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!)
Can you storm the castle by getting across the MOAT? Crosswords, particularly meta crosswords, are incredibly versatile. This grid will serve as an object lesson, but in what, you will only find out if you can solve the meta. And just to make things even more enigmatic, the answer to the meta is what you need to solve the meta. Good luck!
PM me with your submissions or submit on Crosshare. Either way, I'll compile a list of those who successfully solve the meta.
Don't forget that the 1st Pre-release MOAT Pack is available for purchase at https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$10 gets you a pack of 12 meta puzzles - with PUZ and PDF files - including nudges and solutions. Check out Al Sisti's very positive review here.
Last edited by benchen71 on Sun May 01, 2022 6:50 pm, edited 4 times 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!
It's my birthday today - the 27th, just in case you are reading this in some other timezone to me
Instead of asking you for a present, I'm going to give you one! I always thought that "Follow The Leader" would prove to be on the harder side. But since there have been no solvers yet, and I really don't want people sitting around scratching their heads for days getting more and more angry with me, here are the nudges in order of increasing blatancy:
1. 35 across contains a hint, as do the other two long answers (17 across and 54 across).
2. You have to find the secret message encrypted into this one-time pad (the grid of the crossword).
3. The title of the puzzle contains everything you need to reveal the message.
OK, if you really want to give me a present, you could purchase the 1st Pre-release MOAT Pack and I'll buy a nice bottle of gin with the proceeds!
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!
If there are any keen codebreakers out there, I should probably say that this grid is not strictly being used as a one-time pad. However, it is very definitely a case of steganography because a message has been encoded into the grid.
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!
These nudges are kind of hilarious. "Read the themer clues and title, people!" Now you're sure to get tons of solvers.
Edit: and wait, what? The one thing that reading the clues makes you confident of -- that a message is encoded with the one time pad method -- isn't even true?
Last edited by MMe on Tue Apr 26, 2022 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The nudges should make one thing clear: this is a SAD puzzle.
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!
benchen71 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 26, 2022 6:43 pm
It's my birthday today - the 27th, just in case you are reading this in some other timezone to me
happybirthday.gif
Instead of asking you for a present, I'm going to give you one! I always thought that "Follow The Leader" would prove to be on the harder side. But since there have been no solvers yet, and I really don't want people sitting around scratching their heads for days getting more and more angry with me, here are the nudges in order of increasing blatancy:
1. 35 across contains a hint, as do the other two long answers (17 across and 54 across).
2. You have to find the secret message encrypted into this one-time pad (the grid of the crossword).
3. The title of the puzzle contains everything you need to reveal the message.
OK, if you really want to give me a present, you could purchase the 1st Pre-release MOAT Pack and I'll buy a nice bottle of gin with the proceeds!
Happy birthday Ben! That clip of Amy always choked me up. I hope you have a wonderful birthday with friends and or family.
Dplass wrote: ↑Tue Apr 26, 2022 10:00 pm
Happy birthday Ben! That clip of Amy always choked me up. I hope you have a wonderful birthday with friends and or family.
Thanks, David. We're planning to have a yummy meal involving a cut of meat known as a tomahawk! Can't wait!!
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!
Woo hoo! We have a solver!! The leaderboard currently looks like this:
T.G.
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!
Time to update the solver list. Here it is in all its fullness:
T.G.
Yikes, this one is proving far tougher than even I had allowed myself to fear! Here's an additional nudge:
4. The puzzle title should be read like this: Follow "THE LEADER"
If there are still no further solvers, I'll try and come up with another nudge Saturday 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!
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!
Saturday morning, and it's time for another nudge:
5. The word "follow" in the title is also important, particularly in its sense of "after".
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!
