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LIFELINE
◆ · By DrTom · Published 2023-08-23T04:10:37.686Z
Meta Prompt
The meta answer is a pet
Dr. Tom and Wendy teamed up on this week's puzzle. At the reveal next week, Dr. Tom will share with you its unusual origin story. It should not be difficult for solvers to determine which constructor crafted which clues.
Thank you to Al Sisti, our test solver, for his always-helpful advice, and to Joe Ross for his technical assistance.
Given that handicapping difficulty in metas seems to escape us both (and Dr. Tom in particular), we are just going to assign a broad range and be safe. So let's just say this is between a Calico and a Puma and be covered.
A lifeline is defined as a thing on which someone depends or which provides a means of escape from difficult situations. Any of us with animals know that this is almost a perfect definition of our furry friends. Therefore, the answer to this week’s meta is a pet.
Nudges!
Nudge 1] LIFELINE was originally Wendy's title and it is what made me go - "Hey there is another meta here!" Considering the forum, can you see why?
Nudge 2] 32A is, as it says, a hint, but how?
Nudge 3] Would it have helped if 32A had been "An element found 7 places after Lithium (LI)..."
Nudge 4] Would it have also helped if you did not think of the "element" above as another in the periodic table, but rather an "element" of the solve?
Nudge/Shove 5] My original rabbit hole with this title was seeing it could be parsed into, essentially, and ion and a cat (and since Lithium carries a positive charge it is a cation 
) so I just looked for things that came after the ion.
) so I just looked for things that came after the ion. The REVEAL:
Seven entries with LI followed by a letter:
CLIPS = P
PLIES = E
FLIRT = R
ELISE = S
DLIII = I
ILIAC = A
ALINE = N
PERSIAN the answer to the meta
Incidentally, the intro sneakily gave you the answer when we said it was betweeen a Calico and a Puma, which of course is where the Persian difficulty resides.
If you want the full backstory and a graphic of the reveal. please go to the Xword-Muggles site.
Checking for previous play data...
Leaderboard (updated hourly)
- Bird Lives solved 2023-08-23T12:27:10.477Z
- Schmeel solved 2023-08-23T12:51:22.819Z
- merlinnimue solved 2023-08-23T13:00:31.273Z
- Ergcat solved 2023-08-23T13:34:32.804Z
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- I K Snamhcok solved 2023-08-23T15:07:41.150Z
- Meg solved 2023-08-23T15:35:52.818Z
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- BarbaraK solved 2023-08-24T00:58:59.995Z
- Darth solved 2023-08-24T01:08:27.318Z
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- HeadinHome solved 2023-08-24T12:36:58.760Z
- hoover solved 2023-08-24T13:19:51.926Z
- lbray53 solved 2023-08-24T13:45:28.363Z
- Mr Tex solved 2023-08-24T23:09:47.660Z
- whimsy solved 2023-08-25T02:02:33.530Z
- Pair O Ducks solved 2023-08-25T17:50:47.748Z
- Abide solved 2023-08-27T21:00:53.222Z
Comments
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- Bird Lives 6s · 2023-08-23T12:32:53.515ZI was going to go for FELINE since it follows LI in the title, but then figured that since it wouldn't have required filling in even one square of the grid, it must just be an Easter egg. Then I took the NEON clue too literally and tried counting seven places after each LI. That yielded SOLNAAT. Since I am not a cat person, I thought thiat this might be a variety of feline that I had never heard of. But the Internet hadn't heard of it either.
- Ah, the famed Solnatt cat of South Africa, doomed to wander the plains alone at night. Is it any wonder there are so few of them that nobody has heard of them? We decided to be sneaky instead and actually give you the answer in a way you would never expect. What level is between a Calico and a Puma?
- boharr 3s · 2023-08-23T14:20:48.369ZVery sneaky indeed. I do miss Josh's list of levels in the intros.
- Well for obvious reasons we did not put them on this one.
- boharr 3s · 2023-08-23T15:05:09.355ZOf course. I just miss them.
- ReB 9s · 2023-08-23T14:52:36.780ZYes also I started with variations of counting seven places for a couple of minutes, and when wasn't getting anywhere decide to try the simple/Meta101 Step 2, which worked...
