Answers to Evan Birnholz’s March 31 crossword “World Wide Web”

Second, some solvers have told me that they don’t know where to find the meta instructions when solving online. When you open the puzzle, the first pop-up will display the title and my signature line. However, if you don’t remember it, you can easily find it again by simply pressing the information button above the puzzle.

Finally, if you’re at all worried that you’ll have to search for resources online to solve the meta, don’t worry. I give you permission to do this. Everything you need to solve the meta is fair game is covered in my book.

Oh, there’s one more piece of news. The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) is being held this week in Stamford, Connecticut. I will also be participating, so if you are planning to participate, please come and say hello.

The instructions say this puzzle has “two internet-related meta answers, both seven characters long.” As with meta, the best place to start is the theme entry. Here are seven strange names for web pages from around the world with DOT in the rebus square. (If you solved this puzzle in print, you can write the actual dot in the rebus square just like you would with the URL. However, if you solved this puzzle online, you can write a “.” in the rebus square. (To do that, just type the letters DOT.)

• 26A: [European webpage where you can say “Settle down” to a female deer?] teeth EASYDOE.ITand cross the rebus plaza at 27D. [Elaborate request?] teeth (Tell me. It’s a hard clue to cross — you have to think of “elaborate” as a verb, not an adjective — but it’s a clue I’ve been sitting on for years, just waiting for DO TELL to drop onto the grid.
• 28A: [South American webpage showing a sculpture of a rodent patterned after Erté’s style?] teeth DECORAT.VEcross it at 15D. [“Viva Maria!” actress Brigitte] teeth Bar (dot).
• 47A: [European webpage where you can chat with a stage mom?] teeth playmascross at 49D. [Showered attention (on)] teeth (dot)ED.
• 59A: [South American webpage showing a Calif. city pigpen?] teeth Rusty.ARand cross it at 52D. [French printer Firmin ___ (Hint: If you didn’t know of him, his name is one letter off from a word in this clue)] teeth D (dot). That clue hint was my little way of realizing that he might be a tough answer to trust for a rebus-based meta. So I hope DIDOT realizes that he is one letter different from “didn’t.” Let’s go further…
• 64A: [African webpage where you can follow an intergovernmental org.’s holy jurisdiction?] teeth can not seeand cross it at 66D. [Serve a sentence] teeth (DO TIME).
• 82A: [Asian webpage with info about an old horse (but not just any old horse)?] teeth Tenaguinand cross it at 74D. [Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for ___”] teeth Go (dot).
• 109A: [North American webpage where you can get live views of a big zoo animal?] teeth hippocam.USintersects at 96D. [“Wonder Woman” actress Gal] teeth Ga (dot).

There is also a hint in the bottom half of the grid in 119A. [Place you might visit, and an alternate title for this puzzle] it is points of interest. “Point” is a synonym for DOT, so once you understand that “.” is required, the (or DOT) rebus is a good place to look for at least one answer to your theme. Are the names of web pages suspiciously similar to real words or phrases? They are. You can replace each dot with one character to get a valid entry in both directions.

• EasyDo.IT → simple experimentS thatcreate SELL is 27 o’clock.
• Decoratve → decoratIVEcreating a BARI (Italian port) 15D.
• Playmas→ playmaTE.S.create TED in 49D.
• Rusty.AR → last YEARcreating the DIE In 52D.
• I can’t see → can not seeMLYcreate MIME is 66D.
• Tenagin → Then A.G.aincreation of GOa (State of India) 74D.
• Hippocam US → hippocamPwecreating a GAP In 96D.

Characters that can replace the dot spelling site map, provides information about a page on a website, but this meta doesn’t need to know that. Her two words suggest website and world geography, which is the main point of the first meta answer.

The second meta answer is harder to find and requires several steps. However, as before, it’s a good idea to start with a theme answer. Because the answer to the theme is mainly the basis of the puzzle. And “POI” could be said to hint at her second meta answer in a more subtle way.

It turns out that this puzzle is about the Internet and world geography, so that’s where you should focus. Look at the web page name again for more clues. Did you notice what I said about whether the webpage is from Europe or South America or what continent? You can get more specific information than just the continent. You might need some help from the World Wide Web (where else?) to see what you’re looking for, but the last two characters of each web page tell you which country the web page is from. It shows what it is. Here’s a good list you can refer to if you need to find out.

• IT → Italy
• VE → Venezuela
• ES → Spain (note here, you might think ES stands for Estonia, but it doesn’t. ES refers to the Spanish spelling España).
• AR → Argentina
• LY → Libya
• IN → India
• United States → United States

So? The first letters of these country names don’t seem to have any meaning. But think about the puzzle you just solved. Do you remember seeing those countries somewhere when you were solving problems? They were in the clues and mentioned the attractions (or interesting places) of each country.

• 24A: [Grand ___ Rimini (five-star locale in Italy)] teeth Hhotel.
• 51A: [Venezuelan Coastal Range flower] teeth ○RCHID.
• 54A: [Setting of the Palacio de Galiana in Spain] teeth TOredo.
• 61D: [Mammal one might find at Argentina’s Mundo Marino] teeth SEAL.
• 113A: [El-Kouf National ___ (wildlife area in Libya)] teeth Parc.
• 121D: [India ___ (badminton event held at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi)] teeth ○pen.
• 136A: [U.S. state that’s home to the Alamo] teeth TEXAS.

Extract and elaborate on the first character of the corresponding entry. hot spot — A place where you can go online, but as a two-word expression, “hot spot” is also a loose synonym for “point of interest.” I also added a few other countries to the clues, mainly to make it a little harder to sniff out exactly the seven countries I needed. But when you identify seven countries based on the names of web pages, it becomes something of a treasure hunt. Clues to get to the second meta answer.

If you get one or both meta answers, it’s a success. If you can’t find either, don’t worry. It was a strange puzzle from the start, with rebus squares, fake URLs, and finding not one but two meta answers. But we were able to spend time together on the internet. Isn’t that what online friendships are all about?

If you are attending, see you at ACPT!