PCC#15 "It's a Numbers Game, so They Say"
◆ · By Philip Chow · Published 2023-11-14T00:26:30.981Z
Meta Prompt
[Level 2] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta is the name of a crossword constructor
Hint 1: the three grid spanners have a part of their clue italicized and bold
Hint 2: The italicized/bold clues relate in some way to their respective entries... "numbers" from the title gets us thinking about numbers... can you match each answer to a number?
Hint 3: for example, the entry "par for the course" has the clue "PGA Masters"... when you google "PGA Masters par, you'll find that the par for the entire course is 72
Hint 4: similarly do the same for "playing the field"... you can google how many players are on an American football or soccer team (use the number for one team on the playing field, not both teams combined), and for "why am I so unlucky?," googling "fear of Triscuits Friends" yields a very specific word
Hint 5: "so they say"... instead of first letter extraction, or first letter clue extraction, just say the entries aloud from the 3 relevant numbers you found... you may need to google for the correct spelling of the crossword constructor's name in case you are not familiar with this puzzle's dedicatee
Checking for previous play data...
1A
"Grow ___!" ("Man up!")
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Across
- 1A"Grow ___!" ("Man up!")
- 6APalindromic emoticon representing a cute anime face
- 9ABullets, bombs, and shells, for short
- 13ASocial blunder
- 14ACondé ___ (magazine publisher)
- 16AAmphibian sometimes licked to induce hallucinations
- 17AHome to Deception Island
- 19AFeed the kitty, in poker
- 20ASpanish verb sometimes confused with "estar"
- 21ASmall batteries
- 22ASuper Mario ___ (Nintendo racing game)
- 24ANot tied down [NFL or soccer team]
- 29AWarning on flea market merchandise
- 30A"___ et amo" (opening line of a Catullus poem that translates to "I hate and I love")
- 31ACaviar source
- 32ATraps
- 35APolearm used by British Army officers at the Battle of Culloden (which becomes a flat-bottomed boat if you chop off the first letter)
- 37AShort-lived castle material
- 38A"Them's fightin' words!"
- 39APerpetually single person's lament [not a fear of Triscuits as Ross guessed on "Friends"]
- 45AHad ___ in flames (had failed catastrophically)
- 46A___ worthy (consider to be suitable)
- 47AEnglish county known for its cider and Cheddar cheese, and where the city of Bath is located
- 50ATraditional Valencian saffron-flavored rice dish
- 52A"Blonde" Best Actress nominee de Armas
- 53A"Turning Red" protagonist with the ability to transform into a giant red panda
- 54AMorning TV host Kelly
- 55A"Not great but it's what I expected" [PGA Masters]
- 61AFontanne's Broadway partner
- 62AMilk sources for some Himalayan cheese
- 63AConcealed
- 64AGazed upon
- 66APopular bagel flavor
- 69AWhen repeated, a former National Zoo giant panda
- 70ALego founder Ole Kirk Cristiansen, by birth
- 71ASudden forward thrust
- 72ATarget for a little rubber hammer, in reflex testing
- 73ASpeck
- 74AAlternative to foils and sabres, in fencing
Down
- 1DAudibly shocked
- 2DCommittee appointed to judge a competition
- 3DSAG-___ (Hollywood union whose strike finally ended a few days ago)
- 4D"___ tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"
- 5DPut a bluffer in a tough spot, perhaps
- 6DRemoves ID from, as a Facebook photo
- 7DWhat do you call a belt made of watches? a ___ of time!
- 8DThe Trojans of the NCAA
- 9DPioneering video game company originally named Syzygy
- 10DLil Nas X song subtitled "Call Me by Your Name" with the lyric "tell me you love me in private"
- 11DWelcome ___ (item outside a front door)
- 12DWork of tribute, such as Chloe McCarrick's cyanotype artwork "Enchantress of Number (___ to Ada Lovelace)"
- 15DDismantle, as a Christmas tree after the holidays
- 18D___ Major (constellation with Sirius, the "Dog Star")
- 23D"We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as ___ resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live" (line from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address)
- 25DDistance covered in advancing the ball, in American football
- 26DEnergizes, in slang (and what could be punny name for a brewery)
- 27D___ roll (toilet paper, to a Brit)
- 28DHibernation spot
- 32DDirection from Tilghman Island, MD to Richmond, VA
- 33D"Nope"
- 34DComputer "key" that Homer Simpson couldn't find on the keyboard to start working from home
- 35DHearty pub offering
- 36DCanadian Prime Minister Justin with a nice butt
- 38DHappy cry from someone who finally deciphers a Magic Eye picture
- 40D"The Book of ___" (Broadway musical comedy about missionaries attempting to preach their faith to a remote Ugandan village)
- 41DPut in, as coins in a vending machine
- 42DSingle frame of animation
- 43DActor Mitchell who reunited with his comedy partner Kenan Thompson for "Good Burger 2" (scheduled to be released next week)
- 44DPeruvian singer Sumac with an impressive vocal range whose name can anagram to another girl's name ("Back to Black" singer Winehouse), which can also anagram to another girl's name ("All My Girls" singer J.), which can also anagram to another girl's name (one-named "It's All About Me" singer)
- 47DMaple syrup source
- 48DWords before roll or streak
- 49DWoman of whom John Hiatt sang "when you call my name... I'm in love with you"
- 50DVery selective
- 51DPhilip in the Bible, for one
- 54D___ its ugly head (caused trouble after not having done so for awhile)
- 56DIngredient in Carvel's Fudgie the Whale (don't overthink this one, it's in the name)
- 57D"Laughing" scavenger of Africa
- 58DRiver valley known for Riesling wine
- 59DBurn slightly
- 60DEasy-to-spot jigsaw pieces that most people usually start with
- 64DWild animal you can hunt for in the game "Oregon Trail"
- 65DYang's counterpart in Chinese philosophy
- 67DLarge chemical container, like the one Jack Napier fell into to become the Joker
- 68DStart of a drill instructor's count