LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Surprisingly (to me, anyway) polarizing puzzle from MGWCC’s own Dave Sullivan last week. Solvers were presented with dishes from five foreign restaurants, and had to figure out that their country codes spelled out the phone number to the BROADWAY DINER in Hicksville, N.Y.

Read my full review here, and big thanks to Dave for the puzzle.

GabeLuis says:

Could this be the Christmas miracle? My first correct Week 4 answer?

genefaba asks:

Do you know if they deliver to Manhattan?

And finally, the great Peter Gordon didn’t need delivery, since he drove the 20 minutes there from his house to have brunch with his daughter Phoebe. One might convincingly argue that Peter is the best crossword editor working today, and the puzzle he edits is the extremely enjoyable Fireball Crosswords.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 235 correct entries received, is C.C. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, C.C. will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

Welp, I wound up not being able to fix my scheduled Week 5 idea after all. It will make an appearance soon as a Week 2 or 3, which is what it became after the unfixable element was removed. The best laid plans of mice and crossword writers…but let’s just say I owe you a random Week 5 in the coming year.

For now, please accept this not-Week-5-difficulty Week 5. I don’t think it will snap many streaks, but hope you’ll dig it anyway. See you next year, and thanks for solving these things!

This week’s contest answer is five syllables long.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Simple…but only after you saw it! We had four theme entries, and instructions said only that the contest answer contained five syllables:

17-A [Road salt, sometimes] = CALCIUM CHLORIDE
24-A [First of a Brady bunch] = SUPER BOWL XXXVI
43-A [“What is the answer to 4-Across in this crossword?” et al.] = TRICK QUESTIONS. There is no 4-Across. Made you look.
57-A [Cairo convergers] = MISSISSIPPI-OHIO. That’s Cairo, Illinois, which rhymes with “lay low.”

What’s the common bond? Each of these bears a relationship to the numbers 20-17, as in our new year:

Calcium and chlorine are elements #20 and #17
The final score of Super Bowl XXXVI was 20-17
“Trick Questions” starts with T and Q, the 20th and 17th letters
Mississippi and Ohio were the 20th and 17th states admitted to the Union.

Making 2017 our contest answer, found by 198 solvers.

Hunley B says:

Thanks for all the fun this year! Looking forward to new challenges in Garfield Johnson.

Jefe says:

Last AHA moment of the year!

And CanNibble just renewed his subscription:

Auld lang syne me up for another year of puzzles. Please and thank you.

Speaking of which: all renewal notices have gone out by now, and apologies if you didn’t receive one. If that happened, please go ahead and renew at www.mgwcc.com; if you’re having any trouble whatsoever, please e-mail me at crosswordcontest@gmail.com and I’ll forward you today’s puzzle while we figure it out.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 198 correct entries received, is Mike Buchanan of Palo Alto, Calif. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Mike will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

MONTHLY WINNERS:

Congratulations to the following ten December MGWCC winners, whose names were chosen at random from among the 139 people who sent in the correct contest answer to each of last month’s five puzzles (SALT LAKE CITY, EQUATOR, TWEEN, BROADWAY DINER, 2017). Each will receive a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set:

Evan Birnholz — Philadelphia, Penna.

ASB — Portland, Ore.

Jon Forsythe — Chicago, Ill.

L.G.

A.J.

Giovanni Pagano — Newark, Del.

Paul Rundle — Davis, Calif.

Matt Perez-Stable — Fairview Park, O.

Peter Washington — Chico, Calif.

Maggie Wittlin — Lincoln, Nebr.

Congratulations to our ten winners, and to everyone who went 5-for-5 in December.

YEARLY PRIZES:

Tons ‘o’ logistics involved in 2016’s many yearly prizes (you people are smart!), so they will be announced in next week’s post.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a two-word phrase.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Slightly tricky (but not by design) for a Week 1 — 496 correct answers, but also 27 incorrect, which is high. Let’s go to the videotape:

Solvers were asked for a two-word phrase, and our four theme entries were:

17-A [Shrek and Godzilla, reacting to the cold?] = BIG GREEN QUAKERS
28-A [Correct response to “What are the two largest cats?”] = LIONS, TIGERS
44-A [Grizzlies who’ve suntanned too long?] = BIG RED BEARS
55-A [Funny-faced hounds, when they’re embarrassed?] = CRIMSON BULLDOGS

Those are the eight athletic team nicknames of contest answer IVY LEAGUE:

Dartmouth Big Green
Penn Quakers
Columbia Lions
Princeton Tigers
Cornell Big Red
Brown Bears
Harvard Crimson
Yale Bulldogs

Most of the 27 incorrect entries submitted COLLEGE FOOTBALL or FOOTBALL TEAMS or COLLEGE TEAMS. I ran this by the panel, but they voted 4-0 against since the salient point really is that they’re the Ivy League teams. Still, a tough break to start the year for those who missed it.

e.a. says:

had me climbing the walls

Tyler Hinman writes:

Most of these (Dartmouth, Princeton, Cornell, Brown, Harvard, Yale) are ECAC rivals of RPI hockey, so THUMBS DOWN.

arctan li says:

as a cornell alumnus…GO BIG RED (we’re definitely the best school in this grid)

genefaba writes:

We have been visiting and applying to these schools for my son for the last 5 months. I need a break.

Dogpole says:

As a Brit, this felt like a week 3.

Oxbridge puzzle coming soon!

Singerdog missed the last 105 MGWCC puzzles:

Been two years…finally back!

Nice to have you!

And finally, GMatthews has a challenge:

Now do it with the Big Ten!

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 496 correct entries received, is D.R. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, D.R. will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

2016 MGWCC WINNERS:

Congratulations to the following 63 MGWCC winners, who correctly solved 48 or more of 2016’s 53 metas. They’re due for some prizes, and we’ll list them here as BRONZE, SILVER, and GOLD medal winners:

2016 MGWCC BRONZE MEDALISTS:

The following 30 MGWCC solvers submitted the correct contest answer to 48, 49, or 50 of 2016’s 53 metas. Each will receive a MGWCC “Aha! The Light Went on for Me” flashlight pen for their contest crossword prowess:

Peter Abide — Biloxi, Miss.

Steve Blais — Windsor, Ont.

