Welcome to Phil's Crossword Corner (PCC)! Philip Chow (aka Phil) is an auditor at NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation who makes crossword puzzles for fun in his free time. A new meta puzzle posts every other Saturday weekend on Crosshare.
Phil’s metas will usually include immediate nudges, a great tool for new solvers. You can reach him at pchow13@gmail.com
Please see below for the latest puzzle PCC#33 - "Noodling Around"
[Level 2] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta is an onomatopoeia.
on·o·mat·o·poe·ia
/ˌänəˌmädəˈpēə,ˌänəˌmadəˈpēə/
noun
the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle)
"a relatively large number of bird names arise by onomatopoeia"
Many thanks to FrankieHeck for test-solving and suggestion for improvement. Shout-out to Peter Abide and Joe Ross for their mentorship/tutelage. Many thanks to the Muggles and Crosshare community for solving my puzzles - I love reading about your experiences so please leave comments
Note: the level is the intended difficulty I had in mind when I designed the puzzle, but may play differently since every solver has their own area of expertise... what one person may find easy, another may find difficult.
Have fun and keep in mind if you're ever lost at sea, google is your best friend (actually, I don't know if you'd get internet service in the middle of the ocean)
-Phil
Hint #1: The meta answer is 5 letters long and there are exactly 5 clues with bracketed locations
Hint #2: The constructor of the puzzle is a foodie
Hint #3: Sometimes when I'm solving a crossword and I see the clue "Japanese noodle" and its 4 letters long, I don't know which one to put - the thin buckwheat one or the thick wheat flour one... they both fit
Hint #4: The 5 entries with bracketed clues conceal a noodle dish... the location in the bracket can help guide you in case any of them are unfamiliar to you
Hint #5: Read the first letters of the 5 noodle dishes in grid order to spell out a relevant word... it's a good way to enjoy noodles!
Solution below - SPOILER ALERT:
Answer explanation: Answer explanation: 5 noodle dishes are hidden in 5 of the Across entries with their country or location of origin in bracketed clue SOBA in NOTSOBAD, LAKSA in ALAKSANDUS, UDON in PSEUDONYM, RAMEN in SACRAMENTO, and PHO in LOOPHOLE... the first letters of these noodle dishes spell out the meta answer SLURP
Constructor Notes: Slurping your noodles noisily is considered a sign of respect for the chef in Japanese culture – a sign of deep appreciation for your meal. Read about The Art of Slurping here.
Ramen was actually invented in China and not Japan... it is today known quintessentially as a Japanese dish since it's made its way to the US and popularized by instant ramen but it was Chinese immigrants that brought their style of hand-pulled noodles over... Japan adapted it with different broths (shio, shoyu, miso, tonkotsu)... so I wanted to pay homage to its origins in the SACRAMENTO clue
i typically associate laksa with Malaysian cuisine, but when doing research i found that the exact origins are unknown due to regional differences and its popularity in SE Asia especially in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia... it was brought over by Chinese immigrants... so I wasn't sure which country to include in the ALAKSANDUS clue so used the umbrella SE Asia there
The clue for SACRAMENTO was purposefully written as a possible trap for the sports ppl... California has two professional sports teams named Kings: Sacramento Kings (NBA) and Los Angeles Kings (NHL)... both cities are 10 letters long!... a much longer kealoa than KEA/LOA, SOBA/UDON, OVATE/OVOID
And now I'm hungry... I could use a nice bowl of noodles
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!
(Sidebar: Hi Phil, I just noticed that all of your puzzles on Muggles and Crosshare are synced-up. Thanks for doing that, and also for being a good constructor who is witty and humorous!
Meg wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2024 3:24 pm
Thanks for the fun, Phil!
Thanks Meg! - just realized i could have possibly worked even more branding opportunity into the puzzle since you mentioned "fun"
There is a Chinese noodle dish called "CHOW FUN"... "Chow" = stir-fried and "Fun" = rice noodles... that would've been cool to maybe cram into the puzzle somehow bwahaha
Meg wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2024 3:24 pm
Thanks for the fun, Phil!
Thanks Meg! - just realized i could have possibly worked even more branding opportunity into the puzzle since you mentioned "fun"
There is a Chinese noodle dish called "CHOW FUN"... "Chow" = stir-fried and "Fun" = rice noodles... that would've been cool to maybe cram into the puzzle somehow bwahaha
It's a pity the reversed vowel order prevents us from commenting on your air and bearing that expresses fun. So we can't have CHOW MIEN...
I guess I should change my signature, and start promoting this meta: Hungry Little Creature. I was going to sent it to people for testing but I dropped the ball on it.
