LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
“First-Quarter Action” was last week’s puzzle title, and you had to parse that twice to succeed. First, the four numbers in theme entries had to be quartered (i.e. multiplied by .25); then you needed to take the first quarter of the resulting clue numbers to spell out a trivia question:
17-a [It mentions the Isle of Wight (first, quarter; then first quarter)] = WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR (16)
28-a [Part of the Dead Man’s Hand (first, quarter; then first quarter)] = EIGHT OF CLUBS (2)
50-a [NIT teams who’ve won their first two games, collectively (first, quarter; then first quarter)] = SWEET SIXTEEN (4) (Inaccurate clue — see correction on last week’s post)
66-a [Duration of solitude, in a literary title (first, quarter; then first quarter)] = ONE HUNDRED YEARS (25)
Now let’s look at those clue numbers in parentheses above, and take the first quarter of them — if they’re four words long we’ll take the first word, if they’re eight words long we’ll take the first two words, etc.
16-a [“What is it, caller?”]
2-d [State quarter with this island’s outline? It’s Hawaii]
4-d [Features a gym is very likely to have]
25-a [Piece of fruit that also just happens to be a common color]
What state quarter features a piece of fruit? Why it’s GEORGIA, the fourth state (appropriately for a puzzle about quarters).
DIS got it, but also added:
Or “Georgia On My Mind”, if I have to give an answer you can take the first quarter of.
Also thinking musically, Dary Merckens:
I wish I had done this on a midnight train.
Dan Katz relates:
When I worked in the MIT Coffeehouse, there was a run where I was getting about three times as many Georgia peach quarters as any other kind. Still better than the $2 bills some of the alums stuck me with to amuse themselves.
Jeff writes:
My southern belle wife is disappointed I had to Google search to answer the question.
And finally, Amy Reynaldo shares:
The hospitality gift for out-of-town guests at [Crossword Fiend writer] Sam Donaldson’s wedding included Georgia peaches. OMFG! The sweetest and juiciest peaches ever.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 299 correct entries received, is Jon Delfin of New York City, N.Y. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, Jon will also receive a copy of Neville Fogarty’s forthcoming puzzle suite (which you can Kickstart here).
SPECIAL PRIZE THIS WEEK AND NEXT:
In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, winners this week and next will also receive a copy of editor Ben Tausig‘s fascinating “Twenty under Thirty” project. Constructor surnames you may recognize include Hinman, Madison, Livengood, Wentz and Knapp; you can buy it at the link for $5.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a recent pope. Submit your answer in the form on the left sidebar by Tuesday at noon ET. Note: the submissions form disappears from the site promptly at noon on Tuesday.
To print the puzzle out, click on the image below and hit “print” on your browser. To solve using Across Lite either solve on the applet below or download the free software here, then join the Google Group (2,009 members now!) here.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.