Dan Bowden — Sydney, Australia

“C” Fogarty — Point Clear, Ala.

Neville Fogarty — Newport News, Va.

Sean Forbes — Crest Hill, Ill.

Katie Hamill — Arlington, Mass.

Bob Johnson — Carmel, Ind.

Brian Kell — Pittsburgh, Penna.

Monica Krausse — El Paso, Tex.

Andy Kravis — Brooklyn, N.Y.

Brian Kulman — Los Gatos, Calif.

Julian Lim — Singapore, Singapore

Patricia Miga — Colleyville, Tex.

Katie Miller — Houston, Tex.

Mark Navarrete — Quezon City, Philippines

Kyle Osborne — Hamilton, O.

Giovanni Pagano — Newark, Del.

Eric Prestemon — Woodside, Calif.

Joon Pahk — Somerville, Mass.

Rich Pardoe — Houston, Tex.

Paul Rundle — Davis, Calif.

Al Sanders — Loveland, Colo.

Jason Shapiro — New York City, N.Y.

David Stein — Takoma Park, Md.

Tom Tabanao — San Jose, Calif.

Jason Taniguchi — Toronto, Ont.

Seth Tribble — New York City, N.Y.

Scott Weiss — Walkersville, Md.

John L. Wilson — Shoreview, Minn.

Congratulations to our 2016 Bronze Medal Winners!

2016 MGWCC SILVER MEDALISTS:

The following 21 MGWCC solvers submitted the correct contest answer to 51 or 52 of 2016’s 53 metas. Each will receive BOTH a MGWCC “Aha! The Light Went on for Me” flashlight pen AND a Super-Classy MGWCC Tote Bag for their contest crossword prowess:

Evan Birnholz — Philadelphia, Penna.

Rich Bragg — Los Altos, Calif.

Joe Fendel — Berkeley, Calif.

Steve Gadd — Falls Church, Va.

Travis Hime — New York City, N.Y.

Carl Holzman — Chicago, Ill.

Ray Hunley — Manassas, Va.

Andy Keller — Apple Valley, Minn.

Jeff Louie — Providence, R.I.

Paul Melamud — Milford, N.J.

Alexander Miller — Grand Rapids, Mich.

Lance Nathan — Arlington, Mass.

Marcia Rose — Mequon, Wisc.

Dave Sullivan — S. Woodstock, Vt.

Jesse Simons — Somerville, Mass.

James Wentworth — Sydney, Australia

Stephen Williams — Holbrook, Mass.

Congratulations to our 2016 Silver Medalists!

2016 MGWCC GOLD MEDALISTS:

The following 12 MGWCC solvers proved UNSTUMPABLE in 2016! They submitted the correct contest answer to all 53 of last year’s metas. Each will receive a MGWCC “Aha! The Light Went on for Me” flashlight pen, AND a MGWCC Tote Bag, AND a Super-Duper Classy MGWCC Portfolio/Organizer for their unstumpability:

Matt Breen — Madison, Wisc.

Jeff Chen — Seattle, Wash.

Jeremy Conner — Monrovia, Calif.

Peter Gordon — Great Neck, N.Y.

Jeffrey Harris — Nashville, Tenn.

Summer Herrick — Seattle, Wash.

Brent Holman — San Francisco, Calif.

Jeremy Horwitz — San Francisco, Calif.

jeremiahsjohnson — Lafayette, Calif.

Jonathan McCue — Los Altos, Calif.

Maggie Wittlin — Lincoln, Nebr.

C.W. — Dillon, Colo.

I (and presumably winners on Twitter and Facebook) will post pics of this swag once it comes in in a few weeks.

Congratulations to our 63 prizewinners, and thanks to every single solver out there! I’ll keep writing these things if you keep solving them. And we’ll do another set of bronze, silver, and gold medals next year — I’ll write the precise terms of those prizes up here next week.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

What two makes of car occupy this puzzle’s secret parking spots?

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Secret parking spots! Fun and handy (I knew of a couple near my building when I lived in DC that the visiting bar-hoppers rarely found). But where are they, and what two makes of car occupy them?

We had eight starred entries, which were:

8-A [*Ohio college] = KENYON
27-A [*Cord] = BAND
29-A [*Encouraged to attack] = SICCED ON
52-A [*Rose ___] = OIL
56-A [*Fall into the sea, as a coastline] = CRUMBLE
7-D [*Subject plumbers know something about] = PHYSICS
37-A [*Easily fooled person] = ASS
50-A [*White House name for another week] = SASHA

Then we also have an unstarred but highly suggestive clue at 41-D: [Condition of some car deals…and a good place to look for parking] = ZERO DOWN.

A couple of months ago I was driving around Staunton when I saw a billboard offering cars with ZERO DOWN. Wouldn’t that be cool if a crossword had a hidden 0-Down entry? I was pleased to discover via Google that no one had done it before. And if you check out Joon’s sweet graphic at right, you’ll see contest answers OPEL and OLDS(mobile) parked there. Both crossword-familiar makes, and starting with “O” which evokes their zero-ness.

And the starred clues? Each clues one of those eight crossers of 0-Down:

50-A [*White House name for another week] = SASHA but also OBAMA
52-A [*Rose ___] = OIL but also PETAL
56-A [*Fall into the sea, as a coastline] = CRUMBLE but also ERODE AWAY
27-A [*Cord] = BAND but also LINE
8-A [*Ohio college] = KENYON but also OBERLIN
29-A [*Encouraged to attack] = SICCED ON but also LET AT
7-D [*Subject plumbers know something about] = PHYSICS but also DRIPS
37-A [*Easily fooled person] = ASS but also SIMP

Tyler Hinman writes:

Before Hunt! Booyah.

Gnarbles says:

Daughter #1 went to Oberlin so had a quick toe-hold

DIS says:

A LOT of fun!

Similarly, Pancho:

Permit me to say that this one was spot on

Matthew G. says:

You could squeeze a third car into that space by adding DE in front of SOTO (as a Brooklynite, I’m used to looking for any extra spot I can find).

And finally, Gene admonishes me:

We should not be encouraging people to park outside the lines.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 354 correct entries received, is Amanda Hoffmeister of Hillsborough, Calif. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Amanda will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This puzzle’s contest answer is a nine-letter word.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

“You Skipped Me” was last week’s title, and the prompt asked for simply a nine-letter word. No obvious theme entries to be found, but alert solvers noticed an odd clue for TYPOS in the central down: [They’re understandable when your finger just missed by one, but by two is a bit much].

