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A Plus

· By DrTom · Published 2023-02-15T05:29:41.007Z

Meta Prompt
If you fill up on the meta letters, you best not fill up on the meta answer
This puzzle is likely a bit harder than some of my others. I would rate it a 3 or 3.5 on a scale of 5. I will be posting "nudges" along the way so if you are having difficulty they may help!
Early Nudge 1: If EVER there was an informative Title, it is this one (Madhatter came up with it, thank you Josh!)
Early Nudge 2: Clue 76A is so oddly worded that it HAS to be important!
Early Nudge 3: Don't some of the clues seem to go on well after they could have made their point, or could have been clued WAY easier?
Thursday Nudge: In reference to Early Nudge 3, does it really matter where you were going when you got the provisions in 14A?
Friday Nudge: As a follow up to the Thursday Nudge, why would I specifically name Marie Kondo (71A) unless I am trying to indicate something important?
Saturday Nudge: The theme answers are symmetrically placed
Sunday Nudge 1: The Meta answer is 8 letters long
Sunday Nudge 2: After you get all 7 of the theme answers, do what you've been doing one more time
If you have given up, here is the solution to the puzzle:
14A DELIS + A = SAILED (S)
18A REPEL + A = LEAPER (L)
23A TENOR + A = ORNATE (O)
42A SERED + A = ERASED (E)
54A SERGE + A = GREASE (G)
67A VINED + A = INVADE (I)
71A ENTER + A = NEATER (N)
SLOEGIN + A = GASOLINE
META ANSWER = GASOLINE
or if you like, go to https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=121357#p121357 for a more complete write up and a graphic
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Darth solved 2023-02-15T14:13:37.691Z
  • Mikey G solved 2023-02-15T14:52:50.396Z
  • Meg solved 2023-02-15T15:09:56.023Z
  • Hector solved 2023-02-15T16:16:36.747Z
  • boharr solved 2023-02-15T16:19:37.784Z
  • Schmeel solved 2023-02-15T20:06:01.942Z
  • Laura M solved 2023-02-15T22:15:35.134Z
  • woozy solved 2023-02-16T02:40:36.225Z
  • BarbaraK solved 2023-02-16T03:06:26.212Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2023-02-16T03:38:32.680Z
  • rjy solved 2023-02-16T06:17:45.590Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2023-02-16T14:13:54.336Z
  • MatthewL solved 2023-02-16T15:06:32.512Z
  • Carolyn solved 2023-02-16T16:51:46.033Z
  • ajk solved 2023-02-16T17:34:43.371Z
  • Bbaack solved 2023-02-16T17:45:44.965Z
  • whimsy solved 2023-02-16T18:37:34.700Z
  • KayW solved 2023-02-16T20:24:22.907Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2023-02-17T01:39:09.007Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2023-02-17T02:39:01.486Z
  • Dow Jones solved 2023-02-17T07:24:25.583Z
  • Ergcat solved 2023-02-17T12:20:22.355Z
  • lbray53 solved 2023-02-17T14:27:43.220Z
  • Jaclyn solved 2023-02-17T16:05:43.066Z
  • Abide solved 2023-02-17T19:46:08.184Z
  • markhr solved 2023-02-17T19:59:31.474Z
  • imontoo solved 2023-02-17T20:34:14.119Z
  • Johnny Luau solved 2023-02-17T21:09:41.384Z
  • hoover solved 2023-02-18T04:30:42.166Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2023-02-18T16:08:15.333Z
  • Darrell solved 2023-02-19T22:21:48.023Z
  • SeamusOL solved 2023-02-19T23:29:06.656Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2023-02-21T01:24:54.420Z
  • clev solved 2023-03-15T08:37:59.247Z

Comments

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  • Meg 2s · 2023-02-15T15:11:16.634Z
    That was great, Dr. Tom, and not at all easy to see. And then there was the last step. Nice one!
    • Hector 3s · 2023-02-15T16:17:59.666Z
      What Meg said ^^^
      • boharr 8s · 2023-02-15T16:20:24.354Z
        Well, that filled up my time this morning. Thanks, DrTom.
        • Laura M 🤓11:32 · 2023-02-15T22:18:14.966Z
          Excellent! I should have checked for that last step before I submitted though, oops.
