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Give Me 5!

· By Mikey G · Published 2024-12-27T23:00:45.688Z

Meta Prompt
[Level 3] The answer to the meta is a 9-letter term.
Honored to have my 120th meta close out 2024. Wishing you a happy end to your year and an epic start to 2025! May it be puzzly!
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • KayW solved 2024-12-27T23:44:12.732Z
  • Darth solved 2024-12-27T23:51:39.035Z
  • Hector solved 2024-12-28T00:31:27.471Z
  • DJB solved 2024-12-28T00:35:39.618Z
  • Meg solved 2024-12-28T01:41:55.651Z
  • Cindy Weatherman solved 2024-12-28T01:43:41.662Z
  • Bob J solved 2024-12-28T02:05:57.438Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-12-28T06:29:23.112Z
  • boharr solved 2024-12-28T14:01:10.012Z
  • JM solved 2024-12-28T15:24:43.443Z
  • Dave C solved 2024-12-28T16:00:28.310Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2024-12-28T18:13:14.019Z
  • markhr solved 2024-12-28T22:06:24.871Z
  • andeux solved 2024-12-29T00:20:58.483Z
  • Myelbow solved 2024-12-29T00:22:40.416Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2024-12-29T01:48:43.576Z
  • oldjudge solved 2024-12-29T01:59:39.392Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-12-29T03:03:56.621Z
  • Berto solved 2024-12-29T04:18:15.333Z
  • whimsy solved 2024-12-29T05:21:12.373Z
  • Carolyn solved 2024-12-29T05:25:53.409Z
  • Darrell solved 2024-12-29T05:28:24.219Z
  • BrennerTJ solved 2024-12-29T06:23:44.325Z
  • Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-12-29T06:30:11.034Z

Comments

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  • Darth 🤓13:00 · 2024-12-27T23:52:11.801Z
    Loved it!!!!!!!!! Thanks, Mikey!!!!!!!!! :D
    • KayW 🤓2:14 · 2024-12-27T23:47:01.747Z
      SO EXCITED it is indeed A TREAT how this meta ties everything together. Thanks so much Mikey for another year of punny goodness.
      • DJB 2s · 2024-12-28T00:38:40.601Z
        Loved it - especially the 5! tie in to your 120th meta. Great work!
        • Hector 🤓7:28 · 2024-12-28T00:39:37.586Z
          Just deduced from the title and puzzle number. Is there a more involved mechanism to be found?
          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-12-28T03:38:06.141Z
            Yep! You have to search for the things (titles, brands, cities, etc.) that require exclamation marks in the clues!
          • Mikey G constructor · 2024-12-27T23:00:45.688Z
            Answer: FACTORIAL
            Explanation: Per the central entry and the title, exclamation marks will be central to this meta - note the 9 of them in the center entry's clue as well, solidifying the prompt. Nine of the entries' clues contain entities that should include an exclamation mark: SPOOF ("Airplane!"), DIANA ("Stop! In the Name of Love"), SEARCH (Yahoo!), CRUST (Yum! Brands, Inc.), SOMEONE ("Help!"), REVERSE (Uno Attack!), BRITISH (Westward Ho!), WILLA ("O Pioneers!"), DOUBLE ("Jeopardy!"). Per the title, the fifth letters of these entries spell FACTORIAL, fitting since 5! ("5 factorial") is equal to 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120, our puzzle's number!
            • Meg 2s · 2024-12-28T01:45:57.489Z
              That was a fun solve!!
              • JM 12:18 · 2024-12-28T15:28:30.049Z
                I got a bang out of it!
                • whimsy 18:20 · 2024-12-29T16:11:32.049Z
                  😄
                • Dave C 3s · 2024-12-28T16:02:53.326Z
                  It took longer than it should have, but it was a good one.
                  • boharr 3s · 2024-12-28T14:03:42.076Z
                    Counting those tiny exclamation points took a magnifying glass!!!!!!!!! Thanks, Mikey.