And then a bunch of typos in clues, nine in all:

17-A [Two of these in an NBA game means an election] = TECHNICALS. “Election” should be “ejection”.
19-A [Road, to an ancient woman] = ITER. “Woman” should be “Roman.”
23-A [Routing animals] = CARRION. “Routing” should be “Rotting.”
38-A [Channel for Rachel Maddox] = MSNBC. “Maddox” should be “Maddow.”
40-A [They make sure your papers star together] = STAPLES. “Star” should be “stay.”
43-A [Taster animal] = BUNNY. “Taster” should be “Easter.”
53-A [Beginning of siring] = EQUINOX. “Siring” should be “spring.”
62-A [Coming bird] = DOVE. “Coming” should be “cooing.”
63-A [3-Day commander] = EISENHOWER. Tricky one — “3-Day” should be “D-Day.”

Going back to our TYPOS clue, we notice that each of these letter shifts is two keyboard keys away from its intended letter. For example, in the J–>L shift in the first example above, the J is two keys from the L. And what key got skipped over there? The K. And herein lies the tale: those nine letters skipped by our careless typist spell out contest answer KEYSTROKE:

17A J–>L skips the K
19A R–>W skips the E
23A T–>U skips the Y
38A W–>X skips the S
40A Y–>R skips the T
43A E–>T skips the R
53A P–>I skips the O
62A O–>M skips the K
63-A D–>3 skips the E

401 solvers got it right, which was far above my guess of 220, and way above normal for a Week 3. Was the meta too easy or are you people just too damn smart? Probably both.

Small Wave Dave says:

I pwned this one!

Greenstarfanatic asks:

So question: How many people messaged you about typos before realizing what you were doing?

Zero! Now that’s some high-level meta solving from you all. No flinching whatsoever.

imfromjersey says:

loved teh meta!

alabast got it, but not right away:

All it took for me was the ginormous hint in 28 down that I somehow missed for two hours.

lisepac is both good solver and good citizen:

Two good things happened today, in spite of the Nor’easter blasting down on us: fulfilled my jury service for the next 3 years without being impaneled, and finished MGWCC #451 while waiting to be called.

And finally, BretBloomquist points out:

This only works if you have a ZXCVBN keyboard.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 401 correct entries received, is Robert Hutchinson of Valdosta, Ga. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Robert will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

MULLER MONTHLY MUSIC META, SEASON 6:

The great Pete Muller is back with another season of his monthly music-related metas. I’ve blogged the first five seasons every month at Crossword Fiend and will be doing it again this year. Had a painful 10/12 in 2016 but I’m going to go ahead and claim that I will not be stumped in 2017. 12/12, baby! Vegas or bust.

The first puzzle of 2017 went up on Tuesday, and the deadline is 11 PM ET on Sunday. Try it here:

http://pmxwords.com/january-mmmm-the-2017-contest-begins/

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a six-letter word you might shout when you solve this meta.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Somewhat average meta last week, judging by comments. There’s a kernel of a nice idea in there, riffing of the Y’s sometimes vowelness / othertimes consonantness, but perhaps I didn’t find the best interpretation of it. A high # of solvers for a Week 4 (187) got it, though.

Solvers were tasked with finding a six-letter word you might shout when you solve this meta. Armed with that and the title “And Sometimes…” they found just one overt theme entry:

37-A [Question from an irritated person…or a question solvers of this meta should ask themselves six times] = WHAT IS THAT SOUND?

The “six letters” mentioned in the instructions plus the “six times” in the theme clue pushed solvers to look for a letter that appears six times, of which there is only one in this grid: Y. The puzzle’s title hints there as well, since those two words are often seen in the vowel-listing phrase: “A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.”

The six Y’s in the grid (circled in the solution grid above) display the full power of that letter: each Y is a consonant in one direction and a vowel in the other. It’s a consonant in AS YET, NEW YORK, LANYARD, YIN, OH YES, and CAN YOU SEE?, while it’s a vowel in YVES ROCHER, ITALY, POUTY, PENALTY BOX, EASY, and ELY. The first letter in each of those vowel-Y words, in orange above, spell out contest answer YIPPEE! going clockwise in the grid.

Solvers flagged the following imperfections:

a) Some found the clockwise pattern unsatisfying as a meta click, instead of the usual top-to-bottom or left-to-right (either of which would have been very difficult to implement).
b) Some found the answer strange since, while YIPPEE is indeed a Y-word, it doesn’t use the Y in both its incarnations, like YEARLY or YEASTY might. I did indeed consider both of those, but couldn’t find a way to make the instructions work. Though in retrospect maybe YEARLY was a better option, even if the prompt had to be something awkward.
c) On Friday afternoon I had to amend the instructions to stipulate that the answer was a six-letter word. I had considered using YAY as the contest answer (it was too short, though), since it’s something you shout and it uses the Y in both its incarnations. But I hadn’t realized how strong an answer it was even with YIPPEE hiding in the grid; maybe not strong enough to be counted as correct, but certainly strong enough to make someone think it was the right answer. So I sent the amended clues out, which avoided meta unfairness but reduced the elegance of it a little.

So nobody called the meta unfair, but nobody really loved it, either. But a new week and indeed a new month is upon us, so let’s see where it leads.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 187 correct entries received, is Scott Clay of East Fallowfield, Penna. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Scott will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

JANUARY WINNERS:

Congratulations to the following ten January MGWCC winners, whose names were chosen at random from among the 163 people who sent in the correct contest answer to each of January’s four puzzles (IVY LEAGUE, OPEL/OLDSMOBILE, KEYSTROKE, YIPPEE). In addition to an almost imperceptible amount of prestige, each will also receive a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set:

Alan Arbizu — San Mateo, Calif.

David Bardolph — Grand Rapids, Mich.

John Cassidy — Staten Island, N.Y.

Russ Cooper — Phoenix, Ariz.

Steve Gadd — Falls Church, Va.

Karen Horn — Centennial, Colo.

Alan Kennan — Fort Collins, Colo.

John Lampkin — Sun City Center, Fla.

