"There's More To This" 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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SeamusOL
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#21

Post by SeamusOL »

Got there after a slight stumble. Great puzzle

Were Magpie and Leo in the second puzzle are a reference to this weeks Australian Football League Grand Final. If so GO LIONS!
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benchen71
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#22

Post by benchen71 »

SeamusOL wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 4:08 am Were Magpie and Leo in the second puzzle are a reference to this weeks Australian Football League Grand Final. If so GO LIONS!
Entirely unintentional. However, my wife supports the Magpies, so they will be who I will be barracking for!
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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Ergcat
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#23

Post by Ergcat »

Crossed the moat…. With nudges! Love this puzzle! Thank you, Ben!
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ajk
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#24

Post by ajk »

Very cool indeed. Had the idea of nudge 4 early on, but needed nudge 3 to point me in the right direction of how to do it. Then needed nudge 6 to focus me on something I should already have been doing. Very fun one, thanks!
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
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Dr.Buttbeard
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#25

Post by Dr.Buttbeard »

MOAT crossed, needed nudge 6 to get all the way there. Very clever Ben!
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Katiedid
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Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2021 8:53 pm
Location: Houston

#26

Post by Katiedid »

I had two dreams last night where I was solving this meta. But then I woke up and don't have it. Maybe the dream will help later.
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Bird Lives
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#27

Post by Bird Lives »

I was completely blind to the first important element and totally ignorant about the second. Except for that, it was pretty easy.
Jay
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ReB
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#28

Post by ReB »

Crossed the MOAT at last, but had to circle around the walls - I think it may have been seven times...
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benchen71
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#29

Post by benchen71 »

Well, the nudges have definitely helped. Another 17 solvers have joined the earlier 19, bringing us to 36.

markhr
SeamusOL
MrTheHan
DCBilly
Ergcat
kurtalert
JM
ajk
DrButtBeard
dannyvee
woozy
CPJohnson
rayyandroid
Bird Lives
hoover
ReB
Tane

Next (and last) update, before the answer reveal Monday morning, Australia 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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Laura M
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#30

Post by Laura M »

This meta is absolutely genius, and it was complete luck that I caught onto it quickly! My brain was on the right wavelength, for once.
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benchen71
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#31

Post by benchen71 »

Laura M wrote: ↑Sat Sep 30, 2023 10:54 pm This meta is absolutely genius, and it was complete luck that I caught onto it quickly! My brain was on the right wavelength, for once.
I was going to award you a MOAT Music Meta Pack for being so quick! But then I realised you had already bought it!! ;)
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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#32

Post by benchen71 »

Two more solvers, bringing us to a grand total of 38:

Tyrpmom
Darrell
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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#33

Post by benchen71 »

Here's the solution to "There's More To This":

There's More To This (solution).png

This was a fun one to construct! I had the idea for a meta in which the answer was a link which, when you entered it into a browser, took you to another meta. The names for both came next, as did the idea of SECOND SIGHT sounding like "second site". The puzzle names then suggested the meta mechanics. I constructed the second puzzle first, and then once I had a Crosshare link, I worked out how to do a tinyurl custom link. I toyed with the idea of using valid words in this link, but everything I tried was already taken. So random letters it was! Then, I worked out grid entries that could include "more" in their clues, so that they would sound as natural as possible. Then I constructed the first puzzle. Doing this one after the other allowed me to slip the two subtle hints in. ;)

Hope you enjoyed this double meta! Kudos again to @Laura M for the solve within 21 minutes of me posting the puzzle! :D
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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#34

Post by benchen71 »

The stats on this puzzle are interesting:

248 grid completions for "There's More To This".
72 clicks registered of people entering tinyurl.com/TEHITAAST into a browser and thus getting to the second puzzle. (It's possible that people used the link more than once.)
38 completions for "Than Meets The Eyes".
44 attempts at solving the meta on "There's More To This".
38 correct answers.

So it looks like the 38 solvers who completed the second grid also solved the meta! But a lot of people completed the first grid and didn't get any further than that.
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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Abide
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#35

Post by Abide »

Great puzzle! I got stuck on the last step Saturday and finished it off this evening. (I solved it before the American deadline)

The Second Site/Sight cleverness went right by me. Really enjoyed it!
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
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lbray53
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#36

Post by lbray53 »

Missed the deadline on a fishing trip. I needed all of the clues to figure out the tinyurl. Unfortunately, internet was sketchy in the northwoods and the tinyurl brought up a blank page. I got confirmation that it was the right thing to do. @Dr. Tom was even kind enough to send me a link. But then the fish started biting and I did not get back to it until this morning.

I found the answer fairly quickly but stumbled on SICARII and why R was not used.
My avatar proves that it is sometimes better to be lucky than good!
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Cap'n Rick
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#37

Post by Cap'n Rick »

Bravo, @benchen71! Awesome idea and execution!
Ahoy! Check out my meta puzzles here! Check out "Smooth Sailing Sundays" here!
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