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What a pair

◆◆ · By woozy · Published 2022-09-18T17:53:26.746Z

Meta Prompt
The answer to the puzzle is a poem
This came to me after a trivia question that was right up my alley on Tuesday. This may be one of my better puzzles. I think the theme and mechanism is clever and there are other hints to the answer that you may be able to guess without even doing the meta. I hope it all works and blends together.
Other then necessary theme entries there are no "woozyism"s; there was one short one but I decided to replace it with a "How the hell are we supposed to know that" clue (You aren't, but you should get the cross entries and make educated guesses at some letters and you can use St. Wikipedia to verify afterwards ... or just google from the start, no-one's judging you). There are a total of 3 of those in this puzzle which if the cross entries are clear is, I believe, an acceptable number. (You may replace one clue with the woozyism "Was it the 16th letter?" if you prefer)
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • hoover solved 2022-09-18T18:46:13.115Z
  • Gutman solved 2022-09-18T18:51:25.593Z
  • markhr solved 2022-09-18T20:30:32.082Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2022-09-18T20:50:01.302Z
  • Meg solved 2022-09-18T20:59:02.975Z
  • ReB solved 2022-09-18T21:01:06.167Z
  • Hector solved 2022-09-18T22:23:59.461Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2022-09-18T23:13:52.372Z
  • benchen71 solved 2022-09-19T05:07:44.783Z
  • zonkswonk solved 2022-09-19T06:10:19.280Z
  • SeamusOL solved 2022-09-19T07:17:14.218Z
  • Hailey solved 2022-09-19T13:54:25.243Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2022-09-19T19:05:32.725Z
  • emmie solved 2022-09-20T03:44:33.294Z
  • boharr solved 2022-09-20T16:56:24.965Z
  • kurtalert solved 2022-09-21T00:59:13.742Z
  • Capn Rick solved 2022-09-22T19:57:42.408Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2022-09-23T01:18:46.475Z
  • dplass solved 2022-09-23T02:03:03.718Z
  • whimsy solved 2022-09-24T03:02:28.809Z
  • sledge solved 2022-09-24T17:01:36.767Z
  • rickybillingsgate solved 2022-09-26T02:47:53.204Z

