MGWCC #396 — Friday, January 1st, 2016 — “Secondary Character”

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

mgwcc395

So simple, once you saw it! Our theme entries were:

16-A [“Femur or tibia, doesn’t matter which”?] = EITHER BONE
19-A [“Who lives in the African capital of Banjul?” response?] = MANY GAMBIANS
31-A [Unpleasant newspaper headline for Netflix’s CEO to read?] = HULU BOOMING
49-A [Creature who notices that others have better stretches of river to relax in than he does?] = JEALOUS HIPPO
53-A [Customer who leaves 100% of the bill for their server?] = HERO TIPPER

What’s the common link? Each of the 10 words in the theme entries can have its first letter replaced with a Z to leave another word: zither, zone, zany, Zambians, Zulu, zooming, zealous, Zippo, zero, zipper.

So we need a living, Oscar-nominated actress whose first and last names can each have their heads replaced with a Z. That would be DEBRA WINGER, who becomes “zebra zinger” when that happens.

e.a. suggests:

alternate title: “sleepyheads”

DIS says:

Have a zappy new year!

And Neville writes:

Saving the zest for last, I see!

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen randomly from the 196 correct entries received, is Ray Hunley of Manassas, Va. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, Ray will also receive a 1-year subscription to MGDX.

MGWCC RENEWALS:

It’s renewal time for most solvers! Step on over to www.mgwcc.com to renew if you haven’t done so already.

We don’t want anyone to miss out on the first puzzle of the year due to any logistical issues or because they missed a renewal email during the holiday rush. So if you or someone you know has not been able to renew for any reason, please e-mail us at support@mgwcc.com so we can take care of you!

To make sure no one misses out on the puzzle, this week’s contest deadline will be noon ET on Thursday, January 7th. After that we’ll revert back to normal Tuesday deadlines.

Thanks for solving, and good luck in MMXVI!

MONTHLY AND YEARLY PRIZES:

We have 10 monthly winners for December and 56 (!) yearly winners for 2015 (each of whom correctly solved 48 or more of the year’s 52 metas). Those winners will all be announced in next week’s post. I’ll also be announcing a super-cool, brand-new prize next week as well!

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a character from the “Star Wars” universe.

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

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:

www.mgwcc.com

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