I must confess that I have never gone hunting, save for one memorable time when I was a child and Dad took us out rabbit shooting. Now rabbits are an introduced pest here in Australia so I guess we were just trying to do our bit to protect our native species. I don't recall being allowed to have a shot. But Dad must have been successful, because I remember we had rabbit for dinner that night. (It tasted a bit like chicken!) I don't know if this little story will help or hinder your search for the meta answer, which is what a hunter seeks. Answer & explanation: https://xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=164195#p164195
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$10 gives you access to 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game. You won't quite know what to expect: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, sometimes all of those, and sometimes none! One thing is for sure, these are some of the more creative metas my brain has been able to come up with. And there's more: this time there's a mega-meta!
Needed a nudge, but made it here! (My three other guesses were all variants of bargain/bargain price/etc... also had trouble figuring out to enter the plural!)
Also, the words I had tried that did not take were BEAR, BEARS, BAR, BARS. As in “that thar hunter? He is loaded for BAR!”
hoover 3s · 2024-04-19T19:45:49.293Z
Same here.
HeadinHome 🤓2:26 · 2024-04-17T02:41:56.909Z
Wow was I making that harder than it was. Sheesh. Here are my brainstorming notes: I see TIKI and PIANO but then the types of bars dried up. There is such a thing as a HOST bar (as opposed to a cash bar), and PORT barS provide protection for ships in a storm. I also see KITCAT (bars) but of course that’s spelled wrong (KITKAT, and it’s two entries).
Really silly ones: PUMA bar (similar to a cougar bar) ha ha
Bar CHALK - that stuff you powder up your hands with in gymnastics
SANTAbarbar(a)
BarLAPS (fabrics they makes them sacks out of)
GO barD - what you do when you just can’t stop writing sonnets
GRAN bars - for senior citizens only
CEL bars - what we might wish to see some politicians behind
CAT bars, TOGA bars, and BRAT bars all ought to exist, if they don’t. And by brat, I mean bratwurst.
After all that, I was just munching on some popcorn and thought “hmm…. Hunting bars, BAR hunters… OH!! BARgain hunters, because all these entries gained a BAR.” Duh.
Well I had those and BAR OAK(little music please) BAR TSO (Barstow California) and a few others. It took reading another comment that mentioned “until I read nudge 4 again” and a kick in the pants from Ben to sell me on the final answer (sold for a reduced rate I hope!)
Ugh - another big fail. I way over complicated trying to find a six-letter answer from synonyms of the “new” entries. Got particularly lost backwards down the RAB-bit hole lol.
whimsy 🤓14:07 · 2024-04-22T02:56:27.267Z
I thought backwards too for the same reason!
Sharkicicles 3s · 2024-04-18T14:49:48.646Z
Me looking at nudges:
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
rereads 4pause
Ahhhh, g****mit!
Very clever and a fun puzzle. And I also thought maybe Hobart was an Aussie reference :)
MatthewL 🤓8:49 · 2024-04-18T15:56:31.195Z
Saw the "bars" from the outset, but couldn't put it together without the final nudge. Nice one, Ben!
Carolyn 4s · 2024-04-19T15:44:21.513Z
I also made this way too hard by searching for other BAR words. Nice puzzle!
hoover 3s · 2024-04-19T19:48:14.060Z
Yeah, I went from HOBART as the southernmost capital thinking, hey, there was a clue about the northernmost territory. Maybe we're supposed to look for opposites!
Man how dense can I be. You TOLD me to think like me or Mikey and I didn’t. It took you pushing and another post to make me see reason (or value!) in what I had so far. Thanks Ben
Never solved -- just entered the answer after the reveal on the forum so I could see the comments. Many familiar thoughts but GAH! -- it just never got thru to me! So cute too!
PUMA bar (similar to a cougar bar) ha ha