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Do I Hear Water

◆ · By DrTom · Published 2024-12-04T12:30:07.932Z

Meta Prompt
The meta answer is a source of the sound
Back from Thanksgiving and slowly adapting to not eating every 10 minutes. This week will seem very tame compared to "Woozy's Doozy", I am so glad that everyone enjoyed it, new contributors (well new MEOW contributors) always shake things up a bit.
I'd say this one would rate a Calico on the scale, just because I imagine that some people, probably most people, will need Google for parts of it. That is not because of the difficulty of the mechanism, it is just that there are things that probably are not in the everyday lexicon.
Now, I've gotten spoiled between my last MEOW and my SSS, both getting over 50 solvers. I am sincerely hoping that is a trend and not an artifact of having more free time at Thanksgiving. My testers on this one were Cinny, Bird Lives and hcbirker and as per usual I owe them a great deal of thanks.
Kitten
֎Calico
Persian
Puma
Lion
 ___________________________________________________________________________________
Nudges will be Friday, or sooner if needed, and I am always ready to help anyone who PMs me.
NUDGES:
Nudge 1] Everyone tires of hearing this, but look to the Title. Obviously there is going to be some tie-in to water in the meta.
Nudge 2] Although at times I cannot manage, in general I always try to be symmetrical with my theme answers.
Nudge 3] 39A is a rather obvious "nudge" clue - what might you add, or might have been added, if it is a crossword puzzle that contains a meta and you are looking to make an answer?
Nudge 4] Constructors often try to make the first clue be meta related. Given 39A can you see how it might be?
Nudge 5] Similarly, we often try to make the LAST clue meta, though in this case it might not be as familiar as 1A.]
Nudge 6] The meta answer is six letters long.
REVEAL:
The puzzle had symmetrically placed bodies of water, each with an extra letter. The intended solve involved noticing them (and being alerted to the possible mechanism by clue 39A) and then taking the extra letters to spell the answer.
FLAKE -> LAKE + F
AWASH -> WASH + A
POUND -> POND + U
CLICK -> LICK + C
POOLE -> POOL + E
STEEP -> SEEP + T
The extra letters spell out FAUCET, the meta answer
For a graphic representation of the solve please go to:
https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=187780#p187779
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • markhr solved 2024-12-04T05:40:05.601Z
  • Tom Wilson solved 2024-12-04T07:51:58.019Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-12-04T11:04:09.238Z
  • Berto solved 2024-12-04T11:17:47.082Z
  • Bird Lives solved 2024-12-04T12:52:30.142Z
  • JM solved 2024-12-04T13:58:08.617Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-12-04T14:06:04.037Z
  • boharr solved 2024-12-04T14:25:54.089Z
  • kymike solved 2024-12-04T14:39:38.682Z
  • Hector solved 2024-12-04T14:44:53.022Z
  • Darth solved 2024-12-04T15:48:33.392Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2024-12-04T15:57:46.359Z
  • Meg solved 2024-12-04T16:16:50.571Z
  • KayW solved 2024-12-04T16:22:43.426Z
  • FedexPope solved 2024-12-04T16:59:34.460Z
  • Carolyn solved 2024-12-04T17:03:56.609Z
  • DIS solved 2024-12-04T17:27:05.000Z
  • Mg305 solved 2024-12-04T17:28:02.149Z
  • heidi solved 2024-12-04T17:33:24.472Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-12-04T17:52:36.868Z
  • rjy solved 2024-12-04T17:55:42.493Z
  • woozy solved 2024-12-04T18:49:54.221Z
  • iceman solved 2024-12-04T19:05:04.450Z
  • DCBilly solved 2024-12-04T19:34:59.329Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2024-12-04T19:35:43.178Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2024-12-04T19:46:24.348Z
  • kurtalert solved 2024-12-04T20:04:17.550Z
  • imontoo solved 2024-12-04T20:35:32.517Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2024-12-04T20:42:39.024Z
  • Tim solved 2024-12-04T21:18:05.387Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-12-04T21:20:44.939Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2024-12-05T01:07:38.008Z
  • Dave C solved 2024-12-05T03:47:43.038Z
  • Dickie Dunn solved 2024-12-05T03:50:50.599Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-12-05T04:29:20.098Z
  • phenomist solved 2024-12-05T04:51:29.803Z
  • Qmark solved 2024-12-05T05:22:03.523Z
  • Schmeel solved 2024-12-05T13:15:07.042Z
  • mateo solved 2024-12-05T14:45:48.515Z
  • Serafin solved 2024-12-05T16:12:22.862Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-12-06T00:01:40.666Z
  • hoover solved 2024-12-06T05:51:05.691Z
  • Avlan solved 2024-12-06T06:31:39.534Z
  • andeux solved 2024-12-06T06:51:32.608Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-12-06T12:17:22.748Z
  • TEngstrom solved 2024-12-08T20:32:06.122Z
  • ELSavage solved 2024-12-09T04:13:06.556Z
  • Susan solved 2024-12-10T01:49:25.889Z
  • frostyjhammer solved 2024-12-20T03:32:49.472Z

Comments

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  • benchen71 2s · 2024-12-04T12:30:07.932Z
    Took me longer than it should to see what I needed to see! But it was a nice aha moment when it came.
