Alright SporcleMirror and Sommersmith. I see your double, quadruple, and quintuple minis. But what about … an octuple mini‽ That's the most minis you can fit in a midi! Or is it? This 11x11 crossword is actually many 5x5 crosswords all overlapping. It's tricky to indicate with just one colour for shading cells (paging Mike), but there's one mini in each corner, and one in the middle of each edge. Clues for overlapping entries in a row/column are listed one after the other, separated by slashes (except for the entries in the central row and column). For example, the clue "Start / How seafood is shipped / Finish" might indicate BEGINICEASE (some answers comprise multiple words). The metas (there are two options) are words that describe this crossword. Good luck!
It quickly jumped out to me that this could be extended to a NONUPLE (is that a word?) mini by placing an E in the middle black square. And then I kept looking all over the grid searching for the hidden meta answer. It felt like it would be insane to have 8 overlapping minis (all without any weird crossings) with the constraints of a typical meta.
I know you didn’t but it feels like you STOLE the clue for STOLE from my latest crossword which uses the same “taking things literally” wording to clue THEFT.
Attain / Stingy / It'll take your breath away at night
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Orizzontali
1A
Attain / Stingy / It'll take your breath away at night
12A
Hella / Cowboy chameleon of film / Active types
13A
Cleaned up at 'The Bear', say / Norse epics / That dammed Egyptian city?
14A
That is, in Latin, that is / Victoria or Queensland, in Australia / Razz
15A
Cool beans! / Hella / Fragrant compound
16A
Big smoke?
17A
Narnia's Jesus figure
18A
Pass with flying colours / Unhelpful response to "Who goes there?" / Courses
20A
'Tilted Arc' sculptor Richard _____ / Betray / Beginning
21A
Sessions to help you put your best foot forward? / Rivière française repérée à Grenoble (et littéralement dans cette définition) / So old it's cool again
22A
"Well, that's my king checkmated" / Guide a bull, say / Swashbuckling actor _____ Flynn
23A
Night, in Nicaragua / G'day! / How an insubordinate sergeant might refer to their superior
Verticali
1D
Apply, as toner / Members of the empire called Tawantinsuyu / What you might take your car out for?
2D
Skirt around / Apply salt to, as a frozen road / "Crazy" singer _____ Green
3D
Un-shore? / Keen / One attending to urgent patients