"Square Roots" - September 2019

[Hector]

The meta for this puzzle is a famous roots rock song.

[Hector]

Fun one. Still don't know what to do with the meta-meta.

[FrankieHeck]

Fun one. Still don't know what to do with the meta-meta.

Dang, you are on fire today!

[Hector]

Thanks; sometimes the first hunch pans out. Sometimes very much not!

I'm guessing there will be at least some small controversy again about "famous."

[FrankieHeck]

Thanks; sometimes the first hunch pans out. Sometimes very much not!

I'm guessing there will be at least some small controversy again about "famous."

Double dang, I'm up there too!

[Hector]

Got the mega-meta! A bit of a wild guess, but it kind of made sense. So if anyone's sitting on a guess like that . . .

[TMart]

Got it. I thought it was kind of easy, but for these puzzles, I guess that depends on what type of music you listen to. The song is very familiar to me.

[FrankieHeck]

I got the mega-meta, too, even though I'm out of contention. I didn't start till May, and I failed one month. Still fun to get it right!

I also got a laugh out of the mega-meta clue for this puzzle.

[GlennG]

Nice solve, but no idea on the meta (per usual).

[Cindy]

Solved and got credit for the mega meta that I solved last month. Nice one.

[Beth Tyrpin]

My first Mega Meta guess was with the red herring hints. (Darn, you got me Pete!) My second was on the right track. My third try today was correct. The meta was fun too.

[LesY]

Solved as well. Personal tastes will differ but IMO this is one outstanding song. And it’s the second month in a row I haven’t hesitated to cue up the answer for listening.

That said, I can think of a more genre-appropriate word than “roots.” But maybe I need to research it. Despite the quibble this was a great meta!

[ChrisKochmanski]

Sure is famous to me. My college housemates played this one continuously!

Still scratching my head on the mega-meta, though.

[BarbaraK]

Speaking of 43A, did anyone else try to put an 11 letter word at 45A? Or maybe its 4 letter abbreviation? Totally different field came to my mind.

[FrankieHeck]

Speaking of 43A, did anyone else try to put an 11 letter word at 45A? Or maybe its 4 letter abbreviation? Totally different field came to my mind.

I tried to put a 7-letter word in there. But then I realized the last name wasn't quite right.

[KayW]

Grid completed but still no idea on the meta. Or more correctly, lots of ideas but nothing panning out just yet. But being 43A, I will 61A until I solve it. Or until the Friday WSJCC distracts me.

Nothing on the mega meta yet either. Congrats to those who got it!

[Leslie]

I've been a bit out of touch with meta-world for the past month due to a lot of travel and family in August and am looking forward to devoting all my free time to solving metas again! Came back from Labor Day weekend in time to fail miserably at MGWCC week 5. (In retrospect, I should have been able to guess the answer without actually solving the meta, though I don't think I would have submitted it.) Very happy I was able to get the September MMMM (I know the song, but wasn't as familiar with it as some). Hanging on by my fingernails to a chance at the mega meta contest!

[LesY]

Speaking of 43A, did anyone else try to put an 11 letter word at 45A? Or maybe its 4 letter abbreviation? Totally different field came to my mind.

I didn't when solving, but totally get where you're coming from now that you say that. It was a nice little mini meta/cryptic figuring out what you meant!

[KayW]

Finally got the monthly meta. Given the era, I was surprised that I wasn't that familiar with this "famous" song and did not know the title of it. Tho I did recognize it when I played a video after solving.

Kudos as always to Pete for making a clever and fun meta that does not require musical knowledge! Well, as long as you're willing to use search engines. As I definitely needed to.

Now onto the mega meta....

[KayW]

Bah. Decided to take a stab at the mega meta. Apparently I found a second red herring