Christmas Message
◆◆ · By DrTom · Published 2023-12-27T12:30:01.759Z
Meta Prompt
The answer is the Christmas message implied by the meta
Talk about last minute...an absolute Christmas miracle!
This was thought up, built and completely redone in a slightly more than 24 hour period. It came to me that I was not being very seasonal, so hopefully this one is.
I cannot speculate on difficulty since there are some who will IMMEDIATELY see what I am doing, some who will grok it from other things, some who will guess it and some who will struggle trhogh the process. Whichever route you take I hope it is rewarding.
Thanks to my testers @KayW and @whimsy who got this last minute with a plea for quick turnaround, and of course they came through.
Nudges will be Friday and reveal on Tuesday
Nudges:
Nudge1] A Christmas meta without carols, holly, elves, sleighs, or tinsel...how odd! I wonder why?
Nudge 2] Would the phrase "The quick brown fox jumps over the hazy dog" be as cool as the original
Nudge 3] Here I was thinking I was so clever, then I found out this had idea been used in 2021 by benchen71
There, that should do it!
The Reveal:
This is probably the easiest reveal I will ever have. The Christmas Message here is that the grid was constructed without any L's, so NO L or, in the Christmas Spirit NOEL. NOEL is not only a massage you hear at Christmas, but it literally MEANS Christmas, so it is most definitely a Christmas Message.
Checking for previous play data...
1A
Ceremonial splendor
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Across
- 1ACeremonial splendor
- 5A"Surely you ___!"
- 9APopular eye-care prefix
- 13APopular dry white wine
- 16AWinter comment
- 17A60
- 18ABaby "boeuf"
- 19A"Siddhartha" author
- 20ALight bulb unit
- 22ANoise
- 23AIce cream giant
- 25AAdvantageous to all
- 27APlace for a crime
- 30ASine ___ non
- 32ASpeakers' hesitations
- 33AGo-___
- 34AApr. addressee
- 35AIn their time, very sleek cats
- 38ASerpent's tail?
- 39AHas more troops than
- 41A"Alley ___!"
- 42AA captain of the Enterprise
- 44ACutting tool
- 45A"Ohio" group, initially
- 46ARx instruction
- 47AImitate
- 48AThe mating game
- 49ACities marked for destruction
- 51AA familiar voice on your phone
- 53AA long, long way to run, rumor has it
- 54ABeano brother
- 56AIt has the beat
- 59AN.Y.P.D. employee
- 61AMortgage holders, often
- 64AGenevieve and Jeanne, for short
- 65A"It's clear to me"
- 66A"Bye!"
- 67ARetired speedsters that are making a comeback: Abbr.
- 68A1914 battle line
Down
- 1DLoan figure: Abbr.
- 2DLong, drawn out expression of realization (and NO the meta does not have to do with the strings of letters that are there)
- 3DFilly's mother
- 4DCurrent
- 5D"___ Wales", Eastwood character
- 6DS.A.S.E., e.g.
- 7DFalling flakes
- 8D1943 battle site
- 9D"No duh!": Abbr.
- 10DIncline
- 11DWhat the Beatles "Ticket to Ride" was for
- 12D"So ___ down most hurriedly and joined up with the John Birch Society..." (Dylan lyric)
- 14DSince, in Spain
- 15DAbominable Snowman
- 21DFlanged fasteners
- 24DTwo of four or three of nine, for short
- 26DCrooked
- 27DBypass
- 28D"Ooh, ooh, please Mom"
- 29DClassic toy for budding engineers
- 31DPaper containing a picture of all the states
- 34DBirth control device
- 35DSplit ___, New Zealand rock group
- 36DA long, long time
- 37D1974 C.I.A. spoof film with D. Sutherland and E.Gould
- 39DCat ___, the eternal pet choice
- 40DCool drinks
- 43DA hand
- 45DA sweeping feature on a stately home
- 47DOrgs.
- 48DSara's last name in "A Little Princess" (1995), or a Cheshire railway town
- 49DTarget of NORAD
- 50DWhen repeated, a fish
- 52D"For ___ and turn..." ("Tainted Love" lyric)
- 53DA rock in some decisions
- 55DThe way to spell Christmas when you want to reduce your letter count
- 57DReverent seats with an irreverent sounding name
- 58D'What's Hecuba to him, ___ to Hecuba' (Hamlet)
- 60D"Do you know where your children are?" is one: Abbr.
- 62DCreature with impressive limbs
- 63DDamascus' land: Abbr.