"We can stay on the east coast of Florida or the _____; as long as I don't have to spend another winter up north!"
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Across
1A
"We can stay on the east coast of Florida or the _____; as long as I don't have to spend another winter up north!"
5A
Cleo's downfall
8A
Fred Mertz is neighbor and friend to Lucy and ______ Ricardo
13A
Abhor
14A
Deer mom
15A
Adjective in cardiology
17A
Greek H's
18A
Super pilot
19A
Paul or Ringo
20A
"How on ______ will I be able to support myself if I wind up getting fired by my boss?!"
22A
Crank
24A
With "The", biblical inheritors
25A
Only a number
27A
Sibilant difficulty
29A
Pet who acts up
33A
Hid
37A
"J'_______" (Emile Zola newspaper article)
38A
At sea
39A
Actress Gardner
40A
When she refused his diamond ring it was as if she took a club and broke his ____
41A
Vim
42A
"Why, that rotten guy is just below dirt! And he's not above paying ______ the table!"
44A
Picnic pest
45A
Abnormal breathing
47A
Hooky player
48A
"Evil Ways" band
50A
Rats!
51A
Larger-than-life
52A
de Armas of "Knives Out"
53A
Malone who played Johanna Mason in "Mockingjay"
56A
Bobbing up from behind the bushes in their backyard, little Flossie and Freddie startled their big brother, ______
58A
Egg centers
63A
Built beforehand, briefly
65A
Broadcast band
67A
Eat
68A
Join the club
69A
Born
70A
Foundation providing many college building names
71A
Several years ago, the president visited the British royals; a photographer took his picture saying goodnight to little Prince _____ who was in his jammies, and maybe holding Tom, his teddy too
72A
Despicable character
73A
"Mark my words; if we stand way over here in this event theater lobby, we'll probably catch sight of _____ Damon coming out of the john"
Down
1D
"This is fun!"
2D
Allman Brother's album "________ Peach"
3D
Twinkler
4D
Exam
5D
Littlest Gaffney
6D
Futbol
7D
One on a jury
8D
English Spot, and Holland Lop
9D
Follower of pol or favor
10D
Charley horses
11D
Toy with a tail
12D
New Haven university
16D
Albanian currency
21D
Ribbon under the chin
23D
Joe the journalist or Marin the conductor
26D
"_____ whiz!"
28D
Day in the park, probably the Fourth of July
29D
Deceptive landscaping features (or jokes)
30D
Association for Conductive Education in North America (gimme of the day, constructor as well as solver!)
31D
(Sorry for this.) Fourteenth section of future physician's test (after Parts A, B, C......)
32D
"_____ le pont D'Avignon...."
34D
Used one's standing; ______ in
35D
Happening
36D
Pub game
38D
Robert E. _______
41D
Come in second
43D
Naked Frenchman (ooh la la!)
46D
"No dessert for me! Well, maybe just _______"
47D
Heavy weight
49D
"_________ two, and two......"
50D
Prefer
53D
Format for containing compressed image data
54D
Sea eagle
55D
Infamous Roman emperor
57D
Ladder step
59D
Leslie playing Burr
60D
Third book in Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead" series
61D
Done before purl
62D
Mailed
64D
Math subj.
66D
Pot-au-___ (French stew)
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This is a contest/meta puzzle. To submit your answer, first finish solving the grid (or reveal it if you get stuck or solved offline).
Leaderboard (updated hourly)
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Comments
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hoover 3s · almost 2 years ago
Woo hoo! MEOW!
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Woo hoo! Thanks for solving!
Hector 12:03 · almost 2 years ago
Great fun, thank you!
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Welcome! Thanks for playing!
Meg 2s · almost 2 years ago
Very well done, even with the little glitch at 20a. Could she be referencing the Bobbsey twins? I haven’t thought about them in years!
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Yes, my payback for all the texting acronyms and all the cultural references of the generations that follow boomers! I used "Bobbing up..." in the clue to perhaps spark a memory. Wonder if Al has any of these in his classics collection?
hoover 3s · almost 2 years ago
I recognized it as the Bobbsey twins from Freddie and Flossie but appreciated the ingenuity of "Bobbing up" to nudge the reader.
Sharkicicles 2s · almost 2 years ago
I’ve heard the phrase “Bobbsey Twins” but didn’t know anything about them… googling the 3 names in the clue led me to the correct letter.
Clever puzzle!