          • I K Snamhcok 1s · 2023-02-16T03:41:39.684Z
            Got a nudge from a friendly, helpful Muggle, then was stuck for a while on the answer minus A. Now it all makes sense. Very devious, Dr. Tom. I like it,
            • rjy 3s · 2023-02-16T06:25:44.437Z
              Very challenging and fun, DrT… I had guessed GASOLINE immediately from “fill up”, but took awhile to really solve. I was mostly stuck in the rabbit hole of adding letters to ORE and scrambling… there were interestingly six words with those letters, but could not work that further. Nudge 1 did the trick
              • Cindy Heisler 3s · 2023-02-16T14:19:11.998Z
                Well that took me a while and I needed Boharr to remind me that there was one more step. Nice one, Dr Tom!
                • MatthewL 🤓8:43 · 2023-02-16T15:08:07.992Z
                  Had the right idea from the start, but needed the nudges to realize what words I was looking for. Nice one, Dr. Tom!
                  • Carolyn 11:30 · 2023-02-16T16:53:25.951Z
                    Had the right idea yesterday, but just didn't finish. The nudges convinced me to narrow my focus. Thanks! That was fun.
                    • Bbaack 3s · 2023-02-16T17:49:41.283Z
                      Needed the nudges for this one. That was a tough one, and now I'm gassed!
                      • ajk 🤓8:41 · 2023-02-16T18:21:52.218Z
                        Like MatthewL, needed the nudges to focus me on the right words. Also leaned on the symmetry a bit. Anagrams not really my thing, but this was fun and the prompt is great.
                        • KayW 🤓8:04 · 2023-02-16T20:26:35.290Z
                          I needed the nudges but that's on me, not on you. Fun one!! Interesting that the "intermediate solve" is SLOE GIN. And if you gave me a choice, I think I'd choose that over GASOLINE ;)
                          • Dow Jones 3s · 2023-02-17T07:54:05.601Z
                            That was great, DrTom. I needed the nudges, but it was a fun solve. Very good construction.
                            • lbray53 2s · 2023-02-17T14:29:31.766Z
                              Love this now that I see it all. I clearly would have submitted the wrong answer if this was a one and done.
                              • Jaclyn 13:41 · 2023-02-17T16:08:16.484Z
                                Very nice! I needed a couple of nudges to make myself do the anagram work. Got thrown off a little by 4A -- WAIST does go "about you" -- but when everything else was symmetrical I realized that was a bit of a stretch. (Also appropriate for WAIST!)
                                • DrTom constructor · 2023-02-17T17:04:25.842Z
                                  Wow, I never even saw that! There were others that could be anagrammed wit adding an A, but they really did not have the possible "double meaning", that one was indeed close. I'm glad that it was not in symmetry with SOPS! Thanks for sticking with it.
                                • imontoo 4s · 2023-02-17T20:35:32.988Z
                                  Very, very clever!
                                  • markhr 🤓15:45 · 2023-02-17T23:59:47.112Z
                                    The nudges got me over the finish line. Well done, Dr. Tom. Now I could go for a sloe gin fizz.
                                    1A
                                    Bleat
                                    1
                                    2
                                    3
                                    4
                                    5
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                                    8
                                    9
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                                    12
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                                    31
                                    32
                                    33
                                    34
                                    35
                                    36
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                                    40
                                    41
                                    42
                                    43
                                    44
                                    45
                                    46
                                    47
                                    48
                                    49
                                    50
                                    51
                                    52
                                    53
                                    54
                                    55
                                    56
                                    57
                                    58
                                    59
                                    60
                                    61
                                    62
                                    63
                                    64
                                    65
                                    66
                                    67
                                    68
                                    69
                                    70
                                    71
                                    72
                                    73
                                    74
                                    75
                                    76
                                    Across
                                    1. 1A
                                      Bleat
                                    2. 4A
                                      Something you should try to keep around you
                                    3. 8A
                                      Attired
                                    4. 12A
                                      Pacifying concessions, often questionably legal
                                    5. 13A
                                      51 near Las Vegas
                                    6. 14A
                                      Places where you stocked up on provisions before a week-end on the lake
                                    7. 16A
                                      Reputed pastime of Lucrezia Borgia
                                    8. 18A
                                      Fend off a jumper
                                    9. 19A
                                      "S.N.L." alum Gasteyer
                                    10. 20A
                                      Feared WWII police force
                                    11. 22A
                                      Something you can wallow in
                                    12. 23A
                                      The spectacular, shining jewel in a men's chorus
                                    13. 25A
                                      Babysitter's handful
                                    14. 27A
                                      Surfer's destination
                                    15. 32A
                                      The A in A&E
                                    16. 36A
                                      Definitely not the cheap seats
                                    17. 39A
                                      A friend of 23A who gets high
                                    18. 40A
                                      Bygone phone piece (which seems to live on in parlance)
                                    19. 41A
                                      A Grecian one had a heroic description
                                    20. 42A
                                      Dried up and disappeared
                                    21. 44A
                                      Bean counter, for short
                                    22. 45A
                                      Tide description
                                    23. 47A
                                      Blue Jay (or our Jay)
                                    24. 48A
                                      Not us
                                    25. 49A
                                      Be over attentive to
                                    26. 50A
                                      Nessie nickname to a Scot
                                    27. 52A
                                      Friendly place to get hammered?
