37
$\begingroup$

Crossword grid

ACROSS
1    Printer type
5    Stepping sound on muddy ground
12   Lord's labourer
16   ___-I-Am from "Green Eggs and Ham"
19   Naked
20   Holy radiance in art
21   Plant used in skin care
22   Greek cross?
23   Italian currency before the Euro
24   Magic the Gathering's Oona and Rubinia Soulsinger, for two
25   Scored less than the opposing team perhaps
26   2013 "Best Original Screenplay" sci-fi film
27   Portuguese greeting
28   "Jet Set Radio" gaming publisher
29   It might be flipped when flipped?
31   Take the world by _____
33   Restraining cord
35   Raison _____ (reason for being)
36   Lav
37   "Love is an Open Door", say
38   Large pitcher
40   Meditative syllables
42   What a good song might be left on
45   Mystery Hunt locale
46   ___ de Graaff generator
47   Decalogue receiver
49   No and Evil, say
50   Illuminated by flames
53   Ground
54   Stink strongly (of)
55   Tranquil
58   Lachrymose
60   Bullets with visible trajectories
62   Became apparent
64   Desiccates
66   Bakery item
67   Reddit Q&A sess.
68   Grassy meadow
70   The "D" of CAD, in engineering
73   Quebec theme park "La _____"
77   Jeanne d'___
79   Spread out
81   Online trouble-maker
83   Historical period
84   Relating to wedlock
86   Largest non-polar desert in the world
88   Catch forty _____ (take a nap)
89   Star Wars character Kylo
90   The ____ of Orléans
92   Off-road sport for two-wheelers (abbr.)
93   2016 animated film "Your ____"
94   Fastening device
97   Adulates
100  Red Monopoly playing piece
101  Feel unwell
102  Warren G. Harding's birth state
104  The "T" in TV
105  Use needle and thread
106  Complaint, informally
108  Frequently
110  Cryptocurr. with "smart contracts"
112  Proper's partner
114  This crossword's hidden theme, hinted by the circled cells 
116  Set free
119  "Fire in the ____!"
120  Hazy weather
122  Underwater locator
123  Simplicity
125  Cleopatra's alleged killer
126  Whip
128  Capital of Italia
130  Habitual twitch
131  It takes _____ tango
134  Cocktails Bond likes shaken
136  Lariat
138  Makes a mistake
139  Lyrical poem
141  With dash, it's a form of theft
142  "Punch-Out!!" protagonist Little ___
143  Ice skating venues
144  See 151-across
146  Confronts aggressively
150  ___-mo
151  With 144-across, Bellini ingredient
152  "Monty Python's Life of _____"
153  Day light
155  _____-weensy (tiny)
157  Motion sickness symptom
160  In the past
161  It follows 153-across
163  Anger
165  Like Bert during much of "Mary Poppins"
167  Foodie for fine dining
170  Halloween month
174  Theatre attendant
176  Giraffes' relatives
177  Lingerie items
178  They might be crushed to make Cookies 'n Cream
180  Spoken defamation
182  Clumsy lout
183  Quick cuts
184  Cleansing hydroxide
185  Sound intensity unit
187  Horn of ______ (cornucopia)
189  Letters on a tombstone
191  Price
192  At the peak of
194  "Dark web" network
195  Tennis follower?
197  Pick up (the phone)
199  Bubbly Nestlé bars
201  Requests help from the divine
202  PNG colour space
204  Driving need?
205  Edmund Hillary or Don Bradman, say
206  Meaningless chatter, when said thrice
208  Free from bacteria
210  Bawled
211  Tertiary education loc.
212  Roof overhang
213  Apportion
214  Indonesian city Banda ____
215  Greek vowel
216  Granger's activist organisation, in the books
217  Aids
218  Psychiatrist, informally

