30. Down for the Count

 Meta #14

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Let's try this title again, haha.

1. Meta #13 recap

#13 answer: THE FIRST NOEL

Correct entries: 23

Winners: DrTom and RPardoe - congrats!!

Pretty straightforward: A bunch of punny phrases with the first "L" (but not the second!) of common expressions removed, which phonetically gives us the first no-L or "THE FIRST NOEL," the answer to this meta.

The bonus was that not only were there no other Ls in the grid - but there was not a single "L" in any clue whatsoever! That took...longer than I would have liked it to, haha.

2. So, suffice it to say, I'm pretty much just Mr. Meta now. Metas have an intriguing element that have captivated me, and I wouldn't be surprised if I renumber my old puzzles eventually to represent the meta aspect. Gaffney's puzzles hooked me in the middle of '20 and haven't let go since! (That reminds me...I have to do this week's!).

I did not know at the time that there was such a passionate community of muggles, so when I fired off my first meta that didn't really have any clue to the mechanism at all, I did get quite a lot of debate on the forums about it! That's when I first figured out there first was a forum, and the rest was history from there.

So, as penance for the puzzle one year ago, I've kept the title exactly the same, and we'll see if this one isn't a bit more fair to how you arrive at the answer. I'd say it's probably about a 2 or 2.5 of 5, but then again, WHO KNOWS.

Until next time!

Mikey G

The answer to the meta is a well-known title.