Creator's note: This puzzle was meant to be released in April 2017 for the metapuzzles fortnightly topic challenge. As you can see, it is currently over a year late. Real-life events interfered, and the scale of the project kept growing. It's finally out now, though, so I hope you enjoy!
Metapuzzles are sneaky. They hide in the shadows, seeming to be final yet hiding more.
Sure, some metas (like ffao's "Party for Hope", Rubio's "I, for one...", and my own "Chess Fortnight") are fairly apparent (even if not easy). But others (like Sp3000's "archived metapuzzle?" and Wen1now's "Parallelisation") can lay unnoticed for weeks, or even months!
I feel that a solution exists, though - and it's hidden just beyond these 29 metapuzzles. I've already solved the base-level puzzles, so I just need your help for the rest.These 29 puzzles hide something that would help us notice these metapuzzles at a glance: What do we need to recognize metapuzzles as soon as we see them?
1
STONE
CRUISE
MR. T
WEAVER
ZETA
EINSTEIN
DILLON
HOPE
FOSTER
GRANT
2
ARCTURUS MENGSK
A CAPELLA
URI GELLER
UNICURSAL
PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS' ASSOCIATION
SAVIOR
3
REVOLVING
PARASITE
WILD DUCK
HIBERNATOR
MULTIPLYING
HEEL
HUMMING
TRASH BAG
CAVALRY
TRANSFORM
4
FROGS
HEIGHTS
DIRT
BULLETS
HEAVEN
DARKNESS
ENCLOSURES
THIRTEEN
DOCTORS
SNAKES
URINE
MIRRORS
5
BIRDS BARBERSHOP
CLIFFORD ALGEBRA
COLOR SPECTRUM
EARTH DIVER
HINDU GOD
INDUCTION COIL
IRON FILING
LIGHT WAVES
NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE
6
COMMUNIST
DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM
LED APPLE
MORTON SOBELL
OPERATION LITTLE SWITCH
ROOSEVELT
SEE IT NOW
SEMHAR TADESSE
TAHA'A
TAILGUNNER
TERRY MELCHER
7
FINISHED
FAR EAST MOVEMENT
DESTINY
STEAK SAUCE
DATA VISUALIZATION
TRITIUM
GAMING CONVENTION
MISSING
CUBE
SEARCH
EXPLOSIVE
LOGORAMA
8
REAL
VOUS
HIPE
HIPS
POUR
SEXY
TYVM
SPXU
9
REVERED
WORSE
PIOUS
ADO
FURY
ANEMONE
POLICE
ALBEIT
VIAL
ALLOWED
10
ACCOUNTANT
ATOMIC AGE
BEIJING OLYMPIC GAMES
CLEANSING AGENT
COMMUNICATION
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
ENGAGEMENT RING
ENGLISH CHESS NOTATION
FLOWERING TOBACCO
GM_FLATGRASS
I'D RATHER EAT GLASS
MADAGASCAR
MIKE VANDERJAGT
RENAULT G-TYPE
SCATHING REMARK
11
CHEAT
CURRENT DOLLAR
FAIRLY ODD PARENTS
GEOHASHING
HEALTHCARE TOURISM
SHEBANG
STARTLING
TWENTIETH PERCENTILE
WITHSTAND
12
AFTER DARK
NOVICE
STARTUP
WEST END
13
STRIDE
LIFTING
THE RIG
TURF WAR
PIGSKIN
STARSHIP TITANIC
AIRBALL
SCAVAGE
ESCHATON
DESCENDANTS
NICHIJOU
JEAN ARP
TOP SECRET
14
AL CAPONE
BONNIE AND CLYDE
DOC BROWN
ELVIS PRESLEY
GOKU
WALTER WHITE
WRIGHT BROTHERS
15
APPLIED ANATOMY
BAR BILLIARDS
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
EON
EXPERT EVIDENCE
GIVE GROUND
HARMONY HAMILTON
MILWAUKEE MILE
PRECLINICAL PHASE
RAINBOW ROAD
STANDING START
¡VIVA! VAUGHAN
WARM WATERS
16
ACTIVITY
ANNOUNCE
ARRAIGNS
ASTONISH
BEHEMOTH
BIRTHDAY
CATEGORY
INDIRECT
JEREMIAH
MEDIOCRE
OPTIMISM
ORATORIO
OTIOSITY
REASSESS
SCENARIO
STRANGER
THOUGHTS
WRENCHED
17
TERM WORK
IMMUNITY
SERMON
VINEGAR
CAVERN
ENGRAIL
18
ASSESS
CALORY
GYROSE
POIROT
TRILLS
TROATS
FONDLE
NEEDLES
SHILOVSKY
SPUR
THREE-WHEELERS
VEGETABLE
19
FOG
RELAX
ANGRY
COMMERCIAL
DONKEY
CAMBRIDGE
ELECTRON
AIRPORT
HILLBILLY
ICON
ETIQUETTE
BANG
INFLUENZA
20
ITEM
REVERE
FILER
SHARIZ
SWAMI
ABODE
NEPAL
ÜBUNG
WRAP
RARER
LYSYL
IOUS
LAPEL
HULU
APPTIX
21
BORROWED LICENSES
CHALK TIRES
COUNTERCLOCKWISE REVERSIBILITY
HUMOR ESSAYS
KISS-ASS
MANEUVER UNDER FIRE
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
TWI-MOM
WISH FULFILLMENT THEORY
WOOLEN SHROUDS
22
AARDVARK
BRAVEST WARRIORS
GRUMMAN
HALF LIFE
PET PEEVE
SOCKPUPPET
23
GAELIC
NARROW
CAPED
DOLL
CATNAP
RUB
MADE
JIMBO
SAME
PAISLEY
NICELY
BASAL
LINGER
24
BORINGHAM
COINCIDED
EARTHSYNC
ORBIT
SAUCER WITH HANDLE
SHALOM
TIRED
WOOD HOOPOE
YULE BALL
25
MEDIATOR
INSULT
WIFEBEATER
CRUX
GINGER
EVENING TELEVISION
EYEWITNESS
PAROUSIA
POWER ON
TORTURE
DESPERATE
INCISORS
26
ASS
BIT
FLIT
GRAILS
IMP
ISH
SERIF
27
MINI
ENACT
OH
FLUE
BORED
RADII
COMPLETION
TRIO
EROTIC
28
AMPS
ARRAY
ARROW
DOWN
FANG
GROTTO
MBIRA
NICHED
PRIORS
SAHARA
SASS
YETIS
29
LUMP
ROUSE
AMBLE
EVILS
PRAISE
TURNS
PIKE
Bits and Pieces
(For larger versions of most of these images, you can click them and remove the m
just before .png
in the URL. This shouldn't be necessary for anything other than visual clarity.)
CTVEDEMER YEROWEPUT SVACHVIEQ MELNEAROC ILIDVTCNR HTCKELSIU STETSCUCS VEXEAHTIA ULSDEIEFG EEVHSHDLE
DLERCZAPSLMND
Gödel
Escher
Bach
Link to external audio file
No answer here has more than two words.