Ashutosh Sodhani — Altrincham, Cheshire, U.K.

Seth Tribble — New York City, N.Y.

Congratulations to our ten winners, and to everyone who went 4-for-4 in January.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a nine-letter word, sadly fitting for me recently, that would complete this puzzle’s theme pattern.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Slightly tougher than usual Week 1, but 491 got it so challenge accepted and completed by solvers. “Don’t Strain Yourself” was our title, and we needed a nine-letter word, sadly fitting for me recently, that would complete this puzzle’s theme pattern.

Out five theme entries were:

17-A [Exxon option] = DIESEL FUEL. Named for Vin Diesel.
25-A [Show deference] = GENUFLECT. Fun word, from Latin genu, meaning the knee.
34-A [They believe what they want to believe] = WISHFUL THINKERS. As Joon mentioned at Fiend, “wishful thinking” is a much more common phrase, but look how much friendlier the -ERS was for me than an -ING in filling that big corner!
48-A [Airline headquartered in Cologne] = LUFTHANSA. Good pretzels (I’m guessing).
57-A [Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, etc.] = GULF STATES. Also cluable as [Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, etc.].

What’s the pattern hidden herein? We’ve got an LFU, UFL, FUL, LUF, and ULF ensconced in these five themers. The only missing permuation is the nasty FLU, which would have made a fitting final theme entry as contest answer INFLUENZA. I also accepted FLUSTRUCK and FLURIDDEN as correct.

Andrew R quips:

maybe the first time “i got the flu!” is a good thing.

hibob says:

Sorry to hear that. At least it’s not beri beri!

How true, how true.

And finally, Al says:

Get Well Soon!!

Thanks, and I did — in fact by the time you solved it I was already better. But I wrote it sick, which is kind of amusing.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 491 correct entries received, is Amy Bemis of Minneapolis, Minn. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Amy will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

FLASH GORDON:

Peter Gordon. Kickstarter. Fireball Newsflash Crosswords. 2017-2018. Highly recommended. MGWCC weekly prize this week and next.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

[Note: Arthur Wynne’s historic first crossword puzzle featured a period at the end of each clue. This convention gradually died out over the ensuing decades, but we’re reviving it for this week’s MGWCC.] This week’s contest answer is the last name of a famous person whose full name may or may not be a “period piece.”

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Curious instructions last week:

[Note: Arthur Wynne’s historic first crossword puzzle featured a period at the end of each clue. This convention gradually died out over the ensuing decades, but we’re reviving it for this week’s MGWCC.] This week’s contest answer is the last name of a famous person whose full name may or may not be a “period piece.”

Adept meta-solvers soon realized that, in the case of the six theme entries, which were marked with parenthetical numbers, those final periods served to mask an abbreviation. So at 17-A, [Pizza makers may use this dial. (7)] was in fact NEAPOLITAN, dial. being short for “dialect.”

Similarly:

23A [The answer to this question will be a no. (6)] = HOW OLD ARE YOU. No. = number.
30A [Famed culinary fig. (4)] = PAULA DEEN. Fig. = figure.
39A [Where one may find a student apt. (6)] = OFF-CAMPUS. Apt. = apartment.
46A [Catholic you knew from Mass. (5)] = JOHN F KENNEDY. Mass. = Massachusetts.
58A [It boasts America’s greatest pop. (10)] = CALIFORNIA. Pop. = population.

Now what? Looking to those parentheticals seems logical; extend the abbrs. to their full form, pop in the relevant number, and see what happens:

7th letter of DIALECT is T
6th letter of NUMBER is R
4th letter of FIGURE is U
6th letter of APARTMENT is M
5th letter of MASSACHUSETTS is A
10th letter of POPULATION s N

That spells TRUMAN, contest answer HARRY S TRUMAN being a possible period piece due to the uncertainty over whether to put a period after his middle name (the “S” was his full middle name).

Ed writes:

My father was Philip N Brody without a period. In college he was badgered into picking one, so he chose Neil, but abandoned it again later.

Mike Berman says:

Hopefully he will remain the only president starting with “TRUM” to deploy a nuclear weapon

I suspect so, but only time will tell.

Jeff Louie writes:

I was one of those working off the original PDF. I was extremely frustrated. I feel better now.

Big apologies for that. The parenthetical numbers didn’t transfer over to the PDF, something I did not catch until a couple of hours in when we sent out a correction. My sincere regrets to everyone inconvenienced by that — should not happen, and I’ve taken steps to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

Tyler Hinman thinks that this puzzle was:

A fun var.

And finally, cscottclay suggests:

I nominate this for Puzzle of the cent.

Meaning it’s the best crossword of the past 100 years, or that it’s worth one penny? With a masking final period, I can’t say for sure.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 409 correct entries received, is Joel Martin of Moses Lake, Wash. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Joel will also receive a 1-year subscription to Peter Gordon’s Fireball Newsflash Crosswords.
FLASH GORDON:

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a First Family member of the past 20 years who would have made a fitting final theme answer to this puzzle.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

We were looking for a First Family member of the past 20 years who would have made a fitting final theme answer to this puzzle. Our five theme entries, starred for clarity, were:

1-A/95-A [*With 95-Across, Rome-born dictator (and this theme entry is a little different from the others)] = JULIUS / CAESAR

19-A [*Norfolk-born monarch (disputed but you’ll figure it out)] = ANNE BOLEYN. So the first two theme entries contain curious parentheticals.

34-A [*San Francisco-born director of “Any Number Can Play” and “No Time for Sergeants”] = MERVYN LEROY

68-A [*Rome-born Nobelist] = ENRICO FERMI

81-A [*French-born theologian] = JOHN CALVIN, ne Jean Cauvin.

First insight: each of these five clues mentions their answer’s birth city, which must mean something.

Second insight: lots of longish fill full of M’s ad I’s and C’s and D’s…hmm…

Put those two together and you’ve got the idea: each of these five entries has their birth year in Roman numerals ensconced in a grid entry. Like so:

Mervyn Leroy was born in 1900, or MCM = MCMASTER

Enrico Fermi was born in 1901, or MCMI = MCMILLAN

John Calvin was born in 1509, or MDIX = TOM DIXON

And now let’s look at the two parentheticals: Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC, which is the first three letters of CBCNEWS. That’s why it’s a little different from the others!

