Ah Holy Night
◆ · By Bird Lives · Published 2023-12-25T12:00:29.277Z
Meta Prompt
The answer (five letters) is something found under many Christmas trees.
This did not start out as a Christmas puzzle. It was just another meta, and the metanism has nothing to do with the holiday. But the alert MMM editorial staff (i.e., Clark E. Tripe, to whom much thanks) saw that if we dressed it in a Santa suit and hung a few ornaments on the clues, it might serve a seasonal purpose. The metanism is not complicated, but its interpretation may be a slight challenge, and some solvers may be temporarily distracted by unintentional red herrings.
Here's a wee nudge: You may have noticed the multiple occurrences of letters that spell out a SantaClausical expression. That’s the unintended red herring. But there are ways of thinking about letters other than the words they spell.
Letters that don’t spell words can sometimes name things as when we use only the initials — NFL, CDC, etc. Or those HO gauge trains (sorry about that).
In this case the letters as they appear in the grid are not the way they usually appear in naming the answer.
Couuting helps.
You don’t have to count very high.
Checking for previous play data...
<——. A gazillion of those on the windshield BTW, en route from NC to VA. Happy holidays, all, and be safe!1A
Standout pitchers or pilots
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Across
- 1AStandout pitchers or pilots
- 5A"Merry Widow" composer
- 10ATide or log lead-in
- 14APhone message
- 15AAngelou, "Still ___"
- 16AUtah city, original home of WordPerfect, the best word processor
- 17AToys for tots, e.g.
- 18ABother continually
- 19A"For ___us a child is born"
- 20ATime for last-chance Christmas shopping
- 23AKierkegaard, if you're on a first-name basis with him
- 24AEnd-of-the-line item
- 28AExplosive letters
- 29AClassic RPG in which you might be an elf
- 32ATV producer Rhimes
- 33AThe kind of occasion Christmas is supposed to be
- 36AA stocking might be hung on one
- 37AWhat an elf might want for Christmas?
- 41ALight gas
- 42A"Holiday ___," Robert Mitchum film released Dec. 24, 1949
- 43AHe originally sang "Try to Remember"
- 46ALeaves in the pot
- 47ARequest
- 50AKeep back
- 53AThe speed of sound
- 55AFestivals like Christmas, Easter, or Rosh Hashana
- 58AChristmas trio
- 61ACruciverbalist Pasco
- 62AWhen Caesar had one of those days
- 63ASimple shape for an electric train
- 64A"Como ___?"
- 65A___ en-scene
- 66AWhere Christmas shoppers go
- 67ABabes in the wood
- 68AHas some mince pie
Down
- 1DBear witness
- 2DSri Lanka once
- 3DKind of trial witness or ski slope
- 4DRange in the home
- 5DActor Mark ___-Baker
- 6DThe E of QED
- 7DTop of the range for a French horn (an instrument that might have been a themer)
- 8DJapanese newspaper or beer
- 9DWhat you do when the coin lands on its edge
- 10DAttorney's first words to the judge
- 11DIt might be next to the Christmas cookies at the office party
- 12D"___ It Snow," seasonal Cahn-Styne song
- 13DMusic genre definitely not filled with Christmas spirit
- 21DFund a chair
- 22D"Errr, let me think."
- 25DSon of Judah, eponymous seed-spiller
- 26DCanine in the comics
- 27DObama White House staffer Penn who also played Kumar
- 30DAlternative to WaPo or WSJ
- 31DQatar capital
- 33DUS actor -- "Moneyball," "Knocked Up," "Superbad," etc.
- 34DTV channels above 13
- 35DPianissimo (and no, that does not mean a very big piano)
- 37DSpice Girl Halliwell
- 38DGen. ___ E. Lee
- 39DBetween Carly and Jepsen
- 40DTV vice city that will not have a white Christmas
- 41D"Don we ___ ..."
- 44DBears on the scoreboard
- 45DWhat Dorothy falls into in "The Wizard of Oz"
- 47DNational Park in Maine
- 48DLeast likely to sit on Santa's lap
- 49DWhat those under the mistletoe expect
- 51DTibetan city
- 52DGandhi wore one
- 54D"Brother Can You Spare ___" 1930 song by Jay Gorney and Yip Harburg
- 56DFictional snowman that isn't Frosty
- 57D"The Deadweight ___ of Christmas," econ paper arguing that noncash gifts are inefficient and decrease overall utility
- 58DBaker of Santa's cookies often
- 59DGardner or DuVernay
- 60DGadot who played Wonder Woman