"The Last Of Us" by benchen71

[woozy]

I got nothing. Tough to solve a meta with a title that's a show I never watched and a prompt that tells me I'll get it if I watched the show. Curious to see how many non-viewers get this.......

I was all set to make the exact same critique and all, but.....

.... this is really a doable meta and even if you've never even heard of the show you'll see something. A google will confirm what you see is reasonable and you'll get it.

Judging by the comments quite a lot of non-viewers got it. Including me. Admittedly I have heard of the show, but only through an NPR newstory and an SNL comedy skit about making a HBO series of Mario Kart[1], so I don't think I've heard very *much*.

tl;dr If you just glance at the wikipedia page about the show you will now know enough to solve. .... seriously.

[1]In honesty the SNL skit was harder to comprehend and understand than anything about the show.

[DebbieC]

I got nothing. Tough to solve a meta with a title that's a show I never watched and a prompt that tells me I'll get it if I watched the show. Curious to see how many non-viewers get this.......

I was all set to make the exact same critique and all, but.....

.... this is really a doable meta and even if you've never even heard of the show you'll see something. A google will confirm what you see is reasonable and you'll get it.

Judging by the comments quite a lot of non-viewers got it. Including me. Admittedly I have heard of the show, but only through an NPR newstory and an SNL comedy skit about making a HBO series of Mario Kart[1], so I don't think I've heard very *much*.

tl;dr If you just glance at the wikipedia page about the show you will now know enough to solve. .... seriously.

[1]In honesty the SNL skit was harder to comprehend and understand than anything about the show.

I understand what you're saying - I did finally do a quick search and solved, but ... I guess I was put off by the "exclusivity/specificity" of the title/prompt. It's way worse than "oh no it's sports!" or "MATH!!!!" reactions to WSJ metas. The prompt basically announced that there was not prompt because you'll know the answer if you know the show. But I do appreciate your taking the time to respond so kindly.

[Berto]

Moat crossed, permission to enter castle requested.

[DCBilly]

Also got it despite no awareness of the show.

[DebbieC]

I got nothing. Tough to solve a meta with a title that's a show I never watched and a prompt that tells me I'll get it if I watched the show. Curious to see how many non-viewers get this.......

Sorry about that. But according to the comments on Crosshare there have been a lot of solvers who have never watched the show who got it without too much googling. This is supposed to be a "week 1" puzzle, after all.

Thank you for responding - much appreciated. I did actually google/solve but, for me, a puzzle becomes more of a "chore" if I have no familiarity with the subject matter and have to do research to even get a toehold. Thanks for your puzzles

[ajk]

Got it today after re-executing the thing I tried to do immediately yesterday, but slightly more correctly. Agree that knowledge of the show isn't required, but it definitely helps to have certain possibilities in mind I think. Having said that, I've seen every episode and it didn't help me for 24 hours, so there's that.

[sharkicicles]

tl;dr If you just glance at the wikipedia page about the show you will now know enough to solve. .... seriously.

I took this advice, never seeing the show or playing the video game it’s based on, and it’s absolutely correct.

I trust Ben to make an accessible meta, and this one is definitely gettable with no prior knowledge. Well done!

[KayW]

tl;dr If you just glance at the wikipedia page about the show you will now know enough to solve. .... seriously.

I took this advice, never seeing the show or playing the video game it’s based on, and it’s absolutely correct.

I trust Ben to make an accessible meta, and this one is definitely gettable with no prior knowledge. Well done!

I'm not saying I don't trust Ben to make an accessible meta. But I stared at the wiki page nearly as long as I stared at the grid. Nope. I'll wait for nudges

[benchen71]

Solver update, followed by nudges!

Alex Sisti
DebbieC
DCBilly
Johnny Luau
BarbaraK
imontoo
ajk
Sharkicicles

That's 45.

[benchen71]

Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. No hints in the grid, sorry! But some entries in the grid should stand out, given the puzzle title.

2. Five entries begin with the letters US.

3. The title suggests that you should look at the last letters in those five entries. But how many letters? Well, if two are significant at the start then check out the last two letters!

4. All five entries end with LE. If you don't know anything about "The Last of Us" you may need to consult wikipedia at this point.

[KayW]

Finally dragged across the moat by @benchen71 and @sharkicicles with simulcast nudges.


Thanks guys, and thanks for the meta Ben!

[woozy]

[

Thank you for responding - much appreciated. I did actually google/solve but, for me, a puzzle becomes more of a "chore" if I have no familiarity with the subject matter and have to do research to even get a toehold.

Hey! If you want a meta that is really a chore may I suggest Quantum Engineering. I guarantee there is *nothing* familiar (at first glance) there. (Just doing a little self-demotion....)

[Jeremy Smith]

I already knew the first two nudges, but it took the third to get me over the moat and into the castle. Thanks, Ben!

[Eric Porter]

I really only needed the second half of the last nudge, which doesn't really give anything away... If I'd done this puzzle while I was watching the series I wouldn't have needed nudges at all.

[benchen71]

One final solver update before the answer reveal...

KayW
Tyrpmom
DIS
Scott
Jeremy Smith
axmszr
Deb W
Mr Tex
Sanna
Kulea
edestlin
Eric Porter
MrTheHan

That's 58 in total.

[benchen71]

Here's the solution to "The Last Of Us":

[benchen71]

And I have some good news to report: the first person to solve the mega meta in the MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack is...

Pair O Ducks

also known to us as @schmidzy! Congratulations!!

And it's not too late for the rest of you. Lots of fun puzzles in the pack.

[schmidzy]

And I have some good news to report: the first person to solve the mega meta in the MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack is...

Pair O Ducks

also known to us as @schmidzy! Congratulations!!

And it's not too late for the rest of you. Lots of fun puzzles in the pack.

Thanks for the fun puzzle pack!

To anyone who's been on the fence about this one, definitely go for it. These really are some of Ben's finest work, imo -- and there's nudges available if you get stuck.