Where the Wild Things Are
◆◆ · By woozy · Published 2024-02-01T16:31:49.774Z
Meta Prompt
The answer to this meta is the emotional impetus of the Wild Things
I came across a mention of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" and thought it'd be a great title for a meta. I think the mechanism is standard but has a slightly original twist to it. But the grid fought me all the way.
So. LET THE ..... well, you know.
First nudge. Two of the entries are hints to the mechanism. As well there are several themer entries
Nudge two. It's not the answer to the two hint entries that are the hint. It's the clues.
Nudge 3: In nudge 2, I wasn't really considering 25D or 56 to be hints. (The hints and the themers are all across entries). But, yes, The Title says it All. You most figure out where the Wild Things Are. And one of the across clues tells you exactly where they are As well as what they are
Nudge 4: 10A is one of the key hints. "Let the wild rumpus start!" was a key phrase from the book. There are three odd things about this entry Why is RUMPUS in all caps? If the answer is WILD is it kosher to include the word "wild" in the clue? Well, there isn't too much to this. I just wanted to make sure this entry was meant to be a hint is all. Wait? Isn't it "Wild Things "? Why did I write "wild animals"?
Nudge 5:Okay, enough about the two hint entries (while I've only talked about one hint entry but if you found one the other should match), you still need to find the themers. How do you find the themers? Well, I've already told you how to find the themers, and what to look for in them.
Nudge 6: I went to the wild corners of the earth to foreshorten Thrace
Checking for previous play data...
1A
Entertain lavishly
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Across
- 1AEntertain lavishly
- 7AConjunction used as a function word to indicate connection or addition especially of items within the same class or type
- 10A"Let the ---- RUMPUS start!" (Where else would you expect to find wild animals?)
- 14AHe had a TV sitcom in 2001 that was canceled after only seven episodes were aired. I guess there's only so much one can do with a guy saying "Bam!"
- 15AModern prefix
- 16AKorean boy band from 2019 to 2021 whose name derives from "wE caN dO iT". (Do we call that an ultranym? zenitronym? It doesn't matter. It's not consistently applied. Annoying, I call it.)
- 17AEnvironment
- 18ALaw enforcement in the city that doesn't call hamburgers "Steamed Hams"
- 19AGuy Caballero's network
- 20ADescription of cumbersome and difficult to use design
- 23AEagles do this for life (and it's a marvel to behold)
- 27ATurkish hostel
- 28ACraggy peak
- 29A"What's that digital recording device?" "Oh, that? --- ----"
- 31AThin porridges
- 33AHydrating preparation
- 36ANeuters
- 37AComputer key that is the equivalent of "Ctrl + ["
- 38AA playlist of hits from Bill Gates' company?
- 42AState of having many forms
- 45AExpress deep and poignant distress
- 48AHistoric hotel in Santa Fe
- 49AWine: Comb. form
- 50AComparatively more avant-garde
- 53AWhat canned goods are canned in
- 54AForever with us in our hearts
- 57AThai salad made with minced meat
- 58AAliens who backward become a holy woman
- 59ACollect, amass, and bring together
- 64ACameroonian soccer star Samuel
- 65AOuter border (would the one with more of these by 50A?)
- 66AOn land finally
- 67AWild mate is docile (cryptic)
- 68AHoly woman backward who becomes aliens
- 69APushed aside
Down
- 1DDeep sleep stage
- 2DInitialism for computer game featuring Guybrush Threepwood. (I was just going to clue this as "British Record Label" but CrossHare warned me "the best constructors use original clues")
- 3DCongeal
- 4DRadio journalist and former White House corespondent Shapiro
- 5DSubstitution of
- 6DHard to find
- 7DFrog order
- 8DKidney related prefix
- 9DExtinct Ovum
- 10DOccident
- 11DProvoke
- 12DUm... so... yeah, a clue for this entry.... well, when something is funny on the internet... only a whole bunch of it, you know.... look, just go on to the next clue
- 13DPenguins for example
- 21DCryptocurrency and such
- 22DStocking; hose
- 23D"This Is Why I'm Hot"" rapper whose professional name is actually his given last name. (Apparently music was his savior)
- 24DBest place to be when riding a horse
- 25DThe title says it all (which... I guess is true about this meta)
- 26DExercise class offered through the crafts web site?
- 30D"And we're done"
- 32DFinal take-away
- 34DDoctrine
- 35DA sergeant rental?
- 39DShrimp sized
- 40DCommunication standards for simultaneous transmission of data
- 41DHoliday where doves were given on the second day
- 43DHeath's records of expenses
- 44DWhat oxygen is on the moon
- 45DCanadian crooner who in 1965 flubbed the U.S. National anthem with "dawn's early night" and "gave proof through the fight."
- 46DGerman girls name. I once tried to use it in a limerick "In Leipzig the girls come a-flockin'; Because this music is rockin'; Every Ilse and -----; dig Bach's 78th Cantata; and belt out 'Wir eilen mit schwachen'"
- 47D"Coming ------ the Cold" Bob Marley and the Wailers song
- 51D"Understood"
- 52D"Who's there" response
- 55DHailey Rutledge's instrument in "Mozart in the Jungle"
- 56DThe no-G ----, he a poet; The G ----: teeth- the wild things show it
- 60DHowever informal, it's wildly hot
- 61DCommuters' lane of convenience
- 62DPrior to poetically
- 63DColor of a barn.