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Puzzle #67 "20% Off Select Styles at J.Crew and Kmart" [PCC#1]

■ · By Philip Chow · Published 2023-07-31T03:20:01.418Z

Meta Prompt
[Level 2] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta is the name of my friend whom I wrote this puzzle for (and whose birthday is today, July 31)... happy birthday! (please bear with me... this is my first meta puzzle and I hope it's not too difficult... many thanks to @damefoxwords for test-solving)
Hint #1: The four long entries are not part of the meta. Focus on the title instead: what is 20% expressed as a fraction?
Hint #2: 20% = 1/5... concentrate on the five-letter words... say them out loud... do any of them jump out to you?
Hint #3: The hint at 64-Down is twofold, "gimme five" means you need five words total... and "up top" means you need to take the top letter from these five words (20% off the top)
Hint #4: The five 5-letter words are symmetrically placed... starting with 1-Down
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • damefox solved 2023-07-31T13:03:35.058Z
  • merlinnimue solved 2023-07-31T14:20:35.737Z
  • andeux solved 2023-07-31T18:31:19.466Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2023-08-03T19:00:39.800Z
  • FrankieHeck solved 2023-08-05T17:25:25.078Z
  • Hector solved 2023-08-05T18:19:11.724Z
  • Puzzling Programmer solved 2023-08-21T22:11:51.146Z
  • luposlipophobe solved 2023-08-22T19:53:34.833Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2023-12-07T19:47:17.105Z
  • whimsy solved 2023-12-14T20:13:48.913Z
  • Flora Wynn solved 2024-01-20T02:11:04.357Z
  • Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-04-27T23:05:24.150Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-04-29T17:38:50.361Z
  • rjy solved 2024-05-01T18:30:43.380Z
  • Laura M solved 2024-05-03T21:56:13.173Z
  • Qmark solved 2024-05-05T13:09:48.683Z
  • KayW solved 2024-05-05T19:08:36.308Z
  • Berto solved 2024-05-11T19:00:55.843Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-05-11T20:25:51.555Z
  • Avlan solved 2024-06-02T04:33:22.353Z
  • Serafin solved 2024-11-07T16:36:39.733Z

