Queen of 💕 (mini meta)

■ · By Mike D · Published 2021-05-30T14:58:35.197Z

Meta Prompt

The solution is a 4-letter word

This is my first ever attempt at constructing a meta - I hope it makes some degree of sense! The main goal with this puzzle is to test of some functionality for meta puzzles that will be released soon. Please LMK if you have any thoughts or suggestions on the submission process, leaderboard, etc.

Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

Just Testing solved at 15:14 on 5/30/2021
FrankieHeck solved at 15:51 on 5/30/2021
Jimmy James solved at 15:55 on 5/30/2021
Zachary Hollback solved at 16:16 on 5/30/2021
Resident Mutt solved at 16:27 on 5/30/2021
wisprabbit solved at 16:30 on 5/30/2021
Philip Chow solved at 17:20 on 5/30/2021
Jason S solved at 17:53 on 5/30/2021
Tony H solved at 19:10 on 5/30/2021
Daniel P solved at 19:19 on 5/30/2021
Jake A solved at 19:46 on 5/30/2021
C64 solved at 21:01 on 5/30/2021
Puzzling Programmer solved at 21:37 on 5/30/2021
Spunky solved at 23:27 on 5/30/2021
emz solved at 12:11 on 5/31/2021
Alex Sisti solved at 14:22 on 5/31/2021
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 14:27 on 5/31/2021
Joe Ross solved at 14:32 on 5/31/2021
hector pefo solved at 14:36 on 5/31/2021
Emma Oxford solved at 14:47 on 5/31/2021
JeffPrug solved at 15:25 on 5/31/2021
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 16:27 on 5/31/2021
Matt A solved at 16:33 on 5/31/2021
Leslie Yonce solved at 16:43 on 5/31/2021
whimsy solved at 17:10 on 5/31/2021
BrennerTJ solved at 17:39 on 5/31/2021
Mikey G solved at 18:47 on 5/31/2021
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 21:05 on 5/31/2021
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 0:08 on 6/1/2021
Pandora's Blocks Weekly Meta Crossword solved at 0:54 on 6/1/2021
JM solved at 1:16 on 6/1/2021
Kjersti Chippindale solved at 1:38 on 6/1/2021
Pixlate solved at 5:15 on 6/1/2021
Lloyd solved at 8:27 on 6/1/2021
Kent D solved at 21:31 on 6/1/2021
Rick Heisler solved at 23:41 on 6/2/2021
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 18:10 on 6/3/2021
Augwood solved at 22:21 on 6/3/2021
Shalaka Tamhane solved at 9:34 on 6/4/2021
Ryan McCluskey solved at 12:36 on 6/4/2021
rickybillingsgate solved at 18:17 on 6/4/2021
K7 solved at 19:15 on 6/4/2021
Shmuel Schmell solved at 9:12 on 6/7/2021
Anthony N solved at 1:58 on 6/8/2021
Tom Wilson solved at 14:46 on 6/9/2021
Abide solved at 2:56 on 6/11/2021
Meta World Peace solved at 14:34 on 6/11/2021
Abide solved at 3:46 on 6/12/2021
babafats solved at 20:20 on 6/12/2021
hbxwords solved at 3:12 on 6/19/2021
Miles Aronow solved at 21:57 on 6/30/2021
Sommersmith solved at 16:10 on 7/7/2021
Joah solved at 5:55 on 8/8/2021
Nick Smith solved at 13:52 on 8/14/2021
anonymous solved at 0:31 on 8/26/2021
Orfington solved at 15:56 on 8/29/2021
Grant Law solved at 22:16 on 8/29/2021
Puzzler solved at 13:22 on 9/1/2021
Puzzleman solved at 13:31 on 9/1/2021
Sparkle Motion solved at 14:42 on 9/3/2021
AEZ solved at 2:16 on 9/10/2021
