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TEA MASCOT

· Por DrTom · Publicado 2023-11-29T12:30:25.779Z

Meta Prompt
The meta answer is a wild animal
This little meta is something silly that I came up with on a whim. It is probably not more than a level 1, but given that many are working on a real week 4 Matt Gaffney I am sure a more solveable diversion will be appreciated.
The meta answer is a wild animal
I deem this a:
KITTEN
Calico
Persian
Puma
Lion
Thanks to my testers: Cinny, Peter Abide and Whimsy
Apparently this is a kitten but a Lynx kitten and it is a lot more ferocious than it looked to me. I mean I am getting "you call that a kitten" from some good solvers and even other constructors. Therefore maybe a nudge or two are in order? (three more tomorrow if these do not help)
Nudge 1] Everyone is no doubt tired of hearing this phrase, but "The Title, The Title, The Title" say it aloud and fast...what does that sound like?
Nudge 2] OK, now that that's out of the way, how about the theme answers. They are suitably odd and curiously similar, why do you think that is?
Nudge 3] In an almost repeat of Nudge 1, the themers say them aloud and fast...what does that sound like you are stating??
Nudges seem to be helping so here are some more:
Nudge 4] There is often "precious real estate" in a meta. These are clues or answers that will point you toward the solution. I'll state up front that the middle of this puzzle is NOT one of those, but there are two!
Nudge 5] Other "precious" spots are often near the beginning to get you thinking and near the end to verify what you have thought. I particularly like those spots.
Nudge 6] I LOVE to hide nudges or clues in the graphic, and this one is no different. There are two, one very subtle but quite evident, the other you will probably need to enlarge the picture to see.
THE REVEAL
The intent was good; say the title and many would hear TEAM MASCOT instead of TEA MASCOT.
Then the next step was all of the crazy long fills:
BARKSANDPAWS
PARKSANDDRAWS
MARKINGSAWS
HARKINGFLAWS
Not terms that come up in everyday conversation but ALL that sound like ARKANSAS when said aloud.
Therefore, we are looking for the ARKANSAS TEAM MASCOT which happens to be a wild animal, the RAZOZRBACK (and I accepted several variations and species drift). If you needed verification, clue 1A and 70A give it in that 1A clues a razor and 70A clue the back of the neck.
I am sorry if I underestimated it, from here on out I'll get others to rate it or leave it unrated and let you all decide.
For the graphic reveal, please go to:
Comprobando datos de juego anteriores…

Tabla de clasificación (actualizada cada hora)

  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2023-11-29T13:13:47.260Z
  • Hector solved 2023-11-29T14:21:44.714Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2023-11-29T14:47:52.994Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2023-11-29T14:58:08.725Z
  • DCBilly solved 2023-11-29T15:21:27.141Z
  • Tom Wilson solved 2023-11-29T15:53:50.710Z
  • Bird Lives solved 2023-11-29T15:56:40.798Z
  • boharr solved 2023-11-29T16:12:18.355Z
  • lbray53 solved 2023-11-29T16:19:54.551Z
  • Meg solved 2023-11-29T16:48:05.193Z
  • whimsy solved 2023-11-29T16:58:17.071Z
  • kurtalert solved 2023-11-29T16:59:34.178Z
  • Jaclyn solved 2023-11-29T17:07:09.578Z
  • Darth solved 2023-11-29T19:18:10.999Z
  • markhr solved 2023-11-29T20:28:38.510Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2023-11-29T20:32:50.121Z
  • JM solved 2023-11-29T21:26:34.462Z
  • woozy solved 2023-11-29T21:41:02.446Z
  • Gutman solved 2023-11-29T21:44:40.433Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2023-11-29T22:06:25.906Z
  • Laura M solved 2023-11-29T23:27:52.469Z
  • benchen71 solved 2023-11-30T00:07:07.935Z
  • KayW solved 2023-11-30T00:39:01.758Z
  • BarbaraK solved 2023-11-30T03:03:43.829Z
  • Berto solved 2023-11-30T04:05:56.846Z
  • merlinnimue solved 2023-11-30T13:38:26.850Z
  • MatthewL solved 2023-11-30T17:05:45.784Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2023-11-30T19:20:59.585Z
  • DIS solved 2023-11-30T19:42:31.608Z
  • Sharkicicles solved 2023-11-30T19:42:54.939Z
  • LB800 solved 2023-11-30T20:33:55.252Z
  • Carolyn solved 2023-11-30T20:50:17.805Z
  • Capn Rick solved 2023-11-30T20:59:26.017Z
  • Mr Tex solved 2023-11-30T23:17:07.608Z
  • Katiedid solved 2023-12-01T01:31:54.666Z
  • SamKat9 solved 2023-12-01T04:04:00.078Z
  • Dow Jones solved 2023-12-01T07:28:04.944Z
  • Mg305 solved 2023-12-01T13:16:47.702Z
  • Steve M solved 2023-12-01T14:30:25.074Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2023-12-01T14:37:31.240Z
  • Mikey G solved 2023-12-01T20:37:40.320Z
  • andeux solved 2023-12-01T23:35:00.478Z
  • hoover solved 2023-12-01T23:39:32.944Z
  • Abide solved 2023-12-02T13:26:15.195Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2023-12-03T01:09:15.245Z
  • Philip Chow solved 2023-12-03T02:26:20.876Z
  • Qmark solved 2023-12-04T00:57:14.369Z
  • theZAzis solved 2023-12-07T06:41:55.775Z

Comentarios

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  • Hector 5:40 · 2023-11-29T14:28:13.623Z
    Reminds me of my evil, dark in-laws for some reason. Not yet grokking the Tea thing?
