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Laughter Is The Best Drug (Meta)

◆ · By benchen71 · Published 2022-09-27T06:00:20.983Z

Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is two six letter words
Apparently, Fantales are an Australian invention! These chocolate-coated caramel sweets come wrapped in paper with trivia questions on them, originally movie-related. Growing up, we would use these questions to play "guess the movie star" with someone reading it out loud and everyone else hoping to be the first to answer correctly. The fun was that the questions were worded in such a way that the details would start out sort of vague, or really obscure, and get more and more obvious. By the end of the question, though, it should be absolutely clear what the answer is. In this puzzle, I've written four clues as "WHO AM I?" Fantales questions. The answer to the meta is two six letter words. Answer and explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=107752#p107752
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$10 gives you access to 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game. You won't quite know what to expect: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, sometimes all of those, and sometimes none! One thing is for sure, these are some of the more creative metas my brain has been able to come up with. And there's more: this time there's a mega-meta!
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Darth solved 2022-09-27T14:06:28.755Z
  • Darrell solved 2022-09-28T06:30:24.477Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2022-09-28T12:24:06.870Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2022-09-28T14:38:10.476Z
  • Meg solved 2022-09-28T14:38:27.752Z
  • boharr solved 2022-09-28T15:57:07.890Z
  • Carolyn solved 2022-09-29T04:58:40.924Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2022-09-29T19:51:33.394Z
  • KayW solved 2022-09-29T22:03:38.520Z
  • markhr solved 2022-09-29T22:42:55.295Z
  • Ergcat solved 2022-09-30T01:06:59.276Z
  • Hector solved 2022-09-30T01:29:22.994Z
  • woozy solved 2022-09-30T02:30:51.390Z
  • DIS solved 2022-09-30T14:55:18.129Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2022-09-30T15:30:59.461Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2022-09-30T21:51:25.113Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2022-09-30T22:17:16.671Z
  • lbray53 solved 2022-10-01T01:35:33.308Z
  • rjy solved 2022-10-01T03:10:59.539Z
  • Laura M solved 2022-10-01T05:49:27.632Z
  • edestlin solved 2022-10-01T19:53:04.084Z
  • ReB solved 2022-10-02T01:30:11.719Z
  • DrTom solved 2022-10-02T08:59:47.855Z
  • Dow Jones solved 2022-10-03T05:31:30.421Z
  • turnaboutmerri solved 2022-10-07T00:46:52.615Z

