Good afternoon, crossword fans — welcome to Week 110 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:
How did the first half of 2010 treat you? Well, I hope. Last week’s crossword was published at 12 noon on July 2nd, which is also the exact midpoint of 2010 (MIDDLE OF THE YEAR, 38-a).
In a wordplay sense, last week’s theme entries split the YEAR in half as well:
YELLOW CEDAR
YELL IN ONE’S EAR
YEMEN CIVIL WAR
YEN-TO-DOLLAR
What popular 2000s sitcom would have made an excellent theme entry in this crossword? The YEAR-splitting YES, DEAR, which was last week’s contest answer.
“Yes, Dear” ran from 2000-06 on CBS. Was it a good show? I’ve never seen an episode — but judging by solver e-mails, it wasn’t too great. A (representative) sample:
This was definitely one of the worst sitcoms of all time.
…execrable…
My friend’s roommate used to force him to watch “Yes, Dear” and when Greg tried to turn it off, his roommate insisted they watch and “embrace the rage.”
“Yes, Dear” makes a better answer to the puzzle than it did a TV show.
Popular may be overstating things a bit — though I see it ran for 6 years, so maybe not. I don’t know a single person who’s seen a single episode (and I work in television)
i think i have accidentally seen every awful episode of this sitcom from when i had no cable and it used to run at like two in the morning on the local WB affiliate.it’s one of those shows where i have no idea who the intended audience was supposed to be and who watched the @#$%*! thing when it was on as a “prime time” sitcom…
And from a fan of the show:
Maybe I missed something (but I don’t think I did) but I never could get why the show was called “Yes, Dear.” It doesn’t really have anything to do with the show’s premise.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 264 correct entries received, is Susan M. James of Columbus, O. Susan ha seleccionado como su premio una copia autografiada de the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Spanish-English Crossword Puzzles, que co-escribe con Gail Stein.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
Answer the riddle in the grid and you’ve got this week’s contest answer. E-mail it 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 (1,267 members now!) here.
SPECIAL PRIZE THIS WEEK:
In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, next week’s winner will receive an autographed copy of Francis Heaney‘s fun new book Sit & Solve Quick & Easy Crosswords.
Solve well, go Holland!!, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.