Comments

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  • Gutman 3s · 2022-09-18T18:54:07.312Z
    Well done. I loved the Cool Hand Luke reference. 35A is Shea
    • woozy constructor · 2022-09-18T20:03:08.435Z
      Thank you for being kind, but if the answer to 35A is "SHEA" rather than "SHAE" as I made it, then it is simply an error and a mistake and wrong and there is no way to sugar coat it.
      Thank you for pointing it out. I will have to fix it. Sadly it may be a less perfect clue but with look I'll find a SHAE that is not too obscure.
      • woozy constructor · 2022-09-18T20:07:55.448Z
        Oh, I see what happened. I went from wikipedia's page for SHAE to the disambiguation page for SHEA without noting the change in spelling and not asking myself "why the separate page and why is nothing on this page on the other". I really have no excuse but sometimes when you a disparately looking for the right clue and one seems to fall in you lap you overlook proofing...... sigh.... Okay, other SHAE's......
        • Gutman 3s · 2022-09-18T23:35:04.209Z
          Woozy, loved the puzzle. I wasn’t trying to nit pick. Hope you didn’t take it that way. American actress D’lyn would work.
          • woozy constructor · 2022-09-19T00:47:15.033Z
            If you can refresh past a cach I went with the Game of Thrones character. That seemed the best. ... but it's rather odd the wikipedia has a long list of people with last name Shea, a short list of people with first name Shae, but no list of people with last name Shae...
      • hoover 7s · 2022-09-18T18:47:17.796Z
        One of my favorite childhood poems!
        • markhr 28:01 · 2022-09-18T20:38:24.164Z
          Clever puzzle. Tough grid, but the meta came together quite nicely.
          • ReB 40:51 · 2022-09-18T21:09:29.861Z
            Amazing that you found eight words of seven letters each that differed from each other by only one letter - and that you could get these letters to spell out a color. And then you added some hints (evident in retrospect) including 4D, 31D, 50D
            Cool Hand Luke reference was neat. First time I've seen "broccoli rabe" as a crossword item
            • Hector 19:36 · 2022-09-18T22:36:09.993Z
              Enjoyed this one! I do worry that the owl and pussycat were evil colonialists who exploited the pig.
              • benchen71 13:42 · 2022-09-19T05:10:55.049Z
                Very nice! I got it from the themers (OWL + CAT) without even getting to PEAGREEN. But that made it all the more fun to keep going to find the BOAT COLOR.
                • kurtalert 14:23 · 2022-09-21T01:01:42.958Z
                  Clever. Had fun solving this! And not crazy frustrating for once, I feel like I’m getting stumped a lot recently.
                  • Capn Rick 🤓13:12 · 2022-09-22T19:58:25.978Z
                    Nice job, woozy! I enjoyed it!
                    • I K Snamhcok 11s · 2022-09-23T01:19:42.015Z
                      Tres bien!
                      • whimsy 31:14 · 2022-09-24T03:12:19.644Z
                        I think you're right! -- best one yet -- in spite of any blips that can always be fixed -- Thanks, woozy! Way to go! (by boat naturally-- and don't forget your runcible spoon -- always loved that phrase!)
                        Play today's daily mini crossword
                        1A
                        Entices
                        1
                        2
                        3
                        4
                        5
                        6
                        7
                        8
                        9
                        10
                        11
                        12
                        13
                        14
                        15
                        16
                        17
                        18
                        19
                        20
                        21
                        22
                        23
                        24
                        25
                        26
                        27
                        28
                        29
                        30
                        31
                        32
                        33
                        34
                        35
                        36
                        37
                        38
                        39
                        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
                        Across
                        1. 1A
                          Entices
                        2. 7A
                          Recent celebrity
                        3. 14A
                          Contends with resolutely; "he ------ the raging sea; Head-on he breaks the waves" Agamemnon (Seneca)
                        4. 16A
                          Airbnb ---? Choices, choices....
                        5. 17A
                          Vessel for cooking the meatiest part of the lobster
                        6. 18A
                          Covering for the pot to keep the seeped beverage hot
                        7. 19A
                          Ready
                        8. 20A
                          15 square km island in Croatia between Permuda and Olib
                        9. 22A
                          Dining room piece (rather the most important one, don't you think?)
                        10. 23A
                          A tool for punching bottle-holes into leather over-garments.
                        11. 25A
                          Oaks to be
                        12. 30A
                          Steadfast; loyal
                        13. 31A
                          Label
                        14. 34A
                          Taboos
                        15. 35A
                          Character in "The Game of Thrones"; Tyrion Lannister's mistress who is eventually bought into testifying against him and eventually comes to a bad end.
                        16. 36A
                          Dead or decaying organic matter (prefix)
                        17. 37A
                          The portion of the July 4th entertainment where they turn off the stage-lights and the performers tap-dance while being illuminated only by the light-sticks they are wearing one their wrists and ankles
                        18. 39A
                          Approach, dejected, and in utter humiliation
                        19. 41A
                          Gehrig, Reed, Rawls, Costello, Dobbs, Ferrigno, Diamond Phillips, Gottleib, et al.
                        20. 42A
                          Leafy Vegetable; Broccoli -----
                        21. 44A
                          British prisons
                        22. 45A
                          Be human
                        23. 46A
                          Protagonist
                        24. 47A
                          Ubiquitous diner franchise
                        25. 48A
                          "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf, for example
                        26. 50A
                          Boxer Mike
                        27. 53A
                          Brief engagement
                        28. 55A
                          ___ mai (Asian dumplings)
                        29. 58A
                          This might be an insurmountable obstacle attempting to light a furnace in a damp basement
                        30. 60A
                          Portable bed for sleeping outside on your mowed yard
                        31. 62A
                          Expression used to imply an action that is unusual or stupid is normal and reasonable. "I was trying to sort my recipes by frequency of the letter M, -----, when I noticed that I had misspelled 'Rin-Tin-Tin' in my cheese souffle recipe"
                        32. 63A
                          Goes to the fitting room with
                        33. 64A
                          An avian Pokemon with a portmanteau name; they evolve to Fearows apparently (I don't get that game)
                        34. 65A
                          What 58A probably won't do
                        Down
                        1. 1D
                          Belonging to Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation
                        2. 2D
                          ----- Stanley Gardner
                        3. 3D
                          Edible flesh of an animal
                        4. 4D
                          And here, at the end of the animals leg, you'll find this
                        5. 5D
                          There are 192 of them in a qt.
                        6. 6D
                          Imperturbable ones
                        7. 7D
                          Neither hide nor hair
                        8. 8D
                          Prior prior
                        9. 9D
                          "----- have here is a failure to communicate"
                        10. 10D
                          Central (to one's attention)
                        11. 11D
                          Running the gamut from the very beginning all the way to 2/26th from the beginning
                        12. 12D
                          Soulful searching cry in the night
                        13. 13D
                          Popular fashion magazine
                        14. 15D
                          Normandy town; site of 1944 battle
                        15. 21D
                          A washing or soaking of all or part of the body
                        16. 24D
                          Hungarian violinist Leopold, or his grandson Russian actor Misha
                        17. 25D
                          Perspective (as it were)
                        18. 26D
                          Cracking the meta mechanism does not reveal the poem. It reveals one of these.
                        19. 27D
                          "You and me burning matches Lifting latches, --- way back home" (from "I Dig a Pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids")
                        20. 28D
                          This grid has 15
                        21. 29D
                          Supersecret org.
                        22. 31D
                          And here, at the end of the animals leg, you'll find this
                        23. 32D
                          Fittingly
                        24. 33D
                          Eww
                        25. 35D
                          Initiates at an unhurried pace
                        26. 36D
                          Graceful bird
                        27. 38D
                          Work force
                        28. 40D
                          Mature
                        29. 43D
                          The 26D that you get when you crack the meta mechansim is the 26D of one of these in the poem.
                        30. 46D
                          High respect; esteem (Brt.)
                        31. 47D
                          Basic monetary units of North Macedonia
                        32. 48D
                          Warm chocolate drink that'd be really nice right now, wouldn't it?
                        33. 49D
                          Jaunty tune
                        34. 50D
                          --- Brillig and the slithey toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe
                        35. 51D
                          ICAO Code for Esperance Airport in Western Australia.
                        36. 52D
                          Eye annoyance
                        37. 54D
                          Tiny branch
                        38. 55D
                          Peripheral port technology now mostly obsolete. ("Is your printer -----?" "No, it's clean and legitimate!")
                        39. 56D
                          Soulful searching cry in the night
                        40. 57D
                          Magazine that once awarded the Independent Press Awards
                        41. 59D
                          Commotion
                        42. 61D
                          Bantoid language of Cameroon
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