Here's another meta for you in which most of the challenge will be completing the grid. (If you're doing this one on paper I highly recommend that you use pencil!) The answer to the meta is an obtrusive noun. Answer & explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=192192#p192192
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta!
Ready to get started?
to save your puzzle progress/stats
This is a contest/meta puzzle. To submit your answer, first finish solving the grid (or reveal it if you get stuck or solved offline).
Leaderboard (updated hourly)
Hector solved 3 months ago
Tom Wilson solved 3 months ago
Danny K Bernstein solved 3 months ago
Gutman solved 3 months ago
Lance solved 2 months ago
LarsCaine solved 2 months ago
boharr solved 2 months ago
Mr Tex solved 2 months ago
Cindy Heisler solved 2 months ago
DCBilly solved 2 months ago
Meg solved 2 months ago
hoover solved 2 months ago
JM solved 2 months ago
Cindy Weatherman solved 2 months ago
whimsy solved 2 months ago
I K Snamhcok solved 2 months ago
DIS solved 2 months ago
KayW solved 2 months ago
FedexPope solved 2 months ago
imontoo solved 2 months ago
Bird Lives solved 2 months ago
Carolyn solved 2 months ago
markhr solved 2 months ago
Johnny Luau solved 2 months ago
InAJelly solved 2 months ago
DrTom solved 2 months ago
woozy solved 2 months ago
lbray53 solved 2 months ago
CPJohnson solved 2 months ago
Jaclyn solved 2 months ago
Darth solved 2 months ago
Serafin solved 2 months ago
MatthewL solved 2 months ago
Tim solved 2 months ago
Dave C solved 2 months ago
heidi solved 2 months ago
Pair O Ducks solved 2 months ago
Capn Rick solved 2 months ago
Berto solved 2 months ago
Sendhil Revuluri solved 2 months ago
Susan solved 2 months ago
Tyrpmom solved 2 months ago
DebbieC solved 2 months ago
Just 4 Laffs solved 2 months ago
Mg305 solved 2 months ago
Scrivimancer solved 2 months ago
HeadinHome solved 2 months ago
Heb solved 2 months ago
rjy solved 2 months ago
Qmark solved 2 months ago
ajk solved 2 months ago
chickenhaiku solved 2 months ago
Darrell solved 2 months ago
mateo solved 2 months ago
Spid4567 solved 2 months ago
frostyjhammer solved 2 months ago
ELSavage solved 2 months ago
Mikey G solved 2 months ago
axmszr solved 2 months ago
kurtalert solved 2 months ago
Comments
Sign in with google to leave a comment of your own:
Lance 2s Β· 2 months ago
This was quite clever! I could not figure out for the life of me how ER was not correct in 43A, or that ODE did not fit for 44A (though ER did fit in front of ODE!) and so I knew something goofy was going on. Well designed!
Meg 2:08 Β· 2 months ago
Very nice!
hoover 3s Β· 2 months ago
Oh thank goodness! I thought I had to find alternate answers for BADPR, OTTO, UBER, etc.
yeah, that was my first instinct as well, but I quickly abandoned it
whimsy 20:53 Β· 2 months ago
Very cute, along with the concept! Loved the "seriousness" of the "big words" and textbook drawing matched with the light-hearted idiom!
Enjoyable -- Thanks, Ben!
DIS π€19:30 Β· 2 months ago
Pretty cool when it's totally baffling and then it clicks. Thanks!
imontoo 2s Β· 2 months ago
Thank you for the heads up to use a pencil!
Clever, Ben. Thanks!
Bird Lives 3s Β· 2 months ago
Nice one. I've seen this kind of thing in non-meta NYT puzzles, but they didn't have the added difficulty (difficult for the constructor) of having the out-of-line letters spell a word. Bravo.
Carolyn 4s Β· 2 months ago
Lots of fun!
InAJelly 13:36 Β· 2 months ago
Good one! Got stuck on the first two themers for a bit thinking they would be "SELF FORMATION", "TROLL REMARKS", but knew I had them wrong after I got the 3rd one. MOAT crossed!
Well that was a ride! I got caught up in that two of the "oddities" I solved at first were UB ER and ER ODE so I was sure ER figured into it until I did more of the puzzle. Then I saw that I was having to go around things to get to where I wanted to be and the inferred obtrusive noun DETOUR made sense (something sticking out so I had to DETOUR around it). When CROSSHARE rebuked me I tried again, this time taking the "unused" parts of the three "odd" entries PR UB CE which my mind quickly filled in as the "sticky out" PROTUBERANCE (my wife HATES that I can do that on Wheel of Fortune, I often have the answer WAY before any of the contestants - "crossword training", I tell her), then I went back and looked. I had a tough time at first because I had GTP not GTT (long and complicated reason) so I was doing a "What, is the British spelling of PROBLEM now PROUBLEM like COLOR/COLOUR!" But saw my mistake and there were the missing letters. I liked the meta even if I did not like the fill and its PROUBLEMMAKERS
lbray53 3s Β· 2 months ago
It took me a bit (after submission actually) to figure out the serpentine fill for 19A, 36A and 58A. I had to go back to the title. That is when I noticed the true elegance of the puzzle.
Busy day for me, but I managed to complete the puz in several sittings as I kept it in the background while I worked. Gotta have "priorities" you know. haha Thanks, Ben.
MatthewL π€14:21 Β· 2 months ago
You were entirely correct -- grid very challenging, meta, not so much. But a lot of fun was had along the way. Thanks for the puzzle, Ben!
Didn't have time to get to this yesterday, so just getting around to it. Can't say it was fun to fill the grid--too many entries I had no idea about. The meta itself only took a minute or two (after I scanned through the clues once to look for an alt to BADPR, it was the next thing I tried). Cool idea, and the answer is very clever. :) Thanks.
ELSavage π€10:49 Β· 2 months ago
You were right, the grid was harder than the meta. Had to figure out the mechanism to finish the grid, and then it was just a matter of what to do with the odd bumps.
Enjoyable -- Thanks, Ben!
Clever, Ben. Thanks!