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PCC#37 "Peel Back the Onion"

◆ · By Philip Chow · Published 2024-06-29T20:04:01.314Z

Meta Prompt
[Level 5] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta is a girl's name that is 6 letters long
Hint #1: several clues are hinting at hurricanes - focus particularly on the clue for 42A
Hint #2: there are 7 retired hurricane names that begin with the letter i hidden in the grid
Hint #3: these 7 hurricanes are found in the grid with an additional first letter attached to it... what should we do with this extra letter?
Hint #4: 26D alludes to alliteration
Hint #5: all 26 letters are represented in the clues in terms of alliteration... locate the 7 examples that we need that correspond to the extra letter you extracted
Hint #6: arrange the hurricanes in chronological order
Hint #7: the seven letter word that you end up with is a vegetable variety... apply the title of the puzzle to get a six letter name
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • kurtalert solved 2024-06-29T20:35:56.390Z
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Comments

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  • Philip Chow constructor · 2024-06-29T20:19:50.019Z
    Answer: IDALIA
    Explanation: There are seven retired hurricane names in the grid that begin with the letter i... In chronological order they are: IVAN (2004), IKE (2008), IGOR (2010), IRENE (2011), IRMA (2017) , IDA (2021), IAN (2022)... there is an extra letter in front of these to make: DIVAN, HIKE, VIGOR, SIRENE, FIRMA, AIDA, XIAN... all 26 letters are represented in terms of alliteration in the clues... locate the 7 alliterative clues for D, H, V, S, F, A, X which clues these entries: VEINY, IDEA, DULL, AROMA, LEVEES, IMUP, AMOY... the first letters of these entries gives us VIDALIA which is an onion... If we "peel back the onion" and take away the first letter, we get IDALIA, which was a 2023 hurricane but the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) decided against retiring its name... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Idalia
    June 27 is national onion day... outback steakhouse is celebrating with a free bloomin' onion appetizer: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/06/28/outback-steakhouse-free-bloomin-onion/74240333007/
    • kurtalert 🤓4:29 · 2024-06-29T20:36:09.275Z
      Fun one, thanks Philip!
      • Pair O Ducks 🤓4:07 · 2024-06-29T21:26:18.265Z
        Nice one! I missed the chronological order at first... knew there had to be more to it than just an anagram. Nice touch putting the whole alphabet cipher in there!
        • lbray53 2s · 2024-06-29T23:08:22.685Z
          I missed the chronological part. And then was stuck on VIDALIA as the answer since we are grilling one for dinner tomorrow. I needed all the hints plus reading the solution again to figure out how it worked. Impressive stuff but a level 10 for me.
          • DrTom 12:32 · 2024-06-29T23:14:19.706Z
            I had forgotten about testin gthis one so it was a challenge all over again. I remembered the storms (which you hinted to) but then not what to do after that. Then the alliteration caught my eye and I wrote those letters down. I live pretty close to Vidalia Georgia (and love their product of course) but I had forgotten about Idalia because it did not come near Jacksonville (Thank goodness). It is not listed in the retired hurricane database that I looked at so I was tentative, but hey it HAD to be that. Very ambitious and challenging puzzle Phil!!!
            • Qmark 3s · 2024-06-30T01:48:37.013Z
              super meta, Phil! (needed several hints)
              • Darth 🤓11:53 · 2024-07-06T15:19:42.596Z
                Amazing construction. Wow!... Just wow! :O
                Play today's daily mini crossword
                1A
                Web pages with helpful info for newbies: Abbr.
                1
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                36
                37
                38
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                41
                42
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                60
                61
                62
                63
                64
                65
                66
                67
                68
                69
                Across
                1. 1A
                  Web pages with helpful info for newbies: Abbr.
                2. 5A
                  Parlor piece
                3. 10A
                  Kitschy knockoff
                4. 14A
                  "Already awake!"
                5. 15A
                  Words before a date on a perishable product
                6. 16A
                  Xiaoping's Xiamen
                7. 17A
                  Org. that certifies albums as gold or platinum (and anagram of an operatic solo)
                8. 18A
                  Most populous city in Nigeria
                9. 19A
                  Yeast yield
                10. 20A
                  Kind of health that includes your emotional, psychological, and social well-being
                11. 22A
                  Gentle grazer
                12. 24A
                  Up and about
                13. 25A