    • Meg 2s · 2024-12-04T16:17:07.056Z
      Nicely hidden pieces!
      • Carolyn 2s · 2024-12-04T17:05:46.673Z
        Nicely done.
        • MatthewL 🤓23:21 · 2024-12-04T17:54:04.551Z
          Took a minute to see it, but finally did. Had to remember your admonition at 4D. Thanks for the puzzle, Tom!
          • woozy 14:45 · 2024-12-04T18:50:52.788Z
            Came to me in the doctor's office.... I think. I may need a lot of backsolving
            • woozy 14:45 · 2024-12-04T19:24:42.818Z
              Yeah... I don't get it. I got (f)lake and po(u)nd but I lose it on b(l)end, click (wha? Crick?) And steep (is it the cross down CREE(k)P? S(t)eep?).
              I don't know what's going on.
              • lbray53 2s · 2024-12-05T01:17:40.809Z
                AWASH - WASH CLICK - LICK as in FRENCH LICK STEEP - SEEP is correct.
                Great that you get FAULCET and have to apply the mechanism again. Symmetry helps the solve.
                • woozy 14:45 · 2024-12-05T02:30:30.266Z
                  What the heck is a French Lick? AWASH does not have "water" in the clue and Blend does. And none of this has anything to do with hearing water. Do you really think that can be it?
                  • DrTom constructor · 2024-12-05T03:02:59.185Z
                    BLEND is a nudge clue ("What you get if you add something to water" - and you are adding something to water). AWASH does not have the word water but it IMPLIES water (soaked) and it is symmetric like all the theme answers. All of the words are bodies of water (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_of_water), and just because you are not familiar with them does not mean they do not exist? I'm sorry this is not exactly in your wheelhouse but sometimes that happens.
                    • woozy 14:45 · 2024-12-05T16:16:36.464Z
                      Definitely got the symmetry. And the mechanism came to me in a flash and the answer came to me in the Wheel of Fortune way. Just failed in the faith of reproduction. On me.
                      Great puzzle.
                      • DrTom constructor · 2024-12-05T21:57:00.404Z
                        Thanks! Any solving method that leads to the right answer is a good solving method in my book!
              • kurtalert 🤓10:45 · 2024-12-04T20:04:29.704Z
                Very nice :-)
                • Dave C 3s · 2024-12-05T03:48:29.237Z
                  Nicely done.
                  • Qmark 3s · 2024-12-05T05:22:46.177Z
                    Nice 47A moment...thanks DrTom!
                    • HeadinHome 🤓1:07 · 2024-12-04T20:45:43.787Z
                      I had an L in the mix for a while, since 39A clue had “water” in it (and 17A was the only one that did not, though symmetry suggested it was involved, as did the presence of “wash” in the word). So, FULCET was no good, but close enough to faucet to see where this was going. Someone please explain the clue for 34D… do you have to know the movie?
                      • woozy 14:45 · 2024-12-05T16:22:57.605Z
                        I think it's that the movie hinged on a misidentified vehicle and they may have both been UTEs. Not sure I understand the "phonetically" part.
                        I don't understand the DISASTER clue. Yes, a woman walking into a propeller would be a disaster but that seems so very oddly specific (not to mention terrifying and blood-curdling gross) that I have to wonder if it was a reference I didn't get.
                        • DrTom constructor · 2024-12-06T13:45:24.507Z
                          That is a very old, and admittedly puerile, joke/pun I first heard as a boy..."Did you hear about the lady who accidentally backed into a propeller? Dis -assed her." Sorry if it was confusing or did not pass the breakfast test.
                          • woozy 14:45 · 2024-12-06T23:33:09.141Z
                            Hee. Hee. Nothing wrong with puerile puns. Not making the connection doesn't prevent a satisfying solve.
                            Did I interpet the uses clue correctly?
                        • hoover 3s · 2024-12-06T05:53:00.047Z
                          I think it's UTES as in YOUTHS pronounced with a Philadelphia / East Coast accent.
                          • DrTom constructor · 2024-12-06T13:41:44.789Z
                            hoover is absolutely correct, Joe Pesci kept saying "the two utes" (youths) and the judge (Fred Gwynne from Munster and Car 54 fame) kept making an issue of it because of "Cousin Vinny's" Jersey accent. It is a cute movie and if you have never seen it you should.
                          • DrTom constructor · 2024-12-06T13:45:59.802Z
                            And the presence of "soaked" in the AWASH clue.
                          • DrTom constructor · 2024-12-04T20:24:37.922Z
                            SOLVING: The intent here was that people would see the symmetrical answers that were 1 letter off from a water "feature" - as hinted by the 39A clue
                            It starts with 1A "FLAKE" and taking the F away to get LAKE, then 17A "AWASH" removes the A to get WASH, etc.
