First Christmas (Meta)
◆ · By benchen71 · Published 2021-12-21T05:00:57.827Z
Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is suggested by the grid
Wishing you a very merry Christmas! I've attempted some gentle myth-busting in this grid. If you're interested in reading more, check out https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/jesus-was-not-born-in-a-stable-honest/ for a good presentation of the evidence; and I've also spoken about this in a recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afepVJpY4Xg. The answer to the meta is suggested by the grid. Answer and explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?t=1360&p=77405#p77267
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...
1A
Person involved in 36 across
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Across
- 1APerson involved in 36 across
- 5AWhere the star came to rest (with "the house")
- 10AActivity involving the imagination and dice (abbr.)
- 13AStart ___ (again)
- 14AImportant number in the book of Revelation (think seals, trumpets, and bowls)
- 15APokemon that eats iron to build up the steel armour that protects its body (and whose name seems to be formed from smooshing "armour" and "iron" together)
- 17A"Where ___ go wrong?"
- 18AFirst month in Spain
- 19ARegion
- 20ASurrounded by
- 22APerson definitely not involved in 36 across because they would have stayed with family (see 55 across)
- 24AFeed trough located in the place where 36 across occurred
- 26ABe in Germany
- 27ADoctor of Education (abbr.)
- 28AAnglo-Saxon labourers
- 30ALike van Gogh's night painting
- 32AAmy Winehouse's most successful single
- 35AAdministrative division (abbr.)
- 36AName for the event that took place the very first Christmas
- 40A"I've worked out the meta!"
- 41A"___ little silhouetto of a man" (Queen lyric)
- 42A31 down units
- 45AStarted
- 48AMensa stats
- 49AChannel with many out-of-this-world shows
- 52APerson involved in 36 across
- 55APlace that was full of relatives, so 36 across took place where the animals were kept at night
- 58ACubic meter
- 59A1003, on a cornerstone perhaps
- 60AActor ___ Elba
- 62AAnagram of a term of endearment which is itself found in the word "endearment"
- 63ARiver through Florence
- 64A"I disagree, homie"
- 65A"The Bookseller of Kabul" author ___ Seierstad
- 66ADusk, but in poetry
- 67AShort wavelength radiation
- 68APeople involved in 36 across
Down
- 1DStart of the palindrome that ends with "I'm Adam"
- 2DInner self, according to Jung
- 3DDecorated again
- 4DBombing ships in the Star Wars universe
- 5DEnzyme suffix
- 6DRiver through La Paz
- 7DBakery fixtures
- 8DAuthor whose works would be suitable for showing on 49 across, Jules ___
- 9DJapanese mushrooms
- 10DDestroy completely
- 11DStuff belonging to someone
- 12DEvaporated, as a salt lake
- 16DGeeklike
- 21DScience Fiction, for example
- 23DTreebeard, for example
- 25DSouth Welsh term for a drainage ditch
- 29DR&B group, known for the song "If I Ever Fall in Love"
- 31DGrouping of 42 across
- 33D@@@
- 34DSinger Justin, for short
- 36DRiver through Paris
- 37DChinese dynasty
- 38DMusic video programmer (but shortened in part)
- 39DOthello's answer to, "Who's wife is Emilia?"
- 40DObtain
- 42DGreek letter used in integrals
- 43DSuperlative suffix
- 44DFluid-filled cavity within the spinal cord
- 46DAdjective for a boiling kettle
- 47DPodcast "Conan O'Brien ___ Friend"
- 50DBig name in travel guides
- 51D___ Linda, California (and one letter changed from a famous Greek)
- 53DAussie slang for a car crash
- 54DWhat Luther supposedly said at the Diet of Worms, "___ stand, I can do no other"
- 56DJerusalem mount (var.)
- 57D"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the ___ clay" (Ps. 40:2, KJV)
- 61D... --- ...