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? "The City & the City" (by 38 across) is a brilliant mind-melting weird-fiction detective/police-procedural novel. (It was also made into a BBC TV series, which while decent, paled in comparison.) Such a book deserves a similarly mind-melting meta! I think the major challenge here will be completing the grid; the meta should follow on pretty quickly after that. The answer you are looking for is a fictional city. 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.
Last edited by benchen71 on Sun Sep 04, 2022 8:00 pm, edited 2 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!
Meg wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:25 am
I went clippety-clop with my coconut shells across the bridge and over the moat.
Look at you, all clippety-clopping merrily over the bridge! I had to dog-paddle the moat amongst the alligators, snakes and eels. Lost a couple of limbs, so for me it was more of a politely-ring-the-doorbell-of rather than storm the castle.
Crossed the Moat...Challenging fill, loved the mechanism...and thanks for the introduction to what looks to be a very interesting novel, Ben...will definitely check it out.
Hi Benchen:
I'm curious. Do your puzzles increase in difficulty as the month goes on like Matt Gaffney? Or is the level of difficulty just random? Thanks.
If I’ve solved and you need a nudge, you can PM me. Happy to pay it forward.
Meg wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:25 am
I went clippety-clop with my coconut shells across the bridge and over the moat.
Look at you, all clippety-clopping merrily over the bridge! I had to dog-paddle the moat amongst the alligators, snakes and eels. Lost a couple of limbs, so for me it was more of a politely-ring-the-doorbell-of rather than storm the castle.
I was clippety-clopping with medieval merriment because I had made it through that grid. Almost lost an arm, but it was just a scratch.
Solved. Admit that there was so much in the grid I didn't know that I gave up eventually and just revealed stuff. But that's about me, not the grid. And the meta was fun, thx.
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
Here I am, thinking about hard metas that I am working on, and I get an idea. I am so excited. I think that I have just figured out the path to the Gaffney meta. Alas, it was Ben's meta (no offense, Ben, it was a great meta to solve).
Solved (confirmed via crosshare). Now back to MGWCC (for which I have no idea how to proceed).
DavyGravy wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 1:25 pm
Hi Benchen:
I'm curious. Do your puzzles increase in difficulty as the month goes on like Matt Gaffney? Or is the level of difficulty just random? Thanks.
I try follow the MGWCC pattern. So "The City & the City" is definitely a week 4. That said, I don't think my "week 4" metas get quite as hard as some of Matt's have been recently. Then again it is always tricky for the constructor to judge difficulty, and I rarely get mine play-tested.
Last edited by benchen71 on Tue Aug 30, 2022 7:03 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!
So here are the brave souls who have successfully navigated their way to the fictional city hidden in this meta puzzle:
kieranjboyd
Laura M
Cindy Weatherman
Hector
Meg
Tom Wilson
edestlin
boharr
Darth
rjy
Cindy Heisler
Qmark
hoover
whimsy
Ergcat
ajk
kymike
KayW
SJMcK
Andrew Bradburn
woozy
Tyrpmom
That's 22 so far.
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!
Thanks Ben! I will add the book to my list.