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:
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “First and Third, Two Out”
Instructions: Six of this puzzle’s theme entries are starred. What is the secret seventh theme entry? (You can submit either the clue number or the entry itself.)
Answer: PIGPEN at 45-Down
415 right answers last week, so definitely a Week 2! The drought is over. Thanks for never losing faith in my ability to write a contest crossword that receives between 400 and 499 correct answers. The crossword gods tested us and we passed with flying colors.
Our six theme entries, clued just with an asterisk to indicate their themehood, were COMMUNICATE, INTROVERTED, AIRSPACE, SCHEMING, KIND OF SAUCE, and SECRET AGENT. That fifth one is a tipoff that all of these are crossword-style clues to words; the others are all just words themselves (or in the case of the last one, a common two-word phrase that’s one lexical chunk). Pick off the obvious ones and a pattern emerges: a SECRET AGENT is a SPY, INTROVERTED might clue SHY…aha! That KIND OF SAUCE must be SOY.
From the title, we have our first and third letters, which are S and Y, and the second letter is out. In order, they are:
[Communicate] = SAY
[Introverted] = SHY
[Airspace] = SKY
[Scheming] = SLY
[Kind of sauce] = SOY
[Secret agent] = SPY
Those are all in alphabetical order, and the one that comes last would be STY — and lo and behold, there’s PIGPEN in the grid.
Tyler Hinman says:
didnt submit sooner, sry
Kettlebagder writes:
Basically the worst word ladder ever
The instructions would be: “Can you get from SAY to STY in just six steps?”
And finally, ant points out:
These “leftovers” spell HOP TALK, which seems appropriate for this Easter weekend.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 415 correct entries received, is Roger Friedman of Annandale, Va. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Roger will also receive a signed copy of my book Pint-Size Crosswords.
DOWNS-ONLY ARTICLE IN THE WSJ:
Nice piece on the Downs-Only movement, with lots of our friends mentioned. Subscription required, I think.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
We conclude Gentle April with today’s puzzle. I think it’s another Week 2 but we shall see…
This puzzle grid contains three countries. What fourth country, whose name has seven letters, should also be in the grid but isn’t?
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.