Game Changers
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Game Changers

◆ · By Cory Calhoun

Meta Prompt
Hint: One answer in the completed grid is also the meta answer. Which one is it?
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  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-11-30T11:15:56.367Z

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  • Hector 🤓6:32 · 2024-11-28T03:39:09.447Z
    Couldn't get this one. No complaint, I like to see challenging metas! Care to explain the mechanism?
    • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-11-28T04:48:41.110Z
      The meta answer is TAPIR, a long-snouted mammal with fur that acts as camouflage, and the answer to 5-Down. 5 other grid answers are hosts or judges of TV game/competition shows (recall the puzzle's title, "Game Changers"). Their last names intersect with answers CPR, TAC, AIR, TEAR, and STY. Remove the last names, and the remaining letters of the intersecting answers are the initials of the shows those 5 hosts and judges are on:
      CPR minus the C in "GARCIA" = _PR (for Project Runway)
      TAC minus the A in "LAKSHMI" = T_C (for Top Chef)
      AIR minus the R in "SEACREST" = AI_ (for American Idol)
      TEAR minus the E in "KEOGHAN" = T_AR (for The Amazing Race)
      STY minus the Y in "OLEARY" = ST_ (for Shark Tank)
      The letters at the 5 intersections spell CAREY, as in Drew Carey, host of another game show, The Price is Right. What's formed by intersecting CAREY with his show's abbreviation, TPIR? It's TAPIR (5-Down), a game animal that hides in plain sight, and the meta answer that satisfies the puzzle's hint.
      • Hector 🤓6:32 · 2024-11-28T16:58:10.032Z
        Thanks. LOL I'm so out of it culturally that I didn't know a single one of these host/show pairs. Happy Thanksgiving!
        • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-11-28T20:43:45.072Z
          Fair enough... and to be totally honest, I've only ever watched "The Amazing Race" and "The Price Is Right." I had to look up all the host's names, and I made this assuming more people watched those shows than I do (ha!)
    • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-11-28T02:33:00.341Z
      The meta answer is TAPIR, a long-snouted mammal with fur that acts as camouflage, and the answer to 5-Down.
      5 other grid answers are hosts or judges of TV game/competition shows (recall the puzzle's title, "Game Changers"). Their last names intersect with answers CPR, TAC, AIR, TEAR, and STY. Remove the last names, and the remaining letters of the intersecting answers are the initials of the shows those 5 hosts and judges are on:
      CPR minus the C in "GARCIA" = _PR (for Project Runway)
      TAC minus the A in "LAKSHMI" = T_C (for Top Chef)
      AIR minus the R in "SEACREST" = AI_ (for American Idol)
      TEAR minus the E in "KEOGHAN" = T_AR (for The Amazing Race)
      STY minus the Y in "OLEARY" = ST_ (for Shark Tank)
      The letters at the 5 intersections spell CAREY, as in Drew Carey, host of another game show, The Price is Right. What's formed by intersecting CAREY with his show's abbreviation, TPIR? It's TAPIR (5-Down), a game animal that hides in plain sight, and the meta answer that satisfies the puzzle's hint.
      • Abide 🤓19:44 · 2024-11-29T21:54:22.830Z
        I had to hit “reveal” but this is a cool mechanism. You should add the alternate answer of just TAPIR since another solver said they couldn’t enter the answer.
        • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-11-30T00:07:01.621Z
          Thanks for the feedback, I'll change to just TAPIR as the answer to enter!
        • Pair O Ducks 🤓5:16 · 2024-11-29T22:29:24.202Z
          Super cool puzzle! If you notice I tried a lot of entries, it's because after TAPIR didn't work I tried tapir (lowercase), RAG (the crossing), CAREY, DREW CAREY, and a bunch of other similar things 😂. Never would have thought to include the clue number until another solver told me that was what to do. Really loved this one, nonetheless!
          • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-11-30T00:07:11.884Z
            Thanks for the feedback, I'll change to just TAPIR as the answer to enter!
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          1A
          Whoopie cushion, e.g.
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          Across
          1. 1A
            Whoopie cushion, e.g.
          2. 4A
            Did incredibly well, in TikTok slang
