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 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!
Comprobando datos de juego anteriores…
Tabla de clasificación (actualizada cada hora)
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
Comentarios
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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.
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.
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.
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, 21A37A and 49A) in addition to being so romantic. That was all.
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!
Prefix that indicates this is the most important nemesis
17A
Divine prefix for -nence
18A
"Groundhog Day" director, Harold ___
19A
"If you want to know my understandings concerning that..." (but in an SMS)
20A
"Miss Saigon" setting
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
23A
Hacker who hasn't quite decided whether to use their skills for good or evil, perhaps
25A
Scarily good baddie in "The Good Girls", subtly under-played by Manny Montana
26A
Clarinet insert
27A
What a reasonable student aspires to
32A
Wrath
34A
Followed a curved path
35A
Part of a table
36A
Meat preserver
37A
Javert's solo in Act 1 of "Les Miserables" where he vows to catch Jean Valjean
38A
"Auld ___ Syne"
39A
Acts of physical intimacy in the view of others (abbr.)
40A
Thing used to reinforce a tomato plant
41A
Panels in a window
42A
Dessert wine
44A
It grows up to be a stallion
45A
"I knew it!"
46A
Military offensive
49A
Van Gogh's painting of the view from his asylum window (with "The")
54A
Street in Paris
55A
Come ashore
56A
Hair-like organelles
57A
Objectives
58A
Creator of the MPC, the drum machine that changed popular music
59A
Audibly shocked
60A
Work with wool
61A
Violin tuners
62A
Fourth herb in a Simon & Garfunkle song
63A
"What ___!" ("I'm having fun!")
Verticales
1D
Event hosting, for short
2D
Catalan equivalent of "la mer"
3D
Actress who plays River Tam in "Firefly"
4D
Partner of 55 across
5D
Over-4 downs
6D
Shrub or bush
7D
What we've all developed during recent months, perhaps (too much snacking, not enough exercise!)
8D
Trot partner in a fairytale involving goats
9D
Sees (what's special about the entries whose 14 acrosses include the words up, down, or under, hopefully).
10D
Person who can bring up the hem of a garment
11D
Writer, ___ Bombeck
12D
What zwei times vier equals
13D
What you might find under a horse's hoof
21D
Mononymous singer who made autotuning famous
22D
Told an untruth
24D
Youngspeak for "toss"
27D
Middle foot pedal in a manual car
28D
Land measure
29D
English mathematician who worked at Bletchley Park and helped crack the Enigma code
30D
Unit of heredity
31D
"As sure as ___ is ___"
32D
Egyptian snakes
33D
Nothing
34D
Inverse of the tangent function, for short
37D
Backyard visitor, perhaps
38D
"I'm not listening!" (said with fingers in ears)
40D
"___ gut!"
41D
What keeps a fence up
43D
Telephone box that's bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside
44D
What a crescent moon looks like
46D
Discrimination against the old (one way to spell it)