    • DrTom constructor · 2023-11-29T14:41:41.232Z
      TEA MASCOT...if said together it sounds like TEAM MASCOT, the Arkansas Razorback hog. Originally I had TEAM ASCOT and had a bunch of rather stuffy people in an ascot (in Arkansas colors of course) but a tester said that they thought TEA MASCOT was better and since I was not married to the ascot idea I went with it. I figured that all the other sound alikes (HARKINGFLAWS, MARKINGSAWS) when said with TEA MASCOT would probably lead folks right to the answer. That and the first and last across clue are RAZOR BACK
      • hoover 3s · 2023-12-01T23:41:45.770Z
        All it needed was a SOO/SIOUX/SUE/SOU and a WEE/WHEE in other two corners...
        • DrTom constructor · 2023-12-02T04:54:17.491Z
          I wanted to try to put "Child's need after too many sodas" (WEEWEE of course) so that it ran up to a "Place on the range" (HOME) but I figured "Weewee all the way home" was overkill.
    • boharr 4s · 2023-11-29T16:13:51.019Z
      This wild animal is hardly a kitten. Thanks, DrTom.
      • Bird Lives 5s · 2023-11-29T16:01:29.981Z
        My first guess was HOG. I figured that since the initial word of the first and last across clues were, respectively, RAZOR and BACK, that couldn't be the answer. Wrong again. At least I didn't guess RAVEN, like Poe's nasty creature, all snark and caws.
        • DrTom constructor · 2023-11-29T17:31:27.202Z
          That's what made it a kitten....I was trying to emulate the Captain and have internal nudges. I suppose I could have left it more clouded, like "Little shaver of crossword fame" and "Where you might pick up a cat (like this one)" but I was going for ease of solution and, since it was inferred, confirmation. I see how that might ahve steered you away though.
          • HeadinHome 🤓2:27 · 2023-11-29T20:35:57.889Z
            Or a black bear… all dark and maw!!
          • kurtalert 🤓7:14 · 2023-11-29T17:01:31.632Z
            At first, I thought maybe this was something about Team Ascot, which would have been a problem, as I am most assuredly on Team Cravat.
            • whimsy 11:01 · 2023-11-29T19:05:25.806Z
              LOL
              • DrTom constructor · 2023-11-29T20:26:31.463Z
                Interestingly enough, the initial title WAS Team Ascot, but some of my testers wanted Tea Mascot and since it was one to one it came down to a tie breaker.....
                Thanks for solving
              • whimsy 11:01 · 2023-11-29T19:10:09.870Z
                I fell into the same trap this time as I did when testing. Since I don't follow college football or their mascots and am not from the Midwest, nothing rolled readily out of my brain. Instead, being from fairly coastal New England, what I did see was Sharks and Jaws. Way to go, DrTom, filling in those gaps in my knowledge!
                • HeadinHome 🤓2:27 · 2023-11-29T20:37:54.446Z
                  If there were no contributor listed, we would definitely know this was a Dr.Tom! A classic.
                  • DrTom constructor · 2023-11-29T21:26:30.480Z
                    Ah, my "voice" shines through!
                    Thanks for running with the ball!!!
                  • Laura M 🤓14:59 · 2023-11-29T23:30:14.335Z
                    Excellent! The first and last across clues went right over my head, or I would have submitted with a lot more confidence :-)
                    • benchen71 2s · 2023-11-30T00:09:42.265Z
                      Loooots of guesses before stumbling on the right thing! (BOAR, PIG, HOG, RUSSIAN BOAR...)
                      • DrTom constructor · 2023-11-30T02:02:24.459Z
                        I could see how it might be considerably harder for you given that you view football as the REAL football.