                                    28. 54A
                                      Twill fabric that really looks slick
                                    29. 58A
                                      Symbol of Liberty (Mutual)
                                    30. 61A
                                      Deodorant type
                                    31. 66A
                                      Blue address
                                    32. 67A
                                      Like the outside of some elite university buildings that people get into
                                    33. 69A
                                      What the betting dermatologist had in the game
                                    34. 71A
                                      Go into Mare Kondo's home (only after she makes it less messy of course)
                                    35. 72A
                                      Basketball' Thurman or Archibald
                                    36. 73A
                                      A place like no other
                                    37. 74A
                                      Pineapples given away to the poor
                                    38. 75A
                                      Shouts that are about a lot of bull
                                    39. 76A
                                      Discovery that is changed after something is added and mixed!!!
                                    Down
                                    1. 1D
                                      Daniel or Pat
                                    2. 2D
                                      Description for a ruler who commands hundreds of drones
                                    3. 3D
                                      Balaam's mount
                                    4. 4D
                                      What you do once you are done waxing
                                    5. 5D
                                      Flower of your eye
                                    6. 6D
                                      This gets thrown at a Scout jamboree
                                    7. 7D
                                      "Roots," e.g.
                                    8. 8D
                                      Kind of drive
                                    9. 9D
                                      Loser to Grant
                                    10. 10D
                                      Mountains in Davos
                                    11. 11D
                                      A way to lose gracefully
                                    12. 12D
                                      Argument
                                    13. 15D
                                      Foxy
                                    14. 17D
                                      Man eater
                                    15. 21D
                                      Granny Smith's symbol of America
                                    16. 24D
                                      Be somewhat shy
                                    17. 26D
                                      Crash site?
                                    18. 28D
                                      Accomplishments you can gradually raise by degrees
                                    19. 29D
                                      Newbie at a military academy
                                    20. 30D
                                      A place in my heart
                                    21. 31D
                                      Gadabouts
                                    22. 33D
                                      Sweet and creamy
                                    23. 34D
                                      A place we used to go for proof
                                    24. 35D
                                      Evisceration by a critic
                                    25. 36D
                                      Bergman in "Casablanca"
                                    26. 37D
                                      The ubiquitous cookie
                                    27. 38D
                                      Buzzing pest
                                    28. 43D
                                      "Silent Spring" subject
                                    29. 46D
                                      Sleep preventer for a royal
                                    30. 48D
                                      Often the clothing equivalent of a billboard
                                    31. 50D
                                      Spelling event
                                    32. 51D
                                      "Cast Away" setting
                                    33. 53D
                                      Close-knit group
                                    34. 55D
                                      It grows on a grapevine
                                    35. 56D
                                      All concerning substance
                                    36. 57D
                                      Other-wise
                                    37. 58D
                                      Something after Christmas, yet still before
                                    38. 59D
                                      A terrible thing to waste
                                    39. 60D
                                      Golden rule preposition
                                    40. 62D
                                      City in Nevada (and perhaps a source of ham)
                                    41. 63D
                                      Fiery gemstone
                                    42. 64D
                                      Locale
                                    43. 65D
                                      Poems for heroes (and pottery)
                                    44. 68D
                                      Moray, e.g.
                                    45. 70D
                                      Density symbol
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