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Double Dealing
◆ · By Wendy Walker · Published 2023-07-16T12:00:10.411Z
Meta Prompt
The meta answer is a U.S. state capital.
That thing you pay attention to in other meta puzzles and it turns out to be irrelevant? In this one, it's not.
The inspiration for this puzzle was the frequency with which a certain potential solving strategy is raised in our Group Solves. Hmm, I thought. That's actually a great idea for a meta! I had a lot of fun creating this one but struggled to think of a suitable meta answer. It came to me, of all times, during my weekly meditation group!
Thank you to Bird Lives and to Abide for their tweaks, which improved the puzzle greatly.
Checking for previous play data...
Leaderboard (updated hourly)
- Bird Lives solved at 14:34 on 7/1/2023
- Capn Rick solved at 18:22 on 7/11/2023
- Cindy Weatherman solved at 13:02 on 7/16/2023
- BarbaraK solved at 13:11 on 7/16/2023
- FrankieHeck solved at 13:12 on 7/16/2023
- Qmark solved at 13:23 on 7/16/2023
- Schmeel solved at 13:24 on 7/16/2023
- Tyrpmom solved at 13:34 on 7/16/2023
- Meg solved at 13:34 on 7/16/2023
- ajk solved at 13:37 on 7/16/2023
- Alex Sisti solved at 13:45 on 7/16/2023
- boharr solved at 13:48 on 7/16/2023
- BrennerTJ solved at 13:56 on 7/16/2023
- KayW solved at 14:21 on 7/16/2023
- heidi solved at 14:27 on 7/16/2023
- Hector solved at 15:00 on 7/16/2023
- Gutman solved at 15:06 on 7/16/2023
- whimsy solved at 15:12 on 7/16/2023
- Carolyn solved at 15:19 on 7/16/2023
- woozy solved at 15:24 on 7/16/2023
- Cindy Heisler solved at 15:31 on 7/16/2023
- rjy solved at 15:50 on 7/16/2023
- GR solved at 16:06 on 7/16/2023
- merlinnimue solved at 16:42 on 7/16/2023
- MatthewL solved at 17:10 on 7/16/2023
- Rufus T Firefly solved at 18:01 on 7/16/2023
- Pair O Ducks solved at 19:28 on 7/16/2023
- Darrell solved at 20:07 on 7/16/2023
- Laura M solved at 20:34 on 7/16/2023
- Jeremy Smith solved at 20:47 on 7/16/2023
- Mwoychick solved at 21:12 on 7/16/2023
- michaelm solved at 22:05 on 7/16/2023
- StephieG19 solved at 22:10 on 7/16/2023
- Sharkicicles solved at 22:16 on 7/16/2023
- BestNumber72 solved at 23:14 on 7/16/2023
- Jaclyn solved at 23:37 on 7/16/2023
- CPJohnson solved at 23:50 on 7/16/2023
- Dow Jones solved at 0:01 on 7/17/2023
- HeadinHome solved at 0:35 on 7/17/2023
- lbray53 solved at 0:40 on 7/17/2023
- hoover solved at 1:41 on 7/17/2023
- I K Snamhcok solved at 1:55 on 7/17/2023
- ReB solved at 2:32 on 7/17/2023
- Alvibu67 solved at 3:48 on 7/17/2023
- Berto solved at 4:37 on 7/17/2023
- THC solved at 10:46 on 7/17/2023
- kymike solved at 12:48 on 7/17/2023
- JHSeeman solved at 13:09 on 7/17/2023
- DebbieC solved at 14:04 on 7/17/2023
- DCBilly solved at 14:20 on 7/17/2023
- kamashdad solved at 14:41 on 7/17/2023
- DIS solved at 15:20 on 7/17/2023
- andeux solved at 19:49 on 7/17/2023
- kurtalert solved at 0:10 on 7/18/2023
- SJMcK solved at 0:12 on 7/18/2023
- Mikey G solved at 14:16 on 7/18/2023
- DrTom solved at 15:26 on 7/18/2023
- Katiedid solved at 19:55 on 7/19/2023
- sledge solved at 20:51 on 7/19/2023
- Flora Wynn solved at 1:32 on 7/20/2023
- ChrisCross solved at 15:18 on 8/2/2023
- Philip Chow solved at 4:03 on 8/25/2023
Comments
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- Nice one, Wendy!
- Qmark 2s · 2023-07-16T13:23:38.854ZFun one...thanks Wendy!
- Tyrpmom 5s · 2023-07-16T13:36:34.900ZNice! Thanks.