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Just what I'd hoped would happen for those unfamiliar! Thanks for solving!
merlinnimue 🤓15:21 · almost 2 years ago
That was a formidably tough puzzle, one I should not have attempted during an unfortunate caffeine withdrawal headache... the force is not strong with me... I get the feeling I should forgo the rest of my puns, but I just wanted to say thanks four the puzzle
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Thanks for muddling/ muggling? through to the solve!
Maybe for 20A. "I've been fired by my boss! My mortgage is under-water! How on ----- am I going to make it?"
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Ooh! I like it! I couldn't think of anything quick and dirty so I just did the caveat.
Hope you don't mind but I'm going to post that as a correction and attribute it to you -- it takes a village to make a forum! Thanks for solving and your kind words!
HeadinHome 🤓6:19 · almost 2 years ago
Such fun cluing .. and not just the themers! (Rodents!)
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Thanks! I was trying to make the themers obvious by their long-winded and involved clues. Didn't have to worry about Rats! being misconstrued. :-)
Glad you played!
MatthewL 🤓8:06 · almost 2 years ago
Got it. The little glitch at 20A did throw me for a bit (SEWSONAL?), but then I remembered your comment and figured it out. Thanks for the fun puzzle!
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
For some reason when I look at what you (rightly, per my off-kilter clue) first came up with, I see the word mewsonal!
Thanks for working with that grain of salt and pushing through to the solve!
Laura M 🤓10:31 · almost 2 years ago
Enjoyed it!
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Thanks -- glad you did!
Darth 14:17 · almost 2 years ago
I didn't know the Bobbsey twins, but got the others. I needed an N.... Is it Ned who is missing? Or is that the Hardy Boys? I'll have to Google it. Anyway, it was a great idea and a fun solve! Thank you!
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
It's actually Nan, a sister. Each pair of twins was fraternal. But.... Ned was Nancy Drew's boyfriend! Many's the time she took him for a spin in her roadster!
Thanks for playing and for your kind words!
Was reluctant to post my answer as I thought there might be another step (saw "north" in the 1A clue, so thought perhaps I needed to find the missing "season". Nothing there, so posted (happily correctly)
It seems I can't think more than one step ahead -- when it comes to meta constructing too! :-) So you were perfectly safe submitting.
Thanks for doing the puzzle!
Bird Lives 8s · almost 2 years ago
Great clues, great fun. I had to Google the twins, and I still haven't figured out what that event theater lobby is doing there, but I I enjoyed them all. (I assume that the glitch Meg refers to is the watered down clue.)
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Yeah, woozy's "watered-down" clue -- I just got that! The theater lobby? I just needed to put Matt someplace, and figured that'd be a good spot for a couple of groupies to hang out. Also wanted to elongate the themer clues -- in a way that could include Mark, Matt(hew) & John. Thanks for solving!
You actually needed Tom and (T)eddy, then George as the entry, giving us A for Abe as the fourth guy up on Mt. Rushmore. I liked that with 8 letters in the answer, people could miss one or two connections and still come up with an answer most likely, just as you did. Thanks for playing!
Fun one, Claudia! A unique (to me) mechanism that I may have to "borrow" someday.
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
I actually have a bit of a back story about how unique (or not) this mechanism is. I constructed the puzzle last spring. The next Sunday, AnswerPhinder, Will came out with his last puzzle of the season entitled The Big Four -- very similar mechanism. A week or two later Dame Fox, Emma had a meta with the solution of "Seasons' or something like that.
So I just threw in the towel and put mine on the back burner for a bit. :-)
Thanks for solving, Rick!
Finally got it with the third nudge. Fun stuff, thanks!
Trying to reconstruct the issues I had. Definitely went down an 'unusual punctuation' rabbit hole or three. Also wasn't totally sure that the 8A and 40A clues were long enough to be included as theme (especially since no punctuation :)). Know nothing about Bobbsey Twins and very little about biblical stuff. Think my brain read the 40A clue as including all the suits. Spend some time thinking it was just names, but included things like Prince. Bottom line is failing to recognize the 'set of four' concept. Which is funny because I was brainstorming ideas along that line the other day. :D :D
whimsy constructor · almost 2 years ago
Thanks for pushing through to the solve, Alan. Yeah, I probably could have been even a bit more verbose for a couple of them. With the Bobbseys, I was just trying to increase everyone's classical education, the way younger, hipper constructors do with rappers, etc. :-)
Re: Sets of four: You should check out the "Connections daily puzzle (nytimes)" thread started by muggle mkmf under Daily and Weekly puzzles. (It's positioned right under Wordle as of this moment.) Quite a timely coincidence!
No worries on the Bobbsey education. That's part of the fun. :) And I have been hooked on Connections since puzzle 3, but didn't know there was a muggle thread. Thanks!