And Anne Boleyn’s birth year is disputed, but the two main camps say 1501 or 1507. “You’ll figure it out,” and if you got this far you certainly did; since there’s an MDI (1501) in SEEM DIRE but no MDVII anywhere, 1501 it was.

So which recent First Family member does this lead us to? The theme entries and their birth year hiders are all symmetric thus far except for CBC NEWS, whose grid twin DAMMING hasn’t been used. So we need a First Family member born in 2001, which leads to contest answer SASHA OBAMA.

It’s interesting how few truly famous people there are under the age of 16. I really wanted to use MMIX, but the best 2009 birth I could find is this person you haven’t heard of. And can this person really exist or is that a joke?

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 226 correct entries received, is Eric Conrad of Peaks Island, Me. In addition to1 a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Joel will also receive a 1-year subscription to Peter Gordon’s Fireball Newsflash Crosswords.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a fruit.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

We were looking for a fruit last week, and our six (downward, for which there must be a reason) theme entries were, from left to right:

3-D [It’s usually 15×15, as it is today (go ahead and count!)] = MGWCC GRID. So meta. And why did he tell us to “go ahead and count”?

33-D [Job interview papers] = UPDATED CV. Marginally a lexical chunk, as Joon noted at Fiend.

6-D [Connecticut-born gunsmith] = SAMUEL COLT

31-D [The River Walk is there] = SAN ANTONIO. I’ve walked it, it’s nice.

10-D [Turning the car around to head whence you came] = GOING BACK

35-D [Woody Allen movie of 1987] = SEPTEMBER

First insight: each of these entries suggests a number. The more obvious ones would be the Colt 45, CV being the Roman numeral for 105, and “going back” being a 180 (especially as described in that clue). And if you went ahead and counted the squares in a MGWCC grid as I suggested, you’d get to 225.

Second insight: Each of these numbers is evenly divisible by 15. This might have helped you puzzle out that SAN ANTONIO wants its area code, which is 210, while SEPTEMBER wants not its place among the months (nine), but rather its number of days, which is 30.

Now what? Third and final insight: if you numbered the letters in a 15×15 grid going across and down, then each of these six numbers would appear in the 15th column of the grid. So, in left-to-right order of theme entries, take the rightmost-column letter corresponding the each theme entries number. So the MGWCC grid has 225 squares, which would be the bottom-right square in the grid. That’s a Q. Next we have the 105 from UPDATED CV, and square #105 in this grid would be the U in STU/UPAT.

Keep going and you spell out contest answer QUINCE, a fruit which also happens to be the Spanish word for this puzzle’s key number, fifteen. 164 solvers got it; with one more we could’ve had a more fitting total!

There were some funny notes from solvers but I’m randomly xed out of my verification page at the moment so I can’t see ’em! Will try to get them up this weekend if that page feels like working again.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 164 correct entries received, is L.N. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, L.N. will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

MONTHLY WINNERS:

Here are our 10 monthly winners for February, chosen randomly from among the 136 solvers who submitted the correct contest answers to all four of last month’s challenges (INFLUENZA, HARRY S TRUMAN, SASHA OBAMA, QUINCE):

Abby Braunsdorf — Lafayette, Ind.

Jared Dashoff — Washington, D.C.

Summer Herrick — Seattle, Wash.

Tyler Hinman — San Francisco, Calif.

Eric LeVasseur — Seal Beach, Calif.

R.N.

Alex Prieto — Los Angeles, Calif.

Marcia Rose — Delray Beach, Fla.

Peter Strawn — Sacramento, Calif.

John L. Wilson — Shoreview, Minn.

Congratulations to our 10 winners, and to everyone who went 4-for-4 in February.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a famous NBA player of the past or present.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

We were looking for a famous NBA player of the past or present, and the grid sported (LOL) but one obvious theme entry, the spanner at 38-A: [Feat that’s only been recorded four times in NBA history (and never by our meta answer, though there’s an amusing story there which I’ll post on the blog next week)]

That’s a QUADRUPLE DOUBLE, meaning the player achieves double digits in four of five categories: points, rebounds, steals, blocks, and assists. It’s only ever been recorded four times, but those players’ surnames are all inconveniently 8 or 9 letters long (Nate Thurmond, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Alvin Robertson). Can’t fit 32 or 36 double letters into the grid so was about to choose a less good meta answer, but then I noticed this amusing anecdote at the bottom of the relevant Wiki page:

[In a game against the Utah Jazz on Feb. 18th, 1985: Bird sat out the entire fourth quarter. After three quarters, head coach K. C. Jones informed Bird that he was one steal away from a quadruple-double and asked if he wanted to stay in the game. Bird declined, saying that he “already did enough damage.”

That’s pretty funny. Anyway, so you’ll notice the only double letters in the grid are the 16 highlighted at right: four B’s, four I’s, four R’s, and four D’s, finally giving meta answer LARRY BIRD his quadruple-double.

With just 404 correct answers received, this one was more like a Week 2/5 than the intended Week 1/5. To balance the scales of the universe, then, this week’s is more like the 1/5 I meant to run last week.

PhilB notes:

Bird is definitely easier to pull off than Olajuwon!

Don’t think I didn’t think about it…for about one second.

And DIS took the circuitous route:

Quadruple double must mean eight. Eight across is SWARMS, which means bees. The entry with the highest percentage of Bs is ABBA, who were famous for their 45s. 45 down references the Orioles, known familiarly as the Birds. So it all flows very nicely, but it’s maybe a week 2.

Nothing gets by you people!

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 164 correct entries received, is Mike Olson of Minneapolis, Minn. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Mike will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is an invasive species.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

You were promised a Week 1-level puzzle for Week 2, and look what happened:

Not only were there zero incorrect answers, but we blew past the old Subscription Era-record of 534 correct entries. Mission accomplished!

