23. Go West

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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 solved during this span, so may the best puzzler win!

The levels of these puzzles will try to, by and large, match the weeks they are in for June, July, and August, along with the respective cluing in the grid (I've been told my clues are impossible, haha). Since I made this meta extemporaneously a couple of days ago, the rating might vary, so if you know me, it might be a 1.5, but I can't see it being much more than a 2 out of 5.

Good luck - and may the summer of solves begin!

Mikey G

The three-word answer to the meta, illustrated repeatedly in the grid, is where I'm going on vacation.