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Puzzle #68 "I'm So Vain I Probably Think This Puzzle's About Me" [PCC#2]

■ · By Philip Chow · Published 2023-08-05T10:12:33.307Z

Meta Prompt
[Level 1] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta is a prolific crossword constructor who has published over 100 puzzles with the NY Times. [The hardest part to this meta is knowing what to google... "xwordinfo" is a good place to start]
Hint #1: It's not me
Hint #2: What do all the long entries have in common?
Hint #3: Go to https://www.xwordinfo.com/ and click on "Most prolific authors" under Constructors
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Capn Rick solved 2023-08-05T11:37:43.174Z
  • Hector solved 2023-08-05T18:37:20.664Z
  • Sendhil Revuluri solved 2023-08-05T20:54:46.801Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2023-08-06T11:24:24.155Z
  • damefox solved 2023-08-06T16:35:14.287Z
  • andeux solved 2023-08-06T22:51:58.432Z
  • lisajay solved 2023-08-07T14:23:26.137Z
  • wowitsme solved 2023-08-07T18:03:31.097Z
  • Kent solved 2023-08-08T03:11:55.495Z
  • frostyjhammer solved 2023-08-09T04:18:30.760Z
  • dooiemus solved 2023-08-16T20:13:59.205Z
  • kurtalert solved 2023-08-22T19:20:17.315Z
  • zombie solved 2023-08-25T22:29:47.145Z
  • FrankieHeck solved 2023-08-29T18:40:53.115Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2023-11-17T14:09:17.920Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2023-12-07T19:56:00.064Z
  • Darrell solved 2023-12-10T15:08:53.461Z
  • Flora Wynn solved 2024-01-20T04:33:26.666Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-04-30T20:32:51.567Z
  • rjy solved 2024-05-02T13:34:39.058Z
  • Laura M solved 2024-05-03T22:24:29.444Z
  • Qmark solved 2024-05-07T21:21:05.211Z
  • Berto solved 2024-05-13T08:38:40.459Z
  • Avlan solved 2024-06-02T04:08:40.801Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-07-22T21:08:24.806Z
  • Serafin solved 2024-11-08T16:40:03.144Z

