Woozy: The end is the beginning; and The plays the thing.

[woozy]

https://crosshare.org/crosswords/bU4c57 ... -beginning

Prompt: This meta has an answer.

This one is proving more difficult. I think although it is about as easy a mechanism as there can be it is apparently well hidden and tedious to weave through. The answer is a 10-letter word.

Heres a starter nudge: If the end is just the beginning, what is the penultimate? and a second: The last shall be first.... well, one of the last shall be first. The other last will just be last.

.....

And just for a quick taster, this one is easier. and shorter. https://crosshare.org/crosswords/kAMjT0 ... -the-thing

This should be simple and you don't have to wait a week for the reveal.

[Meg]

Wow Woozy! I’m impressed!

[whimsy]

I took the road more easily traveled (The Play's the Thing) and that has made all the difference.
Will keep peeking at the other -- See what happened there? The end (of Keep) just became the beginning (of Peek!)
Thanks for the double dip of puzzles, woozy.

[benchen71]

Solved "The Play's the Thing" but not the other one, even with the rather cryptic nudges!

[woozy]

Okay, some nudges. And to think. I originally didn't even want to title this as I thought it'd be self-evident....

So the beginning and the ending of this puzzle are significant
That is... the first entry, "The place to begin"=START, and the last entry "Last word of 'Finnegans wake'" = THE are significant
"The" sure is a weird word to end a novel and a puzzle on
The first entry is surely the beginning as a) it is the first entry, b) The clue talks about beginning, and c) the entry START is... well, about Starts
The last entry is clearly the end as a) it is the last entry, b) the clue talks about the last things and c) it, um, THE, well, it's a last thing if you know Finnegans wake... that's not very strong.
Are there any other entries that talk beginnings and ends?
Where do we go after the beginning? Where do we come from at the end?
That is where to go to after START and how do we get to "Last word of Finnegans Wake"
Don't some of the entries have weirdly worded clues?
Okay, I'm going to repeat an earlier nudge: Are there any other entries that talk about starts, beginings of firsts? Any entries that talk about endings, lasts, or finishings?
The title is "The End is just the beginning". End and Beginning are important words. But there is a third important word in the title
why did Joyce end "Finnegans Wake" with the word "the"
Am I doing anything else with the word "the"? Does it appear anywhere else in the puzzle other than in the title
Do other entries behave the same?
What about "last" .... and eight others?
Finally. The meta is 10 letters long. It is a thing where ... well, the end could be the beginning

[woozy]

And now the answer, letter by letter.

The Place to Begin = START
Start a business (such as a restaurant) = OPEN
Open a new NextDoor account, perhaps=MOVE
Move to a new house, or wedding, or birthday part or any momentous occurrence = EVENT
Event with formal and traditional significance = Ritual
Ritual held in church every Sunday = Service
Service and assistance =AID
Aid and maintain support=UPHOLD
Aid and maintain support=LAST
Last word of Finnegans Wake=THE

[whimsy]

Thank you, woozy!
I was just not getting the loop business well enough. I had some of them but I was trying to go from top to bottom. Also, I included HEAVETO because of concepts of START and STOP in the clues.
This was certainly a great idea and well constructed!

[KayW]

A VERY clever metanism and a beautiful construction. Thank you for posting the nudges and the explanation. Wish I had been up to the challenge!