Ahoy, Fellow Cruciverbalists! Welcome to Week 26 of my crossword contest. If you’re new to the contest and would like to enter, please see the site FAQ on the left sidebar for instructions.
Crikey — have we been doing this for half a year already? Tempus fugit!
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
It was 45 years ago last Saturday that a bullet, probably from the gun of this professional assassin, killed president John F. Kennedy (it sure as hell wasn’t this guy who did it).
102 solvers correctly deduced my assessment of the Warren Commission’s findings, GARBAGE, which was last week’s contest answer word. To get there, they changed one letter in the puzzle’s seven theme entries to get a phrase from the JFK hit: “Jack Ruby” became JACK RUBE, “lone gunman” became LONG GUNMAN, “magic bullet” became MAGIC BALLET, “grassy knoll” became BRASSY KNOLL, “Dealey Plaza” became DEALER PLAZA, “three tramps” became THREE GRAMPS, and “Howard Hunt” became HOWARD AUNT. See solution grid showcasing my mad Paint skillz at left.
The seven replaced letters from the original phrases yielded, when properly anagrammed, the word GARBAGE.
I thought this puzzle would be more controversial than your e-mails suggested. The vast majority of solvers who voiced an opinion on the Warren Commission agreed with the sentiment of last week’s contest answer word, and several offered more colorful terms I might have used instead. Quite a few responses, encouragingly, came from solvers who were adults at the time of the assassination and voiced decades-long doubt at the official story.
Last word on the Kennedys for now: I got two emails expressing some doubt at my contention that LBJ was in on, if not the primary organizer of, JFK’s assassination. I offer in response one of the most intriguing videos you’ll ever see: a 2001 interview with the late Madeline Duncan Brown, a woman who had a 21-year-long affair with Lyndon Johnson, and who was with him in Dallas on the night of Nov. 21, 1963. She has some very interesting things to say about that evening.
Watch the 5-minute video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79lOKs0Kr_Y
And if that piques your interest, which it will, watch the whole interview here (81 minutes):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6962062879996612313
…and then tell me whether you think 11/22/63 was a lone nut — or a palace coup.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen randomly from among the 102 correct entries, is T.T. of whereabouts unknown (I only notified T.T. yesterday morning that he was this week’s winner and haven’t heard back from him yet. Will update with his full name and prize selection when his turkey coma wears off). [UPDATE, 11/29, 5:00 PM ET — this week’s winner is Tim Tebbe of Minneapolis, Minn. Tim has selected as his prize an autographed copy of Gridlock.]
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer phrase is two words that are a total of twelve letters in length. Hint: it also includes an apostrophe. E-mail it to me at crosswordcontest@gmail.com by Tuesday at noon ET. Please put the contest answer phrase in the subject line of your e-mail.
On the road until tomorrow so I’ll put the printable JPEG up then; for now, please solve the Across Lite version at the Google Group here:
http://groups.google.com/group/mgwcc
[UPDATE, 12/01, 1:15 AM ET: Gaaaah! Nick Meyer writes to remind me that I didn’t post the printable JPEG yet. Now I have — damn you, turkey coma!]
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.