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:
Title: “Change Your Tune”
Instructions: One of this puzzle’s clues needs to be rewritten to complete the metapuzzle’s theme. Which is it, and what is a suitable rewrite?
Answer: 68-Across, [Beatles song] or similar
Ingenious Week 4 puzzle from Peter Washington, though (as both Peter and I anticipated) also somewhat polarizing. The fill suffered quite a bit due to the complexity of the idea, but the payoff was enormous.
First insight: the “Change” from the title is talking about coins. Specifically, answers with clue numbers corresponding to the four major U.S. coins (1,5,10,25) could start with the coins to make a phrase. So we have:
1-A/1-D: LANE and LOAFERS can become “Penny Lane” and penny loafers
5-A/5-D: CREEK and CADMIUM can become Nickel Creek and Nickel-Cadmium
10-A/10-D: SACK and STORE can become dime sack and dime store
25-A/25-D: PIPE and POUNDER can become quarter-pipe and Quarter Pounder
That can’t be a coincidence, but what next? Second insight: With one important exception, the bottom eight clues also work for their symmetrically-placed twins in the top pair, if you use the coins with the answers. This had to be one of the biggest a-ha moments in MGWCC history.
So we have WINGTIP clued as [Men’s shoe style], which also works for its symmetrial twin (PENNY) LOAFERS. TESLA is a [California band] and so is (NICKEL) CREEK. TRIPLE-A is a [Battery type], as is (NICKEL)-CADMIUM. RONCO is a [Seller of low-cost novelty goods], as is a (DIME) STORE. KILO is a [Drug dealer’s quantity], as is a (DIME) SACK. RAIL is a [Piece of skate park infrastructure], as is a (QUARTER)-PIPE. And a BIG CARL is a [Whopper competitor], as is a McDonald’s (QUARTER POUNDER). Truly amazing!
But one of these eight isn’t right, as referenced in the instructions. HELP at 68-Across is clued as [Assist], but it should be something along the lines of [Beatles hit] to also clue its twin (PENNY) LANE at 1-A.
Was the fill worth the meta? At Crossword Fiend, Craig Mazin wrote:
Count me among Team Worth It.
Same here, though I will promise never to allow OLOA again in a puzzle.
Ian Livengood writes:
WOW WOW WOW! – this one had like 5 or 6 satisfying layers!
Lookout Bear says:
I thought it was a great puzzle, but that’s just my 2 cents.
docison says:
Loved the layers of complexity here. Such an impressive debut, Peter!
Most solvers just kept it simple with [Beatles hit] or the like, but MountainManZach went super-specific:
[RIAA Gold-selling Beatles song credited to Lennon-McCarthy that was in Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest songs of all time, which reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, Netherlands Single Top 100, and Canada Top Singles, but only hit #5 on the Ö3 Austria Top 40.]
And finally, Mark Goodliffe YouTubed his solve to this one — highly instructive and fascinating:
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 175 correct entries receives, is Pete Rimkus of Coventry, Conn. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Pete will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.
Thanks for a memorable Week 4, Peter! And now we’re on to the grand finale…
GUEST CONSTRUCTOR MONTH 2018, PUZZLE #5:
Our final Guest Constructor for 2018 is Will Nediger. Will is from London, Ontario, where he lives with his wife and many plants. When he’s not writing clues or playing Quizbowl, he usually has his nose in a good novel (he especially likes Argentinean literature). He also enjoys playing any sport involving a racket or a paddle, especially table tennis and badminton.
Will first came to my attention when I anticipated (i.e., used without knowing he’d already done it) one of his themes here from his weekly subscription puzzle. I wound up becoming a subscriber myself (sign up here, $25/yr Canadian, highly recommended) and his work turned out to be so good that I asked him to write a meta for this year’s Guest Constructor Month! And here it is:
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a three-letter word.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.