- merlinnimue 🤓10:02 · 2023-08-23T13:10:29.747ZWhen I first read the title, I thought 51 felines? But disney already has twice as many Dalmatians, there's no way we can CATch up. Of course, the meta was much more elementary -- I should have realized pets send us on the path to nirvana, so nevermind... thanks for the puzzle
- Well if the had been VIKING cats maybe.... But, if we thought for a moment we could sneak 51 theme related answers into a grid, we would try it.
- Ergcat 15:32 · 2023-08-23T13:35:14.875ZFun one! Thanks, Wendy & Tom
- boharr 3s · 2023-08-23T14:12:28.324ZI went down 23a, had too much ale, and found all sorts of retrievers. Then I sobered up. Thanks for the puzzle.
- When, thank goodness we did not include Newfoundland Ale in there or you would have had a doggedly difficult task.
- ReB 9s · 2023-08-23T14:49:28.266ZVery cute, especially as Persian is midway on the MEOW difficulty scale, I seem to recall. I almost overthought things after I got the hint until I decided to go simple - and then had to chuckle as the letters fell into place. And yes, there definitely were two styles of clues...
- It is indeed, right between Calico and Puma.At least you didn't say, "There were the good ones that Wendy wrote and then some bizarre ones....", even though you probably have been well within your rights to do so.
- I K Snamhcok 🤓10:39 · 2023-08-23T15:13:25.940ZFun! Note that I initially reviewed the list of element symbols and suspected that you were trying to spell CALICO or CALICO CAT using Calcium (Ca), Lithium (Li), Cobalt (Co), etc., but that didn’t go anywhere, and the intended route soon emerged.
- See, that title just keeps on giving. That would have been a GREAT mechanism! Thank you for solving.
- Suppose I probably should have gotten this faster, but the only role Li plays in organic is as a mostly irrelevant counterion. :) Also, hand raised for trying the Li + 7 approach (with or without black squares) first. Also spent some time looking for things ON NE (though that didn't take long to rule out). Nice touch on the intro. I did initially suspect that it was less than innocent, but then forgot about it once I finished the puzzle. :D
- Obviously you've never tried it with a carbonate, very relaxing! Interesting sidenote, originally Seven-Up contained lithium citrate (it was called "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" originally) and was a very popular patent medicine. It was shortened to "7 up Lithiated Lemon Soda" and then finally to 7 Up. I suppose the should have called it "7 neither up nor down" but hey how do you market that.
- hoover 4s · 2023-08-24T13:21:58.613ZMe too on the Li + 7 squares, both with and without the black ones. I also tried the clue number of the entry that contained Li, plus 7.
- Laura M 🤓11:24 · 2023-08-23T17:01:57.663ZClever title! Now I'm curious about this origin story.
- MatthewL 🤓7:20 · 2023-08-23T18:30:26.582ZAnother hand raised that went down the "seven places after LI" route. And there were definitely clues I think were Tom's, as opposed to Wendy's. Very nice puzzle, you two!
- Thank you, it was a fun collaboration. Not as punny as my Mikey duet, but every bit as satisfying.
- Tyrpmom 2s · 2023-08-23T22:48:05.348ZFun and clever. Thanks.
- I tried some of the same things as Jay, and I also tried to do something with elements Li, Fe, Li, and Ne. I got there in the end - thanks for the puzzle!
- So you like to challenge yourself periodically...Thanks for solving
- imontoo 4s · 2023-08-24T01:24:53.922ZHad fun!
- Darth 🤓17:24 · 2023-08-24T01:09:55.911ZNow I see what's in the title! lol
- Yes LI FELINE. I hope you also saw that the intro really points you to the answer. "...somewhere between a Calico and a Puma."
- Berto 🤓3:47 · 2023-08-24T02:11:29.690ZI got 32A by reciting HHeLiBeBCNOF NeNaMgAl SiPSClAr - something I learnt by heart to help with A-level Chemistry lol Also started at 7 places after Li - but N-A-A didn’t look promising and soon realized there were 7 Li’s to look “after”… Nice quick fun solve / thank you!!