                  Compass direction opposite SSW
                14. 27A
                  Exit the premises
                15. 31A
                  Writer of the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare"
                16. 33A
                  Offshore drilling platform
                17. 34A
                  Norse chieftain, or ___sberg cheese named after a Norwegian nobleman
                18. 37A
                  Arrangement of events in the order of their occurrence
                19. 39A
                  Language suffix with "Japan" or "Vietnam"
                20. 40A
                  What may be worn on the head during a stormy day
                21. 41A
                  Janitorial job
                22. 42A
                  Hurricane center? (and the start of the most retired hurricane names)
                23. 44A
                  Lisa's brother in "The Simpsons"
                24. 45A
                  Fortified floodwalls
                25. 46A
                  "For better or for ___"
                26. 48A
                  Hypercreative hunches
                27. 49A
                  PC port into which you can insert a thumb drive
                28. 50A
                  Michelangelo sculpture that caused controversy at a Florida charter school after a parent complained an art lesson showcased a "pornographic" statue
                29. 54A
                  "___, far, wherever you are..." (words sung by Celine Dion in "My Heart Will Go On")
                30. 56A
                  Crumbly Bulgarian cheese similar to feta
                31. 57A
                  Treats, thoughtfully
                32. 60A
                  Spanish resort island
                33. 63A
                  Wilderness walk
                34. 64A
                  Classic cookie
                35. 65A
                  Copenhagen natives
                36. 66A
                  E pluribus ___ (out of many, one)
                37. 67A
                  Chinese city known for its terra-cotta warriors
                38. 68A
                  Auntie ___ (pretzel chain)
                39. 69A
                  Swindles, in politically incorrect slang
                Down
                1. 1D
                  Terra ___ (solid ground)
                2. 2D
                  French girlfriends
                3. 3D
                  Miniskirt's Mary
                4. 4D
                  Having three dimensions
                5. 5D
                  Vapidly vanilla
                6. 6D
                  "A mind ___ terrible thing to waste"
                7. 7D
                  Unceremoniously unwind
                8. 8D
                  Respectful residence
                9. 9D
                  Wall St. initials
                10. 10D
                  "The Banshees of Inisherin" actor Colin (not to be confused with "Anchorman" actor Will whose last name is spelled with an E instead of an A)
                11. 11D
                  "What ___, chopped liver?"
                12. 12D
                  Boxing bout-enders
                13. 13D
                  Hurricane center
                14. 21D
                  "___ we there yet?" (whining from the backseat)
                15. 23D
                  "The Waste Land" poet T.S. ___
                16. 25D
                  Like a pitcher's perfect game
                17. 26D
                  Alliterative domain where you might read up on breaking stories (such as the latest catastrophic hurricane)
                18. 28D
                  Sweet smell
                19. 29D
                  Enthusiastic energy
                20. 30D
                  Zagazig zone
                21. 32D
                  Sings jazz riffs like Ella Fitzgerald
                22. 33D
                  Sign at a broadcasting station
                23. 34D
                  Martial arts star in "The Forbidden Kingdom" whose first name is a speedy plane
                24. 35D
                  Tapped, as a cigarette butt
                25. 36D
                  Actor Christopher of "Superman"
                26. 38D
                  Laura's cry on "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
                27. 40D
                  Peanut butter cup namesake
                28. 43D
                  Uses for support while standing
                29. 44D
                  Strong and squeezing embrace
                30. 47D
                  Reagan's "Star Wars" program acronym in which the "I" stands for "Initiative"
                31. 49D
                  Opposite of rural
                32. 51D
                  Densely dentritic
                33. 52D
                  Finalize, as a tattoo
                34. 53D
                  Judges to be
                35. 55D
                  Old opera
                36. 56D
                  Impudent impertinence
                37. 57D
                  Chicken ___ (itchy ailment)
                38. 58D
                  The Diamondbacks, on scoreboards
                39. 59D
                  Not nay
                40. 61D
                  Quaint quarters
                41. 62D
                  Last letter
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