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And Finally... (Meta)

· By benchen71 · Published 4 months ago

Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is an adjective
I just love the fact that Paul, at the start of the 3rd chapter to the Philippians says, "Finally, my brothers and sisters..." - and then continues on for another 2 chapters! (In fact, he says "Finally" again in Phil. 4:8, and at that point I think he really means it, because the letter is all over 15 verses later.) This is something that often happens during sermons or speeches: when someone says "And finally..." I am never sure how serious they are. Which brings me to this meta, in which you're looking for an adjective. Nudges available here: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=114054#p114054
Check out the "Rejected (Non-meta) MOAT Pack" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$5 gets you 10 themed crosswords, most of which were rejected by one crossword publisher or another. Were those editors right to reject them? You be the judge!
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Alex Sisti solved at 5:49 on 12/6/2022
  • kieranjboyd solved at 6:24 on 12/6/2022
  • SeamusOL solved at 6:45 on 12/6/2022
  • Tom Wilson solved at 7:07 on 12/6/2022
  • Laura M solved at 7:54 on 12/6/2022
  • woozy solved at 9:15 on 12/6/2022
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  • hoover solved at 16:16 on 12/6/2022
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  • DebbieC solved at 0:11 on 12/7/2022
  • whimsy solved at 2:22 on 12/7/2022
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  • ajk solved at 19:34 on 12/10/2022
  • fir solved at 23:41 on 12/12/2022
  • Hector solved at 0:01 on 12/13/2022
  • swagdude solved at 21:07 on 12/19/2022
  • Samik solved at 13:02 on 12/31/2022
  • Lucas solved at 2:06 on 3/17/2023

Comments

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  • Laura M 🤓7:07 · 4 months ago
    Excellent!
    • woozy 🤓7:31 · 4 months ago
      Lot going on there. But it hits you like a brick truck.
      • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
        I'm hoping that's a good thing!
        • woozy 🤓7:31 · 4 months ago
          Hey, some of my best moments involved being hit by a brick truck. Aren't yours?
      • Tom Wilson 🤓7:58 · 4 months ago
        How do these constructors do it, time and time again? Thank you, Ben, for yet another brilliant challenge. (And thank you, Cap'n Rick ... and Dr. Tom ... and Abide ... and Al Sisti ... and Josh ... and all of rest of the far-too-clever folks who prompt a whole lotta head-scratchin'.
        • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
          Aw, shucks! You're very welcome. :)
          • DrTom 3s · 4 months ago
            Tom, thanks for the kind comments. We enjoy making these things, even if it does sometimes drive us slightly mad.
          • DIS 🤓5:20 · 4 months ago
            A handsome and grand puzzle -- thanks!
            • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
              Nice!
            • hoover 4s · 4 months ago
              Nice one! I had to backtrack my fill because the AmE term is SANDBOX, but I'm learning some Strine as I go. :) I think of a sandpit as something involved in construction or mining, like a quarry.
              • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
                Teaching Americans Strine is one of my major reasons for doing a weekly meta!
                • DrTom 3s · 4 months ago
                  Well here is an interesting side-note. My ancestors were from Lancashire England and G'ies a taste then! was a common statement around our house when I was a kid, along with "Put th'wood int hole" (shut the door), "Mi belly thinks mi throats bin cut" (are we ever going to eat?). So maybe it is not Strine but Shire or even Geordie from Newcastle - "Am paggered and there's nee way I'm crackin this belta meta today" (I'm exhausted and there is no way I'm solving this excellent meta today)
              • ChrisCross 🤓11:49 · 4 months ago
                Embarrassed how long it took me to notice. It was a nice aha moment when I did.
                • Capn Rick 🤓6:02 · 4 months ago
                  Good puzzle, Ben! Nice symmetry too!
                  • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
                    Gotta have the symmetry!
                  • hoover 4s · 4 months ago
                    Was so tempted to post "Landed across the moat!"
                    • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
                      Hee hee!
                    • Cindy Heisler 3s · 4 months ago
                      I have to hand it to you, Ben. Another great meta. Thanks!
