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In addition, a large Merit Sources seems to have dropped out (and he/she looked like a 1K monthly Merit Source), so that could create a small dent.
The dropped out merit source is
QuestionAuthority and he is the number 2 in the list of meriter user rankings with 3225 awarded merits. So that could be the small dent that you highlighted
Apologies to all concerned, I will no longer be handing out merit in this thread. Theymos removed me as a merit source because he disagreed with the way I spent my merit.