Comments

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  • Philip Chow constructor · 2023-07-31T03:38:28.525Z
    Now that you know the solution is CINDY, see if you can find where in the puzzle I've hidden her name a second time (again with symmetrically placed entries).
    Base solution: CPLUS + IBEAM + NSYNC + DFLAT + YAXIS = CINDY and full solution + bonus explained here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1yTLB6dvhPr_hsM872rV2eESYJ7a1O98v (SPOILERS IN LINK)
    • damefox 🤓3:31 · 2023-07-31T13:06:01.983Z
      You're welcome! And very cool puzzle - I really like the title. Happy Birthday Cindy!
      • merlinnimue 🤓6:33 · 2023-07-31T14:29:03.435Z
        Great puzzle. I'm always so impressed by the talent you geniuses have and the kindness to use it for others (alas traits I will never have).
        • Philip Chow constructor · 2023-08-01T22:45:24.762Z
          thank you for the kind words :) i'm hardly a genius... and congrats on solving the meta! excluding my test-solver, you'll go down in history as the correct submission to my very first meta (and hopefully more to come!)
        • Brian Callahan 🤓5:11 · 2023-08-01T05:33:36.379Z
          Lovely puzzle. Happy birthday Cindy!
          • FrankieHeck 🤓6:26 · 2023-08-05T17:32:26.335Z
            A belated happy birthday to Cindy! So fun to do a Philip Chow meta! I always have to remind myself to read all entries out loud when I'm stuck on one of these. I read the bonus aspect of your meta on the google drive and yikes...I'm more of a hypothesis person myself. That's almost as bad as a sports meta. Thank you for having an easier path to the solution!
            • Philip Chow constructor · 2023-08-05T22:11:42.115Z
              Thanks Frankie! I finally caught the mega bug… stay tuned for more :)
            • Qmark 5s · 2024-05-05T13:10:49.642Z
              Thanks Phil...no hints needed.
              • KayW 🤓6:42 · 2024-05-05T19:13:33.530Z
                (Getting caught up on your older puzzles now that you've published them, verrry slooowly...) Fun one - and VERY VERY belated, or somewhat early, birthday wishes to Cindy!
                Play today's daily mini crossword
                1A
                Skill practiced on a dummy: Abbr.
                1
                2
                3
                4
                5
                6
                7
                8
                9
                10
                11
                12
                13
                14
                15
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                25
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                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
                70
                71
                72
                Across
                1. 1A
                  Skill practiced on a dummy: Abbr.
                2. 4A
                  Playground fixture that goes up and down
                3. 10A
                  Thing
                4. 14A
                  Kung ___ chicken (Sichuan dish)
                5. 15A
                  Respiratory affliction that Piggy in "Lord of the Flies" and Milhouse from “The Simpsons” suffer from (it ain’t easy being wheezy)
                6. 16A
                  What the M in MP stands for in many a role-playing game, such as "Maple Story"
                7. 17A
                  Magician's illusion
                8. 19A
                  Bottled water brand named after a country
                9. 20A
                  Phrase on a perishable product that I get confused if it's the same thing as expiration date or not
                10. 21A
                  Brings home the bacon
                11. 23A
                  Achieved victory
                12. 24A
                  Passover feasts
                13. 26A
                  "Yes, captain!"
                14. 28A
                  "Chronicles of Narnia" lion
                15. 31A
                  It's sandwiched between Neb. and Okla.
                16. 32A
                  Cappuccino froth
                17. 35A
                  Bouncers check them
                18. 36A
                  "If you ___ you, then we'd all be a bit less we" (Piglet quote from "Winnie-the-Pooh")
                19. 39A
                  Pachelbel's Canon ___
                20. 40A
                  They help break down food
                21. 42A
                  ___ Paulo, Brazil
                22. 43A
                  "___ Horseman" (title character voiced by Will Arnett)
                23. 45A
                  Gaming console for the first "Final Fantasy," for short
                24. 46A
                  "I like big butts and I cannot lie / You other brothers can't ___" (Sir Mix-a Lot's "Baby Got Back" lyrics)
                25. 47A
                  Suffix for a superlative 34-Down
                26. 48A
                  "Separate the wheat from the ___"
                27. 50A
                  Remove the nails from, as a cat
                28. 53A
                  Stroll past
                29. 57A
                  Abbr. after a phone number, on a business card
                30. 58A
                  Try to unearth
                31. 62A
                  Uematsu who is the first full-time Japanese coach in MLB history (for the SF Giants), and whose name sounds like Banks of "America's Next Top Model"
                32. 63A
                  Give off, as light
                33. 65A
                  She plays with whips and chains
                34. 67A
                  "Whip It" rock group
                35. 68A
                  Spanish for "autumns" (which has one unique vowel that occurs three times)
                36. 69A
                  Antioxidant beverage brand that sounds like a farewell
                37. 70A
                  Part of the way down a staircase (perhaps a "meta"physical one with a slope of -5/7)
                38. 71A
                  "As a matter of fact, I do!"
                39. 72A
                  What birthday candles on a cake represent: Abbr.
                Down
                1. 1D
                  2.3, equivalently
                2. 2D
                  Bel ___ (cheese that means "beautiful country" in Italian)
                3. 3D
                  Wandered all over the place
                4. 4D
                  Mythical creatures frolicking with unicorns and centaurs at a wine festival in Disney's "Fantasia"
                5. 5D
                  Spanish pronoun
                6. 6D
                  Bachelor finale?
                7. 7D
                  "Holes" actor LeBeouf with the motivational speech "JUST DO IT"
                8. 8D
                  Omnia vincit ___ (love conquers all)
                9. 9D
                  "If you ___ be my lover, you gotta get with my friends / Make if last forever, friendship never ends" (Spice Girls song lyrics)
                10. 10D
                  "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds" fictional spy org.
                11. 11D
                  Like basketball champ Jeremy Lin and professional poker player Maria Ho
                12. 12D
                  "Have fun!"
                13. 13D
                  State known for lobsters
                14. 18D
                  Skyscraper construction unit
                15. 22D
                  "I'ma Be Me" stand-up comic Wanda
                16. 25D
                  Move sensuously, like Eartha Kitt
                17. 27D
                  Unit of corn
                18. 29D
                  Woodworking tool similar to an ax
                19. 30D
                  "Bye Bye Bye" boy band
                20. 32D
                  Little white lie
                21. 33D
                  Yoko who said "Art is my life and my life is art"
                22. 34D
                  Descriptive word such as beautiful, smart, and extraordinary (all of which describe this puzzle's dedicatee)
                23. 36D
                  "You don't have to tell us what happened"
                24. 37D
                  "All The Beauty And The Bloodshed" photographer Goldin
                25. 38D
                  The only reason I ever really wanted a Happy Meal
                26. 40D
                  Toward the outside, anatomically (anagram of "cadet")
                27. 41D
                  "Not impressed..."
                28. 44D
                  Communication system in which 🤟 means "I love you" and twisting your index finger against your cheek means "candy": Abbr.
                29. 46D
                  Key of Debussy's "Clair de Lune"
                30. 49D
                  What Kyle insultingly calls Cartman in "South Park"
                31. 50D
                  Good ones don't go unpunished, so they say
                32. 51D
                  Darryl Strawberry or David Wright, post-retirement
                33. 52D
                  Black ___ spider
                34. 54D
                  Pink Nintendo puffball that swallows its enemies (that my friend's kids are obsessed with... shout-out to Freya and Iris!)
                35. 55D
                  Kind of patch for Br'er Rabbit
                36. 56D
                  Vertical reference line on a graph
                37. 59D
                  Subculture known for wearing black and heavy eyeliner
                38. 60D
                  Chinese dialect spoken in Fujian (that is one letter off from 8-Down)
                39. 61D
                  Miniscule
                40. 64D
                  "Up ___!" ("gimme five!"... which you will need to do to solve the meta)... and a hint to the where to apply the title's discount
                41. 66D
                  San Francisco's ___ Valley (colloquially dubbed "Stroller Valley" due to the prominence of strollers in the neighborhood)
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