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The Ys Have It (Meta)

· By benchen71 · Published 2024-11-05T05:00:40.785Z

Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is an apt 4-letter word
This one might be slightly harder than my usual "week 1" puzzles. But I'm hopeful that you will follow the path and make it to the meta answer, which is an apt 4-letter word.
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta!
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Darth solved 2024-11-05T05:33:31.592Z
  • Jeremy Smith solved 2024-11-05T06:07:24.519Z
  • markhr solved 2024-11-05T07:05:29.007Z
  • Morendil solved 2024-11-05T07:25:16.208Z
  • Berto solved 2024-11-05T12:30:03.797Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2024-11-05T12:49:24.728Z
  • LarsCaine solved 2024-11-05T13:17:58.592Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-11-05T13:29:33.962Z
  • Qmark solved 2024-11-05T14:10:19.405Z
  • Meg solved 2024-11-05T14:23:18.043Z
  • DCBilly solved 2024-11-05T14:23:32.753Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-11-05T14:34:26.689Z
  • KayW solved 2024-11-05T14:35:58.649Z
  • imontoo solved 2024-11-05T15:11:23.776Z
  • Serafin solved 2024-11-05T15:33:21.053Z
  • Capn Rick solved 2024-11-05T15:38:40.135Z
  • Carolyn solved 2024-11-05T15:59:00.294Z
  • AuLeaf solved 2024-11-05T16:07:06.450Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-11-05T16:11:52.606Z
  • kurtalert solved 2024-11-05T16:19:52.121Z
  • rjy solved 2024-11-05T16:27:51.379Z
  • boharr solved 2024-11-05T16:34:39.875Z
  • woozy solved 2024-11-05T16:45:41.226Z
  • Hector solved 2024-11-05T16:53:21.733Z
  • lbray53 solved 2024-11-05T17:12:36.609Z
  • JM solved 2024-11-05T17:40:26.349Z
  • DIS solved 2024-11-05T18:02:12.553Z
  • DrTom solved 2024-11-05T18:41:36.536Z
  • iceman solved 2024-11-05T19:02:02.994Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2024-11-05T19:04:09.208Z
  • JakeDaSnake solved 2024-11-05T19:06:42.069Z
  • Cindy Heisler solved 2024-11-05T19:21:47.748Z
  • CPJohnson solved 2024-11-05T21:08:58.599Z
  • Tom Wilson solved 2024-11-05T21:29:56.590Z
  • Jaclyn solved 2024-11-05T23:36:58.456Z
  • Anonymous Crossharer solved 2024-11-06T01:45:28.548Z
  • DebbieC solved 2024-11-06T02:31:58.972Z
  • Avlan solved 2024-11-06T02:41:03.315Z
  • SJ solved 2024-11-06T15:07:31.143Z
  • Tim solved 2024-11-06T22:01:02.138Z
  • heidi solved 2024-11-06T22:44:57.741Z
  • Skyler Dangerfield solved 2024-11-06T23:35:09.651Z

Comments

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  • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-05T05:00:40.785Z
    Post your alternate themers below! Here are a few to get you started... "Money put aside for committing adultery?" (TRYSTFUND); "What Bond drinks when he wants to stay sober?" (SPYWATER); and "Cloud-based holiday destination?" (SKYRESORT)
    • Berto 1s · 2024-11-05T12:45:18.122Z
      Funds awarded to study entomology? (FLYGRANT)
      • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-05T22:48:21.206Z
        Love it!
      • AuLeaf 🤓9:46 · 2024-11-05T16:12:19.757Z
        "Tick-borne disease that's over before you know it?" (QUICKLYME)
        • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-05T22:48:43.630Z
          If only!
          • AuLeaf 🤓9:46 · 2024-11-06T01:25:52.366Z
            Yeah, it's not exactly known for being short...
            On a cheerier note, "8 bits?" for BYTESIZE
            • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-06T03:38:37.696Z
              As a computer science teacher, I love this one!
        • woozy 🤓11:01 · 2024-11-05T17:14:15.096Z
          Bashful Competitor to HBO? Sports game of an Inner Hebrides island? Hot food and then we cross the bridge (or is the Y specifically replacing a vowel and not a consonant a requirement?)
          • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-05T22:50:27.811Z
            Given VOWELOPERATIONS, yes, the Y should replace a vowel. SHY and SKYE, but the last one eludes me!
            • woozy 🤓11:01 · 2024-11-06T06:00:53.227Z
              SPICY AND SPAN
        • Darth 🤓7:55 · 2024-11-05T05:33:57.765Z
          Quite appropriate for today. Thanks, Ben.
          • Morendil 🤓7:50 · 2024-11-05T07:30:55.613Z
            I figured out the answer but the path still eludes me for the fourth letter.
            • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-05T09:22:12.061Z
              THEME > ESSAY
              • woozy 🤓11:01 · 2024-11-05T16:50:23.129Z
                Yeah, but PARK??? and .... oh. only the moth count, not the tiger...... Oh. That explains why I only managed to get one out of the four.... Oh, so that means TEA of for LUNCH. I was wondering if Aussie supermarkets had a "Lunch Box" section.