ellequin solved at 3:40 on 9/10/2021
Lisa Talya solved at 13:17 on 9/16/2021
Jasonbr solved at 14:18 on 9/16/2021
Coyote Dembicki solved at 0:21 on 9/21/2021
Caroline solved at 18:38 on 9/22/2021
sus solved at 15:42 on 9/23/2021
Lacemastarson solved at 18:24 on 9/30/2021
jay solved at 7:20 on 10/1/2021
benchen71 solved at 2:15 on 10/2/2021
kieranjboyd solved at 2:09 on 10/6/2021
David Plass solved at 10:35 on 10/12/2021
dianyx solved at 22:43 on 10/14/2021
Byron solved at 23:40 on 10/25/2021
downie solved at 13:31 on 10/28/2021
Rosie solved at 13:31 on 10/28/2021
Rahul Shah solved at 16:15 on 10/28/2021
Emily Carpenter solved at 16:38 on 10/28/2021
Lyle Entwistle solved at 0:17 on 10/29/2021
Greg S solved at 13:52 on 10/29/2021
Carolyn B solved at 20:00 on 10/29/2021
V solved at 21:19 on 10/29/2021
bronnied solved at 23:45 on 10/30/2021
Craig Mautner solved at 15:13 on 10/31/2021
GoatsAreCool solved at 0:21 on 11/1/2021
Roman B solved at 19:29 on 11/2/2021
Ryan Lester solved at 19:39 on 11/4/2021
Marissa solved at 5:25 on 11/12/2021
SeptaCube solved at 18:48 on 11/12/2021
bice solved at 2:43 on 11/15/2021
noneuclidean solved at 0:28 on 11/17/2021
Lucas solved at 2:06 on 11/17/2021
nws solved at 11:19 on 11/17/2021
19 second respawn times solved at 21:07 on 11/17/2021
dhp solved at 7:50 on 11/18/2021
topghost solved at 19:20 on 11/18/2021
calica solved at 18:15 on 11/21/2021
el solved at 0:55 on 11/28/2021
elro solved at 19:53 on 11/29/2021
Brandon Dean solved at 2:12 on 11/30/2021
Duncan Lyle solved at 20:56 on 12/2/2021
Chuck Gottesman solved at 22:50 on 12/6/2021
capybara solved at 14:36 on 12/9/2021
Larry Edelstein solved at 3:36 on 12/11/2021
Benana solved at 15:08 on 12/12/2021
Zachamp solved at 18:55 on 12/13/2021
Carolyn solved at 1:05 on 12/16/2021
Conflux solved at 20:09 on 12/19/2021
schmidzy solved at 21:41 on 12/20/2021
sea solved at 2:39 on 12/21/2021
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 16:43 on 12/26/2021
Sarah solved at 17:44 on 12/29/2021
Ka solved at 17:56 on 1/5/2022
Daniel Jalkut solved at 0:13 on 1/6/2022
lightseba solved at 3:35 on 1/7/2022
Niko solved at 14:39 on 1/9/2022
Tim O solved at 18:06 on 1/14/2022
Mateo Cruzas solved at 19:29 on 1/18/2022
Holmes solved at 14:43 on 1/21/2022
Jon Dunn solved at 17:37 on 1/27/2022
Keith solved at 19:17 on 1/27/2022
Chuck solved at 16:14 on 1/29/2022
gee solved at 17:01 on 2/10/2022
Hraf solved at 22:10 on 2/16/2022
mizlan solved at 23:38 on 2/21/2022
Tower Lachesism solved at 23:12 on 2/24/2022
3Strikerz solved at 15:02 on 3/10/2022
certaindamage solved at 21:16 on 3/12/2022
gamma0577 solved at 6:18 on 3/17/2022
Ryan Fitzgerald solved at 18:51 on 3/19/2022
ebwydra solved at 17:10 on 3/20/2022
Chas solved at 20:38 on 3/26/2022
Lobsterboys solved at 21:32 on 3/28/2022
The Berg solved at 16:33 on 4/1/2022
Tim Daso solved at 1:12 on 4/6/2022
jonn solved at 13:07 on 4/7/2022
Oskar solved at 7:43 on 4/22/2022
Jacob s solved at 4:32 on 4/26/2022
m solved at 17:38 on 4/28/2022
jc6213 solved at 13:26 on 4/29/2022
