Not Quite Shakespeare (Meta)

The seed for this puzzle was encountering CAPLET in someone else's crossword and thinking, "Oh, that's one letter short of CAPULET. That could be a meta puzzle!" But it wasn't until I was on a school camp accompanying 10 high schoolers as we canooed down the Murray River, sleeping in tents on beaches at night, that I started working on the puzzle properly. What was significant about this was that there was absolutely no internet. So I had to dredge my mind for Shakespearean character names that still formed valid words when you drop one letter. Pretty early on I worked out I wanted to spell MUCH ADO with ZIP/NIL in the centre of the grid. Of course I already had the U. PU(C)K came pretty easily, as did VIOL(A) and ROME(O). But I was stuck on M, H and D. Then one restless night (I didn't sleep very well on the wafer-thin semi-inflatable microscopic "mattress" I had been given) I came across (D)UNCAN and its clue involving whoop-ass. I considered (H)ORATIO, but could only think of ORATORIO so dismissed it. It wasn't until I was back in civilisation (somewhere with internet) that I was able to confirm ORATIO as a (Latin) thing and discover that (M)ARIA was a Shakespearean character, albeit somewhat obscure.

Ha! That was a breeze.

Very enjoyable.

Very nice puzzle! I didn’t even connect the zip/nil in the center as the rest of MUCH ADO! Clever!

Thanks, Ben.

Very nice. Love the ZIP/NIL in the middle. Thanks for the puzzle, Ben!

I also loved the "nothing" crossed combo in the center. Nice puzzle.

Fun

Nice one. As a big Shakespeare fan I didn't need the asterisks except for M ARIA, who is indeed a bit obscure (though once pointed to ARIA I got it immediately). Tumbled to the mechanism basically immediately upon entering CAPLET, but still fun to complete. Also missed the ZIP/NIL (but did notice the news on the RIALTO). Fun stuff, thanks.

Pronunciation is everything. I kept pronouncing MUCHADO like MUCHACHO. Ha ha!

Oh! ZIP, NIL in the center! I get it!

As soon as did the grid so far as ORATIO I had figured what it had to be with MU?H...........

That was delightful, especially the middle!

I was Leary at first but I Shrewdly found the way to the Hamlet of Verona and across the bridge. Unfortunately I got a spot on my tunic Bottom. Luckily I was able to find a cleaner who, in a Tempest, yelled "out, out damn spot!' and it miraculously disappeared. Thanks for the puzzle but I have to go now, it is thundering, lightning and raining and I have two friends to meet...my turn to bring the cauldron. Cheers Ben.

Wow, like others, I did not connect ZIP/NIL I just knew it was Much Ado About Nothing. An extra masterful touch. Doing this from memory must have been a labor of love, and that is not lost on us.

OK... so, silly me found WAY more characters hidden in here. Here's my total list:

Maria (love's labour's lost and twelfth night)

deNnis (as you like it)

capUlet (romeo & juliet)

pucK (a midsummer night's dream)

CLown (had to add 2 letters, doesn't fit perfectly)

poEt (timon of athens)

Page (richard iii)

violA (twelfth night)

Duncan (macbeth)

Biron (love's labour's lost)

romeO (romeo & juliet)

There was also Duke Senior (as you like it) and Earl of Kent (King Lear) which needed a little more addition.

Fortunately- when I arranged MNUCHCLEPADBO or MNUCHEPADBO vertically, I was able to sort of see MUCH ADO in there- but it took me way longer than it should have. LOL.

I really enjoyed this, despite not knowing a lot of details about Shakespeare plays. Noticed (H)ORATIO, ROME(O), and CAP(U)LET, and Google helped with the rest. Thanks for the fun puzzle!

Very, very well done! My only comment even resembling criticism being that 4-D intersects 24-A in a way that if you don't know 24-A (which I certainly did not - seems to be outside of my region?), you could argue that an N in that place instead of a D would also satisfy the 4-D clue. Luckily, there are so many ways that 4-D could be clued that could avoid that alternative interpretation. Loved the puzzle and how natural the meta was. Thanks again!

This is what I get for having absolutely no interest whatsoever in literature in high school, and having to rely on Google to give me a list of all 1200+ characters from Shakespeare's works- I think the only ones I spotted on my own were Romeo, Capulet, and Horatio. I was pretty sure RIALTO was going to be one, and possibly PRAC and TICS... NOPE. Sigh.

Bravo, Ben! That was clever and so much fun! Thanks

Very nice! Almost managed it without Google, but I didn't remember Maria and wanted to confirm, though with the other letters it was easy to guess. (I thought Ariel for a minute, but wrong spelling!)

No google needed (English major and former English teacher), though I did not remember Maria. I thought maybe I was misremembering how to spell Ariel, but the other letters cleared that up. Such a fan girl I named several batches of hens after Shakespearean heroines. A couple are still living (Bianca and Kate). I have had two Desdemonas suffer tragic fates so I retired that name…

Very enjoyable. Thanks, Ben!

I’m not sure what name is hidden in 1A. I originally thought you had misspelled ARIEL, which gave me a nonsensical meta answer. Is there a Shakespearean MARIA?

Fun puzzle.

Forsooth, this was delightful! Thanks, Ben!

another great meta...thanks Ben! (no nudges needed)

Nice one, Ben!