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Writing Down through the Ages

◆◆ · By woozy · Published 2022-09-07T04:01:50.762Z

Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is a piece of writing
This may be my most ambitious meta.
This was a learning experience but what I learned is not that pleasant.
I learned when a constructor sets himself up with an intricate problem of creating a puzzle that cleverly follows an intricate mechanism and the constructor gets the thrill of solving the problem.... Unfortunately for the solver there will not be the thrill of solving the problem, there's only doing of the puzzle which, although it may be amazing that such a puzzle could have been made, says nothing about what experience the solver may have in doing the puzzle.
Here I have a puzzle I am very proud of in the many intricate themes it incorporates. But... I have to be honest as a solver it would be arduous and a total work out.
So I don't know what to do. I love this puzzle and I want people to do it and maybe afterwords when they see the themes they'd appreciate how it works. But... I can't imagine it being enjoyable.
I don't know. Maybe someone can do it and tell me what the think.
Checking for previous play data...

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  • benchen71 25:21 · 2022-10-01T05:06:44.682Z
    I gave this a good go but there was simply too much going on to be able to discern any sort of pattern in the noise. And revealing the answer didn't help! I imagine if this ran as a "week 5" on MGWCC then someone would probably persevere to the bitter end, but those metas are not ones I particularly gravitate towards. I prefer "week 2"s!
    • woozy constructor · 2022-10-01T15:57:27.977Z
      This was one of those ideas ideas that seem clever when you think of it but when you pull it through.... Well I'll add a a general comment to explain. But every down answer provides a letter to a 77 letter stream.
    • woozy constructor · 2022-10-01T15:56:53.003Z
      So I was watching a program about the history writing and about how the alphabet evolved from pictographs. (The letter A for instance was originally a pictogram of a BULL). I thought it be funny to have a clue be a letter, say S, have an entry of its original pictogram (Tooth). And I thought it'd be funny if clues referring to objects, say a HOUSE, would be a meta clue for its letter: B.
      So every single down entry begins with a word to describe a pictogram and if you spelled out the letters it would spell "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirro" which are the first 77 letters of James Joyce's Ulysses.
      Play today's daily mini crossword
      1A
      A (alp, alep, alef, alpha)
      1
      2
      3
      4
      5
      6
      7
      8
      9
      10
      11
      12
      13
      14
      15
      16
      17
      18
      19
      20
      21
      22
      23
      24
      25
      26
      27
      28
      29
      30
      31
      32
      33
      34
      35
      36
      37
      38
      39
      40
      41
      42
      43
      44
      45
      46
      47
      48
      49
      50
      51
      52
      53
      54
      55
      56
      57
      58
      59
      60
      61
      62
      63
      64
      65
      66
      67
      68
      69
      70
      71
      72
      73
      74
      75
      76
      77
      78
      79
      80
      81
      82
      83
      84
      85
      86
      87
      88
      89
      90
      91
      92
      93
      94
      95
      96
      97
      98
      99
      100
      101
      102
      103
      104
      105
      106
      107
      108
      109
      110
      111
      112
      113
      114
      115
      116
      117
      118
      119
      120
      121
      122
      123
      124
      125
      126
      127
      128
      129
      130
      131
      132
      133
      134
      135
      136
      137
      138
      139
      140
      Across
      1. 1A
        A (alp, alep, alef, alpha)
      2. 5A
        B (bayt, bet, bet, beta)
      3. 10A
        C,G (gaml, gimel, gimel, gamma)
      4. 15A
        D (dalt, dalet, dalet, delta)
      5. 19A
        Zoological ending
      6. 20A
        Everything and all
      7. 21A
        My, my, Ms. Grafton (your mysteries never cease to astound me)
      8. 22A
        Flo Rida and Usher both have a song with this title
      9. 23A
        Bell sound
      10. 24A
        Variation of Lindens
      11. 25A
        Prevaricators
      12. 26A
        British machine gun
      13. 27A
        Pour redémarrer, appuyez simultanément sur Ctrl, Alt -----
      14. 29A
        38A s Operating System released in 2015
      15. 31A
        Schism
      16. 32A
        If you change the third letter to a you get a dwelling in the wild; but as it is, with the third letter being it is a dwelling in captivity
      17. 33A
        Enough rope to hang yourself
      18. 35A
        95A erman who gathers a specific 95A; or his boat. 95A ing for these 95A used to be a lucrative industry off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland
      19. 37A
        Veritas --- liberabit
      20. 38A
        E (haw, he, he, epsilon)
      21. 41A
        F,U,V,W,Y (waw, waw, vav, digamma, upsilon)
      22. 43A
        Z (zayn, zayin, zayin, zeta)
      23. 46A
        Palindromic neighbor of Scorpius
      24. 47A
        Cap. of UT
      25. 49A
        Dangerous
      26. 52A
        Pasture
      27. 53A
        H (hayt, het, het, eta)
      28. 55A
        K (kap, kap, kaf, kappa)
      29. 57A
        L (lamd, lamed, lamed, lambda)
      30. 59A
        M (mayum, mem,mem, mu)
      31. 63A
        Internal prefix
      32. 64A
        Line of shrubbery; can be used as a 53A
      33. 65A
        Computer standards grp.
