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Special Guest Star

◆ · By Cory Calhoun

Meta Prompt
Hint #1: The meta answer is an 8-letter noun. (cscxwords-at-gmail-dot-com)
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Leaderboard (updated hourly)

  • rjy solved 2024-12-02T05:52:56.742Z
  • Meg solved 2024-12-02T13:32:36.805Z
  • benchen71 solved 2024-12-02T23:27:18.067Z
  • FrankieHeck solved 2024-12-02T23:33:58.394Z
  • hoover solved 2024-12-03T05:21:53.829Z
  • Pair O Ducks solved 2024-12-09T01:54:29.360Z
  • DrTom solved 2024-12-11T18:54:33.475Z
  • MatthewL solved 2024-12-13T22:26:01.563Z
  • Sendhil Revuluri solved 2024-12-17T17:00:23.987Z
  • HeadinHome solved 2024-12-18T04:51:14.992Z

Comments

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  • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-01T19:06:55.973Z
    The meta answer is SURPRISE (Hint #1: Find an 8-letter word. More on hint #2 later.)
    Yes, this had 2 hints--and hint #2 was key to solving hint #1.
    3 answers spelled out "ASK BY EMAIL TO GET THE SECOND HINT." You had to ask me for hint #2 by using my email address, which was listed after hint #1 with no explanation. (I also added a version of the email to the meta tags for extra fun, though not sure that mattered. Moving on!)
    Those who asked me via email got a link to a Cameo video containing hint #2. (Cameo.com is an app/website for requesting personalized celebrity messages.)
    Playing off of the puzzle's title, "Special Guest Star," the video "starred" actor John de Lancie, who played the role of Q on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." (Watch the Cameo video at tinyurl.com/metahint2)
    Why him? The puzzle has exactly 4 Qs. In the video, he says hint #2:
    "IQ, two Q, three Q, four: what lies below and before?"
    Per hint #2, you were to find the letters below and before the puzzle's Qs, which spell SURPRISE--which is both the meta answer and what a special guest star in a cameo role often is. (MANY thanks to Mr. de Lancie!)
    • rjy 🤓15:50 · 2024-12-02T05:54:26.992Z
      Very clever and fun, Cory, thanks!
      • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-02T07:27:51.723Z
        Glad you liked it! A relatively easy meta, I think--I had the idea for the gimmick I use for the 2nd hint and thought, "No way this guy will go for it." He actually said it wrong, but in a way that still worked. Can you guess maybe what he was supposed to have said?
        This was originally the kickoff to a six-part year-long meta contest I did for my hometown's arts-and-entertainment magazine, and I wanted to kick it off with a bang. So glad it worked out. Thanks again!
        • rjy 🤓15:50 · 2024-12-02T14:18:35.357Z
          I’m assuming 1 (one) Q, rather than IQ?
      • Meg 5s · 2024-12-02T13:39:22.934Z
        OMG! He's the guy who plays Q! Well done! I checked before, after, above and below, but I was looking at QU. That was a fun solve! Somewhere on the forum is the cameo by Ted Lange, who plays Isaac on the Love Boat. Muggles have a close relationship with Isaac. Anyway, thanks for a great puzzle!
        • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-03T04:34:08.331Z
          You're welcome!
        • FrankieHeck 🤓6:16 · 2024-12-02T23:37:13.175Z
          What a fun meta!
          • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-03T04:34:23.840Z
            Thanks!
          • benchen71 7:43 · 2024-12-02T23:28:24.689Z
            Now that was a very nice surprise! Well done indeed!!
            • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-03T04:34:18.056Z
              Thanks, I'm glad I pulled it off!
            • Jessica 12:53 · 2024-12-08T02:10:15.306Z
              Great meta and cameo. Thanks for explaining.
              • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-08T03:28:43.648Z
                Thanks, it was fun to put together and I'm glad I pulled it off!
              • DrTom 4s · 2024-12-11T19:04:43.569Z
                Enjoyed it. I've been spoiled by the Muggles, Gaffney and WSJ metas where the answer is in GRID order. I was able to figure out SURPRISE (my WAG was going to be QUESTION for the 4 QU's which I KNOW are hard to fit into a puzzle) but since I had the second hint I used it and glad I did. I did not recognize de Lancie as Q until you mentioned it and then I said "of course!!!" but yes I figured he was supposed to say 1 Q, 2 Qs, 3 Qs, 4 ... and saw the 1 as an I. Nice fill, though RAGEQUIT was a new one on me and neither MADTHROW or TIPBOARD fit 😁.
                Thanks for the puzzle Cory
                • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-12T00:32:05.576Z
                  Cheers! The audience this was made for is mixed--many didn't know what metas were, many did but were new to them, and some did them quite a lot. I suspected if anyone spied the 4 Qs early on they might have figured it out ... but mostly, I wanted to just see if I could figure out a novel way to add a surprise of a celebrity giving a clue in the mix... thanks to the advent of Cameo.com! (I swear, I don't work for them--ha!) Thanks again.
                • MatthewL 🤓5:44 · 2024-12-13T22:28:25.561Z
                  Very fun and clever! I saw all the Qs in the grid and figured that had something to do with it, and then upon watching the video, immediately recognized Q himself! Thanks for the surprise guest appearance.
                  • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-14T01:48:12.614Z
                    Thanks, this was a super fun one to pull off. I can't believe I managed to shoehorn a pretty complicated request for Mr. de Lancie to read that clue (which had to fit in the length-restricted message window no less!). It all hinged on if he'd accept, and then if he'd say it correctly. (He didn't actually, he was supposed to say 1Q, not "IQ", but it worked out all the same.) Thanks again!
                  • Sendhil Revuluri 🤓4:24 · 2024-12-17T17:02:47.121Z
                    Very fun! I'm not sure what was more special — the fact that I solved a meta (albeit with all the hints) or that there was a significant celebrity factor! (He is definitely most familiar to me as Q — from the TNG appearances, as I never really got into the other ST shows where Q made an appearance — and so it was surprising but welcome when I saw him in Breaking Bad.)
                    • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-17T21:11:08.931Z
                      Thanks! The genesis for this was having the idea "Could I somehow work a Cameo video into this?" and while I was browsing by genre or show titles, I saw Mr. de Lancie, and thought "He literally played a character whose name was a letter--surely I can craft a puzzle around that!"
                    • HeadinHome 🤓2:09 · 2024-12-18T04:51:48.170Z
                      A unique experience! Love it.
