CROSSHARE
Print Puzzle
Download .puz File
Account / Settings
Construct a Puzzle
Profile

Four Square Meals

◆◆ · By woozy · Published 2022-08-01T04:59:26.524Z

Meta Prompt
The answer to this meta is what is for dessert
This mechanism is fairly convoluted. But I hope it's weirdness will lead to a very solid AHA moment.
EDIT: Convoluted? How naive was I to think this would be convoluted? This was my second serious attempt at a meta and I was trying (and I think I succeeded for the most part) to keep it simple. The only convolution is I hadn't quite (and still haven't) figured out how to hide answers in plain sight. Still compared to every other meta I've attempted to construct this is a simple and straightforward as I seem capable of doing.
Checking for previous play data...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • Hector solved 2022-08-19T18:41:08.175Z
  • whimsy solved 2022-08-19T23:47:17.647Z
  • benchen71 solved 2022-08-20T00:39:36.697Z
  • Laura M solved 2022-08-28T05:03:11.801Z

Comments

Sign in with google to leave a comment of your own:

  • Mr Tex 15:31 · 2022-08-17T15:35:20.727Z
    Maybe you should explain how you got this answer.
    • woozy constructor · 2022-08-17T18:30:36.235Z
      I will. But this was wasn't exactly meant to be fully public yet. In the meantime I'll explain it to anyone who asks.
      • woozy constructor · 2022-08-17T18:52:05.777Z
        Anyway.... The title is "Four Square Meals" and as per the title there are four clues that are meals. The answer to those clues are all numbers. The clue and entry at 69 A that says you will find "squares" in "math class" indicates that "square" should be taken in its mathematical sense. If you square the four numbers you get 16, 4, 25, and 9. If you look at the entries for 16A, 4D, 25D and 9D the entries are: APPLE PIE WITH CHEESE. As traditionally numbers in a meta mean the letters in the squares and not the words in the entries, I included 48A as a hint.
      • whimsy 19:42 · 2022-08-19T23:51:30.359Z
        Delightful! But I wish 55 were the square of a number 'cause I'd prefer that on top! :)
        • benchen71 14:04 · 2022-08-20T00:40:56.361Z
          Nice one! Tricky grid but a not too convoluted meta. Of course I initially thought APWC!
          • benchen71 14:04 · 2022-08-20T01:05:07.164Z
            But I have to say: "With cheese?!?" I was expecting "with 55 across", but then again 55 is not a square number...
            • woozy constructor · 2022-08-20T01:29:54.084Z
              With cheese is a ... well, I'll leave a general comment to everyone as everyone is saying the prefer ice cream (as do I)
            • woozy constructor · 2022-08-20T01:37:29.415Z
              Apple pie with cheese is a bit old-fashioned these days but I really wish it'd come back in style as it's truly delightful. Anyway, I was in a classic old-fashioned type of mood when I wrote it.
              Hence the rhyme from my grandmother's childhood:
              Apple pie without the cheese
              >is like a hug without the squeeze.
              and you will find many references to it in literature from the 40s or so.
              My mother had her own rhyme:
              Apple pie without ice cream
              >is like a murder wthout the scream
              Play today's daily mini crossword
              1A
              What makes a Margarita sweet
              1
              2
              3
              4
              5
              6
              7
              8
              9
              10
              11
              12
              13
              14
              15
              16
              17
              18
              19
              20
              21
              22
              23
              24
              25
              26
              27
              28
              29
              30
              31
              32
              33
              34
              35
              36
              37
              38
              39
              40
              41
              42
              43
              44
              45
              46
              47
              48
              49
              50
              51
              52
              53
              54
              55
              56
              57
              58
              59
              60
              61
              62
              63
              64
              65
              66
              67
              68
              69
              Across
              1. 1A
                What makes a Margarita sweet
              2. 10A
                The Grinch carved a roast one
              3. 15A
                Vanity for those who like lights
              4. 16A
                Relative of the pear and quince
              5. 17A
                Comes before ii) weds. White and iii) thurs. Red
              6. 18A
                Mental or physical effort to attain an end
              7. 19A
                HIVAC process
              8. 20A
                Vandals
              9. 22A