                    • whimsy 18:20 · 2024-12-29T16:10:59.197Z
                      Ditto -- and since I couldn't discern, I was originally a few (fill in the blank) short (of a whatever.😄)
                    • andeux 🤓6:48 · 2024-12-29T00:40:00.228Z
                      Being a math guy and knowing that your themes are often puzzle number related helped me get this one quickly.
                      120 is both a factorial and triangular (1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 = 1+2+3+...14+15), as are 1 and 6. Apparently it is an open question whether there are any larger numbers with this property.
                      • Mikey G constructor · 2024-12-29T04:36:28.196Z
                        Ahhhhhh, that is awesome - I love things like that! What an epic factoid (factorial factoid)!!
                      • HeadinHome 🤓1:50 · 2024-12-29T01:54:00.559Z
                        Don’t even need the math headache… enjoyed the puzzle without following that part of the explanation (just need to be able to count and spell!!!!!!!!!). ( : I wasted a lot of time trying to reverse things, since that clue was so flag-wavy. Each of the 9 sections (NW, N, NE, etc and the center) of the puzzle has a vowel-consonant-same vowel pattern somewhere in it. OLO, EWE, ANA, EVE, ACA, etc. Figured those were “reversible” so something was to be done with that. Needed the published nudge about the exclamation points. First one I thought of was O Pioneers! (Then it made sense why that weird stuff about Yum foods was there for 32A… that was highlighted from the beginning).
                        • Mikey G constructor · 2024-12-29T04:37:48.186Z
                          The REVERSE addendum was a last-minute thing that I found - I saw some Uno Attack! games don't use the "!," and I was like, "You know what, might as well put that in." But I can see how that can be rabbit hole! I love the book "O Pioneers!" - surprisingly, my mom - who loved Wilder's "Little House" books - didn't enjoy it as much as I did! Yeah, the Yum! brands thing should've definitely raised an eyebrow or three. Glad you enjoyed it, even sans math!
                        • Carolyn 3s · 2024-12-29T05:26:58.126Z
                          That was very cool!
                          • whimsy 18:20 · 2024-12-29T16:06:01.232Z
                            Punctuation and math! Mikey does it all!
                            • whimsy 18:20 · 2024-12-29T16:16:48.231Z
                              I'm not up on my factorials, but I did notice that 5 gazinta 120 (two-thousand) and twenty-four times, which possibly amounts to the same thing.
                              1A
                              Nurse
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                              64
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                              66
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                              71
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                              75
                              76
                              77
                              78
                              79
                              80
                              81
                              82
                              83
                              84
                              85
                              Across
                              1. 1A
                                Nurse
                              2. 6A
                                Sneaker feature
                              3. 10A
                                "Airplane" or "Young Frankenstein"
                              4. 15A
                                Sleuthing Monk played by Tony Shaloub
                              5. 17A
                                Keep ___ profile
                              6. 18A
                                "Stop In the Name of Love" singer Ross
                              7. 19A
                                What you do on Yahoo
                              8. 20A
                                Only fish dish I ate
                              9. 21A
                                Rubbed the wrong way, like Mikey G's puns about erasers
                              10. 22A
                                In earliest drafts of the script, he was a green-skinned member of the Ureallian race
                              11. 24A
                                Breeding rabbits is a ___-raising experience
                              12. 26A
                                Poses, in a way
                              13. 27A
                                Seltzer starter?
                              14. 28A
                                "You made this veggie-flavored dessert?" "___ of cake"
                              15. 30A
                                Ginger, in Mikey G's household
                              16. 32A
                                Part of many Pizza Hut products, owned by Yum Brands, Inc.
                              17. 35A
                                Third indefinite pronoun mentioned in the lyrics to the Beatles' "Help"
                              18. 39A
                                Makes the sale
                              19. 42A
                                Assuage
                              20. 45A
                                Minor key?
                              21. 46A
                                Sugar substitute, har har
                              22. 47A
                                "Look at how many exclamation marks I'm using!!!!!!!!!"
