Taking One for the Team
◆ · By Bird Lives · Published 2024-02-05T12:15:14.892Z
Meta Prompt
The answer is an entertainer at a past Super Bowl Halftime show.
This one is playing a bit tougher than I expected. Here are a couple of nudges: 1. Parsing the title, one might say that solving the meta is a singular achievement.
2. Along similar lines, eleven Easter eggs are nestled in the clues. A couple of the clues hold more than one. These goodies are not necessary for the solution, but they might help. And it might be enjoyable just to find them and put them in your basket. 3. Themer entries all have two words.
4. The first word is just filler.
- But the second word shouldn’t stand alone. It has to be accompanied by a team member. One of these has two possible teammates; either will do. One of these has two possible teammates; either will do. Four of these five new terms should be familiar. The fifth comes from a scientific field. You may have to Google this one to confirm.
6.. Taken together, these new pairs are not dumb jocks. That is, they are not clueless. They have clues. In fact, the relevant clues lead to the crucial entries.
7. The letters from those entries are not the complete answer. The remaining step is consistent with the themers, the title, and the Easter eggs.
Checking for previous play data...
Thanks.1A
Chrysler product
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Across
- 1AChrysler product
- 5AVoodoo Ranger Hop Raider, Galactic Viking, or The Imperial Texan
- 8ADustin Hoffman movie
- 14AMade a priest
- 16ATreats indulgently
- 17A* It's in the same area with burnt sienna or cardinal in the color chart
- 18A* Renewable fuel
- 19AIs ill with
- 20ASnake-like fish a dolphin might feed on
- 21ASmoothed some wood
- 22ATribe found mostly in crosswords, also in Oklahoma
- 24AEinsteinian letters
- 26ALand of Yeats and Joyce
- 28ABear-like mammals native to China
- 31AMerchant ships, sometime buccaneer targets
- 34AEnding for salt, saturn, serpent, etc.
- 35AEras for Swift, e.g.
- 36AOrg. of interest to AARP
- 37A* TV show with new host Taylor Tomlinson
- 41AProvider of entertainment for GIs
- 42ACheshire cat's best-known feature
- 43AFutbol announcer's cry
- 44AMonthly household payment
- 46AJackal-headed god
- 50A"___ one," said Lawrence Welk
- 51A"___ So Fine," hit for the Chiffons
- 53ABird of prey
- 54AHas a meal in
- 57AOne who insists on taking the lion's share
- 60AEnding with potent, confident, cord, etc.
- 61A* What Sinead or Shaq might have said
- 62A* Shady CPA's specialty
- 64AArnie with an army
- 65ACity in Scotland
- 66ANew York lake, county, or silverware maker
- 67AObject of astronomer's interest and which will eventually die
- 68ALatin being
Down
- 1DShow little commitment to employers
- 2DInformation slip in a book
- 3DHe had over 1000 patents
- 4D___12, conference that sends many to the NFL
- 5DMemo abbr.
- 6DDirector Jordan
- 7DDo the math, for first graders
- 8DBand name that is an acronym and a palindrome
- 9DPut on weight
- 10DDwelling places
- 11DFierce, like a Bengal
- 12DMost exhilirating
- 13DIntensifier that can be appended to just about any adjective
- 15DCommander-in-Chief 70 years ago
- 21DYoung cod
- 23DCut a film
- 25DWednesday performance
- 27DCodebreaking gp.
- 29D"Wall St. Lays ___," Variety headline Oct. 30, 1929
- 30DJunipero ___, missionary in California
- 32DName heard above the Din?
- 33DSky hunter
- 37DIn unison
- 38DLIke a stream you can cross on foot
- 39D"Could happen"
- 40DStick together
- 41DMs. Thurman
- 45DTeahouse flooring
- 47DThey're featured in the NYT Vows section
- 48D"I haven't seen you ___"
- 49DMoon goddess
- 52DWhen repeated, a Korean dish
- 55DTransport with runners
- 56DPort in Spain
- 58DBeasts of burden -- the yoke's on them
- 59DE. Berlin was its capital
- 61DStartup's milestone
- 62DGrad students, often
- 63DIt sounds like Bobby Gentry wrote this to Billy Joe to settle a debt