tomorrow I am exhausted :)
Well, that's problematic. Which two of my five children should I throw to the curb?

Or maybe there's three sets of things.
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madhatter5
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#22

Post by madhatter5 »

Belated nudges!

The prompt is also necessary for the solve

The answer is a US president.

So you found from the themers that you need to consider a __, and from the prompt that it's not the first or last so therefore the __, and from the seriously suspiciously strangely and somwhat starkly sibillated clues that it should be a __. If that doesn't help I cannot help you.
https://pandorasblocks.org/crosswords-for-cancer
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sharkicicles
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#23

Post by sharkicicles »

Sent an answer in pre-nudge, and looking post-nudge almost certainly got it, but we shall see…

Edit: confirmed by the man himself. Fun meta! The cluing must have been a super slog…
Last edited by sharkicicles on Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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woozy
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#24

Post by woozy »

madhatter5 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 8:36 am Belated nudges!

The prompt is also necessary for the solve
Oh, that's cute

The answer is a US president.
If you say so

So you found from the themers that you need to consider a __, and from the prompt that it's not the first or last so therefore the __, and from the seriously suspiciously strangely and somwhat starkly sibillated clues that it should be a __. If that doesn't help I cannot help you.
Um, what themers? There were 78 themers.

EDIT: Oh.... I just realized there were 5 themers.... In all I think I would have had a harder time with this if I had noticed that earlier
So I just plain couldn't get my meta based on "Up the Down Staircase" to work.

My challenge it to constructors is to make a meta where the meta, theme or metanism is "Up the Down Staircase".
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Dplass
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#25

Post by Dplass »

Huh. I guess I'm in the "I can't help you" crowd...
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hoover
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#26

Post by hoover »

madhatter5 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 8:36 am Belated nudges!

The prompt is also necessary for the solve

The answer is a US president.

So you found from the themers that you need to consider a __, and from the prompt that it's not the first or last so therefore the __, and from the seriously suspiciously strangely and somwhat starkly sibillated clues that it should be a __. If that doesn't help I cannot help you.
Oh dear, now it could be that one from the 19th century or that other one from the 20th century or maybe there are others that I haven't thought of, so now to look for more clues to guide me.
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hoover
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#27

Post by hoover »

hoover wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:56 pm
madhatter5 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 8:36 am Belated nudges!

The prompt is also necessary for the solve

The answer is a US president.

So you found from the themers that you need to consider a __, and from the prompt that it's not the first or last so therefore the __, and from the seriously suspiciously strangely and somwhat starkly sibillated clues that it should be a __. If that doesn't help I cannot help you.
Oh dear, now it could be that one from the 19th century or that other one from the 20th century or maybe there are others that I haven't thought of, so now to look for more clues to guide me.
A kind Muggle has pointed out that I seem to have lost the ability to read and follow directions, only they put it much more politely.
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benchen71
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#28

Post by benchen71 »

What, no solution?
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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dsbened
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#29

Post by dsbened »

I have a DNF and would like to see the filled-in grid. Plz, I'm begging you!
Seattle DB
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Joe Ross
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#30

Post by Joe Ross »

dsbened wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:45 pm I have a DNF and would like to see the filled-in grid. Plz, I'm begging you!
Reveal Grid.png
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madhatter5
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#31

Post by madhatter5 »

^^ thanks Joe!

So the theme entries all contained NAME and the prompt hinted we want not the first or last, meaning of course the middle. And the eagle eyed among you noticed a statistically significant increase in the letter S in the clues.

The answer was therefore HARRY S TRUMAN, whose middle name was S. Yep just S.

As for President Grant, S was really his first name but I mentioned the century just to be sure.
https://pandorasblocks.org/crosswords-for-cancer
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Darth
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#32

Post by Darth »

Missssed thissss.... "Supreme Sith" Sidious seemed sensibly solid. :shock:
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woozy
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#33

Post by woozy »

madhatter5 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 10:41 pm
As for President Grant, S was really his first name but I mentioned the century just to be sure.
Actually his first name was Hiram and his middle name was Ulysses. The Ulysses S. Grant was a typo at military school and he figured it's easier to just go by another name for the rest of his life than to attempt to correct an administrative error.
So I just plain couldn't get my meta based on "Up the Down Staircase" to work.

My challenge it to constructors is to make a meta where the meta, theme or metanism is "Up the Down Staircase".
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madhatter5
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Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2020 1:48 pm

#34

Post by madhatter5 »

Ah yes sorry I misremembered
https://pandorasblocks.org/crosswords-for-cancer
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woozy
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#35

Post by woozy »

The whole thing sounds anecdotal though, so who knows what the actual story is.
So I just plain couldn't get my meta based on "Up the Down Staircase" to work.

My challenge it to constructors is to make a meta where the meta, theme or metanism is "Up the Down Staircase".
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dsbened
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Location: Seattle, WA, USA

#36

Post by dsbened »

TYVM!
Seattle DB
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dsbened
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#37

Post by dsbened »

Joe Ross wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 10:31 pm
dsbened wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:45 pm I have a DNF and would like to see the filled-in grid. Plz, I'm begging you!

Reveal Grid.png
Yikes, I forgot about that link. TYVM, Joe!
Seattle DB
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