Good afternoon, soccer fans — welcome to Week 109 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:
For the first time in MGWCC history, last week’s puzzle featured a rebus theme. The keyword was NIL, represented by the number 0 in the grid, and appeared seven times in the puzzle:
FUN(NIL)Y ENOUGH / PE(NIL)E
(NIL)LA / (NIL)ES
TEN(NIL)LE / BIKI(NI L)INES
VA(NIL)LA / MA(NIL)OW
SE(NIL)E / A(NIL)E
MA(NIL)A / CA(N I L)OOK NOW
ELGI(N, IL)LINOIS / ONE-(NIL)
Contest instructions read: This week’s contest answer is the two countries who competed in the 2010 World Cup game referenced by this puzzle’s theme. What game could seven NILs in the grid be referencing? Portugal’s 7-0 drubbing of North Korea, by far the worst defeat in the 2010 World Cup, which made PORTUGAL and NORTH KOREA last week’s contest answer.
Naturally I accepted as correct any of the various names that troubled nation goes by: NORTH KOREA, KOREA DPR, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — and even Tyler Hinman‘s entry:
Glorious People’s Republic of North Korea Which Never Loses
38 entrants submitted ALGERIA and HONDURAS as their answer, since neither of those hapless squads scored a goal in any of their three World Cup games. But they also didn’t play against each other in a game, which the contest instructions stipulate.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 158 correct entries received, is Thomas Hunter of Ridley Park, Penna. Thomas has selected as his prize an autographed copy of Sip & Solve Hard Crosswords.
ERRATA:
Two mistakes in last week’s clues:
1) The clue for 72-across (TAGS) should have been {Price holders} instead of {Price holder}. Not to be an Alibi Ike, but…I corrected this clue before publication, then didn’t run the right version!
2) The Black Eyed Peas song referenced at 33-down is spelled “Imma Be,” not “I’m a Bee”. Yes, there is a bumblebe(e?) on the cover of the single:
MONTHLY PRIZES:
77 solvers submitted the correct contest answer to all four of June’s puzzles (STRATEGO, GROUP F, HAT TRICK, and PORTUGAL + NORTH KOREA). The following ten lucky winners, chosen randomly from that group, will receive a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set:
Lance Enfinger — Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
Dan Feyer — New York City, N.Y.
Pam Fowler — Rough and Ready, Calif.
Seth Grossinger — Minneapolis, Minn.
Jay Hirt — Chicago, Ill.
Mike Iglesias — Irvine, Calif.
Mike Nothnagel — Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Simon McAndrews — New York City, N.Y.
Jill Palmer — Leverett, Mass.
Aaron Riccio — Brooklyn, N.Y.
Congratulations to our ten winners, and to everyone who went 4-for-4 in June.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a popular 2000s sitcom whose title would have made an excellent theme entry in this puzzle. E-mail this TV show to me 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 (1,262 members now!) here.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.