Well, this will be an interesting test. At time of construction the answer to this meta was still very much part of the zeitgeist. Will this be true in more than 12 months? Only time will tell! The answer to the meta is a 2-word phrase.
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta!
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Leaderboard (updated hourly)
Pair O Ducks solved 2024-12-10T13:34:24.988Z
Hector solved 2024-12-10T16:20:15.994Z
AxelPlays solved 2024-12-10T19:10:34.583Z
iceman solved 2024-12-10T19:26:08.689Z
MatthewL solved 2024-12-10T22:10:36.478Z
Mr Tex solved 2024-12-10T22:30:39.144Z
Trixxi solved 2024-12-10T22:44:49.575Z
KayW solved 2024-12-10T23:02:06.973Z
Carolyn solved 2024-12-10T23:36:12.677Z
Jaclyn solved 2024-12-11T01:09:12.836Z
markhr solved 2024-12-11T01:56:40.784Z
Danny K Bernstein solved 2024-12-11T02:06:26.716Z
Berto solved 2024-12-11T02:11:47.660Z
Tom Wilson solved 2024-12-11T02:44:43.022Z
Avlan solved 2024-12-11T09:00:39.697Z
DCBilly solved 2024-12-11T15:32:29.166Z
LarsCaine solved 2024-12-11T15:51:22.312Z
HeadinHome solved 2024-12-11T16:51:01.398Z
Lance solved 2024-12-11T17:40:08.999Z
Alex Sisti solved 2024-12-11T18:41:27.279Z
Serafin solved 2024-12-11T20:00:41.262Z
whimsy solved 2024-12-11T20:33:03.760Z
DrTom solved 2024-12-11T20:33:28.414Z
FedexPope solved 2024-12-11T22:28:05.057Z
Comments
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Not quite sure how this puzzle came to be released. No matter: there are now two MOATs running concurrently this week!
MatthewL 🤓8:17 · 2024-12-10T22:11:05.712Z
Very cute. Google definitely came in handy. Thanks for the bonus puzzle, Ben!
KayW 🤓13:05 · 2024-12-10T23:02:58.469Z
Whew!!! Got a real google workout on this one, even tho I suspected where it was going after the first three themers. Thanks for the happy accident bonus puzzle, Ben!
Carolyn 2s · 2024-12-10T23:37:05.060Z
Thank you Mr. G! Now to figure out the other puzzle...
HeadinHome 🤓1:23 · 2024-12-11T16:52:08.059Z
Yep just had to look up the first few and was ready to guess. Some of these people I swear are too young to have adult children… aren’t they?? (I feel old.)
whimsy 12:05 · 2024-12-11T20:40:59.126Z
Wasn't really familiar with the expression (maybe I missed it? -- whoosh!) but it makes enough sense that I grokked it part way through the solve and it's kind of cute. Well, probably actually cuter when they were babies, like for instance, middle-aged Ben Stiller or Josh Brolin! Thanks for the bonus, Ben, even if it was a boo-boo!
Thought I had the answer after the 1st 4 and then "B" - so I kept on and soon saw. Nice puzzle with a fair amount of Mr. G. I might have gotten away with some gaps and filling in, but what is the fun in that. Thanks for TWO rounds of fun my Aussie cohort.