CROSSHARE
Print Puzzle
Download .puz File
Account / Settings
Construct a Puzzle
Profile

Garden of Wildflowers

· By Mikey G · Published 2024-05-25T17:00:19.290Z

Meta Prompt
[Level 2] The answer to the meta is a 4-word pun on a title, only changing its first word.
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-05-25T17:26:55.668Z
  • damefox solved 2024-05-25T17:28:01.111Z
  • Philip Chow solved 2024-05-25T17:29:53.256Z
  • KayW solved 2024-05-25T17:33:24.052Z
  • FrankieHeck solved 2024-05-25T18:00:16.487Z
  • Tom Wilson solved 2024-05-25T18:08:25.524Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-05-25T18:21:39.996Z
  • boharr solved 2024-05-25T18:32:50.539Z
  • Meg solved 2024-05-25T18:46:41.569Z
  • oldjudge solved 2024-05-25T18:52:38.252Z
  • andeux solved 2024-05-25T19:04:19.682Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2024-05-25T19:44:39.118Z
  • markhr solved 2024-05-25T20:27:54.228Z
  • kurtalert solved 2024-05-25T20:31:23.979Z
  • Abide solved 2024-05-25T20:36:58.144Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-05-25T22:37:49.331Z
  • SJMcK solved 2024-05-25T23:15:44.780Z
  • Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-05-25T23:26:40.019Z
  • frostyjhammer solved 2024-05-26T00:28:57.238Z
  • BrennerTJ solved 2024-05-26T00:31:32.490Z
  • Qmark solved 2024-05-26T01:37:26.764Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-05-26T02:40:01.417Z
  • DIS solved 2024-05-26T02:44:36.972Z
  • Darth solved 2024-05-26T03:33:05.268Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-05-26T04:57:42.261Z
  • DJB solved 2024-05-26T05:02:15.821Z
  • Berto solved 2024-05-26T11:04:50.895Z
  • Tane solved 2024-05-26T12:56:27.367Z
  • Alex Sisti solved 2024-05-26T14:34:16.086Z
  • Joe solved 2024-05-26T15:17:34.003Z
  • woozy solved 2024-05-26T15:32:18.998Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-05-26T15:46:31.911Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2024-05-26T15:50:56.726Z
  • Schmeel solved 2024-05-26T19:06:57.094Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2024-05-26T20:49:23.339Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2024-05-26T21:37:45.068Z
  • BarbaraK solved 2024-05-26T22:38:43.397Z
  • Toast solved 2024-05-26T22:47:05.386Z
  • Bird Lives solved 2024-05-26T22:57:12.845Z
  • ELSavage solved 2024-05-27T03:42:34.082Z
  • Dow Jones solved 2024-05-27T06:14:33.023Z
  • Salty solved 2024-05-27T15:58:52.626Z
  • Hector solved 2024-05-27T16:08:44.425Z
  • JM solved 2024-05-27T20:06:35.520Z
  • Tyrpmom solved 2024-05-27T21:46:09.828Z
  • DrTom solved 2024-05-27T22:38:09.603Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-05-28T18:27:44.928Z
  • Steve M solved 2024-05-29T00:48:53.354Z
  • omnilynx solved 2024-05-29T16:22:31.751Z
  • Meta World Peace solved 2024-05-31T23:06:57.730Z
  • rjy solved 2024-06-01T12:01:25.975Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2024-06-01T13:46:16.596Z
  • syoustra solved 2024-06-01T14:28:33.840Z
  • Alvibu67 solved 2024-06-01T21:58:27.421Z
  • Laura M solved 2024-06-03T00:06:43.779Z

Comments

Sign in with google to leave a comment of your own:

  • Philip Chow 🤓8:54 · 2024-05-25T17:34:27.992Z
    cute puzzle... still trying to backsolve the U... another splendid mikey g puzzle... love all the long downs... it's nice when non-meta entries get a chance to really shine... you may tell the hippie gardener i dug it... sad to have had to resort to an anagram generator for 2 of the 8
    • Mikey G constructor · 2024-05-25T20:54:09.896Z
      The "U" one does not come up, sadly, in a standard anagram generator, and I checked! You might have to backsolve for that one! Starts with UR- if you want to play around with it and try to find it just for fun! Glad you can still "dig" it!