Comments

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  • Darth 🤓16:00 · 2022-09-27T14:07:11.526Z
    Seriously I never heard of this term, but "crack dealer" didn't quite work! haha
    • benchen71 constructor · 2022-09-27T22:08:25.152Z
      That's definitely better than my answer!
    • I K Snamhcok 12s · 2022-09-28T12:29:19.659Z
      I got close without the spoiler, but I wasn’t quite getting the second word. Woke up today thinking I needed to look again at the long clues. (Sad that I wake up thinking about puzzles!) Ben’s post more or less confirmed my thinking, and there it was. Duh. Thanks, Ben!
      • KayW 🤓9:50 · 2022-09-29T22:04:29.344Z
        I needed ALL of the nudges - but amazing construction. Thanks, Ben!
        • Ergcat 13:46 · 2022-09-30T01:09:28.915Z
          Good one, Ben! The nudges finally gave me where and how many letters to take from the “Wit’s Ends”. Before nudges, I had tried several combinations of letters from the ends and only got nonsense!
          • benchen71 constructor · 2022-09-30T02:33:35.619Z
            Yes, it was well hidden!
          • DIS 🤓7:42 · 2022-09-30T14:56:40.609Z
            Definitely needed the nudges, specifically the one about what the clues had in common with the meta prompt.
            • Cindy Heisler 2s · 2022-09-30T15:33:18.995Z
              After someone explained the first nudge to me, I was able to make progress. Although it still took a second muggle nudge to get me to the correct answer.
              • ReB 5s · 2022-10-02T01:36:33.861Z
                Needed all four nudges and even then it was a struggle to figure out how to obtain twelve letters from four theme words. In retrospect it all seems evident - I just stumbled into multiple rabbit holes on my way. My biggest mental block was assuming that each theme word was going to generate three letters.
                Is BANTER DEALER an Australian phrase? (Stateside, I've never heard of these two words together as a phrase.)
                • benchen71 constructor · 2022-10-02T03:30:22.656Z
                  No, it's made-up. It's a play off the phrase "Laughter is the best medicine" and the fact that "medicine" in the US is referred to as "drugs". With that in mind, since comedians are known for their banter, it's not too much of a stretch to refer to them as banter dealers.
                • ReB 5s · 2022-10-02T02:05:04.903Z
                  Correction: all five nudges...
                  • DrTom 🤓22:35 · 2022-10-02T09:01:40.018Z
                    Interesting mechanism, very sly. I saw so many things but never the right ones until nudges and even then I switched some orders and got gibberish. Ben had to help me home.
                    Play today's daily mini crossword
                    1A
                    Esquire writer, Scott ___
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                    Across
                    1. 1A
                      Esquire writer, Scott ___
                    2. 5A
                      Opinion pieces
                    3. 10A
                      With 65 across, where you must be in order to solve the meta
                    4. 14A
                      Start of the famous palindrome associated with Napoleon
                    5. 15A
                      Non Sequitur cartoonist
                    6. 16A
                      English 80s supergroup whose biggest hit was "The Heat of the Moment"
                    7. 17A
                      WHO AM I? Born in 1945 in Chicago, this actor, author, producer, comedian and director is best known for his roles in Christopher Guest mocumentaries. He has one nomination for a Best Picture Oscar as a producer of "Gosford Park", and two nominations for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture in the SAG Awards. He played the on-screen narrator in Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom".
                    8. 19A
                      3rd person plural pronoun
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                      More azure, like the sky
                    10. 21A
                      Voice of Olaf in "Frozen", Josh ___
                    11. 22A
                      In the ___ (concerned with minor details)
                    12. 23A
                      "You can come out now!"
                    13. 25A
                      One who will inherit
                    14. 27A
                      WHO AM I? Born in 1945 in Honolulu, this singer, songwriter, actress and comedian began her career in off-off-Broadway plays before becoming a recording artist with several hits including "Wind Beneath My Wings". She has two Tony awards and one Drama Desk Award for her role in the 2017 revival of "Hello, Dolly!" She is also known as The Divine Miss M.
                    15. 32A
                      "I don't know what she ___ you."
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                      What la mer consists of
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                      Icicle location
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                      Mea ___ ("My bad")
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                      Magician's rabbit concealer
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                      Number of Harry Potter books (but not movies)
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                      Someone who enjoys drinking beer, perhaps? (OK, OK, American Leaguer, for short)
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                      State of matter
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                      Leave
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                      WHO AM I? Born in 1959 in New York, this actor and director worked initially under his birth name before adopting the middle name Hyde. He has appeared in many films including "The Fisher King" and "Sleepless In Seattle", also voicing the role of Slim in "A Bug's Life". He received one Tony award for Best Actor in a Musical (for "Curtains") and one Isabelle Stevenson Award. He is best known for playing Dr. Niles Crane in the sitcom "Frasier".
                    25. 47A
                      Close at hand
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                      In the middle of
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                      Computer programs used to come on piles of these
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                      "Cool!"
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                      Freshness phrase on food packaging
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                      Like some vaccines
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                      WHO AM I? Born in 1970 in San Francisco, this actress, comedian, director and talk-show host began her career as the host of "Talk Soup", before appearing on "Friends" as Dr. Charlie Wheeler. She won one Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host (for "The Talk") and her directorial debut, "Axis", was nominated for best film at three different film festivals. She is the current host of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
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                      Possible multiple choice response: "___ of the above"
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                      Situated farther in
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                      Hawaii's state bird
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                      See 10 across
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                      Length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 of a second
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                      Relinquish
                    Down
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                      Temple figure
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                      "___ from the blue"
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                      Dumbledore's first name
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                      French babies
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                      Night bird
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                      Swiss psychologist who liked confusing children by pouring liquids into differently shaped receptacles
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                      End of the famous palindrome associated with Napoleon
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                      Race with two winners
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                      Thesaurus wd.
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                      Mid-western jam band consisting of husband and wife songwriters Don and Lori Chaffer
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                      Question regarding the existence of a male person
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                      "Fit to be ___" (extremely angry)
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                      "Simon ___: put your hands on your head"
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                      Saudi ___ (Middle East country)
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                      Console that introduced the world to miis
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                      Marshy area
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                      Big bird of Australia (note: "cassowary" won't fit)
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                      Make fun of
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                      Magma on the surface
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                      At any time
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                      Tenant's expense
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                      Large amount
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                      Long software text that no one reads (abbr.)
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                      Ht. above sea level
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                      Hundreds and thousands, for example
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                      "It's not a receding ___, it's an increase in face space!"
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                      Escort to the exit
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                      Transcript stat.
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                      Dichloromethane, for short
                    30. 45D
                      Highly unsettling TV series starring David Tennant as serial killer, Dennis Nilsen
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                      "I'd ___ be a sparrow than a snail"
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                      Band that launched Justin Timberlake's career
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                      Jellied food, but French
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                      Brilliant plumbing invention which does wonders for reducing bathroom odors
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                      Voice of Miles Morales' father in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse", Brian ___ Henry
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                      "___ and dusted!" ("Finished!")
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                      Most common element on Earth, by mass
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                      Anakin Skywalker's pet peeve
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                      "___ it ironic, don't you think? It's like ray-ee-ain..."
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                      Goal
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                      Is, but for more than one
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