Good afternoon, crossword fans — welcome to Week 58 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:

You didn’t think you could escape the MICHAEL JACKSON media avalanche here at MGWCC, did you? Of course not — in fact, he was last week’s contest answer phrase. Solution at top left.

232 solvers ID-ed the late gloved wonder by noticing the four THREE-LETTER HITS (38-across) that began the puzzle’s four theme entries:

BENTO BOXES
PYTHAGORAS
BADEN BADEN
JAMAICA INN

All of these are MJ songs, hence the logical conclusion (zero incorrect entries received!) that he was the contest answer.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 232 correct entries submitted, is David Stein of Silver Spring, Md. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, David will also receive an autographed copy of Dean Olsher‘s new crossword book, From Square One [Amazon][B&N].

ONE THING:

Bravo to Amy Reynaldo for her crossword constructing debut in last Sunday’s New York Times (co-authored with Tony Orbach). Spoiler alert: the answer is given at the link below, as well as an explanation of the puzzle’s theme:

http://crosswordfiend.blogspot.com/2009/07/sunday-75new-york-times-crossword.html

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer phrase consists of two symmetrically-placed grid entries that, taken together, form the clue for the theme answer at 38-across. E-mail these two entries 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.

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), join the burgeoning Google Group (682 members!) here:

http://groups.google.com/group/mgwcc

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