          3. 7A
            ___ firma
          4. 12A
            See 50-Across
          5. 13A
            Harp (on)
          6. 14A
            Gaze upon intently
          7. 16A
            "Winnie-the-Pooh" tyke
          8. 17A
            It's higher on the hwy.
          9. 18A
            Top Chef host Padma
          10. 19A
            E.M.T.'s skill
          11. 20A
            Elton John, e.g.
          12. 21A
            Term for one with little or no sexual desire
          13. 22A
            "C'___ la vie!"
          14. 23A
            "Will you just let ___?"
          15. 25A
            Looking up
          16. 27A
            She and Ethan are parents to Maya
          17. 29A
            Give ___ of approval (greenlight)
          18. 31A
            Floral garland
          19. 32A
            Benefits
          20. 35A
            Tom of Spider-Man: No Way Home
          21. 38A
            "Like, yesterday!"
          22. 39A
            Dyson or Dirt Devil, e.g.
          23. 42A
            Like many modern movie FX, briefly
          24. 43A
            ___ G (Sacha Baron Cohen character)
          25. 44A
            Guadalajara gold
          26. 45A
            Cause of inflation?
          27. 47A
            Hole in one's shoe
          28. 50A
            With 12-Across, tart citrus drink
          29. 52A
            Like a super-simple process
          30. 54A
            Buccaneers' home
          31. 56A
            Q: What comes after?
          32. 57A
            Bean variety
          33. 61A
            Canola or olive, e.g.
          34. 62A
            2002 Winter Olympics locale
          35. 64A
            Heating device
          36. 65A
            "___ be my pleasure"
          37. 67A
            Fourth-to-last Greek letter
          38. 69A
            Nomination, in showbiz speak
          39. 71A
            Diamonds or meth, slangily
          40. 72A
            The Amazing Race host Phil
          41. 74A
            As yet unpaid
          42. 75A
            Punk subgenre that peaked in the 90s
          43. 76A
            Wildlife IDs
          44. 77A
            "What's the ___?"
          45. 78A
            Always, poetically
          46. 79A
            Geometry calculations
          47. 80A
            Part of 17-Across
          48. 81A
            Farm pen
          Down
          1. 1D
            Project Runway co-host Nina
          2. 2D
            Embraces
          3. 3D
            "Curious" monkey of kids' fiction
          4. 4D
            Treaty subject
          5. 5D
            Endangered long-snouted mammal
          6. 6D
            Chinese appetizer
          7. 7D
            Start, as a new hobby
          8. 8D
            Triage sites, briefly
          9. 9D
            When practice hopefully makes perfect?
          10. 10D
            NFL team that moved to LA in 1946
          11. 11D
            Battling
          12. 14D
            Doing incredibly well, in TikTok slang
          13. 15D
            Middle X of X-X-X
          14. 24D
            Where a 31-Across may be worn
          15. 26D
            American Idol host Ryan
          16. 28D
            "Give ___ break!"
          17. 30D
            Baseball legend Gehrig
          18. 33D
            Leafy cabbagelike vegetable
          19. 34D
            Kind of curl
          20. 36D
            "Too funny!" in texts
          21. 37D
            Word before "Coke" or "Dr. Pepper"
          22. 39D
            Appropriately named electric Chevy
          23. 40D
            Diva's solo
          24. 41D
            Yacht club leader (or an old Apple)
          25. 46D
            Laid to waste
          26. 48D
            "Uh-huh"
          27. 49D
            "Beowulf," for one
          28. 51D
            Prefix with center, cycle, or pen
          29. 53D
            Like live comedy
          30. 55D
            Pack protectors, perhaps
          31. 58D
            Snap, crackle, and pop, for three
          32. 59D
            Citation
          33. 60D
            Shark Tank judge Kevin
          34. 63D
            US body of 435
          35. 65D
            Swedish furniture retailer
          36. 66D
            It may be shed
          37. 68D
            Fairy tale villain
          38. 70D
            Bucks
          39. 73D
            Popular car-stealing video game series, briefly
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