DOWN
1    Rorschach test component
2    Locked up
3    Printing mistake
4    Darjeeling, e.g.
5    Less risky
6    Marshy area, for short
7    Fertilising amide
8    Always, poetically
9    Hang around
10   Nautical rope securer
11   Monopoly publisher
12   What a spruiker might advertise
13   Rating system typically used in chess
14   Largest Antarctic ice shelf
15   Removes ceramic marks
16   Peanuts pianist
17   Interrupting throat clearing
18   Former Soviet space station
28   Preparing, for a 29-across
30   Subsidiary theorem
32   Alley-___, a basketball play
34   Young cow
35   Not given access
38   Anticipatory night
39   Entrepeneur Disney
41   "Bubble" or "merge", perhaps
42   Prog. a user may need
43   Son of 100-down
44   Non-verbal disapproval, when doubled
48   Python func. that converts 0 to '0'
51   Lands (a fish)
52   Late
53   Snake ____ (dice roll)
54   Casino city that rhymes with "casino"
55   Large body of water
56   "Beauty and the Beast" actress Watson
57   Gear up for battle again
59   "Toradora!" voice actress Kugimiya
61   wget alternative
63   USA's Homeland Sec., e.g.
65   "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the ____"
69   In the style of
71   Up for _____ (available)
72   It can be p- or p-adic in mathematics
74   Inexperienced with
75   Wonderland bottle label
76   Canvas support
78   2006 Pixar film
80   ____ mater (school formerly attended)
82   Not strict
85   Loc. for version controlled files
86   Puzzling Stack Exchange, for example
87   "Rolling in the Deep" singer
91   Bus. letter directive
93   Not at all, archaically
94   Uber alternative
95   Falsehoods
96   _____-null (natural numbers cardinality)
97   Processing ord. for a queue, as opposed to a stack
98   "We have a _____ ground to cover"
99   Like 162-down games
100  Zeus' wife and sister
103  "To be at peace" in Egyptian, as in Nyarlat_____
105  Whale type
107  IEEE 754 numbers in programming
109  World War II bomber "_____ Gay"
111  Mathematician and physicist Poincaré
113  Ham and lamb, say
115  As well
117  Vientiane's locale
118  Nintendo handhelds with cameras
121  Italy's largest lake
122  Lower leg part
124  ___-friendly
127  Mix with an implement
129  "____, poor Yorick!" - Hamlet
131  To the point
132  Target for an iron
133  Director Welles
134  Islamic holy city
135  Close to
137  Plays a role
139  cos(0)
140  Faculty head
142  Selfie stick, e.g.
145  Consequently
147  "Vault 7" leaks' alleged source org.
148  4'33" composer
149  Recapitulate
151  Fiery Team Fortress 2 class
152  Soaks
154  Wrapper in sushi
156  Joins derrière with chair
158  ____-vide, a cooking technique
159  Dawn goddess in Greek mythology
162  JP : Famicom :: EN : ___
164  Ivory's counterpart
166  Pikachu's colour
168  Art of flower arrangement
169  Chevron-like symbols
170  Face-to-face exam
171  Eatery with trays
172  "Toradora!" voice actress Kitamura
173  Python func. that converts 0 to '0'
175  Catch some ____
177  With "It!", a toy by 11-down
179  Willow type
181  Court divider
183  Flashes intermittently
186  Like a slide rule, as opposed to a calculator
188  Universal logic gate
190  It's considered to be the fourth state of matter
191  In group theory, they can be left or right
193  Voyeur
196  They're twice the size of nibbles
197  217-across, for a crime
198  Consider again
199  YAML ____ Markup Language
200  Possible physical response to a rude remark
201  Word of relief
202  Spanish rivers, e.g. Grande and Tinto
203  Oversupply
205  Take to court
207  ___ Maria ("Hail Mary")
209  "Neon Genesis Evangelion" pilot Ayanami
210  Used to be
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ 16 across, right in the nostalgias! $\endgroup$ Jul 21, 2017 at 13:33
  • $\begingroup$ Oooooh! Do you happen to have this in a more easily computer-solvable format? (Say, .puz, or a Google sheet?) $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi
    Jul 21, 2017 at 13:39

1 Answer 1

22
$\begingroup$

The fully solved grid looks like this:

enter image description here
The circled squares contain the word INK (so, for instance, 1-across is an INKJET printer). And the central row tells you the theme - SPLATOON RELEASED. (Splatoon 2 is a video game for the Nintendo Switch, a sequel to a Wii U game. It's a family-friendly first-person shooter game in which the goal is to cover as much territory with your color of ink as possible before time runs out.)

That explains the title: "Sea o' colors" is the Japanese name of an idol duo from the first game. But why is the grid so big?

If you look carefully at the finished grid (and know the theme of this puzzle) you might find that

there are some weapons hidden in the grid. For instance, the top row contains "Jet Squelcher", one of the weapons from the first game.

...Actually, it contains "jet squelchser". And other rows contain weapons with an extra letter too!
enter image description here

Those extra letters spell STAY FRESH, the catchphrase of the pop duo mentioned earlier.

The grid is available in this Google sheet. Thanks to feelinferrety, Sconibulus, Forklift, and Mike Q for the help solving.

$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.