    • KayW 🤓9:16 · 2024-05-25T17:37:22.682Z
      Bravo, Mikey! You really ROSE to the occasion on this one. Loved the cluing as always. URSINIA was the hardest to find but at a certain point I knew I needed a U and that helped.
      • Mikey G constructor · 2024-05-25T20:58:13.484Z
        Thanks, Kay! Iris you well on your solving journeys!
      • MatthewL 🤓9:16 · 2024-05-25T18:25:12.439Z
        Fun one, Mikey! Thank goodness for flower lists and anagram solvers.
        • Mikey G constructor · 2024-05-25T20:52:23.465Z
          Seriously, haha. I expect many will need those!!
        • boharr 3s · 2024-05-25T18:34:52.509Z
          Nice one. Thanks, Mikey.
          • kurtalert 🤓8:36 · 2024-05-25T20:32:38.438Z
            Never got AIRUINS sorted, but MLCHADO was close enough to get me there. Thanks, Mikey.
            • Abide 🤓16:37 · 2024-05-25T20:58:45.935Z
              A Pre-Summer’s Day Dream!
              • Mikey G constructor · 2024-05-26T04:31:53.925Z
                Pucky guess!
              • frostyjhammer 🤓9:49 · 2024-05-26T00:30:47.739Z
                I thought an "Una Iris" was a thing. Better to be lucky than to be smart, right?
                • Mikey G constructor · 2024-05-26T04:32:14.771Z
                  I certainly approve!!
                • Mikey G constructor · 2024-05-25T17:00:19.290Z
                  Answer: MULCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
                  Explanation: The 8 silly themers going across anagram to a one-word name of a flower: MARIGOLD, URSINIA, LAVENDER, CAMELLIA, HYACINTH, ACANTHUS, DAFFODIL, OLEANDER. Their initial letters spell MULCH ADO (har har), a nod to the Shakespearean play whose full 4-word title (with initial word punned) - MULCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING - becomes the answer to our meta. Let the Shakespearean puns below commence!
                  • Qmark 3s · 2024-05-26T01:37:53.072Z
                    Fun one...thanks Mikey!
                    • whimsy 19:17 · 2024-05-26T02:44:15.166Z
                      Li lac this one a lot! Thanks, Mikey!
                      • Darth 18:02 · 2024-05-26T03:37:41.039Z
                        A sore by any other name would smell as sweet. Thanks, Mikey!
                        • woozy 14:59 · 2024-05-26T15:37:57.326Z
                          Ah. I misunderstood the prompt. I thought you meant a pun on the puzzles title so "(pun on garden) of wildflowers". I got MULCH ADO and figured as it didn't anagram it was a jokey clue to an anagram of a flower and the flower would be the play. It was frustrating as I without cross clues I really couldn't figure what the jokey answer to "Mulch Ado" (not to mention there was no answer). Then I muttered "Mulch Ado" aloud and... that was that.
                          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-05-28T04:17:51.718Z
                            Ohhh. Yeah, I didn't anticipate that rabbit hole, I see what you mean!
                          • HeadinHome 🤓8:23 · 2024-05-26T21:48:25.513Z
                            Another who just skipped the U flower and got it anyway. At first I totally missed seeing some of the questions marks in the clues and had only marigold, lavendar, hyacynth, and daffodil for the longest time, so I figured I just had to wrack my brain to pun up a title. (Thinking the four letters would acrostic to a famous title… MLHD? Nope.)