We were looking for an invasive species last week, an evocative 15-letter phrase I hated to waste outside the grid. Our five theme entries were:

17-A [Happy end result of a zoo escape?] = FOUND MONKEY. From “found money.”
22-A [Admonishment to someone cleaning leaves from your gutters?] = YOU MISSED A SPOUT. Not “You missed a spot.”
34-A [Where corrosive substances in a lab go after the experiment?] = ACID DRAIN. From “acid rain.”
52-A [Anchor who read the news at a 1-2-3 tempo?] = WALTZER CRONKITE. I wanted a doozy for the Z and when I found this 15-letter entry I knew it had to go in. I’m not really a pun guy but I dare say Merl would’ve approved. A companion entry to JOHN CAMEROON SWAZI, which he used in his puns-on-African-countries puzzle.
57-A [Google co-founder, while studying at UCLA?] = SERGEY BRUIN. Not Sergey Brin, who actually studied at Stanford.

Those five extra letters spell contest answer KUDZU, which invaded our five theme entries to form a vine snaking through the grid. Kudzu kudzu kudzu! As fun to type as it is to say.

Kaille exults:

For once, I’m not in the weeds!

Jerry Marshall says:

Answer was obvious to me, a landowner in West Tennessee, where kudzu is like Godzilla roaming the region!

And jagoandlitefoot writes:

My first entry! Hopefully there will be many more to come.

May your MGWCC Overall total grow like the kudzu vine.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 566 correct entries received, is Steve M. of Highland, Ill. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Steve will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is something you may (or may not) see a doctor about.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

We were looking for something you may (or may not) see a doctor about, and our five theme entries referenced not-really-medically-serious conditions:

17-A [Result of romantic disappointment…but I wouldn’t see a doctor about it] = ACHY BREAKY HEART
22-A [How welcome sights may be applied…but I wouldn’t see a doctor about it] = FOR SORE EYES. As in “a sight for sore eyes.”
40-A [What people nervous about using public restrooms are said to have…but I wouldn’t see a doctor about it] = SHY BLADDERS.
55-A [Finds intolerable…but I wouldn’t see a doctor about it] = CAN’T STOMACH
60-A [Couldn’t get along due to past conflicts…but I wouldn’t see a doctor about it] = HAD SOME BAD BLOOD

So you probably wouldn’t see a doctor about any of these; but if you did, what kind of doctor would you see?

For an achy breaky heart, a Cardiologist
For sore eyes, an Ophthalmologist
For a shy bladder, a Urologist
For inability to stomach someone/thing, a Gastroenterologist
For bad blood, a Hematologist

The first letter of those five docs spell out contest answer COUGH, found by 259 solvers.

ASB says:

Gonna find out this week how many doctors you have doing the MGWCC (I’m one)

Let’s find out:

Jeff says:

I suppose this pediatrician couldn’t ask for “JULIA CHILD” as a theme answer

Greenstarfanatic says:

I’M THE REAL DOCTOR HERE.

Neil B writes:

I am a pediatrician. On my days off i say i am off like a cough

And one non-doc, Joe:

And now this hypochondriac has a whole new set of imagined maladies to see these doctors about.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 259 correct entries received, is P.H. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, P.H. will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

NOTE: Many of you will be at this weekend’s American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, so THIS WEEK’S CONTEST DEADLINE IS NOON ET ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29th.

This week’s contest answer is a famous TV character.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

“We Stand Together As One” was last week’s title, and we sought a famous TV character. The identity of theme entries was non-obvious; the four longest entries were 9 letters apiece, but only one of them was theme, for instance. Lots of initialisms and abbreviations, though, which served as an entry point to successful meta-solvers.

What they noticed: seven squares in the grid cross at an initialism/abbreviation, and the letter they cross at stands for the same word both ways. In top-to-bottom order:

1-D [MVP in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013] = LBJ, crossing 17-A [Colonial Athletic Association team] = JMU DUKES at the J, which stands for James both ways (LeBron James and James Madison University).

23-A [Not-very-feared Pepsi rival] = RC COLA, crossing 23-D [Dudley Do-Right’s org.] = RCMP at the R, which stands for Royal both ways (Royal Crown Cola and Royal Canadian Mounted Police).

28-A [911 responder] = EMT, crossing 11-D [Org. that won the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize] = UNICEF at the E, which stands for Emergency both ways (Emergency Medical Technician and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund).

39-A [Setting for many video games] = WWIII, crossing 30-D [Many a Vietnam vet] = POW at the W, which stands for War both ways (World War III and prisoner of war).

50-A [Cloak-and-dagger types, sometimes] = CIA AGENTS, crossing 51-D [Where 100 isn’t an A+] = IQ TEST at the I, which stands for Intelligence both ways (Central Intelligence Agency and Intelligence Quotient).

54-A [Netflix hit, briefly] = OITNB, crossing 43-D [Letters on fashionable caps] = DKNY at the N, which stands for New both ways (“Orange Is the New Black” and Donna Karan New York).

66-A [Possibly temporary baseball exec] = ACTING GM, crossing 68-D [Chain that sells vitamins] = GNC at the G, which stands for general both ways (general manager and General Nutrition Center).

Those spell contest answer J.R. EWING, an initials-named person himself, but also ironically apt since his JR stands for two different things — his name “John Ross,” but also that his father had the same name so he’s also a “junior.”

Here’s an earworm for you. Very ’70s, down to the copter’s shadow on the buildings.

Gwinns writes:

“Acronyms that intersect. This seems easy.” “Wait, why isn’t the I from WWIII/IOS part of this?”

Similarly, Ertchin:

I *almost* asked about the stray Q in the answer, then I checked the entries more closely.

JrMan (!) says:

Didn’t click until I was typing “meaningless” letter sequence JREWING into an anagram solver.

Molson says:

Getting a week 4? I must be dreaming!

BretBloomquist laments:

I wish you could have pulled off H.R. Pufnstuf

Burghman got there via a fascinating path, unintended by me:

Wow, talk about luck! As I was transcribing various initialisms, I mistook LBJ for the president, which led to “Conrad Bain is in the puzzle”. Lo and behold they intersect at the ‘B’!!!! And that was my big breakthrough even though it was wrong and not involved.

And finally, Jonesy writes:

i’m on such a roll! longest streak by far but i’m worried for next week….

As you should be…

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 219 correct entries received, is Jerry Cushman of Virginia Beach, Va. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Jerry will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

ACPT CHAMP:

Congratulations to Dan Feyer on his record-tying 7th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament victory, which he achieved even though he ran into technical difficulties mid-solve!