Sam the Crayon solved at 18:04 on 4/29/2022
Alex R solved at 15:39 on 4/30/2022
Patrick Maher solved at 21:04 on 4/30/2022
andriella solved at 16:30 on 5/5/2022
court solved at 21:09 on 5/5/2022
chaddgar solved at 15:38 on 5/19/2022
dot solved at 7:54 on 5/30/2022
Yanqui solved at 2:54 on 6/3/2022
Michele G solved at 14:25 on 6/12/2022
Louis D solved at 20:29 on 6/16/2022
Ben Horvat solved at 17:47 on 6/23/2022
evan solved at 1:34 on 6/25/2022
kyakkat solved at 2:26 on 6/26/2022
LCL solved at 22:17 on 7/7/2022
nobodyyyyy solved at 22:30 on 7/9/2022
jareed solved at 21:21 on 7/12/2022
MrTheHan solved at 13:24 on 7/15/2022
Leigh Caldwell solved at 21:40 on 7/20/2022
MrSupper solved at 13:40 on 7/26/2022
emmie solved at 20:51 on 7/28/2022
Dawn Landry solved at 18:47 on 7/30/2022
Apharius solved at 20:45 on 8/8/2022
max solved at 13:40 on 8/10/2022
sghiaa solved at 23:17 on 8/13/2022
bootywink solved at 19:41 on 8/18/2022
Amy Taramasso solved at 21:16 on 8/18/2022
pax solved at 2:07 on 8/25/2022
Adam solved at 5:24 on 8/26/2022
Anthony Pecorella solved at 23:16 on 8/26/2022
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 4:09 on 8/28/2022
Tim Kent solved at 18:39 on 8/29/2022
simabee solved at 14:35 on 8/30/2022
Sanne Budd solved at 22:36 on 9/8/2022
David Clyde solved at 0:05 on 9/9/2022
Katie McCauley solved at 1:22 on 9/9/2022
Mike Crawford solved at 8:45 on 9/10/2022
Glitchrr36 solved at 3:16 on 9/11/2022
Jonathan Chaffer solved at 19:52 on 9/12/2022
Display name solved at 22:20 on 9/15/2022
Landon Kimmel solved at 22:19 on 9/16/2022
fir solved at 22:33 on 9/22/2022
The Debating One solved at 11:22 on 9/30/2022
Abide solved at 12:21 on 10/6/2022
Wist solved at 4:45 on 10/8/2022
mbd solved at 23:37 on 10/13/2022
Teddybear solved at 21:25 on 11/4/2022
Zoe solved at 23:35 on 12/1/2022
E Anders solved at 18:30 on 12/9/2022
JD Crosbie solved at 8:56 on 12/16/2022
BigBeard solved at 16:06 on 1/6/2023
ChrisCross solved at 18:04 on 1/7/2023
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 3:53 on 1/16/2023
squicc solved at 5:10 on 1/16/2023
Puzzled solved at 18:05 on 1/26/2023
cronjob solved at 14:25 on 1/27/2023
PuzzleJohn solved at 18:33 on 1/30/2023
Jessica Schirle solved at 9:54 on 2/5/2023
Elle solved at 13:53 on 2/18/2023
yam solved at 22:00 on 2/21/2023
Anonymous Crossharer solved at 1:58 on 2/22/2023
DiamondBrickZ solved at 17:22 on 2/24/2023
honkhonkbeep solved at 17:22 on 3/6/2023
B solved at 16:36 on 3/30/2023
lukey solved at 18:55 on 4/1/2023
hoshi solved at 5:53 on 4/7/2023
Daniel Jones solved at 21:18 on 4/10/2023
example solved at 14:46 on 4/17/2023
Natalie Malouf Sites solved at 6:44 on 4/30/2023
Harry Zheng solved at 15:38 on 5/1/2023
Rocky Villano solved at 20:04 on 5/6/2023
mpdylan solved at 20:44 on 5/9/2023
mad mercenary solved at 20:41 on 5/13/2023
Wordguru solved at 16:17 on 5/14/2023
bruhbruhbr solved at 3:26 on 5/15/2023
Pedro solved at 19:22 on 5/22/2023
Philip solved at 6:24 on 5/23/2023
George J solved at 17:39 on 5/25/2023
donkey solved at 20:28 on 5/26/2023

