The above image is a still from a clip of what has to be the most ocker Australian ever to be caught on film! You can watch part of the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD2h5PYV8ng. That clip may or may not help you with finding the answer to the meta, which is an Aussie phrase. Answer & explanation (& short political statement!) here: https://xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=155125#p155125
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!
Okay. Googled "aussie slang dead set" and got that it is considered aissie slang for "serious". Which I guess makes sense as when anyone else uses the term they usually mean "determined" which is slightly different than serious.
SamKat9 🤓9:58 · 2024-01-23T08:03:53.424Z
I enjoyed this puzzle heaps and scads! Ta! (I'm new at this)
Cindy Heisler 2s · 2024-01-23T13:22:46.652Z
I don't know many Aussie slang words, but was able to get the answer from what I do know. Deadset had me stumped for a bit. Thanks, Ben. Fun to learn new words.
Ace! Thanks, Ben. Enjoyed it! (Solved without Google, and guessing half the lot.)
MatthewL 🤓18:55 · 2024-01-23T15:27:47.660Z
Enjoyed this one (as I do all the Aussie-themed puzzles you occasionally put out). Got hung up on DEADSET as well, because that seems like a non-Aussie slang word/phrase, but Google got me sorted. Thanks for the puzzle!
Admit I had to backsolve a bit to separate words that didn't seem overly Aussie (DEADSET) from ones I didn't know (FOXED). But once I decided that AVO was in and got MATE, the rest was simple enough with some google help. Fun one, thanks.
hoover 2s · 2024-01-23T17:07:29.623Z
At first I included TOT and ODDTOED, but once I saw GROUSE and DEADSET, I knew where it was going and that I had a couple of extra pieces.
I figured the slangs were slangs for the clue given and not just words that happened to be slang. Sure Foxed and Oddtoed sound like they could have been slang for something but as the clues were legitimate they weren't. Similarly if the clue for GROUSE had been about the bird or to complain it wouldn't count.
But I did wonder if I should include TOT which isn't that common slang and is probably more common in cockney-influenced regions. I definitely overlooked DEADSET as it's the legitimate word for "determined" and "determined" and "serious" seemed similar enough at first that I didn't really notice the difference.
HeadinHome 🤓2:01 · 2024-01-27T14:38:03.183Z
Wow - my Carolina comment got posted in the wrong place!) - sorry.
HeadinHome 🤓2:01 · 2024-01-27T14:36:55.499Z
(I lived in Charlotte now, and these friends are from eastern S.C., and one from Savannah).
Ergcat 🤓15:05 · 2024-01-23T17:20:47.643Z
Love the grid art! And nice metanism that even this Yank could solve! Thanks, Ben!
whimsy 18:01 · 2024-01-23T17:34:11.912Z
Great grid and fun meta!
Thanks, Ben!
HeadinHome 🤓2:01 · 2024-01-23T18:51:55.471Z
Classic! Great fun. I’m wondering whether you people would say ARVO differently from AVO… do they sound the same to you? (If ARVO shortens “afternoon,” then I assume you don’t say the R… so how is it not just like AVO?). Anyhoo, you people are… colorful, but come the the southern US and we’ll give you a run for your money!
Berto 🤓3:59 · 2024-01-23T22:45:53.424Z
Can’t speak for Ben/Aussies, but I say Arvo and pronounce the ‘r’ - as a Brit we also pronounce afternoon “arf-ter-noon” lol
ARVO is pronounced differently to AVO. The "ARV" in ARVO is the same as "cARVe"; whereas the AV in AVO is the same as "AVenue". Fortunately, though, smashed AVO on toast is a breakfast dish, so it doesn't get mentioned much in the ARVO! ;-)
HeadinHome 🤓2:01 · 2024-01-27T14:32:45.828Z
Though I suspect to the non-Aussie ear, that R in arvo is hard to detect? (I’m just remembering a commercial in which Paul Hogan says something about shrimp on the barbee and it sounds to me like “bah-bee” not “bar-bee”.
You didn't even go into the whole "bless your heart" Southernism! For those of you from North of the M/D line that is NOT a term of endearment. It is used like, "Did you hear about cousin Jim, he got 8-10 years for aggravated assault, bless his heart"
HeadinHome 🤓2:01 · 2024-01-27T14:39:37.168Z
Here it is in the right thread: “We lived in Charlotte now, and these friends are from eastern S.C., and one from Savannah.”
HeadinHome 🤓2:01 · 2024-01-27T14:38:22.437Z
Wow - my Carolina comment got posted in the wrong place!)
HeadinHome 🤓2:01 · 2024-01-27T14:35:52.070Z
Oh it is a strange language down here, and odd pronunciations too. I’m from Virginia so I have very little of it, but some of my friends here are hysterical. “Oil” is “awl,” you “mash the button” in an elevator, and when giving a friend a little gift just because, that gift is called a “surcee” …
HeadinHome 🤓2:01 · 2024-01-23T18:52:58.478Z
Also - Macca’s is MickeyD’s where I’m from.
Berto 🤓3:59 · 2024-01-23T22:46:34.812Z
Yes!
Laura M 🤓8:02 · 2024-01-23T20:31:45.769Z
Bonzer!
LB800 3s · 2024-01-23T22:38:42.055Z
My trip to your country was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I loved it there so much!
I hope so, too! I was in Perth competing in World Outdoor Track Championships and only got to see that area. I need to see the other side of your country. It's quite a long trip for us from Syracuse, NY!
Berto 🤓3:59 · 2024-01-23T22:50:16.015Z
Was expecting to see “Sheila”, “snag”, “barbie “ (not the movie lol), “cobber”, but learnt a few new ones! Nice one mate!
Crickey that was harder than I thought, probably because deadset also means serious to me. I was not chok-a-bloc of ideas for the last letter but eventually said "don't be a drongo, it has to be DEADSET". Good on ya Ben!
playing catchup...only got to this puzzle today, but I wanted ot thank you Ben and congrats on the great construction...I had a couple of incorrect submissions because I thought for sure you had an extra A in "G'Daay" to approximate the pronunciation (an A from Ashes and an A from Arvo)...but I now see that just the 2nd one is based on aussie slang...thanks again!