Tag: Meta

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[Solution] Plenty of Fish

The flavor text is a line from Dr. Seuss’s book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. The book begins:

“One fish
two fish
old fish
new fish.
Black fish
blue fish
old fish
new fish.
This one has a little star.
This one has a little car.
Say! what a lot of fish there are.”

Each of the answers to the regular puzzles in this set has a word from one of these lines in it, which provides an order for the answers. (Blue appears twice, so the answer BRITISH BLUE must also be used twice.)

  • FORMULAONE
  • FIRSTWORLD
  • HUNDRED
  • BRITISHBLUE
  • CHICAGOBLACKHAWKS
  • BRITISHBLUE
  • OLDTESTAMENT
  • NEWDELHI
  • CORNSTARCH

Reading down the diagonal (taking the first letter of the first answer, the second letter of the second answer, and so on) gives the solution FINTASTIC.

Some solvers reported getting misled by one of the top Google results for the text of the book switching the lines “This one has a little star” and “This one has a little car”. I made the same mistake when initially writing the puzzle, and didn’t discover my error until the week Tired Clues came out.

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[Hint] Plenty of Fish

The metapuzzle Plenty of Fish has now been out for a week. If you’re looking for some help, check out the hint below. Make sure to replace the answer to Tired Clues with CORN STARCH.

Once you’ve finished that, start the month out right with A Shift in Perspective. Sometimes that’s all you need.

If you haven’t found what these answers have in common, try looking up the flavor text. Once you have them in order, try reading down the diagonal.

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[Meta] Plenty of Fish – 31 August 2026

The solution to Long List, the puzzle from two Mondays ago, has now been posted, and last week’s puzzle, Extra Long Crossword, has also had its hint made available as well.

The new puzzle is Plenty of Fish. This is the metapuzzle for July-August. You will need your answers from the previous eight weeks with one exception. Replace the solution to Tired Clues (ELECTRIC CAR) with CORN STARCH instead. It is technically solvable with the original solution, but much cleaner this way. Next Monday will bring the first puzzle of a new set.

Please enter your answer below, leaving out all punctuation.

    Your information will be securely sent to and stored in Google Sheets for the purpose of processing your form submission.

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    [Solution] Cross the Road

    This metapuzzle uses the answers from the previous eight puzzles: DITTO, PANAMA, PADLOCKS, REPROGRAM, PIPE WRENCH, TURBOCHARGE, CLIMBING FRAMES, and TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA. Solvers will notice that each of the answers is the same length as one of the groups of boxes in the grid. Making sure to follow the direction of the traffic arrows, the answers may be entered as so:

    The puzzle states that it only takes three steps for the chicken to cross the road. This suggests placing letters into the remaining yellow cells to make three-letter words. Many of these cells have a few options, but only one set of words creates an answer:

    The middle letters spell out the answer ROADS SCHOLAR, a play on Rhodes Scholar, and the answer to the riddle posed in the flavor text.

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    [Hint] Cross the Road

    The May-June metapuzzle Cross the Road has now been out for a week. If you’re needing some help getting started, check out the hint below.

    Once you’ve finished that, you can try out the new puzzle for this week, Meow. I know there are at least a few of you who have been eager for a puzzle on this theme.

    The chicken crosses the road using three-letter words. Multiple words may be possible, but only one combination will lead to an answer to the riddle posed in the flavor text. Make sure to enter your answers so they follow the flow of traffic.

    Please note that answer submissions for older rounds are manually added to the leaderboard. Please allow up to six hours for your scores to update.

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    [Meta] Cross the Road – 29 June 2026

    The solution to Cross the Tubes, the puzzle from two weeks ago, has now been posted. The hint for last week’s Chain-Link Crossing is available as well.

    The May-June metapuzzle is Cross the Road. Use your answers from the past eight weeks to solve this puzzle. A new puzzle set begins next Monday!

    Please enter your answer below, leaving out all punctuation.

      Your information will be securely sent to and stored in Google Sheets for the purpose of processing your form submission.

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      [Solution] Metapuzzle Mix-Up

      The only content of this metapuzzle is the phrase “The final answer to this set’s meta is“. Since it is a metapuzzle, it also uses the answers to the previous eight puzzles:

      • SHIRT
      • BOT
      • GNAWERS
      • FINIAL
      • ASSET
      • T’AIME
      • SIN
      • BETH

      Solving this puzzle requires noticing that each of the eight puzzle answers is a scramble of one of the words in the phrase with an extra letter (or in the case of FINAL>FINIAL, no scramble has occurred, making this an easy point of recognition).

      Thefinalanswertothisset’smetais…
      BETHFINIALGNAWERSBOTSHIRTASSETT’AIMESIN
      BIGBRAIN

      In sentence order the extra letters spell out the metapuzzle solution, BIG BRAIN.

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      [Hint] Metapuzzle Mix-Up

      Last month’s Metapuzzle Mix-Up has now been out for a week. If you need a hint on where to start, check below.

      Once you’ve finished that, start off the new puzzle set with Compound Cross. Can you cross the compounds?

      This puzzle consists of exactly eight words, and you also have eight puzzle answers. This is not a coincidence.

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      [Meta] Metapuzzle Mix-Up – 27 April 2026

      The hint for last week’s puzzle, Lizard Breath, is now up, as is the solution to the puzzle from two weeks ago, Common Ground.

      The March-April metapuzzle is Metapuzzle Mix-Up. You will need your answers from the previous eight weeks in order to solve this puzzle. Next week will be the first puzzle of an all-new puzzle set.

      Please enter your answer below, leaving out all punctuation.

        Your information will be securely sent to and stored in Google Sheets for the purpose of processing your form submission.

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        [Solution] Seven Puzzles for Seven Dwarfs

        Each of the seven puzzle answers over the last two months can be split into two parts. One of the parts is a synonym for the name of a dwarf from Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The images give an order for the answers, with the pairings shown here:

        • Happy – MERRIE Melodies
        • Doc – Brain SURGEON
        • Dopey – GOOFY Goober
        • Grumpy – ANGRY Birds
        • Sneezy – ALLERGIC Reaction
        • Sleepy – DROWSY Chaperone
        • Bashful – FlutterSHY

        The number of gems pictured with each dwarf can used as an index into the other half of the answers (i.e., the first letter of MELODIES is M). The answer to the metapuzzle is MAGICAL.