Phil's Crossword Corner (PCC)
Mostly meta puzzles posted here... if you go back in time you'll find more traditional puzzles.
I'm always happy to welcome any feedback, questions, typo-spotting, theme suggestions/requests, or if you just want to chat... You can reach me at pchow13@gmail.com
Hint 1: the three grid spanners have a part of their clue italicized and bold
Hint 2: The italicized/bold clues relate in some way to their respective entries... "numbers" from the title gets us thinking about numbers... can you match each answer to…
hint 1: there are quite a lot of names and books in the puzzle
hint 2: the literary characters and corresponding books (see 46A) share something in common
hint 3: where do all these novels or books take place?
hint 1: the 11 starred clues relate to a familiar group of 12
hint 2: the clue for 51-Down mentions the theme
hint 3: JORDAN is a bull (taurus), NALA is a lion (leo)
hint 4: the missing zodiac sign corresponds to the meta answer
Hint #1: From 20A, 28A, 45A, 54A - the meta answer is a 13-letter word, has 3 syllables, 4 unique letters, and the only vowel is E... from 70A, the four letters in the word are L, E, N, and S
Hint #2: the answer relates to the title... the meta…
cute comic here (by Mark Parisi)
hint 1: the answers to the starred clues are all concealing something...
hint 2: contraband, 69-Across, 27-Down are all related...
hint 3: Fran(co Ke)lly is smuggling coke... nut(crack)er is smuggling crack...
hint 4:…
Hint #1: there are a lot of girl's names in the grid... surely you've heard of some of them to know what media franchise they belong to...
Hint #2: 15-Across and 37-Across don't count
Hint #3: 50-Down is the latest one (at time of this puzzle's…
Hint #1: The TV show associated with the theme song is the theme of the puzzle
Hint #2: "autotrophs" and "Neanderthals" are easter eggs I included because they're in the theme song as well, but alas they are red herrings... focus on the title instead
…Hint 1: the name of five drinks are hidden in the puzzle
Hint 2: take the title literally
Hint 3: broken (across a black square), spirits (as in alcoholic spirits)
Hint 4: the five alcoholic drinks have something in common
Hint 5: what color is…
Hint 1: the four longest entries are thematic
Hint 2: JAB JEB ??? JOB JUB
Hint 3: I originally assigned this meta level 1 but bumped it up to 1.5 because the solution is a not-so-familiar term... so if you've never heard of the term before you…
Note: Googling is encouraged as there are a lot of names in this puzzle - I apologize for the subpar fill... hope the payoff is worth it!
Hint #1: some solvers love them, some solvers hate them... rebus squares! but these aren't just ordinary rebuses
…