      34. 66A
        Photographer Ansel
      35. 67A
        Actual
      36. 68A
        Green prefix
      37. 69A
        Israel's parliament
      38. 71A
        Greek letters which originated as a pictograph of a snake
      39. 72A
        T (taw, taw, tav, tau)
      40. 74A
        S (sinn, sin, sin, sigma)
      41. 76A
        Film-making brothers' surname
      42. 78A
        O (ayn, ayin, ayin, omicron)
      43. 81A
        Like Right Said Fred as per his shirt
      44. 83A
        Game pieces
      45. 84A
        Actress Jessica (whose name means white)
      46. 88A
        One touched by Cupid's Arrow
      47. 90A
        Perhaps this puzzle's this is that it tries to do too much
      48. 91A
        Leg parts just below the knees
      49. 93A
        Opposition votes
      50. 94A
        N (nahas, nun,nun, nu)
      51. 95A
        X (samak, samek, samek, chi)
      52. 96A
        R (ra s, res, res, rho)
      53. 97A
        P (pay, pe, pe, pi)
      54. 98A
        Letter that began as a pictograph of a tooth (or the sun, maybe)
      55. 100A
        77 of the clues in this puzzle are this type. (That most be some sort of record.)
      56. 102A
        Your compass heading when the wind is from the north and you are on a port tack on a deep broad reach
      57. 104A
        Letter that began a a pictograph as a door.
      58. 105A
        Maybe he proofs the releases for bugs
      59. 108A
        Lithe 95A
      60. 109A
        Evaluate
      61. 111A
        I, J (yad, yod, yod, iota)
      62. 112A
        Q (qop, qop, qaf, koppa)
      63. 115A
        Latin for table
      64. 117A
        Maybe a den inside a 5A. Perhaps a man-cave.
      65. 119A
        Hindu fire god
      66. 120A
        Purity measure
      67. 123A
        Obsolete messaging app
      68. 127A
        The siege of Tripoli ended in this palindromic year. If you try to read it as pictographs it'd be something about .... flow through the entryway being prodded by an arm?.... Maybe numbers and letters shouldn't mix
      69. 128A
        Exhausts
      70. 130A
        108A are called Unagi in a restaurant specializing in this type of food.
      71. 132A
        La Citta Eterna
      72. 133A
        Blood conduit
      73. 134A
        Project dramatically
      74. 135A
        Runner Bolt
      75. 136A
        Thick noodle
      76. 137A
        To better explain 57A, goad, pastoral staff, shepherd's crook
      77. 138A
        This last row of clues is here to make more ----- of earlier clues
      78. 139A
        To better explain 10A. You throw it with a strap, a sling, it could be a spear, a sling spear
      79. 140A
        To better explain 71A. A tallying symbol, cross.
      Down
      1. 1D
        Toothily chomp down on
      2. 2D
        Mark as a single quantity
      3. 3D
        Cowboy Wildcat Kelly wanted this, lots of this, and the starry skies above! Don't 53A me in! (More earworms)
      4. 4D
        Recorded as a great story for the ages
      5. 5D
        Windowed enclosure for growing plants; ---- 5A.
      6. 6D
        These prod you into action as they are divinations of the future
      7. 7D
        Hook together
      8. 8D
        The mouth of a 59A, or , may be filled with this; deposit of sediment
      9. 9D
        When goading and prodding are at an end, you can allow yourself to be at this.
      10. 10D
        Hook to lure diurnal critters; you need this star (you just can't have day without it)
      11. 11D
        River length ranking of the Yangtze
      12. 12D
        Lips! Read my lips!
      13. 13D
        House returning to time; you don't want to break this
      14. 14D
        Hook-like talons this small falcon has
      15. 15D
        Sling the flat round platter
      16. 16D
        Hand sized printed page
      17. 17D
        Its rivers include the Deschutes, the Willamette, and the 94A
      18. 18D
        A hook between two ----- may occur if Sandberg, in his role of as a Baseball manager, would leave the dugout to replace pitcher, Stanek. That certainly never happened
      19. 28D
        Staff uses a ----- leaf filing system, the pages are individual and not bound together
      20. 30D
        Staff includes sergeants and other officers appointed from enlisted personnel
      21. 34D
        Armed with talons and night vision, this bird is a night predator
      22. 36D
        "Stick with 8 oz.? Sure, you don't want 16oz.?" "Alright, I go with 16 oz." (alternative woozyism clue: Striped artiodactyl --Network Edition)
      23. 38D
        Bulls will eat alfalfa pressed into this thin cookie like form
      24. 39D
        Snake-ily clever adversary of Sherlock
      25. 40D
        Stick with either the clue about the Indian Dynasty of the 4th century BCE, or about the half-sister of Siddhartha. They may be obscure but they aren't as obscure as your clues about Princess Langwidere's maid in "Ozma of Oz" and about Indian actress Karnataki
      26. 41D
        ----- like a Ox (sorry, I don't like to be so crass but for this one, it fit just too well.)
