There's a lot of pressure on us meta constructors. We have to walk that fine line between making a puzzle that's too easy and one that is too hard. If I've built this one correctly, then I've provided you with enough for you to find the answer to the meta, which is a 6 letter word. Here's hoping! Answer & explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=109750#p109750
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!
Must’ve required some intricate mental gymnastics to conceive and construct that… very cool!
Darth 🤓5:04 · 2022-10-18T13:32:04.683Z
Nice concept. Well done, Ben!
KayW 🤓6:55 · 2022-10-18T14:30:08.922Z
Well done! Loved the subtle hints in the other clues.
Qmark 3s · 2022-10-18T17:58:15.638Z
Super puzzle, Ben!
hoover 3s · 2022-10-18T18:33:33.371Z
Nicely constructed!
Meg 5s · 2022-10-18T18:58:30.646Z
Very nice!
Tyrpmom 2s · 2022-10-18T19:05:04.392Z
Well done. Thanks.
Laura M 🤓6:14 · 2022-10-18T20:12:37.962Z
Excellent puzzle! (But I am so bad at anagrams...)
I K Snamhcok 3s · 2022-10-18T23:17:06.421Z
Much enjoyed this one, Ben. Thanks!
Gutman 2s · 2022-10-19T00:14:30.339Z
Fine work, Ben.
Alex Sisti 3s · 2022-10-19T19:49:54.773Z
I had a similar idea for a meta in my notebook, but couldn't think of what to do with it; i.e., how to get an answer. This is how! Great job...
Cindy Heisler 2s · 2022-10-20T00:58:46.423Z
I really had a mental block trying to solve this one. But thanks to a couple nudges, I finally got it. It is pretty straightforward and I should have seen it without the nudges. Excellent puzzle, Ben.
ReB 3s · 2022-10-20T03:45:27.235Z
Quite intricate to fit those words in, especially the >6-letter ones. I had the right idea, I just didn't have the patience at first to try to find the expanding words until your nudges confirmed I was on the right track - so many four and five letter words to test. I stopped at six letters first before I realized I had to go all the way to ENTRAPPED to extract six extra letters. The six letters also gave an alternative of NAPPED, but it was obvious that didn't fit the title and mechanism like APPEND did.
Carolyn 3s · 2022-10-20T15:00:31.911Z
I figured what I needed to do but still needed the nudges. Great construction. Thanks!
Bird Lives 5s · 2022-10-21T17:09:40.145Z
Excellent. I'm amazed that you could find a pyramid of words with each additional letter spelling out such a fitting answer. Hats off.
whimsy 🤓12:19 · 2022-10-21T17:49:20.119Z
But only with the walk-through of the nudges, even though it was all right there. Impressive construction with a lot of P words beckoning one down paths leading to lost in the woods.
ChrisCross 🤓23:06 · 2022-10-21T19:25:24.649Z
This is one of my favorite meta crosswords I've ever done. Lots of fun. I will definitely be checking this out weekly now.