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Looking Up Down Under (Meta)

◆ · By benchen71 · Published 2021-11-09T05:00:23.886Z

Meta Prompt
The answer to the meta is "so romantic"
Quite a lot going on in this puzzle, but hopefully I've provided enough signposts. The answer to the meta is "so romantic" (and yes, the quotes are significant!) Good luck! Answer and explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?t=1287&p=73572#p73517
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...

Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • tester solved 2021-11-09T15:54:49.916Z
  • Mwoychick solved 2021-11-11T14:04:27.196Z
  • boharr solved 2021-11-11T14:45:39.515Z
  • Darth solved 2021-11-11T15:59:42.812Z
  • Hector solved 2021-11-12T00:04:31.367Z
  • I K Snamhcok solved 2021-11-12T00:29:49.829Z
  • Golem solved 2021-11-12T03:09:44.502Z
  • lbray53 solved 2021-11-12T12:47:43.296Z
  • markhr solved 2021-11-12T16:11:16.621Z
  • David Plass solved 2021-11-12T16:34:56.409Z
  • ryoustra solved 2021-11-12T20:38:58.552Z
  • madhatter4 solved 2021-11-12T20:44:55.558Z
  • Byron solved 2021-11-13T06:22:26.422Z
  • Carolyn solved 2021-11-13T18:31:43.639Z
  • Jack Sullivan solved 2021-11-15T19:02:12.431Z
  • noneuclidean solved 2021-11-19T08:39:54.195Z
  • DIS solved 2022-01-26T17:21:31.952Z

