Parallel Parking
◆◆ · By woozy · Published 2024-11-27T07:59:49.862Z
Meta Prompt
There are seven things parked in the grid. The meta answers the question: Why was the driver never invited to any of the cool parties?
I had a funny a clever idea I thought. And the meta fought me every inch of the way and refused to be constructed. It had me pinned to the ground and scoffed "Hah! If you want me to exist I'm going to have one of those dense grids with bars and no blank squares and all my entries will be nonsensical." I was about to give you I came up with the ultimate move. "You will exist," I declared "because the prompt and meta answer is just too funny." So
This is a Puma. Maybe Dr. Tom's suggestions has downgraded it to a Puma minus, but if it has fallen to the Persian range it is a Persian +. So puma -/persian plus
Kitten
Calico
Persian (maybe)
PUMA (probably)
Lion
Calico
Persian (maybe)
PUMA (probably)
Lion
And it's time for nudges!
Nudge 1: There are 7 things in 9 words. Each word is hidden in the grid in a specific place. And that specific place is exactly where the clues say they are
Hint A: As well as finding the 7 things parked in the grid, find hints and suggestions throughout the puzzle
Nudge 2: But some of the mentioned are mentioned in two different clues. How can that be if each word is only in one specific place?
Hint B: Is there any category of entry or clue that seems a little over represented?
Nudge 3: The clues for the parked themes seem to be in both across and down clues. Isn't there hints in the puzzle that made you think it couldn't be both across and down?
Hint C: Of the over represented category of entries, do the clues seem to have a particular pattern (except for two of them which have another type of pattern)
Nudge : Standard crossword format allows for only across and down clues. So how else was I supposed to do it when the things are parked neither horizontally nor vertically? That explains Nudges 2 and 3
Hint D: There's any hint to the theme of the over-represented category which explains why some had one type of clue but two did not
Nudge 5: You can be forgiven for not seeing the seven parked thing right away. A few of them might not look like recognizable English words. But then again some do. And isn't the shape of the grid weird? Whys there that dangling "A"? And why are the corners sawed off?
Hint E: So given the clues, what does "parking" in the title mean?
Count Down CHI: Did you notice the two very common English words in the sawed off corners? The remaining seven words of the seven parked things are parked parallel to those.
Count Down PSI: You have found the seven things and you know what they are. But do you know where they are?
Count Down OMEGA: The meta answer is 14-letters long.
Hint A: As well as finding the 7 things parked in the grid, find hints and suggestions throughout the puzzle
Nudge 2: But some of the mentioned are mentioned in two different clues. How can that be if each word is only in one specific place?
Hint B: Is there any category of entry or clue that seems a little over represented?
Nudge 3: The clues for the parked themes seem to be in both across and down clues. Isn't there hints in the puzzle that made you think it couldn't be both across and down?
Hint C: Of the over represented category of entries, do the clues seem to have a particular pattern (except for two of them which have another type of pattern)
Nudge : Standard crossword format allows for only across and down clues. So how else was I supposed to do it when the things are parked neither horizontally nor vertically? That explains Nudges 2 and 3
Hint D: There's any hint to the theme of the over-represented category which explains why some had one type of clue but two did not
Nudge 5: You can be forgiven for not seeing the seven parked thing right away. A few of them might not look like recognizable English words. But then again some do. And isn't the shape of the grid weird? Whys there that dangling "A"? And why are the corners sawed off?
Hint E: So given the clues, what does "parking" in the title mean?
Count Down CHI: Did you notice the two very common English words in the sawed off corners? The remaining seven words of the seven parked things are parked parallel to those.
Count Down PSI: You have found the seven things and you know what they are. But do you know where they are?
Count Down OMEGA: The meta answer is 14-letters long.
Thanks to Dr. Tom, Wendy Walker, and KayW for the testing and proofing. And thanks to Dr. Tom for giving me a platform.
Checking for previous play data...
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!1A
What do you call a grocery clerk who has put on weight? A ______ Checker! (What a Twist) [The 2nd thing is parked here]
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Across
- 1AWhat do you call a grocery clerk who has put on weight? A ______ Checker! (What a Twist) [The 2nd thing is parked here]
- 7ALikely reaction you had on seeing this puzzle [The 1st thing is parked here]
- 10AAlthough it may look like web page code designed specifically for Reader's Digest, Merriam-Webster assures me it's the proper abbreviation for rear admiral lower half [The second word of the 4th thing is parked here]
- 14ATable land [The first word of the 7th thing is parked here]
- 17ASubject of the New Yorker cartoon with the caption "Objection, your honor! Alleged Killer Whale"
- 18AHot beverage sometimes served in a 3D
- 19AWest African filarial nematode also known as "eye worm" (ask Mr. Google?)