- boharr 4s · 2023-07-16T13:49:05.074ZAnother fun one. Thanks Wendy
- Meg 2s · 2023-07-16T13:36:22.741ZVery nice. It’s true about how often Zoomers bring up this strategy. Well done!
- Excellent work, thanks.
- Very nice! V e r y N i c e !
- Carolyn 3s · 2023-07-16T15:21:04.927ZPerfect puzzle!
- whimsy 🤓8:07 · 2023-07-16T15:13:46.487ZFabulous fun! Thanks, Wendy!
- Hector 3:56 · 2023-07-16T15:00:28.023ZCool concept!
- Ha -- I see what you did there! Thank you, Hector!
- So fun. Well constructed. And clever.
- Cindy Heisler 2s · 2023-07-16T15:32:53.678ZPerfect for a leisurely Sunday morning. Thanks, Wendy!
- MatthewL 🤓5:08 · 2023-07-16T17:11:34.234ZVery nice, Wendy!
- Laura M 🤓14:13 · 2023-07-16T21:10:33.696ZMarvelous meta!
- Thanks, Wendy - got it!
- Sharkicicles 3s · 2023-07-16T22:17:11.591ZFun one!
- Thanks, Chris! It was great to see you on the Zoom call last night.
- Dow Jones 3s · 2023-07-17T00:06:20.438ZMagnificent meta !! Well written, Wendy !!
- HeadinHome 🤓3:17 · 2023-07-17T00:35:55.205ZQuick and fun! tnx
- That is so funny that you grokked the metanism without reading the intro! We must be on the same wavelength.
- I K Snamhcok 🤓5:16 · 2023-07-17T01:57:07.832ZWell wrought!
- ReB 7s · 2023-07-17T02:41:00.566ZCreative camouflage for a Sunday search. Enjoyable enterprise.
- Thanks, Wendy!
- Great metanism! This is one that I've tried a number of times, and it's always ended up being a rabbit hole. THANK YOU for finally putting it into use, LOL.
- You are so welcome! I have another few ideas for "rabbit hole" puzzle that I'm going to try as well!
- It's funny, I thought NEVADA right off the bat (the NE in first two Across, the central VIN18ADashboard data[---] and APARTMENT20ARented residence[---------], along with double DEALING (gambling!) and then I convinced myself it would be LAS VEGAS (two word expression of amazement = THE STARS. particularly since there was a stars reference in 5D5DBrightest star in Aquila, the Eagle[------]). But of course that did not makes sense since Las Vegas is not the capital (now if you had said capital city I would have submitted Las Vegas and defended it vehemently since that is where most of the capital in Nevada comes from). I did not see how Carson City ties in at first until I looked and it is the only one with two names that have the same letter. Probably somehting you noticed a while back and kept in your memory banks - nice catch. Thanks for the puzzle Wendy!
- Oh, and I forgot to say: HIP HIP and RAH RAH. Sneaky way of using what people always think they see; this time they did - two funny!
- ChrisCross 🤓6:04 · 2023-08-02T15:20:19.403ZReally fun, and well-executed. The large amount of double letters in the grid was both misdirection but also orienting, because it got me looking at the clues for alliteration. Then saw the hints in some of the other clues like 2Down2DWhen solving a meta, looking at the clues is often a good ___[----] and 16Across16AExpressed amazement toward, using a two-word alliterative phrase[-------].
1A
Beauty brand
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Across
- 1ABeauty brand
- 6ALauder legend
- 11AAuthor of "Too Funny to Be President"
- 12AVoice of Amazon
- 13AValue
- 14APennies
- 15AChesapeake or Fundy
- 16AExpressed amazement toward, using a two-word alliterative phrase
- 18ADashboard data
- 19ALots
- 20ARented residence
- 23AApothecary's amount
- 24ABig ref. work
- 25AEcho
- 27AMatterhorn, maybe
- 30A"No worries!"
- 31ACheshire Cat's self-assessment
- 33ARatfink
- 34AStadium
- 35ARuns smoothly
- 36APuts the kibosh on
Down
- 1DAdminister anesthesia
- 2DWhen solving a meta, looking at the clues is often a good ___
- 3DDiffer
- 4DPer Three Dog Night, he is en route
- 5DBrightest star in Aquila, the Eagle
- 6DPer person
- 7DRained down icily
- 8DSinew that connects bone to muscle
- 9DPresent
- 10DBridge positions
- 17DPlaywright Chekhov
- 18D"Skedaddle! Stat!"
- 20DRecess retort
- 21DSkip
- 22DTraffic separator
- 23DDIYer's device
- 26DIsrael Kamakawiwo’ole plays them
- 27DCredit card
- 28DBroadway star Nathan
- 29DHandheld PCs
- 32DImaging study that is really tubular
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