                              23. 50A
                                Past-tense verb in title of show once hosted by Garry Moore
                              24. 51A
                                Kyle Tucker, once (but he's a Cub now)
                              25. 53A
                                You'd address a letter to one with "Deer Sir"
                              26. 54A
                                Spain, in Spain
                              27. 56A
                                Type of card in Uno Attack (there's a bit of discrepancy here; this IS meta-related)
                              28. 58A
                                Its capital is Valletta
                              29. 60A
                                Fr. holy woman
                              30. 61A
                                Join hands, in a way
                              31. 63A
                                RBI, e.g.
                              32. 67A
                                "Should that be the case..."
                              33. 70A
                                Berry with 75% of your daily dose of vowels
                              34. 72A
                                ___ Isles (home to the town Westward Ho)
                              35. 75A
                                "O Pioneers" author Cather
                              36. 77A
                                "Still Life with Bread Crumbs" author Quindlen
                              37. 79A
                                Round in "Jeopardy" with harder clues
                              38. 80A
                                What my lectures should be sponsored by
                              39. 81A
                                "This is a haiku / I wrote it in ten seconds / I hope you like it," e.g.
                              40. 82A
                                What you're in for when solving meta puzzles
                              41. 83A
                                Where four famed turtles hang out
                              42. 84A
                                I keep my mail for ___-imental reasons
                              43. 85A
                                Insurance giant
                              Down
                              1. 1D
                                "Dancing with the Stars" choreographer Farber
                              2. 2D
                                Consummate
                              3. 3D
                                Shenanigan
                              4. 4D
                                Alveoli
                              5. 5D
                                Food that likes to come out of its shell
                              6. 6D
                                Vegas opener?
                              7. 7D
                                Hilo hello
                              8. 8D
                                Tabs, once
                              9. 9D
                                Yeah, it'll hold water
                              10. 10D
                                Star Wars, initially
                              11. 11D
                                When the buccaneer opened a bakery, he had good ___
                              12. 12D
                                Prior acorns that politely use their trees and thank yous (I should branch out with these puns)
                              13. 13D
                                Short race, for short
                              14. 14D
                                Beanie Babies and Furbies (yours truly had both)
                              15. 16D
                                Stars are in it, briefly
                              16. 23D
                                Photo ___
                              17. 25D
                                "The Name of the Rose" author Umberto
                              18. 29D
                                Kindle material
                              19. 31D
                                In
                              20. 33D
                                "This is the spa you chose?" "It was a last ___"
                              21. 34D
                                Hope org.
                              22. 35D
                                "Ready to go now that you've turned into a tea service?" "I'm all ___"
                              23. 36D
                                "___ Dies Dreaming" (2022 book by Xochitl Gonzalez)
                              24. 37D
                                #10 of 118 (it's not a periodic table meta, I promise)
                              25. 38D
                                James who sang "At Last"
                              26. 39D
                                Carbonize
                              27. 40D
                                What I often do playing golf (it's par for the course)
                              28. 41D
                                Where calculus conventions are not likely to be found (yet, anyway)
                              29. 43D
                                2010 healthcare law: Abbr.
                              30. 44D
                                A Greek letter
                              31. 48D
                                Some compass dir.
                              32. 49D
                                Fish that dances in a conger line LOL
                              33. 52D
                                Pluck
                              34. 55D
                                "Why are you dancing in the meadow? It's ___ bedtime"
                              35. 57D
                                Red, e.g.
                              36. 59D
                                PD alert
                              37. 61D
                                "I can't steer this lake rental, but ___?"
                              38. 62D
                                Flax fabric ("You need other fabrics?" "Just the flax, ma'am")
                              39. 64D
                                Himalayan region
                              40. 65D
                                Lion who says "Don't run from who you are" in a film adaptation
                              41. 66D
                                Another Greek letter
                              42. 67D
                                "___ just thinking..."
                              43. 68D
                                Dossier
                              44. 69D
                                Oodles
                              45. 71D
                                Baseball fans wear them
                              46. 73D
                                Chocolate's is 50 pieces a day, for short (this is completely accurate)
                              47. 74D
                                Yet another Greek letter (not meta-related, I promise)
                              48. 76D
                                First word in an Irish carrier
                              49. 78D
                                Qty.
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