Happy Anniversary (Meta)
◆ · By benchen71 · Published 2022-08-02T06:00:06.525Z
Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is my personal favourite of the last 39 across
This puzzle marks a milestone in my career as a puzzle creator. But, not wanting to spoil anything - any more than the puzzle title already does! - you're just going to have to jump in and start solving. The answer to the meta is my personal favourite of the last 39 across. (Let me know in the comments if you agree!) Answer and explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=102065#p102065
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
Journal numbered 1.2, for example
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
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24
25
26
27
28
29
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31
32
33
34
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39
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43
44
45
46
47
48
49
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51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
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61
62
63
64
65
66
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71
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75
Across
- 1AJournal numbered 1.2, for example
- 6APoints dans la mer
- 10ABilly Joel album, "Fifty-___" (but spelling out the first part and abbreviating the rest)
- 12AHot-tempered
- 13A"Go the ___" (do something beyond the demands of duty)
- 14AMale cat
- 16APiece of asparagus
- 17AInappropriate for office viewing, briefly
- 18A"___ Baba and the Forty Thieves"
- 19AWhere you come in order to win silver medals
- 21AAvailable from, for a price
- 24AAustralian rock band, ___/DC
- 26ALumberjack's tools
- 28AThird level of a building in Australia (really!)
- 29AMisgiving (yes, I know this one is usually pluralised, but I didn't have room!)
- 33AOpposite of 73 across
- 35A"Straight Outta Compton" group
- 36AFlood barrier
- 37AGolfer's bagful
- 39AHow many puzzles, including this one, that I have constructed and released (one per week for a year; you do the math)
- 44A"The game is ___!" (Sherlock's catch-phrase)
- 45A"You've got mail" addressee
- 47ABae
- 50ATV program or series aired for a subsequent time
- 51A"I prefer the alternative"
- 53AStar Wars Episode IV, but with "new" dropped for easy cluing reasons
- 55AWith 57 across: Less important than just one other
- 57ASee 55 across
- 58A"Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need," according to the Once-ler
- 60AAnswer to my puzzle "Hot Breakfast", but spelled the US way
- 64APeriod of time in Tolkien's chronology characterized by the rise of Sauron in Middle-earth, the creation of the Rings of Power and the Ringwraiths, and the early wars between Sauron and the Elves
- 65A"Look at me! I'm ___!" (what Mike Teavee might have said after being shrunk down by Willie Wonka's machine)
- 67ATear jerker when diced? (yes, I'm repeating clues from past puzzles, and this is not the first one, too)
- 70A"If you ask me" in an SMS (and I'm not feeling humble)
- 71AWhat gets planted after harvesting something else on the same land earlier in the season
- 72ASubsequent time through a series of steps
- 73AOpposite of 33 across
- 74AA loooooooooong time
- 75ANew Zealand parrots
Down
- 1DNo ___, ands or buts
- 2DNurse one's gin and tonic
- 3DPenetrate slowly
- 4D___ Mountains, the range in Russia that separates Europe from Asia
- 5DLong-tailed South and Central American wildcat
- 6D"It's my turn!"
- 7DSouth Holland municipality that is home to Keukenhof, also known as the Garden of Europe
- 8DMystifying (to an Australian) Christmas decoration, "___ on a shelf"
- 9DUses a needle and thread
- 10DPlay for time
- 11DRatted out
- 15DCat sound
- 20DMiddle section of the famous trigonometry mnemonic that sounds vaguely like a volcano in Indonesia
- 22DUnconventional
- 23DLa-la lead-in
- 24DThe Braves, on scoreboards (see, my clues don't have to only refer to Australian stuff)
- 25DFancy French word for a cook
- 27DSong for one person
- 30DI really wanted to use the Jamaican singer best known for the earworm "Cheerleader" here, but it'll have to be the Cuban singer-songwriter born Ovidio Guzman instead
- 31DUnion of European Football Associations (abbr.), and it wouldn't be a benchen71 puzzle without at least one of these!
- 32DEscape
- 34D"Fee, fi, fo, ___!"
- 37D100 lbs.
- 38DClassical portico or roofed colonnade
- 40DPersonal pronoun that has been duped in the clues many times
- 41D"___ avail" (unsuccessfully)
- 42DSarcastic alien from an 80's sitcom
- 43DThe part of your trousers that you sit on
- 46DAnagram of NOR
- 47DMagician's rabbit concealer
- 48DOHHAI (call-back #1 to my guest MEOW puzzle)
- 49DNONGMO (call-back #2 to my guest MEOW puzzle)
- 51DNLMVPS (call-back #3 to my guest MEOW puzzle)
- 52D"__ of little faith" (Matt. 8:26)
- 54DWhat you are not supposed to do when stung by a jellyfish (with "it")
- 56D"Hey, that's ___! No 2 letter words in a crossword!"
- 59D"No ___!" (Not gonna happen!)
- 61DGuy Ritchie's first movie, "___, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels"
- 62DOne-named singer, who has appeared in too many of my puzzles to count
- 63DMusical (and now movie by Lin-Manuel Miranda) by Jonathan Larson, "___, ___... Boom!"
- 66DAnother anagram of NOR
- 68DGreeting in Rio
- 69D8 bit gaming system (abbr.)