Comments

Mike D constructor · 2021-05-30T15:00:36.560Z
Each of the across entries has lost its head to become a different entry. The parenthetical clue gives a clue to the original entry. From top to bottom the missing letters spell HEAD, which is what the Queen of Hearts was always trying to chop off of folks
- Anthony Pecorella 🤓45s · 2022-08-26T23:17:16.149Z
  Oh, nice! I got "head" but hadn't put together that it was a description of what had happened specifically. Well done!
FrankieHeck 🤓23s · 2021-05-30T15:54:05.918Z
That was fun! I was worried at first because the submission form popped up immediately and covered the grid, before I had a chance to look for the meta. But obviously I was able to make it back to the form. I would look forward to more metas from you :-)
- Mike D constructor · 2021-05-30T16:12:31.081Z
  Thanks Frankie! Maybe I can think of some ways to make it more obvious how to toggle back and forth between the grid and the submission form
  - hector pefo 🤓22s · 2021-05-31T14:44:28.197Z
    ... and then become "Show Comments" after submission.
Philip Chow 🤓29s · 2021-05-30T17:27:42.278Z
Nice - this meta submission box is an awesome new feature!! Off with their heads!
- Mike D constructor · 2021-05-30T18:40:39.027Z
  Thanks Philip! Hopefully it'll be live for all constructors soon
  - Philip Chow 🤓29s · 2021-05-30T20:03:28.718Z
    A suggestion I thought of is let's say you're working on a meta and it's a really tough one, what if when submitting an incorrect entry, you can make it so you get a hint instead that will nudge you in the right direction? or enable a hint button or something?
    Mike D constructor · 2021-05-30T20:30:50.981Z
    That's a good idea! I think maybe you should still only get one submission but should be able to get one or more hints beforehand. I created an issue here - feel free to track or add any thoughts there.
emz 🤓46s · 2021-05-31T12:13:52.979Z
nice meta :) at first i was hesitant about the one-submission per meta restriction but after thinking about it a while i think it's fine. i feel that in my experience w metas it's really impossible to somehow get the wrong answer, you always know the answer when you see it
- Mike D constructor · 2021-05-31T12:32:49.090Z
  Thanks! I'm open to any and all suggestions - I agree w/ you generally but I do also think it'd be nice to give people a second chance. Maybe if you submit the wrong answer and there are hints available it nudges you instead (like Philip suggested above)?
hector pefo 🤓22s · 2021-05-31T14:43:18.437Z
This is cool; thanks! It'd be nice to have the puzzle title in the main puzzle view. Also, "Show Comments" is not obviously where to look for a prompt and to submit. In fact, it might be cool to have that read "Meta Info" at first, with just the prompt and submission form (1/2)
- Mike D constructor · 2021-05-31T15:19:35.420Z
  Great idea! I'm making a change now to switch that out to "Meta Info" until you've submitted. I'd like to include the title in the main view but it's hard to find a place for it. On large screens it could fit in the title bar but probably won't work on mobile. Any ideas?
  - hector pefo 🤓22s · 2021-05-31T23:09:33.328Z
    I'm the last person to ask, but I think the usual solution is having stuff under a three-bars icon, or in your case three dots and "More". Can the title be atop the menu you get? As a solver, I'd just be looking for obvious things to click.
    Mike D constructor · 2021-06-01T00:49:45.500Z
    Yeah I can definitely add it at the top of that menu, that's a good idea!
Emma Oxford 🤓11s · 2021-05-31T14:48:48.415Z
This is a great feature, thanks Mike!!
- Mike D constructor · 2021-05-31T15:36:33.138Z
  Thanks Emma
JeffPrug 🤓23s · 2021-05-31T15:28:28.882Z
Awesome! Looking forward to the feature rollout. I would also be in favor of the ability to add hint(s) which display rather than immediately revealing the correct answer if the solver enters an incorrect answer.
- Mike D constructor · 2021-05-31T15:48:11.126Z
  Thanks! It's now live for any constructor to use when uploading or constructing a new puzzle.
  
