Not sure from what depths of metaphysical posings (or is that posturings) this evolved but here it is. I think this was one that came to me in while sitting in Church, or perhaps at a redlight, and then it was a "wonder of there is enough for a meta. Turns out there was/is and I hope people will enjoy it. It might be a tad more difficult, but not for this group of super sleuths. Still I'll give it a Persian and be glad if people tell me later, "Hey Tom that was at best a Calico!"
My testers were whimsy and benchen, though they did this so long ago that it will probably seem like a new puzzle. I will be providing Friday nudges and anytime help via PM
Kitten
Calico
ึPersian
Puma
Lion
๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ง๐ ๐ค๐๐ซ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ช๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐ง๐ค๐จ๐จ๐๐๐ง๐. ๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ; ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ก๐๐จ, ๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ช๐ก ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ก๐๐จ, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ก๐๐จ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐จ๐ค๐ก๐ซ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐๐. ๐ฝ๐ช๐ฉ, ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐พ๐ง๐ค๐จ๐จ๐๐๐ง๐, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ. ๐๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ฎ๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ง๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐:
NUDGES:
Nudge 1] Isn't that title just too cute, no really isn't it TOO cute?
Nudge 2] There are 6 theme answers, all symmetrical
Nudge 3] Look for things that might be as cute as the title
Nudge 4] 38A is a bit of a nudge
Nudge 5] "OK, I did all that and still the Grid letters don't spell anything"...so where else should you look?
Nudge 6] The meta prompt tells you what you have to do next.
REVEAL:
The intended path was to see that there were 5 beasties who could be revealed if, like the title, you reversed their letters.
15A Little amount...= DRIB = BIRD
29A Active movement...=FLOW = WOLF
37A Manila folder...=TAB = BAT
40A In downwind...=LEE = EEL
45E Need for....=REED = DEER
63A Astronaut's original...TANG = GNAT
Taking the first letter of the clues that identified the reversible critters you get LAMINA
That may not make sense, but the meta prompt told you to look beyond the surface (LAMINA) and reflect. If you "reflect" or look backwards it spells ANIMAL, the meta answer
For a graphic depiction of the solve please go to: