Spot The Vikings (Meta)
◆ · By benchen71 · Published 2023-08-15T06:00:29.427Z
Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is a name
As you will soon find out when you dive into this puzzle, I was working on this meta late on a Friday afternoon/evening and I think it shows: some of the clues are on the chatty side and I really let my punctuation slide. Let me say right at the outset that the metanism is not in the clues! Hopefully you will enjoy this puzzle as much as I enjoyed the G & T I had as I was constructing it. The answer to the meta is a name.
Plus, for the first time ever for a MOAT, there's a prize! The randomly-drawn name will win a MOAT Music Meta Pack valued at $US10. (If that randomly-drawn name is someone who already purchased the Pack, then they can nominate someone else to receive their prize.) Answer & explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=139371#p139371
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
Pose a question
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Across
- 1APose a question
- 4A___-a-brac
- 8AHigher on the Mohs scale you know closer to the 10 end
- 14AAll Things Considered network which is not in Australia but I enjoy the occasional Tiny Desk concert on YouTube
- 15ABig Audio Dynamite song that starts with If I had my time again and has that weird talky bit involving rhythm and melody and thus an earworm is launched
- 16AWhat a very insistent French yes-man might say
- 17AItalian bread that's really yummy which is hardly fair if your taste buds differ to mine
- 19AClause modifier that often ends in -ly grammatically speaking
- 20ALove symbol that you can make with two hands aww that's so cute
- 21AMoves quickly from one place to another
- 23AMore ___ approximately
- 25ALike 45 across because your vocal chords aren't involved not because there are lots of esses
- 28AAbout-face from NNE
- 29ASocial media request also the second track from the Chumbawamba album that holds the Guinness World Record for the longest album title I didn't need that second part but it was an interesting factoid
- 32AMix-a-Lot's title maybe that was enough to get Baby's Got Back playing in your head
- 33ADo you use ___ thyme in your turkey stuffing?
- 35AActress ___ Davis of The Long Kiss Goodnight where she plays an amnesiac who thinks her amazing knife skills makes her a chef yeah that tracks
- 37ANorse god who has nothing whatsoever to do with the meta in case you were wondering
- 39ASecond word of the play where Dogberry is hilarious O villain thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this rofl
- 40ADo ___ others
- 41AMaterial popular with gold miners in the 1850s
- 42AChinchilla for example
- 44ATV series with David Tennant playing a serial killer scarily well
- 45ASlightly-longer-than-normal attention-getting sound
- 46ANonprofit's URL suffix
- 49ALibyan capital the city not their money that's just cruel
- 52AProvides protective metallic covering spelled the US way
- 55ASynagogue candelabrum with seven candles
- 58ARoad featured on the cover of an album that had no band name or title on it whatsoever
- 59AReduce as enthusiasm by throwing metaphorical water on the situation
- 61AHannibal if he'd been born in modern times the one who invaded Italy with elephants not the one in Silence of the Lambs
- 63ASelf-help guru ___ Chopra
- 64A___ on me when you're not strong and I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on now that song's in your head you're welcome
- 65ADefense advisory grp this is ridiculous fill in a crossword constructed by an Aussie I'll just outright tell you it's NSC
- 66AHightails it out of there
- 67ASports cable channel that I've never watched nope never
- 68AThe S of DOS the use of the abbr means the answer is also abbr in case you didn't know
Down
- 1DDried poblano chili or the first two syllables of my favourite fishy pizza topping
- 2DAgents like 007 and Perry the Platypus but referred to using a verbal form not a noun I actually thought that might be a better clue than Agents and moles which is what Crosshare was suggesting but what do I know now you can choose
- 3DSouth African villages
- 4DNaughty children like Bart Simpson and Dennis the Menace for example
- 5DMetaphorical image for a boring routine
- 6DAbbr for a narrow strip of land also an anagram of a Jedi's opponent
- 7DBye said the Spaniard informally
- 8DHusky-voiced like how Shohreh Aghdashloo sounds in The Expanse my favourite sci-fi show of the last decade and Arcane an animated series that my daughter recommended it's also really good
- 9DMiddle word of the band referred to in the clue for 15 across so yes this is a dupe but I don't care because I remember that song from my youth it's awesome
- 10DMyst sequel
- 11DSings some songs at a coffee shop or seedy bar I guess it doesn't have to be seedy
- 12DNorth of Afr east of the Atl
- 13DChest bone that Adam donated so God could make Eve actually this is a mistranslation of the Hebrew but you'll have to read John Walton to learn the details
- 18DCold beer slangily I have never used this word in real life
- 22DMuzzle loaders that are paragons of straightness
- 24DYield to gravity
- 26DEl ___ weather phenomenon that plays havoc with countries around the Pacific
- 27DI forget the words but it goes something like this ___-la-la
- 30DOpening of a letter to a knight yes I know this is technically another dupe but I'm constructing this on a Friday afternoon after a looooong week and I'm too tired to redo the grid or worry overmuch about punctuation
- 31DExtinct birds whose carcasses were over-stuffed by taxidermists who didn't know what they were doing leading us to think they were on the porky side
- 34DOrient one's weapon in the direction of one's target I'm eschewing two word clues whenever possible this has nothing to do with the meta remember
- 35DRev as an engine
- 36DPuts in a crypt
- 37DLook like a creep
- 38DNot quite boiling
- 41DDichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane for short
- 43DGreek vowel that crops up in a lot of crosswords also an anagram of a beverage that's popular in England
- 45DCarelessly throws something down in the singular it's also British slang for cheap wine
- 47DRed-breasted birds that are harbingers of spring apparently must be a northern hemisphere thing
- 48DAdjective that describes the proverbial pole leading to career success
- 50DPig in a kids TV show which had one episode banned in Australia because it encouraged children to think spiders were not dangerous (!?!)
- 51DEarly hour of the morning when I occasionally get meta ideas like the one in this puzzle
- 53DActor ___ Wilson of The Office if you're a fan of that show the clue could simply be Dwight
- 54DHarmonizes like singers in a boy band if I reference Bye Bye Bye that will get yet another earworm going
- 56DBe suffix that combines to form someone in the band referenced in the clue for 58 across let's just keep the dupes coming although now I think about it it's a valid cross-reference forget I said anything
- 57DTints or sounds like something belonging to that English actor who starred in Four Weddings and a Funeral a very funny movie btw
- 59DOrthodontist's deg it could also be a librarian's acronym if they use the Dewey decimal system but that's yet another dupe
- 60DAbbr of Truman's nuclear agency if you're like me you'll have to resort to Google sorry
- 62DAfternoon snooze that I really would have profited from today but you get these chatty clues instead so there's that