" In Space No One Can Hear You Scream" by benchen71

[Abide]

Very nice multi-level mechanism!

[Darth]

Crossed the moat...

[oldjudge]

I hadn't done one of Ben's puzzles in a while but I'm glad I tried this one. Well done, lots of fun, and one of my favorite songs ever.

[SewYoung]

I’ve brought some baby goats with me across the drawbridge.

Quit kidding around, Meg.

I have crossed the MOAT and would like to borrow Meg's goats. I have a steep bank that needs clearing and goats would be just the thing........

[hoover]

I’ve brought some baby goats with me across the drawbridge.

Quit kidding around, Meg.

I have crossed the MOAT and would like to borrow Meg's goats. I have a steep bank that needs clearing and goats would be just the thing........

If Meg is not amenable to lending her goats, then perhaps there is a Rent-a-Ruminant franchise in your area. https://www.rentaruminant.com/

[benchen71]

Well, we're nearly at the 24 hour mark, and here is the first batch of successful solvers:

Schmeel
Dow Jones
Laura M
woozy
dplass
Cindy Weatherman
hoover
Meg
ChemBrewer
edestlin
boharr
kymike
rjy
lbray53
BrennerTJ
ajk
Tyrpmom
Bird Lives
KayW
Hector
Dave C
Andrew Bradburn
DIS
whimsy
Mwoychick
Gutman
LindaPRmaven
markhr
JHSeeman
zonkswonk
kieranjboyd
ReB
HeadinHome
Abide
DrTom
oldjudge
Darth
BarbaraK
SewYoung

That's 39 to get us started.

[SewYoung]

Quit kidding around, Meg.

I have crossed the MOAT and would like to borrow Meg's goats. I have a steep bank that needs clearing and goats would be just the thing........

If Meg is not amenable to lending her goats, then perhaps there is a Rent-a-Ruminant franchise in your area. https://www.rentaruminant.com/

Thanks for the suggestion, but sadly, there is not. If we lived here full time, I would buy one or two.

[Ergcat]

Crossed the moat ( per Crosshare)! Fun meta! Thanks, Ben!

[Cinny]

Crossed the moat. Thanks, Ben.

[HeadinHome]

Very nice multi-level mechanism!

Agreed! Thoroughly enjoyed. Crossed the moat... with no screaming.

[benchen71]

Solver update:

Tom Wilson
SJMcK
Ergcat
Cindy Heisler
Bbaack
CPJohnson
shalmanezer
Caroline
MH

48 so far. Nudges in 24 hours...

[benchen71]

Saturday morning here in Oz, and it's time for some nudges. But first, a solver update:

frostyjhammer
Spid4567
Darrell
Pair O Ducks

That's 52. We have a full deck of cards!

[benchen71]

Nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. There are clues containing asterisks. Note that they are arranged in 6 groups of 2.

2. The central entry does not provide any hint on how to solve the meta. But 40 and 60 down do: THE BLACK is where you will find what will lead you to the answer to the meta.

3. Use the parts of the clues following the asterisks to find a word that will fit into the black square between each pair of adjacent entries. It won't connect the entries; it will just fit with both.

[whimsy]

Saturday morning here in Oz, and it's time for some nudges. But first, a solver update:

frostyjhammer
Spid4567
Darrell
Pair O Ducks

That's 52. We have a full deck of cards!

Nice to know we are playing with a full deck!

[Dplass]

Saturday morning here in Oz, and it's time for some nudges. But first, a solver update:

frostyjhammer
Spid4567
Darrell
Pair O Ducks

That's 52. We have a full deck of cards!

Nice to know we are playing with a full deck!

But I thought we were playing pinochle!

[benchen71]

Here's the last batch of solvers before the answer reveal:

Carolyn
Qmark
Sharkicicles
Shalaka
emmie
Jeremy Smith

We got to 58 in the end.

[benchen71]

Here's the solution to "In Space No One Can Hear You Scream":

This puzzle underwent some serious editing. The original design had no clues with asterisks. More than that, the key grid entries did not have the parts of the clues after the asterisks. I was hoping the hint pointing you to THE BLACK would get you looking at the black squares and then you would somehow "work out" you needed to add words between those particular pairs of entries with (perhaps) only symmetry to assist you. That was version 1.

Upon reflection I thought that might be a bit tricky. So I added asterisks to those clues. That was version 2.

Upon even further reflection I decided that I needed to provide you with something that would help you decide what word to put between the grid pairs. And so version 3 was the one that I then released, with the extended clues following the asterisks. Did I make it too easy? Or was it just right?

For your listening pleasure here's "The Ballad of Serenity", the theme music from Firefly. Not the sort of thing you might expect for a sci-fi show, but then again, Firefly was not your average sci-fi show...