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:
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
So simple, once you got the idea: we were looking for a well-known cable TV channel last week, and our six (starred) theme entries were:
18-A [It was created by Executive Order on March 1, 1961*] = PEACE CORPS. Who signed that order? JFK.
24-A [Airport 300 miles southeast of McCarran*] = SKY HARBOR, Phoenix’s airport. What’s its airport code? PHX.
11-D [1950s stalemate whose effects linger to this day*] = KOREAN WAR. What’s a major effect of that stalemate? The DMZ between the two Koreas.
32-A [Popular camera introduced in 1959*] = the CANON FLEX. What was special about that? It was one of the first SLR cameras.
54-A [It’s across the Hudson River from the Big Apple*] = FORT LEE NJ. How do you cross the Hudson from the Big Apple to Fort Lee? Via the George Washington Bridge, or GWB.
62-A [Puzzling Hoosier*] = WILL SHORTZ. What newspaper’s crossword does he edit? The New York Times, or NYT.
So we have 18 letters from these six trigrams, and they’re a) all consonants and b) don’t repeat any letters. Might we find a well-known cable channel comprised of the three unused consonants, thereby getting us to the “21” in the title? Indeed we can! The contest answer QVC, found by 128 solvers.
Gwinns asks:
If I answer in the next 10 minutes, can I get a second puzzle at no additional cost?
mrbreen retitles it:
52
Because he just hit a full year on his Streak. Nice!
And jeremiahsjohnson says:
Quality Variety Crossword!
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen randomly from the 128 correct entries received, is Todd Dashoff of Philadelphia, Penna. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, Todd will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily’s Crossword.
LOLLAPUZZOOLA 9:
This truly is, as its organizers boast, the greatest crossword tournament held on a Saturday in August. That’d be August 13th this year, in Manhattan as always. I’m not able to make it this year but have gone three times in the past and it’s always a fun time. Check it out here:
http://www.bemoresmarter.com/
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a seven-letter geographical place name.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.