XWord Muggles Forum

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!

MOAT crossed. A day late getting to it, but boy did I love this meta and cluing...thanks Ben!

More solvers!

Avlan
DCBilly
Qmark
Steve M
LindaPRmaven

That brings us up to 41. And it's time for nudges!

Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

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.

Crossed the moat. No nudges needed. Thanks, Ben.

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

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!

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!

Two more solvers, for a grand total of 43:

kurtalert
Sharkicicles

Here's the solution to "One Too Many":


Just in case you were wondering, the companion meta from 2023 was this one.

With all your distraction by the MEOW you forgot to shade TOM at 12d! Other than that it was purrfect.

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.

Solved without the nudges. A week late but I was fishing!!