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:
Vague instructions last week, as we were looking for a two-word group. No obvious themers, but the central across was the longest entry in the grid: FREE SPACE clued as [Parking lot find]. OK, but where have I seen the words “free space” in the middle of something before…?
Aha! On a bingo card. And “Bingo!” is also a synonym for the puzzle’s title, “Exactly Right!”, so this must be the right trail. But what now?
Answer: 11 symmetrically-placed entries in the grid, all 5 letters as suggested by BINGO and the 5-square lines on bingo cards, suggested a number between 1 and 75. In grid order:
1-A [He broke a baseball record in a fitting way, considering the year in which he did it] = MARIS. 61, since he hit 61 home runs in 1961, breaking Babe Ruth’s longstanding record.
9-A [Amount that’s much closer to a dozen than a gross] = SCORE. 20, since a score is 20 of something.
17-A [Radio superstar known for hosting a long-running show] = Casey KASEM. 40, since the show he hosted for decades is “American Top 40.”
19-A [Company known for ketchup and many other condiments] = HEINZ. 57, since they’re known for their 57 varieties of condiment.
21-a [They demolished the Redskins in a lopsided shutout in the 1940 NFL championship game] = da BEARS. 73, since the score of that historic game was 73-0.
32-D [Superstar in a Barcelona (or an Argentina) jersey] = MESSI. 10, since he wears that number, the classic high-scorer’s number, on his jersey for both his club and his national team.
58-A [Highway one might sing nostalgically about] = ROUTE. 66, since as clued it suggests the song “Route 66.”
62-A [Super secret agent Jack] = BAUER. 24, since that’s the name of his show.
65-A [Last word of a Hitchcock title] = STEPS. 39, since the (great) movie is called “The 39 Steps.”
69-A [Gas from the Greek for “strange”] = XENON. 54, since that’s its atomic number.
71-A [It’s played on a checkered board] = CHESS. 64, since that’s the number of squares on that checkered board.
Last step: imagine a bingo caller calling out these 11 numbers: 61, 20, 40, 57, 73, 10, 66, 24, 39, 54, and 64, and see which letters in BINGO they correspond to. They’d spell out our contest answer, the 80s band OINGO BOINGO:
Evan was listening to Oingo Boingo when he got it!
Whoa. I was listening to “Dead Man’s Party” just as I’d cracked this. I guess I was hit by something just before I went to sleep.
That’s even better than the guy who solved the STARBUCKS puzzle in a Starbucks.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 209 correct entries received, is Tina Lippman of Newburgh, Ind. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Tina will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.
SPECIAL PRIZE THIS WEEK AND NEXT:
In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, winners this week and next will also receive a copy of Patti Varol’s compilation “Women of Letters,” a new puzzle pack written by 18 of the top women in crosswords.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
What U.S. vice president, past or present, should be in this grid but isn’t?
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.