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benchen71's Metas on a Tuesday (MOAT)

Can you storm the castle by getting across the MOAT? This began with a Facebook post on a friend's page that pointed me at something which I thought I could make into a meta puzzle. After some further thought I had a meta mechanism. But finding a grid to fit the mechanism into was hard. I went through maybe ten possible grids before I got to this one, which means the fill is on the trickier side. Still the meta should be fun! The answer to the meta is an adjective that describes the starred words' definitions.

The easiest way to submit is on Crosshare (and you get instant feedback and unlimited attempts!) But you can also PM me with your submission. Either way, I'll compile a list of those who successfully solve the meta.

This Goes In One Of Two Ways - Crosshare
This Goes In One Of Two Ways - PUZ
This Goes In One Of Two Ways - PDF
This Goes In One Of Two Ways - spreadsheet

Nudges are here.
The solution is here.

Moat stormed. Great puzzle, Ben!

MOAT crossed on my third submission. Avoided strike three at least!

Now that I’ve made it with my cartful of cabbages across the drawbridge, I can thank Ben for a lovely puzzle.
And thanks @woozy for your eloquent explanation on crosshare.

Crossed the moat after skipping over a rabbit hole.

Castle stormed. Thanks, Ben!

Moat drained for easier crossing.

Crossed, stormed, clever concept! Thanks Ben

Moat stormed, castle crossed!

Moat crossed, castle stormed, got lost and found a second way out. Thanks for the puzzle, Ben!

Stormed! Good fun… thanks Ben!

Solved after some minor meandering. Fun one, thanks.

Solved

Moat is crossed ! Fun puzzle, Ben!

Crossed! Stormed!

Much earlier today, in fact. I thought I posted at that time, but maybe I never hit “Submit”. Anyway …

Fun! Thanks, Ben!

Crossed the moat. Thanks, Ben!

Sheepishly shuffled across the moat where Ben had kindly half-raised the portcullis.

Crossed the moat, one way or another.

After 24 hours, we have 32 solvers:

Hector
Pair O Ducks
Meg
Alex Sisti
Dave C
LarsCaine
boharr
Cindy Weatherman
Darth
Carolyn
rjy
hoover
I K Snamhcok
woozy
MatthewL
HeadinHome
Tyrpmom
DIS
edestlin
Laura M
kymike
ajk
SJMcK
Bird Lives
Ergcat
Gutman
DebbieC
CPJohnson
lbray53
Berto
markhr
Golem

Early nudges, in order of increasing blatancy:

1. No hints in the grid so you're going to have to work with the title and the fact that 7 symmetrically-located entries have asterisks.

2. This is extremely hard for me to nudge without giving it away too soon! Suffice to say, these 7 entries have something in common. The meta prompt implies that it involves their definitions.

3. If you pay careful attention to some of the other clues you should find a connection back to the starred entries.

4. The starred entries are all contranyms and their clues have gone in one of two ways.