"Right Between The Eyes" 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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vandono
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#21

Post by vandono »

dogpaddled across the moat (confirmed on crosshare)
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benchen71
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#22

Post by benchen71 »

I'm feeling pretty pleased about hitting 100 for my average solves per puzzle on Crosshare. (This is only counting those who complete the grid, not the meta, in case you were wondering.) Not that metrics are everything; I'm just happy that people are getting into my puzzles! :D

Image 001.png
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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benchen71
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#23

Post by benchen71 »

Another day, another batch of successful solvers! Keep 'em coming...

BarbaraK
Matt A
Tyrpmom
SJMcK
Golem
ThePtrocanfer
SewYoung
CAe39
madhatter5
Jack Sullivan
John Aldape
vandono
Alex E
BobJas
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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benchen71
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#24

Post by benchen71 »

Some more solvers:

DrTom
Bbaack
K72
hbxwords
africh
Idriss Z
Ergcat
higgysue
Byron
Caroline
palamedes

Nudges tomorrow morning (Aussie time!)
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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MamaE
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#25

Post by MamaE »

Crossed the moat!
- Just puzzling it out here in Delmarva :D
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benchen71
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#26

Post by benchen71 »

Five more solvers:

hashbrown
shalmanezer
MamaEllen
CPJohnson
Sue Adams

Nudges coming momentarily...
Last edited by benchen71 on Fri Feb 04, 2022 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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benchen71
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#27

Post by benchen71 »

Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. There is a clue in the grid, in addition to the puzzle title.

2. 60 across says FRONT VOWELS, which are said to "contain" the meta answer.

3. An "i" is a front vowel.
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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Dplass
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#28

Post by Dplass »

Ha I didn't even consider spoiler 2!
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benchen71
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#29

Post by benchen71 »

Two more solvers before the answer reveal...

frostyjhammer
Justin
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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benchen71
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#30

Post by benchen71 »

And the answer to "Right Between The Eyes" is...

Right Between The Eyes (solution).png

I had this puzzle constructed and scheduled ages ago. (It's actually quite an early puzzle of mine, which is why the grid is so hard!) And then the WSJ ran "You Don't Say" a couple of weeks ago with a very similar meta mechanic. Ah well, them's the breaks!

This was supposed to be a nice easy "week 1" puzzle, and it certainly played that way: 135 grid completions on Crosshare, with 65 successful meta solvers in total (either on Crosshare or via PM).

A few solvers commented that there were a number of other entries that had letters between two Is (22D, 29D, 58D). This was not a problem I anticipated and I hope it didn't lead anyone astray. I conceived of this meta as one where 3 of the 4 long entries were involved in the meta and the 4th long entry was a clue. In fact, two of the problematic downs intersect with the Is of two of the long entries. To avoid this happening would have meant restructuring the grid or coming up with new long entries that contained the characters I needed for the meta answer but in different positions so that the intersecting down entries would not have two Is as well. In the end, I don't think this was a meta-breaking problem. It simply illustrates the potential importance of the long entries for solving metas!
Check out "The MOAT MEOW Mashup Pack" here. US$10 for 14 metas that don't always abide by the "rules" of the game: asymmetry, 2-letter words, uncrossed letters, who knows. And this time there's a mega-meta! :shock:
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