"Cold Open" by benchen71
- jhseeman
- Posts: 988
- Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2020 3:33 pm
- Location: Charleston, SC
late start to it, given the holidays and the swamp load of work emails ... for some reason the rest of the world doesn't get the 4th off...but the Moat was crossed, no clues needed.
Fun way to avoid work, thanks Ben.
Fun way to avoid work, thanks Ben.
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- Posts: 3159
- Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 7:26 pm
- Location: at the intersection of grits and breakfast tacos
Nudged across the moat...
I don't have anything clever to say, but if I did, it would go here.
Eli
Eli
- ajk
- Posts: 1721
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:22 pm
- Location: Colorado
Got it with the parenthetical info from nudge 4, which changed the way I was thinking about it. Fun stuff, 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
- Cap'n Rick
- Posts: 1966
- Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:44 pm
- Location: Nahant, MA
- Contact:
Needed the nudges, but MOAT crossed. Thanks for the refreshing puzzle, Ben!
- Cinny
- Posts: 1042
- Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:53 pm
- Location: Minoa, NY
- Contact:
- benchen71
- Posts: 3400
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
A solver update for you:
Dow Jones
kurtalert
markhr
Carolyn
SeamusOL
rayyandroid
JHSeeman
hoover
ajk
Capn Rick
Cindy Heisler
Jaclyn
heidi
DCBilly
PuzNewbie
Johnny Luau
MrTheHan
JM
That brings us to 48. Next and last update before the answer reveal Monday morning Australia time...
Dow Jones
kurtalert
markhr
Carolyn
SeamusOL
rayyandroid
JHSeeman
hoover
ajk
Capn Rick
Cindy Heisler
Jaclyn
heidi
DCBilly
PuzNewbie
Johnny Luau
MrTheHan
JM
That brings us to 48. Next and last update before the answer reveal Monday morning Australia time...
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! 

- ImOnToo
- Posts: 515
- Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 5:28 pm
- Location: Texas
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- Posts: 461
- Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2022 4:33 pm
- Location: Ottawa, Canada
Needed to use most of the nudges to make it home, but finally managed to cross the MOAT...thanks Ben!
- edestlin
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2022 9:22 am
- Location: Michigan
- Contact:
-
- Posts: 1823
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:57 pm
Nudged across the moat, into the castle kitchen where I found a cold one in the fridge to open.
Thanks Ben
Bring on the COLD! Now THAT looks refreshing today
Thanks Ben
Bring on the COLD! Now THAT looks refreshing today
- MikeyG
- Posts: 1925
- Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 2:52 pm
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Need at least the first two nudges. I think I spy what's going on, but I also might need a third (cold one, that is).
Edit: Needed all five but pushed through. Now I have to warm up somewhere!
Edit #2: Another solid Bruce Hornsby reference with 38-A!
Edit: Needed all five but pushed through. Now I have to warm up somewhere!
Edit #2: Another solid Bruce Hornsby reference with 38-A!
- benchen71
- Posts: 3400
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
I have a busy Monday morning, so I'm doing the answer reveal early. But first, the last solver update:
Tyrpmom
Flora Wynn
imontoo
Qmark
MaineMarge
edestlin
Mikey G
That got us to 55 in total.
Tyrpmom
Flora Wynn
imontoo
Qmark
MaineMarge
edestlin
Mikey G
That got us to 55 in total.
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! 

- benchen71
- Posts: 3400
- Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:50 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Contact:
Apologies for doing this early, but here's the solution to "Cold Open":
So it's the depths of winter here in Australia. But I've seen in the news that the US has been experiencing a seriously hot summer. I trust that this puzzle helped to ease some of that suffering!
This week is another double-feature from me! Yes, you'll get your regular MOAT on Tuesday and then an additional (unrelated) benchen71 MEOW on Wednesday. (I really tried to channel madhatter for this one, which you might be able to tell when you see it!) I trust you will enjoy them both.
So it's the depths of winter here in Australia. But I've seen in the news that the US has been experiencing a seriously hot summer. I trust that this puzzle helped to ease some of that suffering!

This week is another double-feature from me! Yes, you'll get your regular MOAT on Tuesday and then an additional (unrelated) benchen71 MEOW on Wednesday. (I really tried to channel madhatter for this one, which you might be able to tell when you see it!) I trust you will enjoy them both.
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! 
