Famous Last Words (Meta)
◆ · By benchen71 · Published 2023-09-19T06:00:14.094Z
Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is a two-word phrase
Oscar Wilde's last words were, "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do." Apparently, the wallpaper won out, although it was changed soon afterwards. Of course Groucho Marx couldn't resist one last quip either: "This is no way to live!" he is reputed to have said. And, if you do it right, you'll find the famous last words encoded in this meta puzzle: an apt two-word phrase. Answer & explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=142976#p142976
Check out "The MOAT Music Meta Pack" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$10 gives you access to 12 music-themed metas that will not be published at any time in the future. In other words, this is not a pre-release pack!
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Leaderboard (updated hourly)
- markhr solved at 6:39 on 9/19/2023
- Schmeel solved at 9:54 on 9/19/2023
- Hector solved at 12:18 on 9/19/2023
- lbray53 solved at 12:34 on 9/19/2023
- boharr solved at 13:33 on 9/19/2023
- MatthewL solved at 14:02 on 9/19/2023
- imontoo solved at 14:11 on 9/19/2023
- DrButtBeard solved at 15:44 on 9/19/2023
- Meg solved at 17:09 on 9/19/2023
- Cindy Weatherman solved at 17:15 on 9/19/2023
- kurtalert solved at 17:16 on 9/19/2023
- SamKat9 solved at 17:21 on 9/19/2023
- Laura M solved at 17:46 on 9/19/2023
- HeadinHome solved at 18:03 on 9/19/2023
- Gutman solved at 19:40 on 9/19/2023
- heidi solved at 19:42 on 9/19/2023
- I K Snamhcok solved at 20:18 on 9/19/2023
- Bird Lives solved at 20:24 on 9/19/2023
- BarbaraK solved at 21:25 on 9/19/2023
- woozy solved at 1:08 on 9/20/2023
- whimsy solved at 1:20 on 9/20/2023
- DIS solved at 3:35 on 9/20/2023
- Berto solved at 10:28 on 9/20/2023
- Qmark solved at 13:13 on 9/20/2023
- Alex Sisti solved at 13:37 on 9/20/2023
- DrTom solved at 20:14 on 9/20/2023
- Tyrpmom solved at 23:19 on 9/20/2023
- SeamusOL solved at 23:25 on 9/20/2023
- Katiedid solved at 23:27 on 9/20/2023
- ajk solved at 23:31 on 9/20/2023
- Carolyn solved at 0:00 on 9/21/2023
- JM solved at 1:53 on 9/21/2023
- KayW solved at 2:05 on 9/21/2023
- Pair O Ducks solved at 2:24 on 9/21/2023
- Spid4567 solved at 3:19 on 9/21/2023
- Capn Rick solved at 13:28 on 9/21/2023
- DCBilly solved at 13:36 on 9/21/2023
- JHSeeman solved at 14:20 on 9/21/2023
- rjy solved at 16:35 on 9/21/2023
- Darrell solved at 17:29 on 9/21/2023
- Sharkicicles solved at 17:53 on 9/21/2023
- MrTheHan solved at 21:19 on 9/21/2023
- Cindy Heisler solved at 22:23 on 9/21/2023
- CPJohnson solved at 22:39 on 9/21/2023
- ReB solved at 1:28 on 9/22/2023
- Dow Jones solved at 1:28 on 9/22/2023
- Jaclyn solved at 13:35 on 9/22/2023
- rayyandroid solved at 14:56 on 9/22/2023
- frostyjhammer solved at 20:06 on 9/22/2023
- Darth solved at 3:42 on 9/23/2023
- Ergcat solved at 14:16 on 9/23/2023
- Danny K Bernstein solved at 22:07 on 9/23/2023
- Mikey G solved at 14:36 on 9/24/2023
Comments
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- Hector 🤓8:50 · 2023-09-19T12:19:38.616ZNice, thank you. I wanted it to be OK GO.
- MatthewL 🤓7:00 · 2023-09-19T14:04:15.734ZVery nice! Although I so wanted it to be "Hold my beer". Thanks for another fun puzzle, Ben!
