Almost An Anthem (Meta)

I have an old audio cassette of my brother singing this from the late seventies!!! Billabong and all. Love it, thanks Ben!

Love it.

But...

I'm not sure I get either the hint or the title of the puzzle. Unless you meant just three four time make the MAT TIL LDA waltz? Or that it's not quite as it has an extra L?

I'm interested which method you used to solve this one. On the one hand, there's a JUMBUCK stuffed in a TUCKER BAG, and a SWAGMAN who has jumped into a BILLABONG (and is now DEAD). On the other hand, the hint THREE should have directed you to the only 3-word clues which are for three 3-letter entries: MAT, TIL, and LDA, which together form MATILDA, with WALTZING coming from the abundance of threes. (And for any Aussies out there, there's also CECIL, BERT, and FRED, the names we used to give to the troopers who accompanied with squatter, when he came down to investigate the loss of his sheep!)

JUMBUCK, BILLABONG, SWAGMAN. I learned that song in grade school, long time ago.

I saw the 3 word clues and got it immediately. I must say that some of the Australian grid answers had me scratching my head! Thanks, Ben!

How is Matilda spelled?

Loved this one, Ben. “Billabong” was my aha moment.

Needed a nudge to get there, but finally solved. Thanks for the puzzle, Ben!

Familiar with only the chorus, because of an encounter with a group of drunk Aussies at the Hofbruahaus in Munich in 1982! (They also sang something like “Tie me kangaroo down…”. And said “she’ll be right, mate” whenever something bad/sad was mentioned. I liked those guys. Anyhoo… I solved by googling Anthem and billabong, and there it was! Then I saw that all the 3-letter across words I had highlighted offered MAT TIL LDA also (which happens to be the name of my sweet crazy sheepadoodle, whom we call “Mattie” - Matilda Virginia). Thanks for the puzzle! And indeed for your faithful posting of a diversion for us every Tuesday… it makes lunch hour more fun.

Not sure of the "right" way to solve it, but as soon as I saw JUMBUCK I suspected and when I saw BILLABONG I knew, I mean this is our Ben and I know this is considered almost an anthem in Oz (we used to song this in summer camp all the while so I knew the words, mostly)...Now here I was thinking it might be "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport". I tried to do it the logical way but got ERMME and was barely through the three letter words. I did see MAT but I also saw MET and did not grok the three words/three letters.

Satisfying puzzle and one that deserves an "Advance Australia Fair" mention.

T

Like markhr I remembered those strange words from when I learned the song in grade school even longer ago. I figured THREE was there because waltzes are in threes (even though "Waltzing Matilda" is in 4/4 time). Missed the three-letter hints.

I didn't know what Jumbuck, Billabong, or Swagman were about. I just focused on three letter answers based on 68A and thought that odd clue for LDA meant you were desperate to include it. Luckily, I looked at that edge and had an inkling that MATTILDA might mean something. Yeah, I stumbled on the answer. Lol

I knew the chorus from way back when. I played a very simple, both in terms of lyrics and music, version of it from my beginner's piano lesson music book. There were pictures on each song page and this one had a kangaroo. I always imagined it was a song with a lovely tune about dancing with a kangaroo named Matilda. (Hey, I was 7 - 8 years old!) Only as an adult did I learn it actually referred to a knapsack and traveler in the outback, and was the "unofficial Australian anthem." So when I saw the puzzle title and Aussie-isms, I'm afraid that I went straight to entering it, forgetting all about the "three" hint.

Glad for the dance! Thanks, Ben!

We sang this in elementary (primary) school. In the 60’s. They never gave us the definitions for the Aussie idioms. Internet was pretty weak then. But you can’t forget the jolly Jumbuck.

Well there are 4 entries that an australian jargon. 3 of those are clued by their jargon meaning and one is not. So 3/4 evokes.... a Waltz.

I can't lie, I had everything I needed sans nudges, but just couldn't come up with the answer. I was appalled the answer wasn't my first submission of "Down Under" (which SHOULD be the Aussie national anthem!) which I tried due to all the Aussie slang. With Jan. 26th approaching, i thought it was a home run. Oh well, good puzzle nonetheless now that I see how the answer clearly.