Pun of a Kind

PDF  /  PUZ Meta fans of the universe, unite! It's the end of the month, so it's time for a Mikey Meta and  something special for Summer '22! More on that in a moment! 1.  Puzzle #22 recap Puzzle #22 answer:  MARIANNE Correct entries: 25 The title is key here, since "MOM" is a palindrome: search for the eight other 3-letter palindromes in the grid. Their middle letters spell MARIANNE , my mother's name! She was so honored by this meta, she wanted nothing to do with it, haha. 2. And now, introducing the Beach balls not included! Basically, as a challenge to myself, I have decided to post a meta each week for 15  (!) consecutive weeks, ideally at my standard weekend time, which is 1 PM ET Saturday, but this may vary! The deadline for each meta will be 12 PM ET each Saturday, regardless of the post time of the following one. You get 1 point  (ooh, shiny) for each meta you solve for up to 15 points ! Gold, silver, and bronze medals will be awarded for most metas s

PDF  /  PUZ You can blame the calendar, haha. I wanted to get my mini-meta out around the middle of the month, and I thought Mother's Day was going to be on May 15, which would've been perfect! But every day is Mother's Day as far as I'm concerned, so this will have to do. I'll post both solutions starting in June when I begin the Summer of Solves  (sounds splendiferous). This one should be a Level 2 , at the absolute most, but it's more like 1.5. Submit on Crosshare! Good luck!! Mikey G The answer to the meta is my mom's first name.