  I think the people have spoken and hints will be coming soon - progress can be tracked here.
BrennerTJ 🤓19s · 2021-05-31T17:47:37.766Z
Great to have immediate feedback on whether the submitted answer is correct. Wondered why I didn't see myself on the leaderboard -- then noticed that it is 'updated hourly' not immediately. If the answer is more than one word, would spaces or punctuation matter?
- Mike D constructor · 2021-05-31T18:54:02.850Z
  Spaces and capitalization are ignored but I think you're right I should probably have it ignore punctuation as well!
Pandora's Blocks Weekly Meta Crossword 🤓36s · 2021-06-01T00:56:26.157Z
This is awesome Mike! Love the new feature!
- Mike D constructor · 2021-06-01T01:10:26.616Z
  Thank you for the idea!
Lloyd 🤓27s · 2021-06-01T09:24:18.694Z
Really fun! I'm terrible at metas (I'm improving thanks to Pandora's Blocks), but this was the first I ever got right! I like the mechanism and can only agree with others' comments on functionality. Well done, Mike. It's inspired me to try my hand at a related meta, too.
- Mike D constructor · 2021-06-01T12:42:01.149Z
  Awesome that is so great to hear! LMK if you have any suggestions after trying it as a constructor, too
Tarot And Rye 🤓35s · 2021-06-01T14:56:40.447Z
I had (Dame) EDNA for my guess but I loved the puzzle!
- Mike D constructor · 2021-06-01T14:58:42.309Z
  Thank you!
rickybillingsgate 🤓19s · 2021-06-04T18:17:33.037Z
kool
Abide 🤓33s · 2021-06-11T03:03:21.320Z
I like on crosshares how the solving times are embedded in the comments. The "speed to meta" stat is a cool feature. I was pleased with my 33 seconds until I saw the other times. 11 seconds? Really Emma-lol?
- Mike D constructor · 2021-06-11T11:18:30.883Z
  Thanks! The time shown is actually just the time to finish the grid, not the meta. And yes some folks are crazy fast!! 33s is a great time though, nice job!
  - Abide 🤓28s · 2021-06-12T03:47:55.166Z
    Ah, you’re right...although a start to meta answer time would be pretty neat too!
benchen71 🤓24s · 2021-10-02T02:18:10.864Z
I love the meta functionality here on Crosshare. You've made it really simple for me to very quickly get up and running with my own metas. Thanks, Mike D. Oh, and this is a cool meta, too - I love the Queen of Hearts angle!
- Mike D constructor · 2021-10-02T10:46:42.601Z
  Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it and putting it to use

Play today's daily mini crossword

Pub pints (Barbara and Nathan)

Across

1A
Pub pints (Barbara and Nathan)

5A
Old king of rhyme (French school)
6A
Thorny flower (Got up)
7A
Barely managed, with "out" (Feinted, in hockey)

Down

1D
43,560 square feet
2D
Take a peek
3D
Otherwise
4D
Potential plant