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:
Paul Coulter asked us to find a sport last week, and our theme entries were:
17-A [Suburban chauffeur, sometimes] = SOCCER MOM
24-A [Sporting equipment used for slapshots] = HOCKEY STICK
41-A [Place to find picks and keys] = BASKETBALL COURT
53-A [Hitter of millions of home runs] = BASEBALL BAT
67-A [Yuppie top] = POLO SHIRT
Each of these five contains a sport of course, but note that they’re all team sports. From that and our title, look at the number of a team’s players on the field/ice/court at one time: soccer is 11, hockey is 6, basketball is 5, baseball is 9, and polo is 4 (not counting horses!). Check out those five squares in the grid and you’ve got another team sport, contest answer RUGBY, found by 351 solvers. Not my sport (I lack physical courage and have a low tolerance for pain) but the shirts are nice.
DIS says:
Or rugbt, if you count the horses.
Neville writes:
Love a good Mama’s Family clue.
Qatsi (and several others) got it, but first got sidetracked:
11-6-5-9-4… Hmm, K-F-E-I-D doesn’t anagram to anything… What else could those numbers represent?
And BrainBoggler says:
I emerged from the scrum with the answer after only a few minutes!
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 351 correct entries received, is Joe Nelson of Chicago, Ill. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Joe will also receive an autographed copy of Paul Coulter’s historical novel A Pagan in Byzantium.
Thanks for a very nice Week 3, Paul! And now it’s time for Week 4…
GUEST CONSTRUCTOR MONTH, PUZZLE #4:
Our Week 4 constructor is Mike Grier. Mike lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches Math and Video Game Literary Analysis (if you don’t know what that is, then you and I have something in common! Sounds intriguing, though). Mike says he loves to talk about games and crosswords and that you can DM him @mhgrier with comments on the puzzle. He also wants to give a shout-out to family, friends, and solvers like you for tackling this one!
And here is Mike’s puzzle:
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is the one grid entry that would make a valid sixth theme entry.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.