Instant Replay

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard Update:

A few more solvers have taken the field:

57. jbird
58. Richard
59. maturin
60. Naptown Kid
61. andeux

Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

[Qmark]

Needed the first 4 nudges to get me off the couch...thanks for the puzzle!

[MikeyG]

Okay! Didn't need the nudges, but my initial attempt earlier in the week didn't pan out, so I was tempted...but the second approach worked! Fun one to start off '23!

[Eric Porter]

I was on vacation this week, which oddly was somewhat related to this puzzle. I got the reference without the hints. Thanks Cap'n!

[Cap'n Rick]

Final Leaderboard:

62. Qmark
63. Jim23809
64. MikeyG
65. Eric Porter
66. Tom Wilson

Thanks for solving, everyone! Now for the reveal!

[Cap'n Rick]

Ahoy Muggles!

The meta answer is "Not Again!", a 2-word exclamation that some of you long-time WSJ meta solvers may have made when you figured out the event whose 5th anniversary I was honoring. On December 29, 2017, the WSJ contest crossword, constructed by "Marie Kelly" and entitled "Play Grounds", prompted for "a kind of competition". Based upon the 7 college football bowl names appearing within the long theme entries, it looked like the answer was going to be something like "College Bowls" or "Bowl Games". However, there was another step where solvers needed to identify the cities where the bowl games were played. The first letters of these cities spelled "Pageant", and to this day solvers have been very wary of being "pageanted" by puzzles that appear to be easy but contain an additional step.

So in "Instant Replay" we have the names of 8 college mascots symmetrically distributed within the grid, and solvers needed to find the cities where the colleges were located. The first letters of these cities, in grid order, spelled the meta answer (see below):

Like some of you, I was not solving meta puzzles 5 years ago, but I was hoping to recapture some of the fun surrounding the "Pageant" legend. Oh, and who is "Carri Kelly" you ask? Well, back in 2017 Mike Shenk was publishing under the pseudonym "Marie Kelly", which is an anagram of "Really Mike". I'll let you clever meta solvers figure out the rest...

Until next time!
Cap'n Rick

[Dplass]

I got really lost on this one because there were many options for the mascots (especially tigers) and many cities for the schools (e.g. ucf has 8 campuses.)

[Eric Porter]

I got really lost on this one because there were many options for the mascots (especially tigers) and many cities for the schools (e.g. ucf has 8 campuses.)

I was in Orlando last week going to Universal Studios and while I had to look up the fact that they were the Knights, I didn't have to look up that city. I was also in St. Augustine last week and while I didn't go to Gainesville, I saw road signs for it. My sister works for the University of Iowa, so I didn't have to look up that one either. I was there for Thanksgiving.

[SJMcK]

I don’t know anything about sports so I gave up as soon as I saw what appeared to be a bunch of team names in the grid

[Hidden in 3D]

Great one Really Rick! Didn't get around to this one until yesterday and then literally had to sit on it because of a possible hip injury. But I'm pleased to say I got this one without the nudges and without peeking. Luckily I knew most of the schools, their mascots and locations. Such an elegantly constructed puzzle - Thank you!

[Cap'n Rick]

Great one Really Rick! Didn't get around to this one until yesterday and then literally had to sit on it because of a possible hip injury. But I'm pleased to say I got this one without the nudges and without peeking. Luckily I knew most of the schools, their mascots and locations. Such an elegantly constructed puzzle - Thank you!

Thanks for solving, @Hidden in 3D. I hope your hip injury is not serious.

Take care,
"Really Rick"

[Tom Shea]

Couldn't help but think of the bar scene from Spaceballs when I saw the answer.