"Archaisms" by benchen71

Can you storm the castle by getting across the MOAT? A weekly meta crossword constructed by forum member Ben (aka benchen71). These metas range from relatively easy to more challenging, depending on how many Australianisms he puts in them! Puzzles are posted in a new thread every Tuesday, with nudges appearing on Saturdays, and the solution coming out on Mondays. (At least, that's the plan. Given he lives in Australia, and they are so far ahead of the US time-zone-wise, things may get posted early!)
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benchen71
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#21

Post by benchen71 »

Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. There is one hint in the grid: 30 across: MODERNISATION is "The process of adapting to a more contemporary setting, and what needs to occur to some of the across entries in this puzzle in order to find the answer to the meta"

2. You're looking for across entries in the grid that are archaisms that can be modernised.

3. There are seven of them, and all but one can be found in Shakespeare's plays.

4. There are websites that can be used to find translations of archaic words. I like https://www.lexico.com/explore/archaic-words, but it has closed! Here's the page on the wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20220322012 ... haic-words
Last edited by benchen71 on Sat Dec 17, 2022 11:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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MikeyG
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#22

Post by MikeyG »

Got it!

I guess it made sense why I went through all the acrosses, getting virtually nothing, and then started progressing on the downs!
Less cross words, more crosswords.

Solve my latest "Pun of a Kind" Meta!: 91. You'll Turn It Around
Dow Jones
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#23

Post by Dow Jones »

Nudged across the moat. Thanks for editing Spoiler #4. Thanks, Ben
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benchen71
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#24

Post by benchen71 »

So it's Monday morning. The following solvers have made it to the answer:

BarbaraK
Johnny Luau
ReB
Mikey G
Dow Jones
Lance

That's a total of 37.
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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benchen71
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#25

Post by benchen71 »

Here's the solution to "Archaisms":

Archaisms (solution).png

This puzzle was one that I suggested as a possible mechanism for the three-way meta week with @madhatter5 and @MikeyG during the green-lighting phase. We came up with something else and so I went ahead on my own. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have! This puzzle proved to be tedious for some, because: 1) it wasn't clear which words were the archaisms; and 2) even knowing which words are involved, there are multiple possibilities for modern equivalents. Having constructed a lot of puzzles since then, I think I should have included some sort of confirmation mechanism (maybe in the clues?)

This week's MOAT will be Christmas-themed, and I'm really looking forward to it. I think you will find it a whole lot more fun than this one! :D
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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