"Matt. 20:16" 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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woozy
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#21

Post by woozy »

Wow... what am I missing?

(Never noticed that Davros was 25D...)
GUAVA is not an anagram of VAGUE
Qmark
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#22

Post by Qmark »

Moat crossed...clever meta. Thanks Ben!
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benchen71
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#23

Post by benchen71 »

woozy wrote: Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:44 pm Wow... what am I missing?
This is definitely supposed to be a "week 1". ;)
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta! :D
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woozy
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#24

Post by woozy »

benchen71 wrote: Wed Mar 08, 2023 12:04 am
woozy wrote: Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:44 pm Wow... what am I missing?
This is definitely supposed to be a "week 1". ;)
Well, it certainly is not to me right now.
GUAVA is not an anagram of VAGUE
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CPJohnson
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#25

Post by CPJohnson »

Finally solved; made it harder than it needed to be. Thanks, Ben.
Cynthia
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ajk
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#26

Post by ajk »

lol basically solved it immediately, but missed the obvious last little bit to produce the answer. Looked again today and it popped right out. Feel like that's been happening a lot lately. :lol:
Fun one, thanks.
Check out this very cool project by many of your favorite muggles to raise money to fight cancer. You get a fun puzzle bundle and good causes get $. Win-win: Crosswords for Cancer
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DrTom
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#27

Post by DrTom »

MOATered home! Fun one Ben, and as usual, unusual.

T
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges IF ASKED; metas should be about fun, not frustration. PM me what you have done so far, because often you are closer than you think, and I will try to help you move along.
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benchen71
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#28

Post by benchen71 »

Here's the next batch of solvers, bring us to 55:

SeamusOL
Qmark
shalmanezer
woozy
clev
Madhatter5
CPJohnson
Spid4567
ajk
troysail
DrTom
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta! :D
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benchen71
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#29

Post by benchen71 »

In all the WSJ/MEOW fun I forgot to post the nudges! Here they are, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. Your only clue is the puzzle title.

2. The long entries are the focus here.

3. Apply the Bible verse to the long entries.

4. You might find an easter egg in the grid that will confirm your answer.
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta! :D
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Abide
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#30

Post by Abide »

Solved pre-nudges. Very nice Week 1.75 ;)
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benchen71
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#31

Post by benchen71 »

Just two more solvers to add to the list, bringing us to a grand total of 57:

Abide
Jim Dean

And now on to the answer reveal...
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta! :D
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benchen71
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#32

Post by benchen71 »

Here's the solution to "Matt. 20:16":

Matt. 20v16 (solution).png

You might have needed to look up that Bible reference. Matt. 20:16 is as follows: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Goodness, but that sounds like a meta mechanic to me!

I remember having quite a lot of trouble with the O/I pairing. But in the end I really like the Gollum clue. And for those of you who thought EWING STATS should have referenced "Dallas", I have to say that that never occurred to me. I have never watched an episode of either the original show (I was too young at the time) or the remake. But Star Wars is always on my mind! :D
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta! :D
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woozy
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#33

Post by woozy »

Kind of interesting that in the nudges you gave no nudge that we were to *read* the letters. For me that was the hardest part.
GUAVA is not an anagram of VAGUE
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