      27. 42D
        Sur une rivière, c'est un mouvement ondulant de l'eau. (translation: On a river, this is an undulating motion of water)
      28. 44D
        The windows in a filter allow air or oxygen to mix often resulting in fizziness.
      29. 45D
        Hooked a financial gain for services.
      30. 48D
        Head count
      31. 50D
        Eyes on you. The fifth director of the FBI from September 1993 to June 2001
      32. 51D
        Stream of employees. Must be hired fairly and without discrimination
      33. 54D
        Mark O'Reilly in "El Perfecto Desconocido" is a much lesser known role than "Star Trek"s Miles O'Brien for this actor Meaney
      34. 56D
        Fence jumping and garden digging and barking.... my dog makes a lot of commotion.
      35. 58D
        From the window to the cellar, falls and/or lowers
      36. 60D
        Tooth doctor's (or any other profession's) truck
      37. 61D
        Mark this one for the books: a flightless long-legged bird that can reach over six feet in height
      38. 62D
        "Not just Cows" Hey! does any-one remember that Internet guide? We can keep up on our internet feeds with this technology, but no matter how you look at it "Not Just Cows" is pretty much over.
      39. 64D
        Armstrong (Niel) was one to many of my generation.
      40. 69D
        Headshots of this comedian, Jo, show he has quite an expressive face
      41. 70D
        Borders on ages and ages
      42. 73D
        Window,looking out of.... that's one easy thing to do when you this; not working and relaxing
      43. 74D
        A bull#### clue: One of three natural satellites orbiting the Jiralhanae homeworld in the game "Halo". Or if you want a woozyism: The residue after burning Tellurium.
      44. 75D
        Doorway to the west: Conestoga wagons had this on its axle. (Has a reference to 1A in it)
      45. 77D
        Home in the billionth (10 to the negative nine) parts
      46. 78D
        Windowed building extensions in the shape an
      47. 79D
        Cattle that are far off-- they aren't hither; they're ----
      48. 80D
        Head-case Hitler's photographer girlfriend
      49. 82D
        An arm can go through one of these narrow cuts if that's appropriate.
      50. 83D
        A snake in a jar (dead) was a gift given to soccer great Hamm by her uncle.
      51. 85D
        Sling high praise
      52. 86D
        Cattle.... if you place them in groups of eight and consider whether the cow is black or white as one bit of information.... (In other words, not really anything to do with cattle)
      53. 87D
        House remnants after it has been burnt to the ground
      54. 89D
        Eye on the prize. Keep ones eye on the prize and maybe one manages to just make a living.
      55. 91D
        "Hook must be gentle When he shakes your hand. Captain Hook must be careful Openin' sardine cans" poet Silverstein
      56. 92D
        Prod for equal rack space to hang your towel next to the one marked "His"
      57. 97D
        Look at the ---- made when I threw all my food on the floor.
      58. 99D
        They're on the hook for governing by assembly
      59. 101D
        Goading and prodding are needed for the timorous (although the will inherit the earth)
      60. 103D
        Bull running in Pamplona is the highlight of the --- Fermin festival
      61. 105D
        Tallying records is a small part of the job of a person who professionally makes swaps
      62. 106D
        Fencer Salafia who won a silver medal in the team sabre event at the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics. Too obscure? Okay, Charlie Sheen's brother.
      63. 107D
        Window washing is not on the regular course of action for most 5A-keepers.
      64. 110D
        The head is pretty much on the exact opposite end of the spinal column as this
      65. 111D
        Eye on the ball. If you keep your eye on the ball you may win this prize for an outstanding player. Well, if you are in the right league... there's another for the National League.
      66. 113D
        Snake-in-the-grass untrustworthy company whose deed caught up with them in 01-02
      67. 114D
        Hooked on faddish ways to loose weight
      68. 115D
        Boundaries and range are vast for these cattle-herding people of Kenya
      69. 116D
        Arm yourself with a set of moral principals
      70. 118D
        Sticky and tough outside skin of a fruit
      71. 121D
        A fence distinguishes properties and denotes that 5A over there as them and this 5A over here -- --.
      72. 122D
        "Cow with a mournful eye" is probably one of the most depressing images in the "Donna Donna" cover by Joan Baez. Far more upbeat is her "Diamonds and -----" about her turbulent relationship with Bob Dylan. (Upbeat is relative but .... sheesh.... "Donna Donna" is really depressing!)
      73. 124D
        Rivers, Joan, had been interviewed many times on the Today show by this host Kotb
      74. 125D
        O, ARM anagram. (It's a lovely anagram)
      75. 126D
        Head down the to water tower and see if this large receptacle for holding, transporting, or storing liquids is in good working order.
      76. 129D
        Heads have orbs called 78A s to do this
      77. 131D
        Eyes might be the only body part you can't get tattooed with this permanent marking substance.
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