- 21AStay overnight at a national park [The first word of the 6th thing is parked here]
- 23AStill going on
- 25ABirthplace of A&W root beer where Creedence Clearwater Revival go stuck again (Oh, Lord)
- 26APoison symbol, Mr. ___
- 28AProtective covering (like a knight's)
- 30AI'm sure you all know the abbreviations for "Example given" and "That is (to say)" and would never confuse the two, but do you know the Latin abbreviation for "By the grace of God"? Neither did I
- 32AGround troops
- 38ACombined total number of national parks in 43A and 55D
- 41AReputedly happy shellfish [The second word of the 7th thing is parked here]
- 43AThe Hawkeye State: Abbr.
- 44AWhere to see painter Tom Roberts' "A break away!" in Adelaide: Abbr (Google moment?)
- 46A"Use To Be My Girl" band member
- 47AFood regimen to avoid becoming 1A
- 48AWas given no alternative [The first word of the 3rd thing is parked here]
- 51ASarcastic and snide (never me, of course!)
- 52A"___ for Noose", Sue Grafton
- 53ACurly, leafy vegetables that were all the rage a while back (Meh!)
- 54A"A Man Called ___", Swedish dramedy 2015
- 56AAnd so on: Abbr
- 57AGolly!
- 58ARemoved from sight
- 59AMy least favorite HS class (Wow, what a surprise!)
- 60AAt a distance
- 63AFirst name of newscaster Baxter, or of the actor who portrayed him
- 64ABy any other name these 17th Greek letters would smell the same
- 65A"Are ___ pair": ("Send in the Clowns" lyric)
- 66APrecursor of the CIA
- 67AIn the style of
Down
- 1DHome of Yosemite and Sequoia Natl. Parks [The 2nd thing is parked here]
- 2DA day has 24
- 3DGrecian subject of a famous ode
- 4DPrior to year one [The 5th thing is parked here]
- 5DProhibit
- 6DSince Jan. 1st
- 7DLow-down person I wouldn't give the back of my foot to [The 1st thing is parked here]
- 8DFilm studio founded by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks
- 9D"Money Ball" star Jonah if he was in an accident and lost an I
- 10DKanga's kid [The second word of the 4th thing is parked here]
- 11DType of joke 1A is
- 12DJust past to mid 11th century date [The first word of the 4th thing is parked here]
- 13DActress Myrna who played Mrs. Charles [The second word of the 6th thing is parked here]
- 14D__ Escher (now there was a guy who could park a HUGE amount into a limited space!) [The first word of the 7th thing is parked here]
- 15DYou can lend yours of bend someone else's
- 16D"Bullit star's initials [The second word of the 3rd thing is parked here]
- 20DPeriodically striking gold
- 22DDog which you can reverse engineer to clean your kitchen floor
- 24DJune 6, 1944
- 27DWhat Colin Kaepernick famously took
- 28DWhat Johann Sebastian cried when he lost his head
- 29DAlfred E. Newman's magazine
- 30DWhslr.
- 31DNorthern Irish slang for oaf
- 32DStaarch extraacted from tropicaal paalms similaar in aapeaaraance to taapiocaa peaarls (actually, this is a legitimate alternate spelling)
- 33DStorybook nasties
- 34DRegion for which the sea off Sicily and Greece is named
- 35DCommunal Mexican farmland
- 36DCroaks out
- 37DComedienne Wanda who voiced Bev, the vending machine, in a 2012 episode of "Futurama"
- 38DKeep quiet clause: Abbr.
- 39DLubricate
- 40DFather of the alien who phoned home?
- 42DLanguage heard along the Mekong
- 45DDistort, twist or slant, like answers perhaps
- 49DGolf peg
- 50DBeloved ref.
- 55DGreen Mountain State: Abbr.
- 58DThat guy
- 60DAbstainer's Org.
- 61DHome of the Biscayne and Everglades Natl. Parks
- 62DThey used to be a great source for road maps