Congrats also to Jeopardy! champ / Puzzle writer / MGWCC blogger Joon Pahk on his 2nd-place finish, and to five-time champ Tyler Hinman on his 3rd-place finish (which was almost a first-place finish), as well as to tournament director Will Shortz and his team.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a 20th-century year.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

We were looking for a 20th-century year last week, and there were no obvious theme entries to latch onto (nothing over eight letters, in fact).

Lots of little loose threads hanging about, like that INFINITY/TONY in the southeast corner could be INFINITI/TONI, or CODE/CUTENESS in the northwest corner could become MODE/MUTENESS.

Yank on enough of those threads and the mystery unravels: 11 symmetrically-placed squares spell CASSIUS CLAY in the grid, but could turn into MUHAMMAD ALI and still be cluable both ways, as in the twin solution grids at left/right.

That points us to contest answer 1964, the year when 22-year old Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

I’m old enough to remember the D-Con ads he did in the 1970s, but here’s the Greatest’s final ad, in which he co-stars with another champ.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 79 correct entries received, is PJ Ward of Birmingham, Ala. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, PJ will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

MARCH WINNERS:

Congratulations to the following ten March MGWCC winners, whose names were chosen at random from among the 64 people who sent in the correct contest answer to each of last month’s five puzzles (LARRY BIRD, KUDZU, COUGH, J.R. EWING, 1964). In addition to an almost imperceptible amount of prestige, each will also receive a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set:

Deepak Bal — Montclair, N.J.

Nate Cardin — Studio City, Calif.

Jared Dashoff — Washington, D.C.

Peggy Johnson — Granada Hills, Calif.

Paul Melamud — Milford, N.J.

Jesse Simons — Somerville, Mass.

Jody Stroup — Ashland, O.

PJ Ward — Birmingham, Ala.

J.W.

Bunella Zukowski — Lebanon, Penna.

Congratulations to our ten winners, and to everyone who went 5-for-5 in March (it wasn’t easy to do).

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a famous actor.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

578 correct entries last week, a new Subuscription-Era record. And zero incorrect, so precisely zero solvers were fooled!

We were looking for a famous actor, and our five theme entries were:

17-A [42-acre Pennsylvania attraction since 1874] = PHILADELPHIA ZOO. The nation’s first, in fact.
29-A [Hit from the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever”] = DISCO INFERNO. Great song.
39-A [Have an unpleasant trip to Vegas] = LOSE BIG
47-A [Video game opener] = SPLASH SCREEN
61-A [Words to a slanderer] = DON’T SULLY MY NAME

“Philadelphia,” “Inferno,” “Big,” “Splash,” and “Sully” are all TOM HANKS movies, making him our contest answer.

I was sure that solvers this week would try to sneak a bunch of Tom Hanks movie titles into their e-mails, but thankfully that didn’t happen. I like to keep the level of conversation somewhat elevated here, and amateur-hour nonsense like that just isn’t going to fly at my website.

Flyingdisc says:

Keep doing that thing you do!

Glad you like the puzzles! As long as you all keep solving these, I’ll keep writing them.

OSXpert asks:

Do you need any volunteers to do more test solving?

Appreciate the offer, but I’m covered for now.

Pomona47 writes:

This puzzle was in a league of its own.

Wow! High praise indeed.

Imfromjersey was a little absentminded:

I almost cast away my answer while waiting for the punchline.

Good move — since you only get one entry each week, it’s important to make sure you have it right before submitting your answer.

And finally, thepiranha writes:

These crosswords are like a box of chocolates…You never know what you’re going to get.

Great to hear! I aim for variety in my meta mechanisms, and it’s helpful for me to get feedback like this showing that solvers appreciate it.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 578 correct entries received, is Andrew Foerster of Raleigh, N.C. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Andrew will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

INDIE 500 REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN:

The 3rd annual edition of the Indie 500 Crossword Tournament will be held on Saturday, June 3rd, on the GW campus in Washington, D.C. Sweet website here, where registration is now open. I’ve been to the first two and had a complete blast and will be there for #3 as well. Hope to see you!

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a four-letter mode of transportation.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

Dear MGWCC Solver,

For uninteresting reasons, today’s MGWCC will go out at 3:00 PM ET instead of noon.

Apologies for the delay, but I will see you (in puzzle form) then.

–Matt

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

We were looking for a four-letter mode of transportation, and our six theme entries (four obvious by length, the other two to be discovered later) turned out to be:

17-A [Dancer’s boss] = SANTA CLAUS
25-A [Snoopy’s hero, with “the”] = RED BARON. Clue later corrected to [Snoopy’s archnemesis] via e-mail after the fact. First but not last Americana fail on this puzzle!
32-A [Marathoner who won gold at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics (and has won the Boston Marathon eight times)] = JEAN DRISCOLL. Pic below.
41-A America’s Cup winner on the cover of Time Magazine in February of 1987 = DENNIS CONNER
49-A [Battle of the Trebia victor, 218 BC] = HANNIBAL
62-A [He’s won the Indianapolis 500 three times (one fewer than his brother Al)] = BOBBY UNSER

Each of these six is associated with a type of transportation: Santa has his sleigh (S), the Red Baron his airplane (A), Jean Driscoll is a famous wheelchair (W) athlete, Dennis Conner helmed a yacht (Y), Hannibal his Alps-crossing elephants (E), and Bobby Unser a racecar (R). The initials of those six spell SAWYER, which, with a nudge from the title, leads you to Tom Sawyer, famous for his contest answer RAFT rides down the Mississippi.

Or is he? While Tom does show up on rafts in Twain’s books, Huck Finn is the iconic rafter, which I don’t think actually derailed any solvers but did cause some where’s-my-meta-click confusion that landed somewhere between irritating and quite frustrating. So while the meta might have been technically correct, Huck Finn’s superior raftiness is definitely a blot. Meta answers should click more strongly than that.

David W. writes:

Coincidentally, I got to see Jean Driscoll last weekend:

Cool!

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 301 correct entries received, is Cheryl Braunstein of Washington, D.C. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Cheryl will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

NOTE: Because I’m sending this week’s puzzle out later, the deadline for MGWCC #464 is Tuesday, April 25th at 3 PM ET.

