What is a “meta” crossword?

Meta crosswords are just like your standard American-style crossword puzzles, but once you complete the grid, there’s an added twist. There is an extra, hidden puzzle waiting to be solved. This extra “meta” puzzle will lead you to a final word or phrase which you can then submit. Finding this final answer can be challenging since constructors are always coming up with new ways to disguise their meta puzzles, but (at the very least) you will always have a prompt that will give you some information about the final answer.

Learning to solve meta crosswords takes time and patience for most people. The best way to get better is by solving more puzzles!

What is a mechanism?

In a few words, it’s just the way the constructor has hidden the meta answer. More specifically, “mechanism” is often used to describe each puzzle’s unique gimmick or pattern. Much like traditional themed crosswords, meta constructors will often execute the same pattern (whether that be wordplay, homophones, translations, ciphers, or anything else) multiple times throughout a puzzle so that the solver can “catch on” to the main idea, and follow it all the way to the answer. That consistent pattern or main idea is the “mechanism”.

How do I submit my answers to your puzzles?

Once you think you’ve solved the meta each week, you can submit your answer through Crosshare using these steps:

1. Navigate to the Crosshare page for the puzzle you solved. You can either find the puzzle by scrolling through all past puzzles on Crosshare.org/PBWMC, or you can find the embedded version of the puzzle on this website (PandorasBlocks.org).

2. Once you’ve solved the grid through Crosshare, it will automatically bring up a page with the puzzle title and meta prompt.* On that page, under your solving time, there is a field that says “Your Meta Submission”. Type your answer into that box and click submit! It will immediately tell you whether you are correct.

Crosshare will always accept submissions to previously published puzzles, so feel free to check your answers regardless of how much time has passed since the puzzle was released.

* Note: if you’ve solved the PDF/puz version of the file, you can simply click “reveal” in the top right corner of Crosshare if you don’t want to enter in the entire puzzle solution by hand.

How do I win a mug?

Just make sure you submit your answer through Crosshare (using the steps above) before 9:00 am eastern time on the Sunday after the puzzle was released. When you’re entering your answer through Crosshare, make sure that you have either

A). logged into Crosshare with an account, or

B). entered your email along with your answer submission. Without your email, I have no way to contact you if you win the mug drawing!

Mug drawings occur roughly once per 4-5 puzzles. You can earn multiple entries into each mug drawing by correctly completing all of the meta puzzles that are released during that timeframe. In other words, if there are 5 puzzles released before a given mug drawing, you could earn 5 entries of your name into the virtual “hat” by successfully solving all of the metas and submitting the answers before the respective Sunday deadlines.

Can I work with other people on your puzzles and still be entered in the mug drawings?

Yes! I know that many PB solvers like to co-solve with friends and family, and I think that’s awesome. Each person in your group may submit separately for each mug drawing.

You may also give small hints to other people if you’d like, but please don’t blatantly give away the answer or post the answer in a publicly-viewable online location (e.g. the Xword-Muggles forum) until after the Sunday deadline.

If you find yourself in need of a hint, I am always happy to provide one! Just send me an email.

It’s been over a week since your last puzzle came out, but the solution still isn’t available. What gives?

Sorry about that. I am often slow to upload solutions to previous puzzles. If you’d like to see solutions as soon as each mug deadline passes (9:00am eastern time on Sundays), I’d encourage you to join the mailing list by entering your email at the bottom of this website. I schedule these emails in advance, so they always arrive right on time!

I have a question that isn’t answered here.

No worries! Our email is at the bottom of the page - drop us a line!