                BREAKFAST
              10. 24A
                Portmanteau slang for the next generation of wonderful
              11. 26A
                —demisemiquaver; 1/64th note
              12. 28A
                Notable time
              13. 29A
                LUNCH
              14. 32A
                The greater amount
              15. 36A
                From Semerwater to Ure this North Yorkshire River is 3.95 km long
              16. 37A
                It's been keeping Uniform Resource Locators uniform since 1998 (and what an upbeat acronym!)
              17. 38A
                With it
              18. 40A
                Not true
              19. 41A
                DINNER
              20. 42A
                What people outside the United Kingdom and New Zealand call a butty
              21. 44A
                Medicine-approving org.
              22. 45A
                British battleship letters
              23. 48A
                More than just a number (and a hint to the meta)
              24. 49A
                Black Dragon tea
              25. 51A
                Yellow part of an egg
              26. 55A
                American Gelato
              27. 59A
                Satellites above this have orbital periods of 24 hours or more
              28. 60A
                Spanish sparkling wines
              29. 61A
                Monterey's Cannery Row went bust nearly overnight when their populations mysteriously plummeted
              30. 66A
                Japanese physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in 1973
              31. 67A
                River to the Gulf of Mexico
              32. 68A
                HIGH TEA
              33. 69A
                Where one might see four squares
              Down
              1. 1D
                One who steals
              2. 2D
                So out its in
              3. 3D
                Words on a candy heart
              4. 4D
                Crust and filling
              5. 5D
                — Banos, California
              6. 6D
                Recede
              7. 7D
                Blueberry gal
              8. 8D
                Practice piece
              9. 9D
                Dairy product
              10. 10D
                Potassium-rich fruit
              11. 11D
                Larger-than-life
              12. 12D
                Church recess
              13. 13D
                Insult
              14. 14D
                Nickname for Theresa
              15. 21D
                In support of
              16. 23D
                River through Lake Geneva
              17. 24D
                With "Bon" a kitchen cleanser
              18. 25D
                used as a function word to indicate combination, accompaniment, presence, or addition
              19. 27D
                Bird that is one letter away from a coffee server
              20. 29D
                Ankle bones
              21. 30D
                Badger St.
              22. 31D
                Youth organization for the stupid, selfish and lazy but nonetheless in good health
              23. 32D
                Irritate
              24. 33D
                Salt, Fat, —, Heat
              25. 34D
                "Shoot me the pot and I'll pour me a shot A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup! Oh, slip me a slug from the wonderful mug And I cut a rug till I'm snug in a jug"
              26. 35D
                Last word of James Joyce's "Ulysses"
              27. 36D
                Ribald
              28. 39D
                Manipulated chessman
              29. 40D
                New Deal monogram
              30. 43D
                Yuletide quaff; and Quark's nephew
              31. 45D
                "Giddyap,—!"
              32. 46D
                Hugh Jass drank at his tavern but Oliver Klozzoff did not
              33. 47D
                A branch of the organization that kidnapped Patty Hearst
              34. 50D
                Everything and all
              35. 52D
                Messages from (and anagram of) Everything and all
              36. 53D
                City in the Aire River valley in the Pennines foothills
              37. 54D
                Belonging to Beardless Michael, the Byzantine governor of Chirmenkia (ah, Wikipedia! The last resort for the desperate defensive crossword constructor)
              38. 55D
                Rapper who sounds like he belongs in the overall theme of this grid
              39. 56D
                Ready money.
              40. 57D
                Endovascular aneurysm repair; abbr.
              41. 58D
                Battenberg is a nice one. So is Angel's Food and Devil's food.
              42. 62D
                Portable bed
              43. 63D
                Banned substance in sports
              44. 64D
                "The haunt of Seales and —s, and Sea-mews clang"-Milton, "Paradise Lost" (Killer whales supposedly)
              45. 65D
                Comic's prince who married Aleta in 1946
              Loading...