In the shell are seven partial hangman games. For each game, one of the puzzle answers is the "letters guessed so far". Not only that, the hangman answer is a "dead" version of that same puzzle answer.
Puzzle answer | Hangman answer | # of wrong guesses |
STAR | BLACK HOLE | 3 |
HOLSTEIN | BURGER | 7 |
HERO | MARTYR | 3 |
GOPHER | ROADKILL | 4 |
PINE | STUMP | 3 |
GAME | VENISON | 3 |
HUMAN | ZOMBIE | 4 |
Reading the numbered blanks in order, the meta answer is IMMORTAL IRON KEEL.