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 squeezy 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!)
In all the fun of posting MEOW #200, I forgot the first solver update for the MOAT!
markhr
Danny K Bernstein
Gutman
Pair O Ducks
LarsCaine
Hector
Alex Sisti
DIS
Tom Wilson
JM
Tyrpmom
HeadinHome
DrTom
MatthewL
Mr Tex
hoover
Darth
Cindy Weatherman
Meg
Carolyn
boharr
Johnny Luau
Berto
whimsy
edestlin
I K Snamhcok
Dave C
heidi
KayW
Brandon Lee
woozy
Capn Rick
Tim
CPJohnson
Laura M
rjy
36 solvers to get us started!
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!
That brings us up to 41. And it's time for nudges!
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!
1. The meta hint, for what it's worth, is in 69 A: "Var- suffix (which gives you a city in Italy or an Indonesian beauty care brand, and that's the only meta hint you get!)"
2. VARESSE is the Indonesian beauty brand; but VARESE is the Italian city. This is supposed to demonstrate that one of those Ss is unnecessary.
3. Did you notice that the grid is 16x15?
4. Every row has an entry from which one letter can be dropped and its clue should still make sense. The related down entry's clue won't do this too (I'm not that good!) but the new down entry should still be a valid crossword word.
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!
Dragged across the moat by nudge 4. Clever puzzle, just couldn't see it. In my defense I saw both the MEOW and the WSJ right away this week
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
I keep forgetting to do MOAT solver updates when I'm also handling MEOW duties. Ah well, here's one:
Cindy Heisler
lukadisgre
ajk
Botaku
Kulea
That brings us up to 41. Final solver update will take place before the answer reveal Monday morning, Aussie time. And then I hope to see you all at "Isaac's Last Call" muggle zoom meeting!
Last edited by benchen71 on Sun Sep 29, 2024 5:54 pm, edited 1 time 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!
Delayed posting my MOAT declaration -- because too much of a hint?
I crossed a couple of days ago but decided to hang near the bridge and hawk newspapers --
"Extra! Extra! Read all about it!"
Thanks for the money's worth with this one, Ben!
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!
Just in case you were wondering, the companion meta from 2023 was this one.
Last edited by benchen71 on Tue Oct 01, 2024 4:52 am, edited 1 time 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!
Berto wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2024 1:52 am
With all your distraction by the MEOW you forgot to shade TOM at 12d! Other than that it was purrfect.
Fixed! Glad you enjoyed it.
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!