                            This whole thing made me think of Keeping up Appearances .. the character Hyacynth and her sisters Violet and Rose. 🤣
                            • Mikey G constructor · 2024-05-28T04:18:30.848Z
                              Trust me, if I were solving this, I would've skipped the "U"! 🤣
                            • Bird Lives 17s · 2024-05-26T22:59:25.991Z
                              Every time I see the name of the Brazilian writer Machado de Assis, I think: what if he were alive and writing a televesion sit com like "Seinfeld." It would be Machado about nothing.
                              • DrTom 3s · 2024-05-27T22:44:39.501Z
                                But I mean he is already so famous, wasn't he the inspiration for that Gilbert and Sullivan opera?
                              • ELSavage 🤓12:31 · 2024-05-27T03:56:00.477Z
                                Let out a big groan when I finally got the last piece in place (Ursinia, of course!) I'm pretty good at anagrams, but not as well-versed on flowers. Had to google a few variations on that last one before I hit the right combination.
                                • DrTom 3s · 2024-05-27T22:43:06.578Z
                                  Well I had a terrible time because I did not know URSINIA and apparently neither did "Anagram Solver", but when I got MLCH ADO, and knowing the source of the puzzle I knew it had to be about something, or in this case about nothing. Fun solve.
                                  • Steve M 4s · 2024-05-29T00:58:16.488Z
                                    I initially didn’t use an anagram solver and couldn’t find any flowers! They were well hidden! Anagram solver gave me MARIGOLD, and the rest followed (except for URSINIA). Fun puzzle!
                                    • omnilynx 🤓13:03 · 2024-05-29T16:27:36.781Z
                                      I got stuck for a long time on TUNACASH thinking I was supposed to substitute "fi" for "ca" somehow. But after not finding anything similar on the other themed answers I finally went back to the title and realized what the "wild" hint meant.
                                      • Meta World Peace 4s · 2024-05-31T23:18:21.616Z
                                        Interesting that Merriam-Webster won't commit to an etymology for mulch, leaving it at "perhaps irregular from English dialect melch (soft, mild)." And fitting that the difficulty this week was... melch!
                                        1A
                                        Prefix with "center"
                                        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
                                        66
                                        67
                                        68
                                        69
                                        70
                                        71
                                        72
                                        73
                                        74
                                        75
                                        76
                                        77
                                        78
                                        79
                                        80
                                        81
                                        Across
                                        1. 1A
                                          Prefix with "center"
                                        2. 4A
                                          Chip's chipmunk chum
                                        3. 8A
                                          "Did you enter into this treaty?" "I did, as a matter of ___"
                                        4. 12A
                                          Sound heard from the herd (I had a joke here, but it wasn't that amoosing)
                                        5. 13A
                                          Not even close
                                        6. 14A
                                          Reverberate, ate, ate, ate...
                                        7. 15A
                                          Blueprints on where to find the best soil?
                                        8. 17A
                                          Bread often enjoyed with mint raita
                                        9. 18A
                                          "Anna and ___ Frozen Playground" (what an ice Lego set)
                                        10. 19A
                                          Archaeological site manufactured by ChatGPT? (a little obscure, sorry)
                                        11. 21A
                                          Quibble
                                        12. 22A
                                          No. on a business card
                                        13. 23A
                                          Short snoozes (approved by Ginger Cat!)
                                        14. 27A
                                          Decorous
                                        15. 31A
                                          Delivery vehicle that's more along in years?
                                        16. 33A
                                          Without purpose
                                        17. 34A
                                          Card game
                                        18. 35A
                                          Assert that the hoppy brew the bartender just poured is yours?
                                        19. 37A
                                          Stick studied in knight school
                                        20. 40A
                                          Franklin who originally sang "Piece of My Heart"
                                        21. 41A
                                          Paragons
                                        22. 43A
                                          Puppies and kittens, likely
                                        23. 47A
                                          Second starter
                                        24. 49A
                                          Dish with a lot of culture
                                        25. 50A
                                          Clue to where you're sore after working out?
                                        26. 54A
                                          Give in to gravity
                                        27. 55A
                                          ___ tape
                                        28. 56A
                                          Money needed to spend to fill a certain sushi roll?
