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The Opposite Of "Spot The Difference" (Meta)

· By benchen71 · Published 2023-10-18T05:00:51.927Z

Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is an 8-letter word
I know this looks like a Benchen71 take-over. But don't worry: MEOW programming from other contributors will continue next week! ;-) Until then... I remember as a child enjoying those "spot the difference" cartoons that would appear on the comics and crossword pages of some newspapers. This meta is the exact opposite of those cartoons. The answer to the meta is an 8-letter word. Answer & explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=145609#p145609
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$10 gives you access to 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game. You won't quite know what to expect: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, sometimes all of those, and sometimes none! One thing is for sure, these are some of the more creative metas my brain has been able to come up with. And there's more: this time there's a mega-meta!
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • SeamusOL solved 2023-10-18T05:41:18.743Z
  • Laura M solved 2023-10-18T07:49:57.687Z
  • markhr solved 2023-10-18T09:10:46.885Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2023-10-18T10:18:30.813Z
  • rjy solved 2023-10-18T11:19:57.852Z
  • Hector solved 2023-10-18T12:34:19.441Z
  • SamKat9 solved 2023-10-18T14:24:52.919Z
  • merlinnimue solved 2023-10-18T14:36:47.784Z
  • kurtalert solved 2023-10-18T16:02:13.040Z
  • woozy solved 2023-10-18T17:08:47.708Z
  • DIS solved 2023-10-18T17:21:17.782Z
  • Tyrpmom solved 2023-10-18T17:32:25.294Z
  • boharr solved 2023-10-18T18:04:23.198Z
  • Meg solved 2023-10-18T20:20:03.139Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2023-10-18T20:20:14.930Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2023-10-18T21:26:52.528Z
  • Johnny Luau solved 2023-10-18T22:16:56.958Z
  • DrTom solved 2023-10-19T17:04:15.452Z
  • scrollingfall solved 2023-10-19T22:29:13.076Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2023-10-19T23:23:33.074Z
  • JM solved 2023-10-20T00:14:21.340Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2023-10-20T00:17:13.705Z
  • KayW solved 2023-10-20T00:18:41.691Z
  • Katiedid solved 2023-10-20T00:29:47.659Z
  • Darth solved 2023-10-20T01:00:14.790Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2023-10-20T01:24:04.675Z
  • Jaclyn solved 2023-10-20T01:34:10.569Z
  • StellarSkylark solved 2023-10-20T03:30:46.289Z
  • Anonymous Crossharer solved 2023-10-20T08:22:13.548Z
  • Berto solved 2023-10-20T10:23:22.634Z
  • MatthewL solved 2023-10-20T17:50:09.449Z
  • hoover solved 2023-10-20T19:02:37.889Z
  • ReB solved 2023-10-20T21:44:07.190Z
  • MrTheHan solved 2023-10-21T14:48:51.699Z
  • ajk solved 2023-10-21T16:37:19.956Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2023-10-21T19:28:50.999Z
  • whimsy solved 2023-10-21T22:14:50.244Z
  • Steve M solved 2023-10-21T22:32:53.912Z
  • lbray53 solved 2023-10-22T10:48:52.347Z
  • Abide solved 2023-10-22T22:48:25.997Z
  • rayyandroid solved 2023-10-23T18:45:22.108Z