Comments

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  • Philip Chow constructor · 2023-08-05T10:34:05.496Z
    The theme of the puzzle is PCs which is smack dab in the center at 37A... there are 9 two-word entries that follow the letter pattern P+C... so we just need to comb through the list of crossword constructors until we find the name that fits that pattern.
    I'm curious for the other constructors out there, have you ever toyed around with or made your own vanity puzzle with your own initials? Is that something all constructors do, or am I just that vain? Note the title is a play on a Carly Simon song. And 10-Down was added just because I wanted to spam this site with more Peanut pics.
    • Capn Rick 8:55 · 2023-08-05T11:39:54.319Z
      Nicely done, Philip! I've never used my initials in a puzzle, but you may have given me an idea. 😁
      • Sendhil Revuluri 🤓4:00 · 2023-08-05T20:55:34.932Z
        Nice! (I noticed a minor typo in the clue for 1A, and the clue and answer for 45D seem to not quite agree.)
        • Philip Chow constructor · 2023-08-05T22:10:51.848Z
          Thank you! Correcting the clues now - much appreciated
        • damefox 🤓4:33 · 2023-08-06T16:41:13.305Z
          (There was supposed to be a smiley face at the end of that last post? Why did typing : D (but without the space between them) break things? That didn't used to be an issue. Or maybe it only looks weird to me? Mike please help.)
          • Philip Chow constructor · 2023-08-06T19:13:45.156Z
            hmmmmm colon + D and colon + P disappears for me as well! but colon + closed parenthesis is working just fine... maybe it's a formatting/programming issue no idea
          • damefox 🤓4:33 · 2023-08-06T16:39:07.518Z
            Nice puzzle! I've never used my initials for a meta, but I am a fan of this particular mechanism. See here: https://crosshare.org/crosswords/x5L9Yguzwt1DhtKHm2qX/initial-forecast. (And listen to Outside the Blocks episode #8 to hear me and Will discussing that puzzle :D)
            • Philip Chow constructor · 2023-08-06T19:12:31.735Z
              i listened to it! polar vortex very nice... yes, it's a mechanism that can be reused many times :)
            • Qmark 9s · 2024-05-07T21:22:18.384Z
              Thanks PC! (No hints needed) I enjoyed scrolling through the xword constructor "baseball cards"
              Play today's daily mini crossword
              1A
              Someone who does way too much for a person they like who does not reciprocate the same feelings, in modern slang ("I hope senpai will notice me 🥺")
              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
              Across
              1. 1A
                Someone who does way too much for a person they like who does not reciprocate the same feelings, in modern slang ("I hope senpai will notice me 🥺")
              2. 5A
                Completely convinced
              3. 9A
                October birthstone
              4. 13A
                Joe who played the thief Harry in "Home Alone"
              5. 14A
                Two of a kind
              6. 15A
                Protaganist ___ Vishwakumar of "Never Have I Ever" (anagram of 64-Across)
              7. 16A
                Volunteer group created by JFK in 1961
              8. 18A
                Raison d'___ (reason for being)
              9. 19A
                Potato dumplings from Italy
              10. 20A
                Letters on a sunscreen bottle
              11. 22A
                A smoker might bum one, for short
              12. 23A
                "Save me!"
              13. 25A
                Repeated cry in Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot"
              14. 27A
                Beer pong needs
              15. 30A
                They decide your fate, in a courtroom
              16. 32A
                Tik___ (Popular video-sharing app)
              17. 33A
                Code in which many webpages are written: Abbr.
              18. 36A
                Scrub, as a space mission
              19. 37A
                Mac alternatives
              20. 38A
                Kind of juice with a laxative effect
              21. 39A
                An image, video, piece of text, typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations
              22. 40A
                Ban
              23. 41A
                Wetlands and tundra, for example
              24. 42A
                French Post-Impressionist artist who painted "The Card Players"
              25. 45A
                The letters they give for free in the bonus round on "Wheel of Fortune"
              26. 47A
                As ___ as an owl
              27. 48A
                Checkout-counter scan: Abbr.
              28. 49A
                "Yikes!"
              29. 51A
                It may be sent unsolicitedly
              30. 56A
                What Buffy would do to a vampire
              31. 58A
                Rum, coconut milk, and pineapple juice cocktail
              32. 60A
                Purple ice cream flavor (popular in China and Thailand)
              33. 61A
                McGregor of "Big Fish"
              34. 62A
                More recent
              35. 63A
                Plant part
              36. 64A
                Plunge into a pool
              37. 65A
                "Electric" fish
              Down
              1. 1D
                "I feel ___ and heard!" ("yay senpai noticed me! 😊")
              2. 2D
                Japanese World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki
              3. 3D
                Year Dante's "Divine Comedy" takes place (in Roman Numerals)
              4. 4D
                Graphic in a business report
              5. 5D
                "O sweet Fancy! let her loose; Summer's joys are ___ by use": Keats
              6. 6D
                Rowboat need
              7. 7D
                Loose ones sink ships, in a saying
              8. 8D
                Best-selling pediatrician/author of "Baby and Child Care" (not to be confused with the "live long and prosper Star Trek" character)
              9. 9D
                Beethoven's "___ to Joy"
              10. 10D
                The Pikachu outfit that Peanut is wearing in this puzzle's cover image, for example [press pause to view]
              11. 11D
                "Complicated" singer Lavigne
              12. 12D
                Feudal lord
              13. 13D
                NBA scoring stat (Michael Jordan's was 30.12, highest in NBA history)
              14. 17D
                Game I suck at because I sacrifice all my pawns without thinking ahead
              15. 21D
                Seasonal bug
              16. 24D
                Drag race assistants (super quick NASCAR tire-changers or the scantilly-clad men on RuPaul's show)
              17. 26D
                Nora who wrote "When Harry Met Sally..."
              18. 27D
                What you hope to receive at a hospital but rarely get
              19. 28D
                "Because you're worth it" cosmetics company
              20. 29D
                Prefix for "play," at Comic-Con
              21. 30D
                It's thicker than jelly
              22. 31D
                Purple ice cream flavor (popular in the Philippines)
              23. 34D
                Prefix for "memory" as seen in "___monoic device"
              24. 35D
                "___ Misérables"
              25. 37D
                ___-Man (classic arcade game)
              26. 38D
                Christmas wreath adornment
              27. 40D
                Censored, in a way
              28. 41D
                Easy to understand
              29. 43D
                "Ceci n'est pas ___ pipe" (Magritte caption)
              30. 44D
                French soccer legend Zinedine who is highly regarded despite his infamous headbutting incident
              31. 45D
                Oxidizes, in a way
              32. 46D
                Pie-in-the-face sound
              33. 50D
                Fruit with a fuzzy skin
              34. 52D
                Swiss-German abstractionist who said "A drawing is simply a line going for a walk"
              35. 53D
                Ratcheting wheel mechanism
              36. 54D
                "Beware the ___ of March"
              37. 55D
                Chevy Impala, for one
              38. 57D
                ___ Kippur (Jewish holiday)
              39. 59D
                ___ system (GPS device)
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