                        Congratulations on the touchdown and thanks for solving.
                      • KayW 🤓7:35 · 2023-11-30T00:40:33.309Z
                        OMG I got a sportsing meta!!! LOL who'd a thunk. I kept trying to think of an animal name with those sounds and kept saying to myself "all it sounds like is ARKANSAS". Then I remembered hearing somewhere that their team was the RAZORBACKS. Fun one, DrTom. Thanks!
                        • DrTom constructor · 2023-11-30T02:03:40.155Z
                          My apologies to the sports naive but every now and then I have to do one.
                          Thanks for solving Kay!
                        • Berto 🤓3:56 · 2023-11-30T04:16:11.434Z
                          Couldn’t unsee Swamp right next to FL-aws - plus thought central (Hooke) clue was somehow linked, and ended up with “Ali”-gator (boxer/fisherman?)… As a Brit, Arkansas always used to give me trouble, but been here long enough to know both the pronunciation and college football team and it clicked!
                          • DrTom constructor · 2023-11-30T16:45:36.842Z
                            It is the US equivalent of Leicester or Worcester😁 Glad you have become acclimated enough to sniff out the truffle.
                            • Capn Rick 🤓11:15 · 2023-11-30T21:01:55.427Z
                              Don't forget Gloucester! 😁
                          • merlinnimue 18:40 · 2023-11-30T13:49:46.295Z
                            Took me an entire day to get into the right STATE of mind to solve the puzzle... even the grid baffled me.... I need to get better at seeing things from the clues like you geniuses, all I can see is the grid (maybe I need to solve on pdf?)... and a level 1 for you smarties is like a level 58,243 for me... but anyway as always thanks for the puzzle and sorry for the intrusion
                            • Sharkicicles 2s · 2023-11-30T19:48:29.744Z
                              I found that once I went from solving digitally to somewhat less digitally (on an iPad with a Pencil, which is basically just solving on paper minus the step of printing) my meta-fu went up considerably, especially since you can see all the clues at once without scrolling.
                            • Sharkicicles 2s · 2023-11-30T19:44:22.546Z
                              I had to google the Arkansas team mascot, but to be fair I went to a college without a football team (the University of Illinois.)
                              • Hector 5:40 · 2023-11-30T20:51:05.473Z
                                Wait...I think I see what you did there. :-)
                              • Carolyn 2s · 2023-11-30T20:54:01.393Z
                                Figured the title meant team mascot, but didn't put it all together. Razor in 1A seemed too obvious. I should have paid attention!
                                • Mr Tex 🤓9:37 · 2023-11-30T23:18:53.737Z
                                  I tried a lot of variations on 'great white', the SHARK in JAWS. Seems to work just fine!
                                  • DrTom constructor · 2023-12-01T03:59:17.808Z
                                    Dang, if I had thought of that I would have made THAT the answer, that is brilliant!! Glad you got my much more boring piggy.
                                  • SamKat9 14:39 · 2023-12-01T04:05:26.597Z
                                    cool puzzle! Definitely needed the nudges !
                                    • Cindy Heisler 2s · 2023-12-01T14:41:03.301Z
                                      Easier this time around because I knew it was sports related. But many of the grid words had changed, so fill-in was quite different. My memory doesn't always help with metas that I test solved!
                                      • Steve M 56:48 · 2023-12-01T14:43:48.069Z
                                        I must have said “Barks and Paws”, etc., a thousand times before I finally heard “Arkansas”!
                                        • DrTom constructor · 2023-12-02T04:12:21.174Z
                                          Well that no doubt has your family talking. Thank you for doing it the 1001th time!
                                        • hoover 3s · 2023-12-01T23:40:14.321Z
                                          Team Ascot? Like a football (fútbol) scarf? Ohhhh... Groan.
                                          • DrTom constructor · 2023-12-02T04:11:40.631Z
                                            Team Mascot...you can put a Razorback around your neck but people will say you are boaring! But of course that is not a feral evaluation.😁
                                            Thanks for solving.
                                          • Philip Chow 🤓10:31 · 2023-12-03T02:32:21.765Z
                                            nice puzzle - got it by saying the theme entries over and over again until i was like wait it sounds like arkansas!
                                            • DrTom constructor · 2023-12-03T04:57:36.479Z
                                              EXACTLY what I intended. I thought about a group of clues like ALIBABBA, ALLOBAMA, ANGRYMAMA but then there would have been that elephant in the room.
                                            • Qmark 3s · 2023-12-04T00:58:41.557Z
                                              Thanks Dr Tom. Nothing came to me for days after filling in the grid...but after reading the nudges today...bingo!
