40. Days and Nights

 PDF / PUZ

Happy 40th puzzle! I'm honored to have been noodling with metas (both constructing and solving!) for over two years now, and I'm hoping that there's plenty more left in the tank, both from a constructing and solving perspective. I'm grateful for your efforts on all fronts and look forward to more meta mayhem, both now and in the future!

1. Puzzle #39 recap

Puzzle #39 answer: TOUCHDOWN

Correct entries: 45

Apparently, I was too concerned with making the meta straightforward that I made the grid itself more complicated in the process. That was definitely unintentional!

There are two references going across to SIX POINTS, and there are six of these points (or pointers!) at the bottom of the grid: six entries going DOWN, whose final word TOUCH is omitted (or represented by the words "touching" the bottom of the grid).

In any case, this all suggests TOUCHDOWN as our meta answer, and maybe my Broncos will get one or two more before the season is done.

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2. I'm sorry for my duplicity: I said that I would limit myself to Level 1 and Level 2 metas for the rest of the year, and that should be the case after this one! But I had an idea, and I went with it, and here we are. This will be somewhere between Level 3 and Level 4, methinks. Super shout-outs as well to Peter and Al for feedback and insight!

Note: The second page on the PDF just consists of the clues in a larger font; it is not meta-related.

Until next time, happy puzzling!

Mikey G

The answer to the meta is 8 letters long.