                                        29. 59A
                                          Object
                                        30. 61A
                                          Flashing lights
                                        31. 62A
                                          Lower, as lights
                                        32. 64A
                                          Buying the wrong type of hair product is an ___ conditioner
                                        33. 65A
                                          A polite tip of the hat by a famed surrealist?
                                        34. 70A
                                          "___ Flux" (Charlize Theron film)
                                        35. 73A
                                          "___ of you, no more puns!"
                                        36. 74A
                                          How to start a letter to Carson's successor?
                                        37. 76A
                                          Kind of skirt
                                        38. 77A
                                          Italian hot spot
                                        39. 78A
                                          A British inn at the end of the alphabet is a ___ and breakfast
                                        40. 79A
                                          Pierre's South Dakota, e.g.
                                        41. 80A
                                          Jam ___
                                        42. 81A
                                          Sigmoid shape
                                        Down
                                        1. 1D
                                          Magazine that was the answer to my 50th meta (think Roman numerals!)
                                        2. 2D
                                          Place for a butterfly, perhaps?
                                        3. 3D
                                          "Um, still speaking here!"
                                        4. 4D
                                          Sirius...or Toto!
                                        5. 5D
                                          National Humor mo. (I wasn't invited)
                                        6. 6D
                                          Luke's sister
                                        7. 7D
                                          Split up
                                        8. 8D
                                          Like Y, per the alphabet
                                        9. 9D
                                          What a berry good antioxidant
                                        10. 10D
                                          "The School for Good Mothers" author Jessamine
                                        11. 11D
                                          "Sixteen ___" (Tennessee Ernie Ford song I sometimes play on the way to work)
                                        12. 16D
                                          Exporting lobsters is the ___ event!
                                        13. 20D
                                          In medias ___ ("in the middle of things")
                                        14. 23D
                                          Snack for a string quartet member: peanut butter and ___
                                        15. 24D
                                          "Get ___ of this!" (cry on laundry day)
                                        16. 25D
                                          Pipe type
                                        17. 26D
                                          Yard ___ ("You're auctioning off your yard?")
                                        18. 28D
                                          Palindromic language
                                        19. 29D
                                          First word in the title of the "Friends" theme song
                                        20. 30D
                                          Go platinum?
                                        21. 32D
                                          DEA agent
                                        22. 36D
                                          "Hey, it's my turn!"
                                        23. 38D
                                          Question posed by a hippie gardener? (Not meta-related!)
                                        24. 39D
                                          Biblical valley that spells a synonym for "robust" in reverse
                                        25. 42D
                                          If you're in one, I might get a tizzy signal
                                        26. 44D
                                          "Is the test on zephyrs easy?" "Oh, ___!"
                                        27. 45D
                                          Expunge
                                        28. 46D
                                          The annoyed cobbler utters his shoe ___
                                        29. 48D
                                          Encumbrance
                                        30. 50D
                                          Do sum thing
                                        31. 51D
                                          Epcot center?
                                        32. 52D
                                          "Let me see here..."
                                        33. 53D
                                          Frequent Wile E. Coyote purchase
                                        34. 57D
                                          Verb sometimes abbreviated by its middle letter in texting
                                        35. 58D
                                          "You're visiting the reef today?" "Yeah, I'm here for ___ support"
                                        36. 60D
                                          Expunge
                                        37. 63D
                                          Some statistical values
                                        38. 65D
                                          Outside the U.S. Mint, visitors stop on a ___
                                        39. 66D
                                          Somewhat
                                        40. 67D
                                          "Stormy Weather" chanteuse Horne
                                        41. 68D
                                          "You going to the big bash?" "___ chance!"
                                        42. 69D
                                          Ballpark figures?
                                        43. 71D
                                          Aces, on occasion
                                        44. 72D
                                          Acknowledges tacitly
                                        45. 75D
                                          "Yay team!"
                                        Loading...