Comments

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  • boharr 4s · 2021-11-11T14:46:01.813Z
    Why?
    • Hector 4:29 · 2021-11-12T00:06:54.518Z
      Well the 5 letter Os at the crosses are in the shape of the 5 main stars in the SC constellation. But that's all I see. Were Os supposed to make us think of stars? Dunno.
      • benchen71 constructor · 2021-11-12T03:29:24.706Z
        Yes, the Os are supposed to be seen as stars.
        • Golem 🤓11:29 · 2021-11-12T03:14:41.266Z
          Seems so. The hint from 9D indicates to look at all and only entries which contain the letter O. The entries at 21A, 37A, and 49A told us how to interpret the O's. Puzzle title, benchen71's fondness for Australia, and a star map confirm the answer.
          • benchen71 constructor · 2021-11-12T05:32:54.751Z
            You got it exactly!
        • Byron 🤓15:25 · 2021-11-13T06:26:19.327Z
          Did you notice the intersections of the entries that 9D references?
        • Golem 🤓11:29 · 2021-11-12T03:12:18.819Z
          OOOOOH!
          • benchen71 constructor · 2021-11-12T05:41:09.362Z
            This was the reaction I was hoping for!
          • lbray53 3s · 2021-11-12T12:48:49.508Z
            JEWEL BOX would have fit the theme better I think.
            • markhr 🤓6:16 · 2021-11-12T16:26:20.926Z
              I thought of SC early. But based on 51D, I was looking for another anagram of "so romantic" (or of something similar). That clue suggested there was a verbal mechanism somewhere, not just a visual pattern. Hence my struggles.
              • benchen71 constructor · 2021-11-12T20:55:54.614Z
                In hindsight, perhaps I should not have clued 51D giving it such importance. It was an attempt to suggest the meta answer was also astronomic (in line with the three theme answers, 21A 37A and 49A) in addition to being so romantic. That was all.
              • David Plass 15:08 · 2021-11-12T16:37:13.457Z
                You kind of needed to know that it's about the CROSSES in order to find that the answer is about CROSSES...
                • benchen71 constructor · 2021-11-12T20:57:40.514Z
                  Ooh, I didn't even think of that angle! My original intention was that the 5 down clues being highlighted was enough: they are the only down entries with Os. But adding in the across entries does indeed result in 5 crosses. That's cool!
                  • David Plass 15:08 · 2021-11-12T22:57:03.395Z
                    Without the Australian flag hint in the forum I would have never gotten this even after I had possibly noticed the Os.
                • madhatter4 2s · 2021-11-12T20:46:26.757Z
                  Up down under and far out! Great work Ben
                  • Byron 🤓15:25 · 2021-11-13T06:23:37.720Z
                    Very nice construction! So much going on in this puzzle.
                    Play today's daily mini crossword
                    1A
                    Untidiness
                    1
                    2
                    3
                    4
                    5
                    6
                    7
                    8
                    9
                    10
                    11
                    12
                    13
                    14
                    15
                    16
                    17
                    18
                    19
                    20
                    21
                    22
                    23
                    24
                    25
                    26
                    27
                    28
                    29
                    30
                    31
                    32
                    33
                    34
                    35
                    36
                    37
                    38
                    39
                    40
                    41
                    42
                    43
                    44
                    45
                    46
                    47
                    48
                    49
                    50
                    51
                    52
                    53
                    54
                    55
                    56
                    57
                    58
                    59
                    60
                    61
                    62
                    63
                    Across
                    1. 1A
                      Untidiness
                    2. 5A
                      Is ___ (likely down for)
                    3. 10A
                      Black and green, for two
                    4. 14A
                      What this is
                    5. 15A
                      Text on the back of a book
                    6. 16A
                      Prefix that indicates this is the most important nemesis
                    7. 17A
                      Divine prefix for -nence
                    8. 18A
                      "Groundhog Day" director, Harold ___
                    9. 19A
                      "If you want to know my understandings concerning that..." (but in an SMS)
                    10. 20A
                      "Miss Saigon" setting
                    11. 21A
                      Fleurie single from her album "Portals", with an animated music video about a girl living in a space-station who sends a message down to her boyfriend during a spacewalk
                    12. 23A
                      Hacker who hasn't quite decided whether to use their skills for good or evil, perhaps
                    13. 25A
                      Scarily good baddie in "The Good Girls", subtly under-played by Manny Montana
                    14. 26A
                      Clarinet insert
                    15. 27A
                      What a reasonable student aspires to
                    16. 32A
                      Wrath
                    17. 34A
                      Followed a curved path
                    18. 35A
                      Part of a table
                    19. 36A
                      Meat preserver
                    20. 37A
                      Javert's solo in Act 1 of "Les Miserables" where he vows to catch Jean Valjean
                    21. 38A
                      "Auld ___ Syne"
                    22. 39A
                      Acts of physical intimacy in the view of others (abbr.)
                    23. 40A
                      Thing used to reinforce a tomato plant
                    24. 41A
                      Panels in a window
                    25. 42A
                      Dessert wine
                    26. 44A
                      It grows up to be a stallion
                    27. 45A
                      "I knew it!"
                    28. 46A
                      Military offensive
                    29. 49A
                      Van Gogh's painting of the view from his asylum window (with "The")
                    30. 54A
                      Street in Paris
                    31. 55A
                      Come ashore
                    32. 56A
                      Hair-like organelles
                    33. 57A
                      Objectives
                    34. 58A
                      Creator of the MPC, the drum machine that changed popular music
                    35. 59A
                      Audibly shocked
                    36. 60A
                      Work with wool
                    37. 61A
                      Violin tuners
                    38. 62A
                      Fourth herb in a Simon & Garfunkle song
                    39. 63A
                      "What ___!" ("I'm having fun!")
                    Down
                    1. 1D
                      Event hosting, for short
                    2. 2D
                      Catalan equivalent of "la mer"
                    3. 3D
                      Actress who plays River Tam in "Firefly"
                    4. 4D
                      Partner of 55 across
                    5. 5D
                      Over-4 downs
                    6. 6D
                      Shrub or bush
                    7. 7D
                      What we've all developed during recent months, perhaps (too much snacking, not enough exercise!)
                    8. 8D
                      Trot partner in a fairytale involving goats
                    9. 9D
                      Sees (what's special about the entries whose 14 acrosses include the words up, down, or under, hopefully).
                    10. 10D
                      Person who can bring up the hem of a garment
                    11. 11D
                      Writer, ___ Bombeck
                    12. 12D
                      What zwei times vier equals
                    13. 13D
                      What you might find under a horse's hoof
                    14. 21D
                      Mononymous singer who made autotuning famous
                    15. 22D
                      Told an untruth
                    16. 24D
                      Youngspeak for "toss"
                    17. 27D
                      Middle foot pedal in a manual car
                    18. 28D
                      Land measure
                    19. 29D
                      English mathematician who worked at Bletchley Park and helped crack the Enigma code
                    20. 30D
                      Unit of heredity
                    21. 31D
                      "As sure as ___ is ___"
                    22. 32D
                      Egyptian snakes
                    23. 33D
                      Nothing
                    24. 34D
                      Inverse of the tangent function, for short
                    25. 37D
                      Backyard visitor, perhaps
                    26. 38D
                      "I'm not listening!" (said with fingers in ears)
                    27. 40D
                      "___ gut!"
                    28. 41D
                      What keeps a fence up
                    29. 43D
                      Telephone box that's bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside
                    30. 44D
                      What a crescent moon looks like
                    31. 46D
                      Discrimination against the old (one way to spell it)
                    32. 47D
                      Mobile device from Microsoft, now discontinued
                    33. 48D
                      Assays
                    34. 49D
                      Funky style of bass playing
                    35. 50D
                      45 across song, "___ On Me"
                    36. 51D
                      What "so romantic" is of "astronomic", for short
                    37. 52D
                      Close at hand
                    38. 53D
                      Westlife song, "___ My Love On You"
                    39. 57D
                      Abbr. that comes between a name and an alias
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