            • Qmark 5s · 2024-11-05T14:10:52.546Z
              Thanks for another great (and timely) meta, Ben!
              • Meg 5s · 2024-11-05T14:23:42.507Z
                I will!!
                • KayW 🤓2:51 · 2024-11-05T14:46:27.376Z
                  Nice one, Ben - and thanks for the nod to US events.
                  Partner in fashion? STYLE MATE
                  • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-05T22:50:49.613Z
                    Excellent!
                  • imontoo 3s · 2024-11-05T15:12:25.340Z
                    Thanks, Ben!
                    • whimsy 🤓11:26 · 2024-11-05T14:47:03.065Z
                      Being pretty sure of the answer from the start helped me solve the last bit. I was taking the whole new word -- TIGER MOTH and CAST AWAY did fit the definitions, but LUNCH BOX? -- well, I justified that since you described it as a square meal 😄 -- and then I figured (as you would well know 😄) that kids could end up talking about just about anything in English class, including Disneyland! I liked this a lot! Thanks, Ben -- for the puzzle and the public service announcement!
                      • Capn Rick 🤓7:30 · 2024-11-05T15:39:38.795Z
                        Nice metanism, Ben. And very "apt" indeed!
                        • Carolyn 2s · 2024-11-05T15:59:40.172Z
                          Nice!
                          • MatthewL 🤓6:13 · 2024-11-05T16:16:47.305Z
                            Very apt for today. Hmm, let's see -- "Tool you would use to tighten a nut while bowling?" (ALLEYWRENCH) Yeah, I think I'll leave these to the master. Thanks for the puzzle, Ben!
                            • kurtalert 🤓4:11 · 2024-11-05T16:22:18.280Z
                              Just did, Ben! So, so, so ready for cheetoh jesus to go away forever.
                              • lbray53 2s · 2024-11-05T17:19:22.206Z
                                Okay. I had to be reeled in from a WILD goose chase. I was looking for a harder mechanism based on your comments. SO, I found when.
                                If found MYTH MOTH replacing Y with O. But wait! MOLAR MYLAR by changing O with Y. A vowel transplant. That HAS to be it.
                                THYME > THEME and PELE > PYLE. Here we go! I am on a roll. But then I struggled. LYNCH LUNCH > USER YSER or maybe RUES RYES CYST CAST could be TAE TYE or RAE RYE or ADS YDS The mechanism works except for the fact that there is no word that makes sense. I did come up with RAMP, PRAM PUMA
                                Maybe and idea for a meta there somewhere.
                                • JM 🤓10:54 · 2024-11-05T17:47:49.234Z
                                  “Place to sharpen your bite?” (CHEWINGGYM)
                                  • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-05T22:51:56.493Z
                                    Beautiful!
                                  • HeadinHome 🤓1:33 · 2024-11-05T19:11:12.109Z
                                    Person who clears away the funeral ashes: PYRECLEANSER Mystery show focused on the motive not the perp: WHYDUNNIT Fun one, Ben!
                                    • benchen71 constructor · 2024-11-05T22:52:47.799Z
                                      Those themers are great!
                                    • woozy 🤓11:01 · 2024-11-05T17:02:12.602Z
                                      I assumed for the longest time that the entire phrase was important. Not just a moth that flies in the night be specifically a TIGER Moth. Do Australian supermarkets have a "Lunch Box" section? An essay is a theme, but even lose creativity can't call English class a PARK. Banged head against wall and was half convinced that Tiger Moth=Night flier could be coincidence... but it couldn't be. Maybe, maybe, maybe, thinks they might say "Cast Away" as well as "She's off" when they launch a boat. But not really. But then I have V...O so VETO. submit know but if it's not grid order (which would make V very late anyway) but clue order it could be VOTE. That's appropriate and I can maybe back-solve the E and the T.
                                      Yep. Let's see what the comments so. Wait THEME was ESSAY after all? But what about the PARK? There's no PA.... oh, It was just the MOTH. the TIGER wasn't important. So without BOX and just LUNCH = T?... Oh, Tea. So It's not "Cast Away" it's just "Cast"... as in "Cast Off". It wasn't "She's Off". It was just the phrase "Cast off".
                                      • woozy 🤓11:01 · 2024-11-05T17:04:09.074Z
                                        So... I frequently misspell CAIO.... and so,... "En Pissant" had me laughing for minutes.
                                        • DrTom 5s · 2024-11-05T19:04:51.245Z
                                          Well I had the worst time trying to find a clue I could answer with MATH. Maybe "Round score in the 80's despite bad putting" = TIGERMATH. It finally dawned on me "'Tom, all the other things are real things when you change the letter Y' and then I sank my teeth into VAMPIRE.
