Making a Stink
◆ · By DrTom · Published 2024-08-18T11:30:39.810Z
Meta Prompt
People will often turn up their nose at this meta answer
NUDGES:
Nudge 1] The 5 long answers are certainly odd, but do they have any commonality?
Nudge 2] How might Nudge 1 help you, particularly if you also consider nudge clue 61D?
Nudge 3] Hmmm 18A talking about smelly in a meta called "Making a Stink", wonder if that is coincidence?
Nudge 4] You may need to Google the commonality you found in the 5 themers. Google for a SSS, that stinks Tom!
Nudge 4 addendum] When Googling a chemical compound like 61D, or even water, you would probably not enter it in as HSH or HOH to get the answer. What do you know the composition of water to be?
Nudge 5] Any of our chemistry majors had the answer around theme answer 2.
This meta has an odd history. It started as an example of a difficult time I had with another meta, became a possible meta and got tested under a different name. MANY iterations later and a suggestion from the Captain on a different name, it landed in the very respectable SSS harbor. (my tireless testers were: ajk, rjy, Cap'n Rick, and David Schrager - don't be surprised if you do not recognize the meta by its new name!)
I hope you all enjoy it as much as the Captain's usual fare. I can say without fear of contradiction, it will not be as Easter Egg full, solidly clued, tightly filled or answered as delightfully as the usual SSS because it is not a Captain Rick and, well he is like a pile of wet kindling - unmatchable!
However, I think it will be fun and the AHA should be a resounding one. If rating difficulty I'd say:
Mill Pond
Gentle Ripple
*A Bit Choppy
Surfin' USA
Perfect Storm
𝙇𝘼𝙎𝙏 𝙈𝙄𝙉𝙐𝙏𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝙄𝙇 𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙔 𝙉𝙐𝘿𝙂𝙀 What is the formula for water? Apply that to what you already have.
REVEAL:
Five long answers:
HUGEHEADS
HOMEHELPS
HOBBYHATS
HAVEHOPES
HOLYHYMNS
The long answers have a commonality, all have 2 H's and one S. H2S is the chemical formula for Hydrogen Sulfide or Sewer Gas (two of the accepted answers)
Interestingly, because I erroneously said there were 4 theme answers, one solver looked for the commonality in the 4. If you do that you might end up with HHOS which is NOT a compound, BUT H2SO4 IS!!! That is sulfuric acid and since it certainly could have been an answer (it does not stink on its own but once it gets in the sewer system and runs into reducing compounds it sure does) I accepted that one as well - DCBilly had the right chemistry for that one)
For a graphic representation of the reveal go to:
Checking for previous play data...
1A
"Born Free" lioness
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
66
67
68
69
Across
- 1A"Born Free" lioness
- 5A"Moby Dick" captain
- 9AHeidi's home
- 13ADrudgery
- 14AMar, in a way
- 15AType of tower occupied by the elite
- 16AWhat people get with too much flattery
- 18ASmelly home of a Ninja Turtle
- 19ASign up
- 20ALimp Bizkit singer Fred
- 21AAbbr. of politeness
- 22AAfter-tax income
- 25ASwedish car, sadly discontinued?
- 27ALena of "Chocolat"
- 29AThings like a vacuum cleaner and a dishwasher
- 31AAlternate name for cassava root that almost sounds crazy
- 34A___ lamp
- 35ABoston harbor pollutant of old
- 36AHeadgear worn when sculpting, cycling or other spare-time activities
- 39ABankable types
- 42ABaseball's Blue Moon
- 43ASwarmed
- 47APossess aspirations
- 50ACellphone setting when flying, airplane ___
- 51A"I'm putting ___ on you" (witch's vengeance)
- 52ATel Aviv setting
- 55AGift of the loquacious
- 56ADisney mermaid
- 58AAndean animals
- 60ALike some talk
- 61AChurch songs about sacred things
- 64ABeat at chess
- 65ABiggest corp. "suit"
- 66AComply with
- 67AEmployed
- 68AInventor Elias
- 69ADelivered
Down
- 1DBiblical verb ending
- 2DGossip columnist Parsons
- 3DRegisters
- 4DOriole or a Blue Jay, for short
- 5DSinger with age related albums
- 6DFitness
- 7D"Go on ..."
- 8D"Dynamite" K-pop group
- 9DDisinclined
- 10DDiet that bans cheese, preserved meats, and pretzels
- 11DRecord before the show date
- 12DDamascus' land: Abbr.
- 15DInitials in Ames, Iowa
- 17DSweet nickname for a significant other
- 20DContainer with a colorful past
- 21DLittle dog, for short
- 23DCompound used in plastics
- 24DAsian nurse
- 26DFuture Explorer's org.
- 28DFederal med. research agency
- 30DSecond strongest emotion
- 32DExpression of delight and surprise
- 33DLiquid hemp
- 37DHard knocks
- 38DPlace for a father-to-be: Abbr.
- 39DShout when you see the commonality in the theme entries
- 40DCommonwealth off Florida
- 41DPigged out
- 44DClassic Gardner/Gable movie from 1953
- 45DLou Grant portrayer
- 46DCenter of a ball?
- 48DBanned from the land
- 49DSick-looking
- 53D"Family Ties" mom
- 54D"Well, ___-di-dah!"
- 57DAntiquity, in antiquity
- 59D"Butt out!," briefly
- 60DSchool for Mustangs, Abbr.
- 61DMethylene group, chemically (an important part of many solutions and an assist to the solution here)
- 62DGovernment poverty-fighting agcy. that sounds like Wizard of Oz castle guards
- 63DDict. listing