Good afternoon, crossword fans — welcome to Week 121 of my contest. If you’re new to the contest and would like to enter, please see the site FAQ on the left sidebar for instructions.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
So my new car is a PRIUS, which elicited both cheers and jeers from the 84 solvers who figured it out. Cheers for its environmental sensibilities, jeers for the alleged snootiness of PRIUS owners (made famous on shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “South Park“).
Hey, I’m just in it for the gas mileage and because it feels like something the Jetsons would ride around in, so let’s move on to the meta…
…which was hidden rather sneakily right in the six theme clues, all of which began with the letters P-R-I-U-S in whatever order:
17-a {U.S. prison on a bay}
21-a {Purist’s activity}
32-a {IRS punishments} (the most oddly-worded of the six, which many solvers mentioned as their gateway to the meta)
40-a {Spurious reasoning}
52-a {Uprising}
60-a {Rips up}
Richard Chauviere found something interesting in the grid:
The first letters of down answers 4 through 9 spell recall. I’ve got no other prospects. Recall covers a multitude of models.
While Michael Marcus one-upped my palindromic title:
A Toyota? Sir, a Yaris!
(Yeah, I have no idea. This is a total guess.)
Louis Ah liked the puzzle:
Sip rum-based drink after solving, it made me want to.
Similarly, Justin Smith writes:
I pursued the answer until it finally surrendered…
And finally: David Howorth, frustrated by the meta, chose the stalker route:
I decided to try to cheat, but the God of Crosswords is a just god and I came up empty. Maybe if I’d tried harder.
The Virginia DMV does not have searchable registration info online. I don’t expect any state does.
I tried to find your address in Staunton, hoping I could peek at your house via Google street view and maybe get an idea from the house of what your car preferences would be, maybe even get a look at your previous car. No luck there, either.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 84 correct entries received, is Jeff Gellner of Westerville, O. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, Jeff will also receive of a copy of Les Foeldessy’s entertaining new book Gryptics.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
One of this week’s seven theme answers is located in the wrong place in the grid. Which one is it? E-mail this theme answer to me (the actual entry in the grid, not its clue number) at crosswordcontest@gmail.com by Tuesday at noon ET. Please put the contest answer in the subject line of your e-mail.
To print the puzzle out, click on the image below and hit “print” on your browser. To solve using Across Lite download the free software here, then join the Google Group (1,327 members now!) here.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.