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:
Mike Grier asked us to find a sixth theme entry for last week’s puzzle. The first five were:
17-A [*A skill Scrabblers are adept in] = ANAGRAMMING
25-A [*Bonus squares Scrabblers aim for, casually] = TRIPLE WORDS
40-A [*Professional Scrabblers know them inside and out] = TOURNAMENT RULES
51-A [*OK to use, like entries in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary] = PERMISSIBLE
62-A [*He invented Scrabble in 1938] = ALFRED BUTTS. Indeed he did — no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
These are obviously quite Scrabbly. Where to go next? Successful meta-solvers noticed that, giving their letters their Scrabble values, each theme entry adds up to 17. Take ANAGRAMMING, where everything is 1 point except the G’s which are 2 and the M’s which are 3. Do the wicked easy math there and 17 it is.
So we need a sixth entry in the grid whose Scrabble value is 17. The only seventeener left in the grid is PROXY at 51-D, found by 327 solvers.
An apt solve for Cephalopodd:
With this puzzle, my streak is now also 17.
MJMA liked it:
Wow. This grid is an impressive feat. Kudos to Mr. Grier.
Ian Livengood‘s thoughts, in 17 Scrabble points:
LIKED THIS!
Gpagano got PROXY:
Appropriately an X word. Nice meta Mike!
EliSelzer almost fell for the 16:
Glad I double-checked my scoring. I had miscounted ZHOU after being sure it was correct.
JrMan has his first four-for-four, and will go for five-for-five today:
This usually doesn’t happen for me: I guessed the correct interpretation of the title almost immediately, and after verifying, chose “proxy” as my first candidate. This is the first time I have ever solved four puzzles, so of course it must be a five-Friday month!
Jason Shapiro writes:
thanks! too bad “gaffney” wasn’t in the grid!
“Mike Grier” is 16 and if he’d had a 1-point middle initial we could’ve used it for the byline. But sadly his middle init is a 4-pointer.
BrainBoggler noticed something:
I loved that the title also adds up to 17!
Jefe points out:
BRAZILNUT would work if the B were a blank tile!
And finally, PatXC had a leg up on this one:
Nice meta! I have my refrigerator Scrabble magnets to thank for the solution.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 327 correct entries received, is el cyd of Saint Paul, Minn. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Joe will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.
And now, for the final puzzle of Guest Constructor Month:
GUEST CONSTRUCTOR MONTH, PUZZLE #5:
Our grand finale for Guest Constructor Month was written by Craig Mazin and David Kwong.
Craig is a prominent Hollywood screenwriter, producer, and director. He’s perhaps best-known for writing the scripts of “Identity Thief,” “Scary Movie 3,” “Scary Movie 4,” “The Hangover Part II” and “The Hangover Part III.” Here’s an amusing interview explaining how he got into the movie business.
Here’s how he met his co-constructor:
David “Cheater Square” Kwong and I met a few years ago, and although he was trying to impress me with his world-class magic, all I wanted to talk about was his authorship of multiple New York Times crossword puzzles. He’s taught me nothing about solving them (I’m better and faster at solving than David is, which is gloriously humiliating for him), but he’s taught me everything I know about constructing. Granted, I still rely heavily on him for “where the hell do we put the black spaces to begin?”, but I’ve come to love the Zen of creating a theme and then filling a grid around it.
David Kwong is a professional magician who’s been mixing magic and crossword puzzles over the past several years with fascinating results. His puzzles have appeared many times in the New York Times, most recently this past Wednesday.
David also has a new book out that looks fascinating; he’ll be sending an autographed copy of it to this week’s winner.
So let’s get to Craig and David’s Week 5 puzzle, which is rather dark and mysterious…
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
Detectives: the Crossword Killer is on the loose! Apply your crime-solving skills to discover the identity of this dastardly person, whose name is this week’s contest answer.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.