“I’m blue every Monday” goes the old song. Maybe especially a Monday when Christmas and New Year’s and their associated metas have faded into the past. No more Silent Nights, no more Cheers. Today’s puzzle is unrelated to any holiday.
Thanks to Al Sisti for coming up with the prompt and to Abide for suggestions on adjusting the clues so as to get the right level of difficulty, which I would estimate as a 2.5. Of course, as the repair people say, that's only an estimate.
The answer is a five-letter word meaning how you might put things together.
Unfortunately, as test-solver Wendy Walker pointed out to me, there is some ambiguity as to the things that are put together, a flaw for which I apologize in advance.
Hearing Things PUZ
Hearing Things PDF
Hearing Things Excel
PM me with your answer by Saturday 10pm, or solve at Crosshare and get immediate Correct/Incorrect feedback.
https://crosshare.org/crosswords/p3vrds ... ing-things
I’ll post nudges here on Wednesday.
“Hearing Things”
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Bird Lives
- Posts: 2836
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- Location: NYC
- Contact:
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Meg
- Posts: 2211
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Nicely done, Jay! Some nice twisty turns in the path to the answer.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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DrTom
- Posts: 3957
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Off the couch, but not without failing several attempts to get up. I was hearing things, seeing things, doing things but my thingking wasn't doing anything (and I was about to start drinking things!).
Luckily a last minute idea came to me - nice twists and lots of smelly red fish Jay, but I liked it of course just as I always do your puzzles.
I have loosed the cat, appropriately disguised match from whence he came.
Luckily a last minute idea came to me - nice twists and lots of smelly red fish Jay, but I liked it of course just as I always do your puzzles.
I have loosed the cat, appropriately disguised match from whence he came.
Last edited by DrTom on Mon Jan 10, 2022 2:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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Schmeel
- Posts: 1770
- Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 2:38 pm
Off the couch.
Good puzzle! Thanks Jay.
I was stuck deep in the cushions before I managed to free myself.
Good puzzle! Thanks Jay.
I was stuck deep in the cushions before I managed to free myself.
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MarkWoychick
- Site Admin
- Posts: 631
- Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2021 6:15 pm
- Location: Boise, ID
Solved and confirmed on crosshare - thanks for the fun puzzle, Jay!
Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 contest-style (meta) crosswords that we've created to help raise money for cancer-related organizations - get the bundle at http://crosswordsforcancer.com
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boharr
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- Posts: 3261
- Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
- Location: Westchester, NY
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ChrisKochmanski
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- Location: Saline, Michigan
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RPardoe
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- Location: Houston, TX
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Dplass
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- Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am
a. That's not a cat, it's a plucked chickenDrTom wrote: ↑Mon Jan 10, 2022 2:03 pm Off the couch, but not without failing several attempts to get up. I was hearing things, seeing things, doing things but my thingking wasn't doing anything (and I was about to start drinking things!).
Luckily a last minute idea came to me - nice twists and lots of smelly red fish Jay, but I liked it of course just as I always do your puzzles.
I have loosed the cat, appropriately disguised match from whence he came.
Disguised cat.jpg
and
2. Loosening cats is for Wednesday puzzles!
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markhr
- Posts: 367
- Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:56 pm
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Cap'n Rick
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- Location: Nahant, MA
Off the couch! Fun one, Jay!
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Dplass
- Posts: 1739
- Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2019 10:09 am
I'm thisclose to the answer. I just can't find it. So so so close. Many red fish, that's fer sher.
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Anita
- Posts: 452
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:55 am
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benchen71
- Posts: 2561
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Off the couch! Thanks for a fun puzzle.
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! 
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lbray53
- Posts: 1267
- Joined: Fri May 08, 2020 8:34 am
- Location: Elkhorn, WI
Off the couch! Great puzzle! I always feel enlightened when I solve a Bird Lives meta.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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rjy
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2021 12:52 pm
- Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Ditto, I’ve found multiple promising, clever paths but they’re leaving me juuuuuuuust this short of an answer. Enjoying the journey so far tho…
Ray
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vandono
- Posts: 245
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- Location: Texas
I feel like I found a step but can't see where to go from there - but I did find someone else who listens to "Music for Airports" so I have that going for me. Which is nice.
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DrTom
- Posts: 3957
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
a. That's not a cat, it's a plucked chicken -Wow, you really know how to hurt a cat!Dplass wrote: ↑Mon Jan 10, 2022 4:50 pmDrTom wrote: ↑Mon Jan 10, 2022 2:03 pm Off the couch, but not without failing several attempts to get up. I was hearing things, seeing things, doing things but my thingking wasn't doing anything (and I was about to start drinking things!).
Luckily a last minute idea came to me - nice twists and lots of smelly red fish Jay, but I liked it of course just as I always do your puzzles.
I have loosed the cat, appropriately disguised match from whence he came.
Disguised cat.jpg
2. Loosening cats is for Wednesday puzzles! - Dang it, I knew my answer was couched in escapist terms.
Oh, and loosening cats is not for Wednesday puzzles, loosing cats is. Loosening cats I believe is against the SPCA rules.
Last edited by DrTom on Tue Jan 11, 2022 9:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
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KayW
- Moderator
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- Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 12:10 am
- Location: Chicago
I needed some assistance to put it together properly, but I'm now unseated.Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC) is a bundle of 16 metapuzzles created to help raise money for cancer-related charities. It is available at CrosswordsForCancer.com.
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Bird Lives
- Posts: 2836
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- Location: NYC
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Day one report. In the first 24 hours, we have 22 solvers, give or take. Take, because it's possible that someone uses a different name on Crossshare than on x-muggles and got counted under both names. Give because I probably missed someone. If that's you, please let me know.
(TS) Al Sisti
(TS) Abide
(TS) Wendy Walker
1. FrankieHeck
2. Meg
3. Schmeel
4. boharr
5. Laura M
6. DrTom
7. Hector
8. Mwoychick
9. ChrisKochmanski
10. Chaddog
11. DJB
12. Rpardoe
13. Tyrpmom
14. markhr
15. DIS
16. Bbaack
17. Anita and Steve
18. Cap'n Rick
19. benchen71
20. lbray53
21. BarbaraK
22. KayW
(TS) Al Sisti
(TS) Abide
(TS) Wendy Walker
1. FrankieHeck
2. Meg
3. Schmeel
4. boharr
5. Laura M
6. DrTom
7. Hector
8. Mwoychick
9. ChrisKochmanski
10. Chaddog
11. DJB
12. Rpardoe
13. Tyrpmom
14. markhr
15. DIS
16. Bbaack
17. Anita and Steve
18. Cap'n Rick
19. benchen71
20. lbray53
21. BarbaraK
22. KayW
Jay