- imontoo 3s · 2023-09-19T14:11:28.674ZThanks, Ben.
- Meg 3s · 2023-09-19T17:09:27.207ZFun! Thans a bunch, Ben.
- SamKat9 🤓10:55 · 2023-09-19T17:21:54.830ZHaha, when I finally got it, I laughed. Nicely done!
- Meg 3s · 2023-09-19T17:10:14.868ZI should proofread. Thanks!
- Laura M 🤓8:19 · 2023-09-19T17:56:37.064ZExcellent! I thought it might be "Oh no, not again" like the bowl of petunias in H2G2, but I couldn't justify the "not again" part :-)
- HeadinHome 🤓4:23 · 2023-09-19T18:09:10.174ZHa! I was thinking it might be “watch this!” The giveaway was 19A19AWhere you find this verse: "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"[-------------] (which I knew immediately, I might proudly add!) — that plus the title words and 6D6DCookie brand[----] so close by make this a great puzzle to hand to a rookie as a smooth, gettable meta (though Enid Blyton is brand new to me at least… needed a google). Thanks Ben!
- It's a fun mix of US and non-US knowledge this week!
- Bird Lives 3s · 2023-09-19T20:25:25.047ZIt took me a minute, and even then I had to do some Googling. Nice shout-out to Meg.
- DIS 🤓6:03 · 2023-09-20T03:39:32.826Z1D1DVoice of Olaf, Josh ___[---] referred to The Book of Mormon, so I spent some time looking for Got It ___, Party of ___ and Brave New ___. Fortunately not too much time :-)
- 1D1DVoice of Olaf, Josh ___[---] is a reference to "Frozen", not "The Book of Mormon"!
- DIS 🤓6:03 · 2023-09-21T14:37:21.919ZOh, right. I forgot he was in that too. Thanks.
- Berto 2:58 · 2023-09-20T10:29:54.567ZLol! Tried a wild guess, then went back to basics and AHA!!! Famous Amos is a thing, and a brand of cookies - oh where did I see that earlier….
ding!
Fun one!- That was a good guess! But glad you found the intended path, too. ;-)
- Qmark 3s · 2023-09-20T13:14:07.898ZFun one, Ben...thanks!
- Ben, that was absolutely DEVIOUS to have the ends of the themers be "almost" the same as the prompt. It took me FOREVER and a course correction to stop looking at the last words as if they were copies of the Title, but as words themselves. "Famous Amos...hey wait, sometimes a cookie is NOT an OREO6DCookie brand[----] and then it was off to the races. The FIVE was more difficult I'll admit, but luckily Google knew about them. You are to be severely punished for the endings and rabbit holes oyu sent me down (while I was trying to fix the tragedy of a "stepped on" mechanism for my own puzzle.
- The similarity of three of the endings to the title was entirely unintentional, I assure you! I've already posted here about the inspiration behind this puzzle. But I also very much enjoyed getting OREO6DCookie brand[----] in as meta-significant, not just fill!
- Wow, aren't metas interesting. I swore that was the mechanism (and swore, and swore, and swore) for a very long time. It just seemed too juicy to be coincidental. But like you say, nice to have Oreo be somehting more than a sweet face!
- Fun one, thanks. Needed the third nudge because even though I spotted Famous Amos pretty quickly I had somehow convinced myself that MOST was the last word in the second themer. Oops. :) Didn't know the Famous Five despite being very familiar with NODDY43AEnid Blyton creation[-----], so had to google that one, but easy enough.
- Carolyn 3s · 2023-09-21T00:02:32.069ZOh no! I needed the nudges. Very funny
- KayW 🤓7:51 · 2023-09-21T02:06:24.207Zvery clever! Thanks Ben
- Huh, never heard of ALMOST Famous or Famous FIVE, never would have got there without the nudges on this one. Of course I wondered about Famous Amos right away, but abandoned it when the others didn't work out. Learned some new things today :)
- "Almost Famous" is a classic movie. The scene in the plane alone is worth the price of admission!
- ReB 3s · 2023-09-22T03:45:41.156ZPretty much what happened with me...