                      • Cory Calhoun constructor · 2024-12-18T06:26:07.748Z
                        Thanks!
                      ⏎ All Puzzles
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                      1A
                      Mani-___ (salon offering)
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                      Across
                      1. 1A
                        Mani-___ (salon offering)
                      2. 5A
                        Free TV ad, for short
                      3. 8A
                        Sympathetic syllables
                      4. 11A
                        Sault ___ Marie
                      5. 14A
                        Bunches of flowers
                      6. 16A
                        Student's worry
                      7. 18A
                        Declare again
                      8. 19A
                        More regretful
                      9. 20A
                        "Disgusting!"
                      10. 21A
                        Carmen of "Baywatch"
                      11. 22A
                        Social media message
                      12. 26A
                        Electric guitar hookup
                      13. 28A
                        Toy retailer ___ Schwarz
                      14. 29A
                        Special instruction, part 1
                      15. 33A
                        June 6, 1944, aka WWII's turning point
                      16. 36A
                        Where IKEA was founded
                      17. 37A
                        "As if!"
                      18. 39A
                        Periods
                      19. 41A
                        Tool with teeth
                      20. 42A
                        Special instruction, part 2
                      21. 46A
                        Bowl over
                      22. 47A
                        K-6: Abbr.
                      23. 49A
                        Install, as tiles
                      24. 50A
                        Shortly
                      25. 52A
                        Sincere
                      26. 54A
                        Special instruction, part 3
                      27. 57A
                        Remote targets?
                      28. 59A
                        "Quiet!"
                      29. 60A
                        "Aladdin" parrot named for "Othello"'s villain
                      30. 61A
                        Bailey's Irish Cream, for one
                      31. 65A
                        Eve's significant other
                      32. 68A
                        Organize
                      33. 69A
                        Suddenly and angrily stop playing a game, in modern lingo
                      34. 74A
                        Deceive
                      35. 75A
                        Move money between bank accounts
                      36. 76A
                        NYC time zone: Abbr.
                      37. 77A
                        Hosp. workers
                      38. 78A
                        Comedy show on which Kenan Thompson about 2 decades, briefly
                      39. 79A
                        Musician Amos or actress Spelling
                      Down
                      1. 1D
                        Cheap beer with hipster cred, for short
                      2. 2D
                        Fair-hiring inits.
                      3. 3D
                        "Electricity" singer ___ Lipa
                      4. 4D
                        Mental figs. averaging 100
                      5. 5D
                        Drink garnish
                      6. 6D
                        Play on Netflix or Spotify
                      7. 7D
                        Reason to use an inhaler
                      8. 8D
                        Bishop's seat in ancient churches
                      9. 9D
                        "Who's Afraid of Virginia ___?"
                      10. 10D
                        Distribute, like butter or jam
                      11. 11D
                        Diamonds or clubs, e.g.
                      12. 12D
                        Seating section
                      13. 13D
                        "Closing Time" band Better than ___
                      14. 15D
                        Standard charging-cable type
                      15. 17D
                        Pattern read by a phone
                      16. 22D
                        Out of style
                      17. 23D
                        Stand-up comic Patton
                      18. 24D
                        Kebab requirement
                      19. 25D
                        "Still undecided" on a schedule, briefly
                      20. 27D
                        Beer or ice cream measure
                      21. 30D
                        Even so
                      22. 31D
                        Hydroxyl compound
                      23. 32D
                        Parking place
                      24. 34D
                        Cinema epic "Lawrence of ___"
                      25. 35D
                        Zig-zagging off course
                      26. 38D
                        Flimsy
                      27. 40D
                        Melee
                      28. 43D
                        Neon, e.g.
                      29. 44D
                        Ophthalmologist's study
                      30. 45D
                        Conclude
                      31. 48D
                        Shared
                      32. 51D
                        Yellowfin tuna
                      33. 53D
                        Made smooth
                      34. 55D
                        Statistical diagrams
                      35. 56D
                        "Shucks!"
                      36. 58D
                        Tea sweetener
                      37. 61D
                        Shiny fabric with metal threads
                      38. 62D
                        Camera diaphragm
                      39. 63D
                        Queue before U
                      40. 64D
                        Some wines
                      41. 66D
                        "I've Got ___ in Kalamazoo" (Glenn Miller Orchestra song)
                      42. 67D
                        2006 dystopian thriller "Children of ___"
                      43. 70D
                        Historic D.C. thoroughfare that the Dumbarton Bridge is part of: Abbr.
                      44. 71D
                        Flying saucer, briefly
                      45. 72D
                        Suffix with "cash" or "hotel"
                      46. 73D
                        Prefix with "cycle" or "pod"
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