                                          I chuckled because you probably could have had it so THeme word order it is VOTE but Grid order it was VETO and then had a title like "The Y's have it; Or Not!" Anyway a fun romp Ben even after desperately trying to fit VILLENUEVE into 50A (Lynch was the original, the one that everybody felt was terrible). Enjoyable and completely rational, unless you approach it the Tom was. Oh, and my contribution: Cash spent on outfitting your home with the latest colors and trends: STYLEBREAD
                                          • Skyler Dangerfield 11:51 · 2024-11-06T23:43:16.532Z
                                            Australian confectionary manufacturers better offerings? (FYNAFOODS)
                                            1A
                                            Two mos. ago
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                                            69
                                            Across
                                            1. 1A
                                              Two mos. ago
                                            2. 5A
                                              Soccer-playing mononym from Brazil
                                            3. 9A
                                              Guitarist's pitch-changing gadget
                                            4. 13A
                                              Honshu port
                                            5. 15A
                                              Big birds
                                            6. 16A
                                              Creme-filled cookie
                                            7. 17A
                                              Camera lens setting
                                            8. 18A
                                              Ahistorical story about a stripey cat?
                                            9. 20A
                                              ___ kwon do (martial art)
                                            10. 21A
                                              "Je ___ un peu de français"
                                            11. 23A
                                              Amherst campus, familiarly
                                            12. 24A
                                              What the surgeon called out after removing a tissue sac?
                                            13. 26A
                                              One of three square meals a day, in Australia
                                            14. 27A
                                              Fury
                                            15. 28A
                                              En ___ (chess move)
                                            16. 32A
                                              Supermarket lane
                                            17. 35A
                                              Neighbour
                                            18. 37A
                                              Singer Carly ___ Jepsen (who apparently wants you to call her "maybe")
                                            19. 38A
                                              Surgeries that you will need to perform to solve the meta
                                            20. 42A
                                              One-million link
                                            21. 43A
                                              Manipulative sort
                                            22. 44A
                                              Conclude by
                                            23. 45A
                                              Flappy flier at night
                                            24. 48A
                                              ___-Man (arcade game)
                                            25. 49A
                                              YouTube video preceders
                                            26. 50A
                                              Complete set of the "Dune" director's movies?
                                            27. 55A
                                              Battery in a torch, perhaps
                                            28. 58A
                                              "Brideshead Revisited" author Evelyn
                                            29. 59A
                                              Adam's partner
                                            30. 60A
                                              City green space devoted to one specific herb?
                                            31. 62A
                                              Type of tooth
                                            32. 64A
                                              Uncommon
                                            33. 65A
                                              Band who filmed a viral music video on a vomit comet
                                            34. 66A
                                              Submit a paperless return
                                            35. 67A
                                              Told stories
                                            36. 68A
                                              Young adult
                                            37. 69A
                                              Admit guilt, with "up"
                                            Down
                                            1. 1D
                                              It's heard at the beginning of celebrations
                                            2. 2D
                                              It's discussed during English class
                                            3. 3D
                                              Hors d'oeuvre spreads
                                            4. 4D
                                              Bout stopper, for short
                                            5. 5D
                                              Christian rock band fronted (at different times) by Greg X. Volz and John Schlitt
                                            6. 6D
                                              The show's title says she's in Paris but season 4 is set in Rome - go figure!
                                            7. 7D
                                              Olympian's sled
                                            8. 8D
                                              Opposite of WNW
                                            9. 9D
                                              ,,,
                                            10. 10D
                                              Maisie's "Game of Thrones" role
                                            11. 11D
                                              Beloved animals
                                            12. 12D
                                              They often accompany aahs
                                            13. 14D
                                              Clothing
                                            14. 19D
                                              Has second thoughts about
                                            15. 22D
                                              Astonishment
                                            16. 25D
                                              Scrabble piece
                                            17. 26D
                                              "See ya!"
                                            18. 28D
                                              Happy cat's sound
                                            19. 29D
                                              JLo's ex
                                            20. 30D
                                              Grandma
                                            21. 31D
                                              Dry run
                                            22. 32D
                                              Spring, in Hebrew
                                            23. 33D
                                              One of the Inner Hebrides
                                            24. 34D
                                              Did laps, perhaps
                                            25. 35D
                                              Cathedral area
                                            26. 36D
                                              Bad thing to have in a bonnet
                                            27. 39D
                                              Belonging to us
                                            28. 40D
                                              Potential learner's request
                                            29. 41D
                                              What you may have given when someone takes a mile
                                            30. 46D
                                              Concealed through sleight of hand
                                            31. 47D
                                              Just sitting around
                                            32. 48D
                                              Country north of Aust.
                                            33. 50D
                                              Big T-shirt size
                                            34. 51D
                                              "___ Ho!" (Calvin and Hobbes collection)
                                            35. 52D
                                              Show to be false
                                            36. 53D
                                              Cricket match locales
                                            37. 54D
                                              Spanish city that gave sherry its name
                                            38. 55D
                                              Bottom-left PC key
                                            39. 56D
                                              Spiced beverage
                                            40. 57D
                                              "Reader, I married him" speaker
                                            41. 58D
                                              Begin one's day
                                            42. 61D
                                              Houseplant holder
                                            43. 63D
                                              Word in a phrase heard moments before a ship sets sail
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