This week’s contest answer is a familiar phrase of three words totaling 19 letters.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Our title last week was “What Has Come Between Us?” and we were looking for a familiar phrase of three words totaling 19 letters. The seven theme entries were starred (unnecessarily, some solvers felt, but I didn’t like that two non-theme downs were longer than the middle theme entry) as follows:

19-A [*Charisma so strong it needs no spoken words?] = SILENT MOXIE. From silent movie.

24-A [*Person who’s always trying to get Danson to argue?] = TED BAITER. From Ted Baxter of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Also changes one letter to get “red baiter,” but from the pattern established by the other six it had to be TED BAITER.

31-A [*Nail place where everyone’s British?] = ANGLO SALON. From Anglo-Saxon.

48-A [*Videos that are supposed to be six seconds but wind up running ten or fifteen?] = LONG VINES. From long lines.

65-A [*Moves like Jagger’s?] = MICK SHAKES. From milkshakes.

74-A [*Digestion aid at a cook-off?] = CHILI PILL. From chill pill.

81-A [*Tricky part of a highway in South Dakota’s capital?] = PIERRE CURVE. From Pierre Curie.

First key insight: in each of these cases, one Roman numeral has been replaced by another. If you had RED BAITER above, then, you realized the R-to-T transition was the odd one out and gave it another look.

Second key insight: the key word in the title was “Between;” take the difference between the replaced Roman numerals and you get:

19-A — V and X = 5 difference
24-A — X and I = 9 difference
31-A — X and L = 40 difference
48-A — L and V = 45 difference
65-A — L and C = 50 difference
74-A — L and I = 49 difference
81-A — I and V = 4 difference

Circle those seven in the grid and you get OPINION from top-to-bottom, and after a moment’s reflection you find that what has come between us is a literal DIFFERENCE OF OPINION, found by 175 solvers.

Interesting provenance to this meta: my wife showed me a text she’d written where “previous” had been somehow autocorrected to “precious” which made the text highly amusing. I live my life in a constant state of low-level meta alert, so I noticed right away that one Roman numeral had replaced another, and pointed this out to her, along with the idea of using the difference between the two numbers. She immediately suggested, “Yeah, and then the answer could be something like “difference of opinion.” I calculated that there were seven usable differences in a 15×15 grid, and with 7 letters in OPINION, the idea was fully formed in about 60 seconds. Go wifey!

chriskingsc writes:

The Roman numeral well will never run dry!

It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Bob J says:

I thought there must have been a good reason for not having D’s or M’s involved

I’d need to write one of those “World’s Largest Crossword” thingies for that.

And DIS writes:

This was a ream work of art.

If 500 of you printed it out, it is!

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 175 correct entries received, is Grant Yang of Clarksburg, Md. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Grant will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is something I’ve done several times in this crossword’s clues — and what you need to do in the grid.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Nice idea behind last week’s meta, although some solvers found the execution unsatisfying. But it still might have been close to the best possible execution, so maybe the universe, that trickster, handed us a nice idea without an accompanying nice way to present it.

Instructions read: This week’s contest answer is something I’ve done several times in this crossword’s clues — and what you need to do in the grid. Our original title was “Creative Destruction,” but when just a couple of correct entries had come in after three hours I sent out a hint, which was the alternative title: “Reaching New Lows.” It worked, since a healthy 122 more solvers got it after that (and a total of 14 took the NO HINT option, successfully cracking the meta without the new title. Yikes!).

The only obvious theme entry was ERR at 30-D, whose clue read: [Fail to enter the numeral 4 somewhere while working this meta, say]. Figuring out where that 4 goes was the key to cracking the meta: not in the grid, but beneath it, to turn the 2000 horror spoof SCARY MOVIE into its third sequel, 2006’s SCARY MOVIE 4.

Next step; put 14 more letters underneath the grid, one per column, to form 14 cluable crossword entries (see solution grid above, stolen from Joon at Fiend). They are:

CRUM–>CRUMB
LATE–>LATER
AMIT–>A MITE (two words, as in “a little bit”)
TRIPLE–>TRIPLE-A
STAR–>STARK
FORMA–>FORMAT
LEAS–>LEASH
ERS–>ERSE
SCARYMOVE–>SCARYMOVIE4
FREES–>FREEST
AMA–>AMAH
CARE–>CAREW
GASLIGHTER–> GASLIGHT ERA
IDO–>IDOL
TOO–>TOOL

Those added letters spell contest answer BREAK THE 4TH WALL, the theater term for an actor breaking character to address the audience outside of the play’s flow. The device is a rich source of humor, and crossword writers have been doing this in their clues increasingly over the past decade or so (see clues to 28-A and 1-D in this puzzle). Note also that the closest edge to the solver is the wall that’s broken, as it is when the 4th wall is broken in a play or TV show.

So, a nice idea…but. Because many of the lowest down entries have multiple options to form a new entry, such as TRIPLE? which could be A,D,S,T, or even X, some solvers found it difficult to get the final answer even with the 4 in place.

Also, the six parenthetical (Tricky one!) additions to some of those clue were more confusing than helpful to some solvers. They were there for three different reasons: in the case of STAR(K) and AMA(H) they indicated that you skipped over the three black squares beneath them to continue the word; for A MITE and GASLIGHT ERA they hinted at the new answers being two words, and for TRIPLE(A) a hyphenated word; and for SCARY MOVIE(4) it was there because of the numeral instead of an expected letter.

Others found a few of the new entries elusive: A MITE is a crossword staple but somewhat dated or dialectical; AMAH is a tough crosswordese word; and baseball legend Rod CAREW is not as well-known to the general public as his career merits, so unfamiliar to some. The fill certainly did suffer from needing to extend all 15 down entries outside the grid. But in the end we got a reasonable number of Week 4 correct entries, so all’s mostly well that ends mostly well, I think.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 124 correct entries received, is Rob Tricchinelli of Washington, D.C. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Rob will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.

Also a winner this week, for solving MGWCC #465 without the profferred hint: Kyle Osborne of West Chester, O., whose name was chosen at random from among the 14 correct no-hint entries received. Kyle will also win a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, in addition to a 1-year subscription to MGDX.

UPDATE, 1:10 PM ET FRIDAY:

Whoops! I blanked on picking monthly winners for April. My mistake, and I’ll choose 12 instead of the normal 10 as penance, and announce them next week.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a famous foursome.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.