"The City & the City" by benchen71

[Dow Jones]

I've stormed the castle and the castle. Great challenge, Ben. Thanks

[ChrisKochmanski]

Across and stormed.

Needed to do much googling. But not complaining. Fun!

[lbray53]

MOAT crossed with an assist.

[CPJohnson]

Whew, finally got it. Thanks, Ben!

[benchen71]

Some more solvers, bringing us up to 35:

emmie
BrennerTJ
Dave C
Gutman
Dow Jones
ChrisKochmanski
Carolyn
Johnny Luau
Bbaack
Spid4567
CPJohnson
Mr Tex
lbray53

Next update will be just before the nudges...

[DrTom]

Took some gymnastics, but crossed the moat to the city...wait the city is not there!

Thanks Ben - couldn't resist.

[ReB]

Crossed the moat once the fog lifted and ahead of the nudges. Tough grid.

[benchen71]

Five more solvers bringing us to 40:

Sharkicicles
markhr
DrTom
Darrell
ReB

And now for the nudges...

[benchen71]

Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. The clues with bracketed numbers reference two cities. Work out what those two cities are as a first step.

2. If you are struggling, the cities referenced in these clues are (in alphabetical order) Cairo, Dehli, Lima, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Perth, Rome, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo.

3. The clues with two cities result in a barely-pronounceable entry by incorporating the letters from each city in order. But not all of the letters are used.

4. The meta answer will only be recognisable to someone who has read the China Miéville novel!

[benchen71]

With two more solvers we reach Douglas Adams' meaning of life number, 42:

Julia
dplass

On to the answer reveal...

[benchen71]

Here's the answer and explanation for "The City & the City":

This was definitely a niche meta. Essentially, it's a meta that only someone who had read "The City & the City" will fully appreciate. The combined city names mimics the way the two cities of the novel, Besźel and Ul Qoma, intertwine. And, of course, the meta answer is the secret, hidden third city of the novel! However, many of you still said you enjoyed the puzzle. And a few of you indicated you might even read the novel, which I highly recommend.

Next week's MOAT will be a "week 1". It's also a puzzle that was considered for inclusion on Pandora's Box. But since I was unwilling to change one of the theme answers, it didn't eventuate. I guess we'll find out if I should have made the change!