                                              1A
                                              Razor brand
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                                              68
                                              69
                                              70
                                              Horizontales
                                              1. 1A
                                                Razor brand
                                              2. 5A
                                                Price of pot
                                              3. 9A
                                                Opposite of imagined
                                              4. 13A
                                                Treat roughly, maybe with a big wooden hammer
                                              5. 14A
                                                Carried on in public
                                              6. 15A
                                                Repeated three times for; well you know
                                              7. 16A
                                                When I was able, vis-à-vis seeing Elba
                                              8. 17A
                                                Jazzy Jones
                                              9. 18A
                                                What you see when waiting on people
                                              10. 19A
                                                Canine business that focuses on your dog's voice and feet
                                              11. 22A
                                                Money in the bank
                                              12. 23A
                                                Dismiss, facially
                                              13. 27A
                                                Divisions
                                              14. 31A
                                                "Cool!"
                                              15. 32A
                                                Evening shifts: Abbr.
                                              16. 35A
                                                Drive-in artsy business where you grab your easel and never have to leave the car
                                              17. 38A
                                                Revealing cries
                                              18. 40A
                                                Good last name for a boxer or fisherman
                                              19. 41A
                                                Arid
                                              20. 42A
                                                Small cutting instruments designed specifically to make small identifying incisions in wood
                                              21. 45A
                                                Officer's address
                                              22. 46A
                                                Oil drum type of band
                                              23. 47A
                                                Ask for cash
                                              24. 49A
                                                Andy and Cherry
                                              25. 52A
                                                Charlotte ___ (dessert)
                                              26. 56A
                                                Troubles listening to herald angels singing
                                              27. 60A
                                                Play a non-speaking part
                                              28. 63A
                                                Appropriately named cartoonist Edward
                                              29. 64A
                                                Exam for an aspiring atty.
                                              30. 65A
                                                Who got shot if I shot the Sharif
                                              31. 66A
                                                Financial guru Suze
                                              32. 67A
                                                Woeful words
                                              33. 68A
                                                Probably forever
                                              34. 69A
                                                Data collected, often rapidly
                                              35. 70A
                                                Back of the neck
                                              Verticales
                                              1. 1D
                                                Low life?
                                              2. 2D
                                                O'Hara homestead and namesakes
                                              3. 3D
                                                Penitent people
                                              4. 4D
                                                Twins: look ___
                                              5. 5D
                                                Will's river
                                              6. 6D
                                                Calculator toting, pocket protector wearing epitome (or simply, me in college)
                                              7. 7D
                                                Things that, once opened. you can find yourself caught
                                              8. 8D
                                                Allen of furniture fame
                                              9. 9D
                                                Black bits on your pastrami sandwich
                                              10. 10D
                                                "Dig in!"
                                              11. 11D
                                                Ms. Lovelace
                                              12. 12D
                                                Cruces or Vegas
                                              13. 14D
                                                "Don't stop me now, I'm ___ roll" (preferably a bagel)
                                              14. 20D
                                                Part of a process
                                              15. 21D
                                                Find your way through
                                              16. 24D
                                                Hardest to find coins in collector lingo
                                              17. 25D
                                                They don't make Pings but they made Pong
                                              18. 26D
                                                Structure aware of the plane truth
                                              19. 28D
                                                "High Hopes" lyricist
                                              20. 29D
                                                Not surprisingly, Joan Crawford's final film
                                              21. 30D
                                                Small amount
                                              22. 32D
                                                Request at a Asian restaurant
                                              23. 33D
                                                "Ain't ___ shame", Fats Domino
                                              24. 34D
                                                Madder than before
                                              25. 36D
                                                Japanese electronics giant known for their music keyboards
                                              26. 37D
                                                Colorful salamander
                                              27. 39D
                                                Popular "slip-in" sports shoes
                                              28. 43D
                                                A set of hip bones
                                              29. 44D
                                                Hang ten
                                              30. 48D
                                                Don, as boots
                                              31. 50D
                                                Jason's ship and all its namesakes
                                              32. 51D
                                                Culottes kin
                                              33. 53D
                                                Malia's sister
                                              34. 54D
                                                Nickname for the University of Florida stadium
                                              35. 55D
                                                Someone who is quite a bit Lauder
                                              36. 57D
                                                Hogwart's librarian Pince or Parisian evening worker la Douce
                                              37. 58D
                                                Disallowing ice
                                              38. 59D
                                                Female doctor
                                              39. 60D
                                                After his death, the Pep Boy's Manny and Jack had to sadly say, "There ain't no ___"
                                              40. 61D
                                                I think (in text - and I am certainly not humble)
                                              41. 62D
                                                Creature with over 98% of the same DNA structure as a Bonobo
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