YEAR 6 TIP JAR IS UP!
It’s that magical time of year: MGWCC Tip Jar Week! If you’ve enjoyed the past 14 months of puzzles, hit the “Buy Now” PayPal button and let me know. You can enter any dollar amount and it’s all 100% appreciated. See below for more details.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
We needed a whole number between 1 and 9 last week, and our theme entries were…where, exactly? Nothing in the grid over eight letters, so something tricky had to be going on.
The trick was this: ten clues in the grid satisfied not only their own grid entry, but also their own entry + another entry. These ten clues and double answers formed a chain (see puzzle title) in the grid, the back of one forming the front of the other ad infinitum.
They were:
30-A [Title character in a famous fairy tale] = PRINCESS (BRIDE)
48-D [Half of the equation, at (most) weddings] = BRIDE (GROOMS)
12-D [Wedding day stars] = GROOMS (MEN)
24-A [Dudes, collectively] = MEN (FOLK)
6-D [Bob Dylan genre] FOLK (ROCK)
54-D [Mountain climbing danger] ROCK(SLIDE)
18-A [Drop precipitously] SLIDE (DOWN)
60-A [Direction from New York City to Atlanta] DOWN (SOUTH)
36-D [Warm region, with “the”] SOUTH (PACIFIC)
42-D [“The Love Boat” setting, with “the”] PACIFIC (PRINCESS)
And then back to 30-A where the chain starts anew.
What number between 1 and 9 do these point to? Each of these entries’ clue numbers is a multiple of 6, making that number our contest answer. And, by sheer coincidence, Tip Jar Week for Year 6 of MGWCC starts today. Sometimes it must look like I plan these things in advance!
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen randomly from the 131 correct entries received, is Carl Holzman of Chicago, Ill. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, Carl will also receive a copy of my new(ish) book Crunchy Crosswords.
MONTHLY WINNERS:
68 solvers submitted the correct contest answer to all four of July’s challenges (SIMON & GARFUNKEL, DELFT, LISBON, 6). The following twelve lucky and skillful winners, chosen randomly from that group, will receive a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set:
Michael Areinoff — Tucson, Ariz.
Neville Fogarty — Lexington, Ky.
Gideon Fostick — Givat Shmuel, Israel
Robert Hutchinson — Valdosta, Ga.
Richard Kalustian — Tacoma, Wash.
Andy Kravis — Brooklyn, N.Y.
Brian Kulman — Los Gatos, Calif.
Eric LeVasseur — Seal Beach, Calif.
Brett Rose — Chicago, Ill.
Al Sanders — Loveland, Colo.
Dan Seidman — Watertown, Mass.
James Williams — Elgin, Ill.
Congrats to our dozen winners, and to everyone who went 4-for-4 in July.
TIP JAR WEEK:
It’s that time of year! Actually it’s normally in June, but a lot going on this year so we’re two months late. So if you’ve dug the past 14 months of meta-madness, hit this PayPal button as hard as you care to. You can enter any dollar amount you like. If you’d prefer to send a check, just e-mail me. (crosswordcontest@gmail.com).
The Tip Jar closes Saturday, August 9th at midnight.
Thanks in advance!
MURDER BY META:
My Kickstarter puzzle suite “Murder by Meta” finally went out last week. Check out the video here, and, if it looks like something you’d like to solve, e-mail me (crosswordcontest@gmail.com). Cost is $15.
GUEST CONSTRUCTOR MONTH:
Just as Tip Jar Week is late this year, so is Guest Constructor Month, which will be September. Awesome lineup scheduled, so be there (and beware).
LOLLAPUZZOOLA:
Lollapuzzoola 7 hits Manhattan next Saturday, August 9th. Relaxed vibe, 1-day event, NYC in summer, all the cool crossword kids will be there. I can’t make it this time around, but I’ve been the past two years and it’s highly recommended. Check it here.
LEADERBOARD IMPROVEMENTS:
MGWCC web guru Dave Sullivan has made the leaderboard non-case specific, so if you’re JohnSmith then you can also be johnsmith or JOHNSMITH and not worry about your total carrying over. He’s combined many cases like this from the past, so you might see your Overall and/or Streaks total jump by a few. Keep Calm and Continue Solving!
VULTURE:
My latest New York magazine meta-crossword contest is up. Deadline is midnight on August 6th. Try it here:
http://www.vulture.com/2014/07/vulture-crossword-contest-july-28-issue.html
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is the U.S. state I’ll be in while you’re solving this puzzle (assuming you solve on Friday, Saturday or Sunday). 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 (2,286 members now!) here. Or you can download the .puz file (you may have to right-click the link and save to your Downloads folder).
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.