All or Nothing
◆ · By DrTom · Published 2024-07-10T11:30:57.257Z
Meta Prompt
The entry you were sure you'd find but didn't
This rather describes my meta experiences; it is all or nothing. I can either see them almost within the first hour or so of completing the grid, or struggle with them until I have to yell "Uncle". Hopefully this one will be a quick trip and I'll get a LOT more Alls than Nothings. If forced to rate it I would give it a 2-3 only because it is one where you infer, as opposed to spell out, the answer.
Kitten
CALICO
PERSIAN
Puma
Lion
I thank my testers eisense and HeadinHome. It has been so long they probably have forgotten about it - good two more possible solvers!!
Hmmm, playing much harder than expected.
Nudges:
Nudge 1] There are 9 things in the Grid that share a single characteristic.
Nudge 2] Those "things" are symmetrically placed.
Nudge 3] The "double cross" clue crosses two of them.
Nudge 4] You do crosswords all the time, what favorite word in that same class is missing?
Reveal:
There were 9 symmetrically placed answers:
FACT
PANDA
OLDPHOTOS
COPCAR
HABIT
YINYANG
ZEBRA
ORCA
All of those things are black and white (the presence of all or absence of all color). HOWEVER, one very common black and white object, and almost a standard in crosswords, is missing! OREO! As it turns out, OREO is the single most used brand name (used almost 3000 times) in the NY Times puzzles.
The nudge clue, 35D “A nudge in a meta predicated on a double cross” actually turned out to be a double nudge. The answer “crossed” TWO of the B&W things in an effort to call attention to them as part of the mechanism. However, what I did not recognize is that the front of every Oreo had a “Cross of Lorraine” – a double cross.
For a graphic representation of the solution, please go to:
Checking for previous play data...
Fun one, thanks. :)1A
A honey of a drink
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Across
- 1AA honey of a drink
- 5AFowl General
- 8AA really big byte on an Apple
- 12AThis may be a lot
- 13A1 kg = 2.2 lb or "The earth revolves around the sun", for example
- 14AThe Little Mermaid
- 15AMusician who was part of a gang
- 16ANumber of cards in a Roman card shark's deck (cause he has 5 aces)
- 17ABear-like visitor from China
- 18AChildhood memories (especially for Boomers)
- 20AExxon north of the border
- 21AWhile fishing near Michigan I bet my buddy he could not tell me what lake it was; he said "___"!
- 22ASo so
- 23A"La Dolce ___"
- 24AVehicles for "Adam-12" and "Highway Patrol"
- 28AShortened aliens
- 30AResponses to my jokes and puns (dream on Tom)
- 32ADilbert's co-worker
- 33ALetters that come between F and K (careful now!)
- 35AA nun is not allowed to have a bad one
- 36AName found under the sea (and not necessarily 20,000 leagues)
- 37AThis Lady can sing the blues
- 38AClouseau's rank: Abbr.
- 39A___ Lingus
- 40ASymbol of opposites
- 42AVoucher
- 45AA Turner or Cole
- 46AOne who never bats an eye
- 48ACovered path to the Pantheon
- 50APenny purchase, years ago
- 54A"Horse in pajamas"
- 55AStallion's strut
- 56AWander
- 57AAuthor of, "The Bell Jar"
- 58ATwo-toned stalker
- 59AA man known for his gold
- 60ADeep cut
- 61ADir. to Cuba from New Orleans
- 62AConvey
Down
- 1DOcean menace
- 2DBiol. branch
- 3DFormer Yankee infielder, familiarly
- 4DOracle site
- 5DCompany that developed the "Space Invaders" game
- 6DRoyal heir
- 7DGuy who gave people a lift
- 8DOscar's location
- 9DCount start in Cologne
- 10DStart again
- 11DLike
- 13DFauna's companion
- 14D"I don't want to hear ___ out of you!"
- 19DHumble abode
- 22D98% of anything
- 23DWinston Churchill's hand signal
- 24DCut short
- 25D"Take ___, the Doctor will be right with you" (HA!)
- 26DSetting for a Cardinal or a Crowe
- 27DHershey's competitor for the Heath bar (well until they bought the Heath bar company)
- 28DQuiche-like
- 29DSpicy Asian Pad
- 30DClark Kent's childhood girlfriend, Lana
- 31DDoctors that really deliver, for short
- 34DA little menace on 50's TV
- 35DA nudge in a meta predicated on a double cross
- 41DThe exclamation when you get what 35D means
- 42DGoes before Brava in Spain
- 43DCool
- 44DHigh flying Greek
- 46DRetailer with, at one time, the highest building in the world
- 47D___-baked potatoes
- 48DWard of "Once and Again"
- 49DSchedule holes: Abbr.
- 50D"Habitat for Humanity" and "Doctors Without Borders", e.g.
- 51DDesirable place at the Daytona 500
- 52DThis should not be considered odd
- 53DGrass that vibrates in the wind
- 54DResult of a balance between the birth and death rates: Abbr.