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.
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!)
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.
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.
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!