It's not copying if they are homages, is it? Two puzzles inspired by fellow Muggles puzzles.

[woozy]

Bouncing off the walls
https://crosshare.org/crosswords/9QCZhW ... -the-walls

I couldn't figure out this Capn Rick meta, https://crosshare.org/crosswords/fJCfC9 ... o-location, so I made up this puzzle instead using the mechanism I wanted that puzzle to have.

This was a hard grid to fill and I apologize for some of the encyclopedic entries but .... I got really stuck in places. But I hope you find this puzzle ..... different.

The meta is an answer to a question

(I'm giving this a 2. Most who tried it got it pretty readily)

Continental Divide and Conquer
https://crosshare.org/crosswords/D0Sc4G ... nd-conquer

This one is inspired by benchen71's Earthquake Zone https://crosshare.org/crosswords/AXLVWC ... -zone-meta

This one was incredibly difficult to construct. The metanism required lots of parts and they all refused to cooperate. I was ready to give up when... I finally got all the pieces to fit (although the lower left corner has a lot of stretches and abusing-- 84A is a complete abuse but I hope I get some points for creativity.)

The meta is a six letter word

(I'm giving this a 4.5)

[benchen71]

Both of these have challenging grids, but the aha moments are definitely worth the effort. Thanks, woozy. And no, it's not copying!

[whimsy]

So far, I've done just the Bouncing grid -- and I have to say, once I managed to get it filled(!) that it's a very eye-pleasing design.
Now for the "easy" (?) part ... a bit later...

[whimsy]

Have done both grids now, but I think I'm going to have to set aside some time to better tackle the metas. (On a day when the WSJ hasn't wrung me out!)

[ChrisKochmanski]

Got ‘em!

Grids were hard. Lots of googling. For me, anyway. (Maybe other Muggles breezed through.) Then I got the metas quickly.

Thanks, woozy!

[hoover]

Got the first, working on the second now.

[whimsy]

Got the second (the "hard" one) --- working on the first (the "easy" one) now. (Just me being contrary, I guess! )

And, yeah, @ChrisKochmanski I "breezed" through those grids!

[woozy]

ANSWERS:

BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS: If you follow a path between the two circle, heading south-east, and bouncing off the walls it spells WHICH SPORT CAN ALSO BE A VEGETABLE.

The answer to that question, and to the meta is: SQUASH

CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AND CONQUER:

The six continents (as per the "combined America" (but separate Europe/Asia)) are hidden through clues. The remaining letters spell words. Those words are clues. And the the first letters of the entries (in order of the Continents order in the grid) spell: EARTH'S

And... gararglebargle..... I so hate it when I find an error while creating a puzzle, take a different tack for hours, come up with a problem, find a solution BUT DO SO BY GOING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL ERROR AND FORGET IT WAS AN ISSUE.

So... I spent a long time after I found out that GIL has a single L. I work around and around, had an error with AUSTRALIA and went around and found a final solution.... that used GILL with a double L! GARRGH! And I only just noticed I didn't solve it.