Literary Numerals (Meta)
◆◆ · By benchen71 · Published 2022-05-24T06:00:27.302Z
Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is a book
I was trying to be kind to you, so there's a pretty big hint in the grid of this puzzle (and I'm not talking about 35 across). But I don't want anyone submitting guesses based on that hint. Not that I will be able to tell, but please only submit an answer if you work out the meta mechanism, because it's a really cool one. Pretty please! The answer to the meta is a book. Answer and explanation here: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=94574#p94574
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta!
Checking for previous play data...
1A
One of only three public schools in England to retain a boys-only, boarding-only tradition, which means that students live at the school seven days a week
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Across
- 1AOne of only three public schools in England to retain a boys-only, boarding-only tradition, which means that students live at the school seven days a week
- 5ASwedish band that have recorded nine studio albums, most in the 70s and early 80s, but one came out in 2021
- 9AMultiples of twelve months, for short
- 12AOne turn in the game of chess
- 13ASquare root of five, for example, but not square root of nine
- 14ACharacter in "None but the Lonely Heart", Ernie ___, played by Cary Grant, the second of only two times when he used a Cockney accent
- 16AFilled with wonder and astonishment
- 17AUnit of land area equal to 4,840 square yards
- 18APart of the land adjoining the ocean
- 20AProfessional name for artist Jeremy Phillip Felton, whose self-titled 2009 album debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200
- 22A"I am able to do that as well" (but more succinctly and probably in a schoolyard retort, too)
- 23AFarming community, for example
- 26AScreen type in a Kindle Paperwhite
- 27AAbbr. for a literacy approach built on the alphabetic principle (look, it's Systematic, Synthetic, and involves Phonics - does that help?)
- 28AAvian construction
- 29APhysical, mental and spiritual practice originating in ancient India that apparently requires a mat and special pants
- 30ALoooooooooong period of time
- 32AOpposite of virtue
- 34AOpposite of aye
- 35ASomeone who decides which books will see the light of day and who also keeps track of the numbers, which is something you will need to do to solve the meta
- 39AOne of five main free-to-air networks in Australia, but that provides multilingual and multicultural services (abbr.)
- 42AEarl Grey, Russian Caravan and Orange Pekoe for three
- 43ATennis do-over (Serena Williams once had four in a row!)
- 45ABlind character introduced in the second season of "Avatar" who travels with Aang as his earthbending teacher
- 47AWhen you Google this in Australia, the first hit is for the Association for Tertiary Education Management
- 49ATwo or more hair styles
- 51AItalian for hero
- 52AWorth something on the second hand market, but in the US
- 55ABecame less appealing or interesting through familiarity
- 57ASign at an antiproliferation march, perhaps
- 59AUpright stone slab or column typically bearing a commemorative inscription or relief design
- 60AShe gets too hungry for dinner at eight (with "the")
- 62AClothes drier accumulation
- 63ANous sommes, vous ___
- 64AFar from shore
- 65ALead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter for the band "Thirty Seconds to Mars", Jared ___ (OK, he's also an actor, playing the Joker in "Suicide Squad", and has won one Oscar)
- 66AMining material that gets smelted
- 67A"As ___ as can be expected" ("I'm fine, given the circumstances")
- 68A"Game of Thrones" character, Jon ___, who had two lives if the constant ads for the show are to be believed (I've never watched a single episode)
Down
- 1DKey of J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier One, Prelude and Fugue No. nine, for short
- 2DRaby Castle in County Durham, England, has nine of these along its perimeter
- 3DSay one too many times, as a catchphrase
- 4DDutch term invented in the 70s to describe their music scene of that time
- 5DWhat you would be if you were 64 across in a yacht
- 6DAuthor, John ___, who wrote "John Macnab", a thrilling adventure involving three successful but bored friends in their mid-forties who decide to turn to poaching for kicks
- 7D"I'm so cold!"
- 8DNickname for Adrian, perhaps
- 9DThe only single from the Village People's third studio album, "Cruisin'", with a title comprised of four letters
- 10DActor, Mickey ___, who played one of three janitors in "Night at the Museum"
- 11DMember of a set of four on a Monopoly board
- 15DFrench tennis player Jo-Wilfried ___, whose career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. five, achieved in February 2012
- 19DAustralian spelling for the region of Hungary and Slovakia noted for its sweet wines made from grapes affected by noble rot (which is a good thing, apparently)
- 21DShortest form of "mother"
- 22DWhat New York Giants center fielder Willie Mays famously made during the eighth inning of a World Series game (with "the")
- 24DEdits, as a piece of writing
- 25DSuffix for exeg-, eiseg-, and gen-
- 31DFruit consisting of a hard or tough shell around an edible kernel
- 33DAs slippery as an ___
- 36DFacial hair worn by 33% of men in the US and 55% of men all over the world (come on, guys, you're lagging behind!)
- 37DNot on time for an event
- 38DMajor League Soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area (owned by the company that makes an energy drink with two bovines in the logo)
- 39DPutting one foot in front of the other: taking ___
- 40DBoron-oxygen compounds, which can be trigonal or tetrahedral in structure
- 41DCity in Umbria, Italy, known for its historical "Festival dei Due Mondi" (Festival of Two Worlds) which takes place the last week in June and the first two weeks in July
- 44DAuthor, J. R. R. ___, who wrote "The Hobbit", a children's fantasy book about a halfling who sets out on a quest to slay a dragon with thirteen dwarves and one wizard
- 46DAuthor, Joseph ___, who wrote "God Knows", a tragicomic examination of the life of King David and his relationship to three women (Abigail, Bathsheba, and Michal) who were all married to someone else at some point in their lives
- 48DAuthor, Emily St. John ___, who wrote "The Glass Hotel", a novel about a five-star lodging on Vancouver Island, the owner of which is running an international Ponzi scheme
- 50DWhen someone says "I'm on it!" about a task, you really hope that it will be ___
- 53DDemonstrating firm and constant support or allegiance
- 54DArticle indicating "one", but in front of a noun that begins with a vowel
- 56DAbsence of difficulty or effort
- 58DPut your luggage in one of the overhead bins
- 60DActor, Jude ___, who gained recognition for his role in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" but I thought he was more memorable as the disabled former swimming star in "Gattaca" tbh
- 61D56 down missing its first letter or 8 down with a different middle letter