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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Shell Game”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is a piece of stolen candy, plus the culprit who stole it.
Answer: a SLUG who stole a RING POP
This is one of the most intricate metas that’s ever appeared on my site. I remembered Xan Vongsathorn’s interesting brain from years ago, but I hadn’t seen his byline in a long while. Then when his name popped up on a New York Times crossword earlier this year, I thought: “That’s someone who should write a meta.”
So I asked him to and he agreed, and I thought I’d get something cool — but didn’t expect such a Heaneyesque, layer-upon-layer-upon-layer masterpiece like this one. With so many moving parts a few of them were bound to go a bit wobbly, and the puzzle got a few dings for a couple of its aspects. This was partially my fault, since editing this amazing creature was quite a challenge, involving many decisions that could’ve gone in several directions. But overall I consider the end result to be an incredible creation, especially remarkable since this is this guy’s first meta. Bravo to Xan, and I trust this meta won’t be his last.
The meta came with a page of backstory explaining that this puzzle was intended to run during Guest Constructor Month 2011, but got lost while I was editing it on a hammock in my backyard seven years ago. No, none of that is true (I don’t do hammocks and didn’t have a backyard in 2011) but it’s all in the name of a good story.
Anyway, I’d fallen asleep in my hammock while editing Xan’s puzzle and then it had fallen to the ground, where a “mysterious creature” had stolen a piece of candy from an Easter Egg hunt happening nearby — and turned the eggs rotten to boot. Who was this creature, and what kind of candy did he steal? Let’s find this thief!
First thing to notice is that Xan has given a starting point, a “rotten egg” in square 49 (the egg being represented by a circle). Second thing to notice is that 7 of the clues have the parenthetical phrase “Step 11!” (or some other number) in them. They are:
29-A: [BLarE (Step 11!)] = DIN
49-A: [IndELicate (Step 15!)] = LEWD
79-A: [CLEaving (Step 14!)] = RIVING
84-A: [ImpEL (Step 9!)] = URGE
1-D: [HEeL (Step 11!)] = CAD
27-D: [PLanE part (Step 7!)] = FLAP
39-D: [CLEan (Step 5!)] = PURE
Note that each of those clues has and EL or LE randomly capitalized. We’ll come back to this later. I did mention that this meta is intricate…
So what can all those “steps” mean? It’s probably not an order, since there are unfilled gaps (no Step 8, 10, or 12, e.g.) and two “Step 11″s. But the exclamation points hint that these are commands, telling you to “step” that many spaces. In which direction? Well the starting square spot of square 49 is an L, so let’s see what happens if we “Step 15” spaces to the left. We land at square number 45, which is a U. Since we’re doing directions, that might mean up. So let’s go up 5 spaces, as instructed by 39-D there: we land on the D of DOODLING in square 20; next, go down 11 (from the clue at 1-D), hitting square 79’s R; then 14 to the right, hitting square 84’s U; then 9 up, hitting the L under square 27; then left 7 spaces, hitting the D of DIN/DIMPLE, and finally down 11, hitting…a black square?
Seemed like a dead end, but the instructions noted that the “the culprit is hiding its head.” Well, there’s a LUG heading off to the right of the black square, so putting an S in there reveals our candy thief, a SLUG! That little punk! Note that, remarkably, both of the crossing clues still work with this S: 90-A is [It does damage with a shell], which clues both SHOTGUN and SHOTGUN SLUG, while 71-D is [Epithet for one who makes housework seem effortless?], which works for both LAZY and LAZY SLOB. Did I mention this one is intricate?
OK, so that’s the culprit. But what candy did he steal? Let’s go back to those mysterious Schrodinger squares, specifically the ones at the seven pivot points of the slug’s trail.
49-A: 49-A: [IndELicate (Step 15!)] = LEWD, but if you remove the capitalized EL, the clue becomes [Indicate], which clues READ — and both changes work on the crossing clues, since 49-D could be both Jay LENO and Janet RENO, and 37-D could be either BOW or BOA.
Why are we doing that? Did you remember seeing a mysterious asterisk by the clue to 89-D, which was [*Make rotten, as eggs] for ADDLE? Well, the way the culprit addled the eggs (“addle” has an archaic meaning of “to make rotten”) was to add the letter LE (or EL) to certain clues. So the original clue of “Indicate” was “addled” into “IndELicate.”
So let’s put an R there, for READ. And then keep going along the same trail:
39-A: [CLEan (Step 5!)] = PURE, but if you remove the LE it’s “Can” which clues FIRE, not PURE. And then 39-A works as FAT/PAT and 45-A works as IMS/UMS. So an I there giving us RI so far.
1-D: [HEeL (Step 11!)] is CAD, but removing the EL leaves HE, which clues MAN. N.
79-A: [CLEaving (Step 14!)] clues RIVING, but [Caving] clues GIVING. G.
84-A: [ImpEL (Step 9!)] clues URGE, but [Imp] clues PEST. Notice that this whole word goes Schrodinger, and very nicely, such as [Food critic’s business] for either EATING or RATING, and [Quirky German auto] for either VW BUS or VW BUG. Lovely. Anyway, P is our letter there.
27-D: [PLanE part (Step 7!)] = FLAP, but [Pan part] cleverly clues GOAT, Pan being the half-man, half-goat of myth. O.
29-A: [BLarE (Step 11!)] = DIN, but [Bar] = PIN, so P. P. Notice the nice Schrodinger square 29, where [Transitory facial feature] clues both PIMPLE and DIMPLE.
So the culprit slug’s trail spells RING POP, which is the candy our SLUG culprit stole — and that’s our meta answer, found by 109 solvers.
That is…absolutely incredible in its intricacy, elegance, originality, and cleverness. So why does this only have a 4.15 rating at Crossword Fiend? The main ding was some softness on the click at the end: some solvers were not sure whether the SLUG formed by the black square S was the culprit, or the SLOB (or LAZY SLOB) formed going down. From the description of the “mysterious creature” leaving a “clear” “trail” on the ground, Xan and I thought the choice there was clear, but it seems that we should’ve made it a bit clearer somehow, since many solvers weren’t quite sure (most guessed SLUG anyway, but the click should be louder than that).
A few solvers also had issues with the unused Schrodinger letters in the dis-addled entries, like the W/A in LEWD/READ/BOW/BOA. We had tried to convey to the solver that they should ignore these letters with the language “ignoring any collateral damage to the puzzle,” but there still appeared to be some confusion there.
Anyway, congratulations and thanks to Xan. This one is a classic in my mind, even if we weren’t able to hone it to the perfection the concept deserved. I myself would rate it a 4.65, and if this were a movie instead of a meta I’d say it’s one of those that gets a mild reception upon release, then turns into a cult classic over time as its many subtle points are more finely appreciated. I suspect we’ll see Xan’s name again soon on a meta — very soon, as it turns out…
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen from the 109 correct entries received, is Thomas Brendel of Dunwoody, Ga. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Thomas will also receive an copy of Patrick Berry‘s new cryptic crossword suite “The 3rd Crypt”. Next week’s winner will receive the same.
NOVEMBER MONTHLY PRIZES:
Shoot, I forgot again! Nobody reminded me. It’s your fault, not mine! I’ll do the usual penance and choose 12 winners instead of 10 next week.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
Two of this puzzle’s four theme entries are found at 15-A and 55-A. Which two one-named celebrities in the grid are also theme entries?
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.