You Are In A Maze Of Twisty Little Passages, All Alike (Meta)

madhatter5 challenged me to a forum swap. So this was my attempt at creating a MEOW. MEOWs definitely skew to the difficult side, so I have tried to give you a decent challenge. But I've also noticed that madhatter5 is not afraid to break the "rules" of crossword puzzle conventions. I have therefore followed suit. In fact, in what might be a first in the world of meta crosswords, you will have to solve the meta before you can complete the grid! Consequently, please don't reveal the central entry - you'll definitely spoil the fun. (If you're wondering, the puzzle title is a quote from Colossal Cave, the first text adventure game, which is playable here: https://grack.com/demos/adventure/) Answer and explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?t=1311&p=74839#p74839

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!