                      • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
                        Love it!
                      • whimsy 🤓11:20 · 4 months ago
                        OK -- I'll join the crowd -- Just a dandy puzzle!
                        • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
                          I feel as though I am pandering to my fandom, but thanks!
                        • rjy 3s · 4 months ago
                          Wow! Enjoyed it, tho it was a challenge. Took awhile to gain a toehold, and then to figure out what to do with it. Clever construction, Ben!
                          • Carolyn 5s · 4 months ago
                            Very nice! Thanks
                            • Qmark 3s · 4 months ago
                              Such an enjoyable fill...learned a new word (Strine). And then the meta topped it all. Another great one, Ben...thanks!
                              • DrTom 3s · 4 months ago
                                Well believe me when I say I tried EVERYTHING before I got to the right thing. I looked at: Final E in grid in clues, Final Y in grid and clues, Final ly in clues, Things that went on or lasted forever (like Pi, the Messiah, Dvorak symphonies, characters voiced by Mel Blanc), PI
                                19DCircumference / diameter[--]
                                and PIE
                                35AClosed-topped fruit pastry[---]
                                RA
                                31DEgyptian sun god[--]
                                and SRA
                                34ASpanish Mrs.[---]
                                (since you seldom do two letter answers I was suspect), Words with "ON" in them to see if there was ON and ON. FINALLY (yes, reference intended) I went back to my forever idea and while looking up the half life for scandium (and finding it to be hours instead of eons...stupid non-radioactive isotopes) I went back to SCANDIUM
                                40AElement with atomic number 21[--------]
                                again and instead landed at SANDPIT
                                28APlayground feature involving buckets and spades[-------]
                                . "Idiot" I proclaimed, but I saw how I could do that since it had an AND in it....WAIT A MINUTE NOW! So there were a preponderance of ANDS, plus they were symmetrical; clever boy Ben. Of course my first answer AEPOIMIL (which Webster's defines as "Inability to solve a meta crossword despite having the right idea") was wrong but "ultimately" I saw my way home. Now here I was going to say, and finally - and then go on for another paragraph or two, but instead I'll just say "Thanks for a puzzle with long lasting enjoyment"
                                • benchen71 constructor · 4 months ago
                                  That was quite the journey, but I'm glad you brought it home in the end!
                                • I K Snamhcok 11s · 4 months ago
                                  Ben, you’re the living end! (Have you ever heard someone say that? I’m sure I’m showing my age. As I recall, it was a Sixties thing.)
                                • Ergcat 11:30 · 4 months ago
                                  Needed the nudges to focus on meta although I was looking at most of these words anyway! I was trying to change the endings and find another word. Duh! Always trying to make it harder than it is! Good one, Ben!
                                  • ReB 4s · 4 months ago
                                    Just had to go to the third nudge to find the correct commonality. (I was getting stuck on looking for commonality at the end of the words, and got distracted by all the words ending in xA.) Then the solution was a cakewalk - and appropriate that it was the last letters to form an apropos answer. Nice tight construction.
                                    I suppose the four 2-letter words were just a necessity? I spend some time trying to relate them to word endings.
                                    1A
                                    Actor who won an Academy Award for his role in "Ed Wood", Martin ___
                                    1
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                                    31
                                    32
                                    33
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                                    51
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                                    53
                                    54
                                    55
                                    56
                                    57
                                    58
                                    59
                                    60
                                    61
                                    62
                                    63
                                    Across
                                    1. 1A
                                      Actor who won an Academy Award for his role in "Ed Wood", Martin ___
                                    2. 7A
                                      Composer known for his choral work "Messiah"
                                    3. 13A
                                      Beer mugs
                                    4. 14A
                                      Disapproving glance
                                    5. 15A
                                      "Giss ___!" (Strine for "Let me try some")
                                    6. 16A
                                      Spoken about by many
                                    7. 17A
                                      Open-topped fruit pastry
                                    8. 18A
                                      Aussie rules, for example
                                    9. 20A
                                      ___ and hearty
                                    10. 21A
                                      Man of many voices, ___ Blanc
                                    11. 23A
                                      Ich bin; du bist; er/sie/es ___
                                    12. 24A
                                      Many a web-surfer
                                    13. 25A
                                      "Don't ___ My Parade"
                                    14. 28A
                                      Playground feature involving buckets and spades
                                    15. 30A
                                      Style of Indian cooking involving an oven
                                    16. 32A
                                      I am; you ___; he/she/it is
                                    17. 33A
                                      Je suis; tu es; il/elle ___ (and if you feel like you're stuck in grammar class, I apologise profusely)
                                    18. 34A
                                      Spanish Mrs.