                            When done for all six (including the rather unknown SEEP) you end up with FAUCET
                            • HeadinHome 🤓1:07 · 2024-12-04T20:47:51.810Z
                              In answer to the above I’m assuming the themers all just have to do with water: LAKE, WASH, POND, LICK, POOL, SEEP. The extra letter blended in (39A hints) is the useful letter.
                              • hoover 3s · 2024-12-06T05:51:23.881Z
                                Needed to read nudge #3 about six times.
                                Play today's daily mini crossword
                                1A
                                Snow that turns to water on the skin
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                                Across
                                1. 1A
                                  Snow that turns to water on the skin
                                2. 6A
                                  What tachs measure
                                3. 10A
                                  Design detail
                                4. 14A
                                  Song altered in the studio
                                5. 15A
                                  Big foot
                                6. 16A
                                  Half of a game of basket ball
                                7. 17A
                                  Soaked
                                8. 18A
                                  A Mlle. in Madrid
                                9. 19A
                                  Art of being kindly untruthful
                                10. 20A
                                  Hear something but don't say something, perhaps
                                11. 22A
                                  Reminiscent of light spirits
                                12. 24A
                                  Start to spin?
                                13. 25A
                                  Response to an amusing text
                                14. 26A
                                  Fly like an eagle
                                15. 27A
                                  We can persist and we can differ, but this is an end to those
                                16. 28A
                                  Unlike the President's, mine has liquor in it
                                17. 32A
                                  453.6 mL of water weighs one ___
                                18. 36A
                                  Old sailor
                                19. 37A
                                  Manage
                                20. 38A
                                  Aptly named Utah ski area
                                21. 39A
                                  What you get if you add something to water
                                22. 41A
                                  Diva's ditty
                                23. 42A
                                  A Brave, Pirate or Giant
                                24. 43A
                                  Three letters associated with taking a trip
                                25. 44A
                                  Action to select your mineral water on-line
                                26. 45A
                                  Ethyl's containers in the garage
                                27. 47A
                                  That moment of realization
                                28. 49A
                                  Road hazards for mil. vehicles
                                29. 50A
                                  Tried to get elected
                                30. 51A
                                  The place so many got Lost; Abbr.
                                31. 54A
                                  Guys who would date Mlles.
                                32. 57A
                                  Description of the event where a woman backed into a propeller at the airport
                                33. 59A
                                  Sign on a diner, "Good ___"
                                34. 60A
                                  Stone, Ice, Bronze, Iron
                                35. 62A
                                  Apt surname for a guy who designs water features
                                36. 63A
                                  Biblical brother who didn't know his future for beans
                                37. 64A
                                  What to do once you are finally finished waxing
                                38. 65A
                                  "Rubber Duckie" singer
                                39. 66A
                                  Toga party purchases
                                40. 67A
                                  Top NCOs in the Army
                                41. 68A
                                  What you leave the 36D in the water to do
                                Down
                                1. 1D
                                  Put drugs in someone's locker
                                2. 2D
                                  Alice's chronicler
                                3. 3D
                                  Accumulate
                                4. 4D
                                  As an acronym it pleads for simplicity
                                5. 5D
                                  Breathed a sigh of relief
                                6. 6D
                                  The end to a means
                                7. 7D
                                  Brest fed father
                                8. 8D
                                  Yankee foe
                                9. 9D
                                  Coast
                                10. 10D
                                  Bitingly humorous
                                11. 11D
                                  ___ du jour
                                12. 12D
                                  Every's redundant partner
                                13. 13D
                                  Mention in passage
                                14. 21D
                                  Prisoner who is against everything
                                15. 23D
                                  Dog who works with blood samples
                                16. 26D
                                  Computerized cat follower
                                17. 29D
                                  Japanese tortilla
                                18. 30D
                                  It's a long story
                                19. 31D
                                  Heavy, durable furniture wood
                                20. 32D
                                  Qualm
                                21. 33D
                                  Cantina cooker
                                22. 34D
                                  Phonetically, there were two of them in "My Cousin Vinny"
                                23. 35D
                                  Noted proponent of self-reflection?
                                24. 36D
                                  Leaves in bags
                                25. 39D
                                  Woodshop instruments, but not used to make musical instruments
                                26. 40D
                                  Lad's quest
                                27. 44D
                                  Annoyingly small sandwiches at a fancy party
                                28. 46D
                                  ___ Lingus (Irish carrier)
                                29. 47D
                                  Comes out of the ashes anew
                                30. 48D
                                  Consumes
                                31. 51D
                                  Make up for when you do a dastardly deed
                                32. 52D
                                  Give a false impression
                                33. 53D
                                  Type of guy who would sneak up on you
                                34. 54D
                                  Docile
                                35. 55D
                                  "___ on Down the Road"
                                36. 56D
                                  Deer that shows up alone
                                37. 57D
                                  Wrinkle in the Blazer
                                38. 58D
                                  Assign by size
                                39. 61D
                                  Kind of order that is anything but funny
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