- HeadinHome 🤓3:53 · 2023-08-24T12:37:50.729ZFun cluing, as always, and a nice soft little kitten to soften a hard day’s work. Thanks Dr.Tom and Wendy!!
- Great fun! I was stuck in a rut after noticing that I could make BUGGS out of UGGS and POOH out of OOH! Perhaps overly influenced by Mikey's Outer Limits this week. I finally figured out why 32A was clued that particular way. LOVE what you did with the difficulty rating!
- whimsy 🤓11:49 · 2023-08-25T02:15:44.580ZYup -- lots of counting and hopscotching around the periodic table initially for me. Did not even catch the FELINE in the title but now I know that cats are made up of Iron, Lithium and Neon. Thank you Wendy and Tom! Looking forward to hearing the story!
- Finally out of the bag! I pulled out my periodic table for this one and right away noticed that Li and Ne are the bookends of row 2. Aha, I thought, this must be important. And then I saw the only other row that spells something on the ends: FrOg. I wasted so much time trying to justify an amphibian pet on the MEOW of all places!
- Frogs, fun to chase, but not near as much fun as releasing the cat! Glad you persevered!
1A
Comfy boots from Down Under
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Across
- 1AComfy boots from Down Under
- 5APlanes on a screen
- 10AMinor complaint
- 13ARude kid with a bad attitude
- 14ARaucous blares from your TV or cellphone
- 15AArticle in "Le Monde"
- 16AFill up
- 17ALoathsome
- 19AA very bad (Buckner) or good (Brady) label for an athlete
- 21AWhat one does vis-à-vis a trade
- 22AMiddle Earth vols.
- 23AFiscally stable, for now
- 25AMake eyes at
- 28ABerate
- 30A"I know! I know! Call on me!"
- 32AElement found 7 places after Lithium (and a hint to this puzzle)
- 33AThis org. named Miranda Lambert "Female Artist of the Year" for 2023
- 36AShocking thing to do to cattle
- 37AThe girl who the song is "Für"
- 39ABy comparison, it can follow greater or lesser
- 40ASmall swallow
- 41AShe played Chris's ill-fated girlfriend on "The Sopranos"
- 42AShow to the door
- 44AAss-backwards
- 46A553, to Cicero
- 47AOn-line learning session
- 49ACarrier grounded on the Sabbath
- 51APertaining to the hipbone
- 52AGoes silent
- 55AWhat gives champagne its fizz
- 58ANot ashore
- 60ANon-Rx
- 61AGrand Prix site
- 62A"Bad" cholesterols
- 63A___ Speedwagon
- 64AFlattering style for a dress or skirt
- 65AWhen it finds itself against a wall it gets plastered
Down
- 1DInitials for a destroyer, cruiser or battleship
- 2DTiny but annoying problem (that is not 13A)
- 3DGloomy youth sporting black clothes and eyeliner
- 4DRebar, for example
- 5DVision for a drunkard
- 6DPermissive Latvian?
- 7DFury
- 8DBoats made famous by J.F.K.
- 9DConcorde blueprint
- 10DAncient Egyptian kingdom once known as Kush
- 11DCoastal feature
- 12DProps for drivers
- 14DWhat you make when you don't make a dash
- 18DTons
- 20DAttend
- 23DAvailable as pales, browns, goldens and gingers
- 24DIce packs
- 25DDandies
- 26DLoughlin of "Full House" who tried to stack the deck
- 27DFlapjack heaven
- 29D"Great Brain" of the 40s
- 31D"___ Johnny!"
- 33DGolfer K.J.
- 34DHawaiian island
- 35DAgainst
- 38DMarvin and Majors
- 39DDishes, as a celeb allegedly does in an autobiography
- 41DStoker's sucker
- 43DCheese in a scarlet coat
- 44DLet the cat out of the bag
- 45D___ Curtis, hair care
- 47DFill with joy
- 48DKid's name (especially if he has his Poncho with him)
- 50DGlasgow girl
- 51DDr. Frankenstein's helper
- 52DWhat 50D might belong to
- 53DFed. agency of "choice"
- 54DHide in the forest?
- 56DAir head?
- 57DInternational health benchmark that's optimally under 25
- 59DPompeian blanket
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