Explanation: This puzzle revolves around a triplet of triplets, and 2/3 of each is in the puzzle! Three across clues are duplicated in the downs, and a different entry answers each. We have Bronte sisters EMILY and CHARLOTTE, Male Clue surnames PLUM and MUSTARD, and 1934 Best Actor nominees POWELL and MORGAN. We take the missing element in each, in the order the across clue appears, and we have ANNE GREEN GABLE, a thorough nudge to seal the deal and recognize the final novel as the adorable, heartwarming 1908 "Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maud Montgomery, whose birthday is 11/30, that of this puzzle's release!
A few things here: I desperately wanted to call the puzzle "Kindred Spirits," and the clue for THREE would've been slightly adjusted, but it wasn't quite strong enough. The "kindred spirits" nod remains, and it's one of the ideas central to the book. You puzzlers are some kindred spirits of mine, after all! Also, regarding the Oscar nominees: it is considered protocol that the year of nomination is for the year the film is released, even though the awards (and the nominees themselves) are given the following year. Starting with the awards given out in 1934 would make you realize we're off by a year. Wildly, back in the day, there were only three Best Actor nominees for a time - and, yes, of course Gable had to be nominated. Can't win unless you're nominated first!
KayW 🤓6:09 · 2024-11-30T18:33:27.685Z
LOL this TRIPs the light fantastic, Mikey. Very clever, and all those puns are just what I need on a chilly day. Thanks!
Carolyn 2s · 2024-11-30T19:00:37.306Z
Nice one!
Qmark 2s · 2024-11-30T19:16:20.515Z
Fun one...thanks Mikey!
hoover 2s · 2024-11-30T18:54:39.351Z
Eye of newt and toe of frog, this was a fun one! The title really gives away the mechanism, especially after you see the second duplicate clue. Also, I started to fill 18D with MRGREEN but it didn't fit.
boharr 2s · 2024-11-30T20:03:25.734Z
Nice one. Thanks
HeadinHome 🤓12:30 · 2024-11-30T19:59:29.532Z
Okay - had to google the 1934 (though if I had thought about it longer, with Brontë and Green, could have backsolved!). Fun one!!
Yeah, I tried first to find another triplet for Gable, and there was something about actors nominated three times in the '30s, but I think there's actually four. Thanks for solving!!
Okay, THREE so take the third letter of each triplet emIly chArlotte anNe. Cool a book authored by an IAN muStard, plUm, grEen. With a co author of a SUE and the third coauthor is . RWB? An monagram? Don't know. Maybe just the missing ones NEB. Neb? What's that? Maybe taking the third letter was overthinking it. ECA, MPG, MPG, so two internet video formats but what is ECA? Maybe just the missing ones? AGG? Agriculture? OH, NO! I'M STUCK! OH, NO! I'M STUCK! OH, NO! I'M STUCK!. What can I do with the nine names? Or with the three missing names: ANNE, GREEN, GABLE, ... oh.
I feel like a broken record whenever I say it, but your solving monologues are a gift.
whimsy 🤓18:49 · 2024-12-01T02:01:11.616Z
Something funny -- I got a little picture notification at the bottom of my screen (there's probably a name for it) that I noticed earlier today that informed me that it was Mark Twain's birthday! I wonder if they're kindred spirits. Fun puzzle! When I got Anne, I thought it was going to be a title that started with "An ..." so I was initially bummed out to get a "G" rather than a vowel next. But then I wasn't. Thanks, Mikey!
Well kindred spirits are certainly not rare on the Muggles forum. I almost got distracted by the shiny letter and then double letter triplets (3 of course) of which there are nine (well 11 if you count Charlotte and Uproot) but it spelled nothing and then I looked at my scribbled and saw GREEN ANNE GABLE and of course it clicked. Thanks for the puzzle Mikey, and the puns. Especially liked the Tapir one. I might have to watch Anne again
Ah, and "Red or Green" is the new "state question" of New Mexico which is supposed to put us in mind of "Gold and Silver" the (translation) of Montana's motto. Silver and Gold are also Christmas colors and also metals in alloys. Putting us in mind of the famous work of self-reference: Egbert B. Gebstadter's "Copper, Silver, Gold: An Indestructible Metallic Alloy". Meaning the missing key is COPPER as in David Copperfield. But that's 19th century novel, not 20th, but Barbra Kingsolver's did a derivation of it Demon Copperhead and that averages to 20th century. Copperhead is, of course, and snake found in the grasslands. So obviously the answer to this meta is Gebatadter's (other?) work "Giraffes, Elephants, Baboons: An Equatorial Grasslands Bestiary", which must qualify as a novel as it is a work of fiction.
Meta World Peace 8s · 2024-12-07T02:48:51.636Z
Yes, Mikey--"kindred spirits" is a perfect description of the crossword crowd!