Ah Holy Night

[Darth]

OTC. Excellent work, puzzle master!

Not intended to be a The answer to the meta is not BOOTS!

[minimuggle]

Off the couch. Huge aha moment after being so close and just missing it. Thanks for the holiday fun

[Bird Lives]

Another twelve solvers arrived yesterday to help drain the wassail bowl.

28. whimsy
29. Gutman
30. HeadinHome
31. david
32. michaelm
33. hoover
34. Darth
35. minimuggle
36. frostyjhammer
37. Adam Simon Levine
38. Anita and Steve
39. L800

The first nudge yesterday may have helped. Here are some more:

Letters that don’t spell words can sometimes name things as when we use only the initials — NFL, CDC, etc. Or those HO gauge trains (sorry about that).

In this case the letters as they appear in the grid are not the way they usually appear in naming the answer. (Sorry about that as well.)

Counting helps.

You don’t have to count very high.

[woozy]

Well, I submitted my answer and I'm sticking with it.

EDIT: And the second I submit a sarcastic answer the correct answer comes immediately to mind.

(Actually I hadn't noticed the thing you considered obvious and I was really emphasizing the other.

[Hidden in 3D]

OTC confirmed on Crosshare. Fun one, Jay! Thanks!!

[Cinny]

Off the couch after a nudge from a kindly muggle. Thanks, Jay. Happy New Year!

[Qmark]

late to the party...no nudges needed...thanks for the meta!

[Bird Lives]

We end the week (and the year) with another 16 solvers, for a total of 55:

40. Schmeel
41. Eric Porter
42. JM
43. woozy
44. GSGGL
45. Naptown Kid
46. Hidden in 3D
47. DCBilly
48. edestlin
49. CPJohnson
50. Cindy Heisler
51. lbray53
52. DrTom
53. Johnny Luau
54. Qmark
55. Mark Woychick


The prompt was: The answer (five letters) is something found under many Christmas trees.
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The answer is WATER

The five themers (and the title) all contain the sequence HHO, a non-scientific way of writing H2O — water. As I explained to one solver who knew nothing of the buying and home-maintenance of Christmas trees, we put water in the stand under the tree to keep the tree moist so that the needles don’t fall off, which they do anyway, just maybe not as quickly.
.

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Solvers were kind enough to avoid pointing out that HHO, according to at least one Internet site, is also “a popular way of writing OxyHydrogen - a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gases, usually in a 2:1 ratio. . . Since the oxygen and hydrogen are in mixed gas mode and not bonded, it is not H2O (water).”

And so we close the books on a year that brought us 52 Monday Muggle Metas from sixteen different constructors. Happy New Year to all constructors, solvers, and anyone else who may have dropped in just to see what was happening.

[JeanneC]

I admit. I never saw it. Nicely done. A happy and healthy new year to all!