- Fun one, Ben! No nudges needed - just needed time to devote to it. Well done!
- ReB 3s · 2023-09-22T01:39:21.945ZNeeded the 2nd nudge to keep me from trying to utilize the two long multi-word down entries 3D3DExtreme unction[---------] and 32D32DReduce the nominal value of stock or goods[---------] (since I expected a longer phrase that four letters).I expected that the last word of the phrase was key, but needed the 3rd nudge to add the missing link my (after which I knew the rest of the mechanism) - but I still needed to google to identify the cultural references for the last second and third themers, and then backsolved to prove the last letter. So no way this one was going to come to fruition without much help. Good effort on your part, though.
- Ergcat 11:48 · 2023-09-23T14:18:16.154ZGood one! Needed the nudges… I was trying to use the “last word” but not with “famous”!
Very clever ! Thanks, Ben!
1A
Fancy party
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Across
- 1AFancy party
- 5AMade off with
- 9AEntr'___
- 13AHans Gruber portrayer, ___ Rickman
- 14AMarie ___, with two Nobel prizes
- 15ACompany founded by Gwyneth Paltrow
- 16AWork place
- 17AOperative
- 18A"I'm so annoyed with you I won't even open my mouth!"
- 19AWhere you find this verse: "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"
- 22ABest Original Screenplay Oscar winner
- 24AKarate level
- 25ALike Fran Drescher's voice
- 26A(0,0) on a graph
- 28AExpel
- 30AClose but no cigar
- 32AIt comes before Thur
- 35AYemeni port
- 36AGorilla or orangutan
- 37AFolk singer, ___ Guthrie
- 38A'80s video-game console
- 39ATV show that launched the careers of Neve Campbell and Lacey Chabert
- 43AEnid Blyton creation
- 44ALeg-iron
- 45AC. J. Dennis book, "The Songs of a Sentimental ___"
- 47AActress, ___ de Armas
- 48A"To ___ is human"
- 49ADystopian work by Aldous Huxley
- 53AIntense anger
- 54ASuffix for techn- or plut-
- 55ALots and lots of time
- 58AEarth sci.
- 59A"___ a dream"
- 60AMove in the breeze
- 61AJulia Robert's character in "Ocean's Eleven"
- 62ALowdown
- 63A90's sequel to 38 across38A'80s video-game console[---]
Down
- 1DVoice of Olaf, Josh ___
- 2DType of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method that results in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste
- 3DExtreme unction
- 4DWhat Death wears on a necklace in Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman"
- 5DPull at, as a sleeve
- 6DCookie brand
- 7DSty sound
- 8DChemicals that your liver produces when it breaks down fats
- 9D"I am agog! I am ___! Is Marius in love at last?" (lyrics from "Les Miserables")
- 10D,
- 11D"Fiddler on the Roof" star
- 12DErythropoietin-producing human hepatocellular receptors, for short
- 14D___ boy, male attendant who serves guests on a beach
- 20DMake revisions to
- 21DFiction's opposite
- 22D"Crocodile Dundee" star, Paul ___
- 23DUndermine, as confidence
- 27DTonic's partner (make mine a double!)
- 28DE on a fuel gauge
- 29D"Friends" spin-off series
- 31DCooking fat
- 32DReduce the nominal value of stock or goods
- 33DYoung eel
- 34D"All the Light We Cannot See" author, Anthony ___
- 37DBack on a boat
- 39DPig in a ___
- 40DTonsil's neighbour
- 41DWidely known
- 42DPhobia
- 43DLong stories
- 45D"See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! And I, for winking at your discords too, Have lost a ___ of kinsmen." (The Prince in "Romeo and Juliet")
- 46DNigeria's largest city
- 47D"With just ___ of my magic wand, Your troubles will soon be gone" (Fairy Godmother song in "Shrek 2")
- 49DJemaine's partner in the duo "Flight of the Conchords"
- 50DWhat comes back to you when you call out in a canyon
- 51DFinish filming
- 52D"More" in a popular saying about writing
- 56D"No," said the Scot
- 57DBetting strategy, for short
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