Comments

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  • Laura M 🤓5:14 · 2023-10-18T07:51:09.184Z
    Very clever! Took me a few attempts to get the mechanism right.
    • SamKat9 🤓7:01 · 2023-10-18T14:25:17.943Z
      Unique puzzle, I enjoyed this one!
      • merlinnimue 🤓5:49 · 2023-10-18T14:39:00.935Z
        Genius stuff as always, Ben, never change
        • kurtalert 🤓2:47 · 2023-10-18T16:03:42.007Z
          Pretty clever idea, thanks Ben!
          • woozy 🤓11:21 · 2023-10-18T17:14:17.806Z
            Cute. A pretty easy one I got when I was 7/18th of the way through the grid. Which is a lot different than Saturdays Pun of a Kind or this weeks MOAT which I'm still pondering but feel a vague sense of ... something.
            I was a little worried there could be some ambiguity of direction but the third letter confirmed I was on a consistent path
            • Hector 2s · 2023-10-19T03:30:02.474Z
              Not a constructor, but these eemed like clean little grids given the constraint that they have to agree pair-wise in one letter and no others
              • benchen71 constructor · 2023-10-19T05:02:28.651Z
                Some of them took longer than others! ;-)
              • DrTom 4s · 2023-10-19T17:10:14.283Z
                I knew what I had to do, just not how to do it. I figured I was looking to "Spot the Similarities" and would be looking for a constant...who knew I'd be looking for a CONSTANT. At first I tried to find letters at the same place and CON came easily but the next one the S was on the bottom and on the top so I abandoned it; silly in retrospect but then aren't those things always. Great work Ben, heck now I'll have to up my game to keep the MEOW the same caliber.
                • HeadinHome 🤓1:22 · 2023-10-19T23:24:38.076Z
                  Had tried this technique but in a circle (around the perimeter) — figuring the center might be left out or that leaving out the center would have something to do with the answer. Thanks for the nudges!
                  • KayW 🤓4:19 · 2023-10-20T00:20:21.778Z
                    Needed nudge #4 to cross the moat... I had SO many similarities across the various sectors. I thought the patterns were going to paint either characters or braille or something LOL. Very clever Ben, Thanks!
                    • Cindy Heisler 3s · 2023-10-20T00:22:09.016Z
                      I thought it would be "spot the same", but I was trying to come up with pairs of words that could be synonyms. Duh!! Very clever mechanism that I wish I had spotted on my own without nudges. Thanks, Ben.
                      • Darth 7:34 · 2023-10-20T01:05:46.219Z
                        I understood what to do in a general way (I've done plenty of "Spot the Difference" puzzles), BUT... when I see 9 squares and need to find 2 things to compare to get 8 letters, my mind doesn't work that way. haha Anyway, it was a unique conception. Good idea, Ben.
                        • ReB 4s · 2023-10-20T21:47:29.859Z
                          I was looking the eight same-letter pairs from the onset, but there was no evident way to sort out among the mulitple mechanism that one could utilize to find these pairs. Needed the fourth nudge, as the correct mechanism was not one I had considered.
                          • ajk 🤓3:56 · 2023-10-21T16:37:45.757Z
                            Needed all the nudges, was just on the wrong wavelength on this one. Fun idea, thanks.
                            • whimsy 10:10 · 2023-10-21T22:16:19.454Z
                              Definitely needed nudges! But excellent and innovative work, Ben!
                              • lbray53 3s · 2023-10-22T10:55:07.970Z
                                I was stuck on finding common letters in common places between the eight 4x4's around the permimeter and the center 4x4. I found six of those but it ended there. I thought I had tried everything. I even had all the dupes highlighted between adjacent 4x4's. It never occurred to me pair position three with four and position six with seven.
                                1A
                                Deck hands
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                                62
                                63
                                Across
                                1. 1A
                                  Deck hands
                                2. 5A
                                  Cut into pieces
                                3. 9A
                                  Urban air pollution
                                4. 13A
                                  Take on cargo
                                5. 14A
                                  ___-sci (college major)
                                6. 15A
                                  Mountain pool
                                7. 16A
                                  Six legal deliveries in cricket
                                8. 17A
                                  Actor ___ Alda of "MAS*H"
                                9. 18A
                                  "What's the big ___?"
                                10. 19A
                                  Lady's counterpart
                                11. 20A
                                  Out of danger
                                12. 21A
                                  Take a break
                                13. 22A
                                  Beer ingredient
                                14. 26A
                                  Fanaticism
                                15. 30A
                                  Landlocked West African country
                                16. 34A
                                  Egyptian sun god
                                17. 35A
                                  She's in France?
                                18. 36A
                                  Unit of matter
                                19. 37A
                                  Musical break for one
                                20. 38A
                                  Place to build
                                21. 39A
                                  Insect drawn to light
                                22. 40A
                                  Exclamation of relief
                                23. 41A
                                  Oolong and pekoe, for two
                                24. 42A
                                  Lhasa ___ (breed of dog, originally from Tibet)
                                25. 43A
                                  Pay to play
                                26. 47A
                                  Thin opening
                                27. 51A
                                  "___ and the Last Dragon" (Disney movie)
                                28. 55A
                                  Enactments
                                29. 56A
                                  Alaskan seaport
                                30. 57A
                                  Aerial anomalies
                                31. 58A
                                  Londoner, for short
                                32. 59A
                                  "When You Wish ___ a Star"
                                33. 60A
                                  Puts into words
                                34. 61A
                                  Skin condition involving blocked hair follicles
                                35. 62A
                                  Out of shape
                                36. 63A
                                  Gait slower than a canter
                                Down
                                1. 1D
                                  Drain blockage
                                2. 2D
                                  Wild party
                                3. 3D
                                  Idyllic place
                                4. 4D
                                  "Which ___, and art, and evermore shalt be"
                                5. 5D
                                  Auditors, often
                                6. 6D
                                  Spanish greeting with a silent first letter
                                7. 7D
                                  Snowman in "Frozen"
                                8. 8D
                                  Actor Chris ___ who was really good in "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves"
                                9. 9D
                                  Mix it up
                                10. 10D
                                  Fabricated
                                11. 11D
                                  Bauxite and hematite, for two
                                12. 12D
                                  Annoying insect
                                13. 22D
                                  Door fastener
                                14. 23D
                                  Alternatively, in texts
                                15. 24D
                                  Brazilian soccer legend
                                16. 25D
                                  Winter coat
                                17. 26D
                                  Lemon rind
                                18. 27D
                                  "Night" author ___ Wiesel
                                19. 28D
                                  ___Vista (late 90's web search engine)
                                20. 29D
                                  Wine sediment
                                21. 30D
                                  Baby's first word, often
                                22. 31D
                                  Resting on
                                23. 32D
                                  Plenty
                                24. 33D
                                  Texter's "It seems to me..."
                                25. 43D
                                  Actress Jessica ___ of "Sin City"
                                26. 44D
                                  Antidrug cop
                                27. 45D
                                  Jacob, to Esau
                                28. 46D
                                  Eldest Haim
                                29. 47D
                                  Purposely ignore
                                30. 48D
                                  Leisurely gait
                                31. 49D
                                  "That's my cue!"
                                32. 50D
                                  Backpacker's shelter
                                33. 51D
                                  Iron oxide
                                34. 52D
                                  Off in the distance
                                35. 53D
                                  Cellist ___ Ma
                                36. 54D
                                  Mgr.'s helper
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