                                    19. 35A
                                      Closed-topped fruit pastry
                                    20. 36A
                                      "For never was a story of more ___ / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
                                    21. 39A
                                      "From ___ to shining ___"
                                    22. 40A
                                      Element with atomic number 21
                                    23. 42A
                                      Owner of the house Little Red Riding Hood visits
                                    24. 45A
                                      "Rats!"
                                    25. 46A
                                      Banana skins
                                    26. 47A
                                      Window to the soul, apparently
                                    27. 49A
                                      Went first
                                    28. 50A
                                      Work without ___ (take risks)
                                    29. 51A
                                      Iraqi port
                                    30. 53A
                                      Not at home
                                    31. 56A
                                      Iodine ___ starch
                                    32. 58A
                                      Chevy muscle car
                                    33. 60A
                                      Home entertainment locales
                                    34. 61A
                                      Composer known for his symphony "From the New World"
                                    35. 62A
                                      Stagecoach robber
                                    36. 63A
                                      "Better to light a ___ to curse the darkness"
                                    Down
                                    1. 1D
                                      Exam for a future attorney (abbr.)
                                    2. 2D
                                      Boy or girl preceder
                                    3. 3D
                                      ___ condition (used, but you wouldn't know it)
                                    4. 4D
                                      Bloat
                                    5. 5D
                                      Industrious insect
                                    6. 6D
                                      Employs
                                    7. 7D
                                      Nudge
                                    8. 8D
                                      "Much ___ About Nothing"
                                    9. 9D
                                      "Star Wars IV: A ___"
                                    10. 10D
                                      North America's highest peak
                                    11. 11D
                                      Hole for a shoelace
                                    12. 12D
                                      "Deep Impact" director, Mimi ___
                                    13. 14D
                                      Mattress maker
                                    14. 16D
                                      "Arrested Development" actress, Portia de ___
                                    15. 19D
                                      Circumference / diameter
                                    16. 22D
                                      Makes less tight
                                    17. 24D
                                      Gland near the kidneys
                                    18. 25D
                                      Way to go (abbr.)
                                    19. 26D
                                      Remote batteries, often
                                    20. 27D
                                      U.S.-Canada defense acronym
                                    21. 29D
                                      Aquatic nymph
                                    22. 31D
                                      Egyptian sun god
                                    23. 35D
                                      John Hodgman's role in a series of computer ads
                                    24. 36D
                                      Not on the lee side
                                    25. 37D
                                      Yes, in Paris
                                    26. 38D
                                      First responder, for short
                                    27. 39D
                                      Cured, dried fish
                                    28. 40D
                                      Authority to make the final decision (and not a hint for solving the meta, despite the central location)
                                    29. 41D
                                      "You wish!"
                                    30. 42D
                                      City known for its war-related conventions
                                    31. 43D
                                      Gain back, as trust
                                    32. 44D
                                      Pork and beef
                                    33. 46D
                                      Second installment
                                    34. 48D
                                      "Just give me some time to think about what I'm going to say"
                                    35. 51D
                                      Bldng's lwst rm
                                    36. 52D
                                      "Back In Black" rockers
                                    37. 54D
                                      Shrinking inland sea
                                    38. 55D
                                      Oxen holder
                                    39. 57D
                                      You, in Paris
                                    40. 59D
                                      "Selma" director, ___ DuVernay
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