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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Last in Translation”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is a food that’s four letters long in English.
Answer: RICE (ARROZ)
O, how swiftly the crossword gods punished my hubris! Fickle beings, they are. Last week I boasted of my cleverness in posting MGWCC #557 as a Week 1, which turned out to be a smart move. But [insert name(s) of crossword gods here — e-mail me any ideas] struck with a misplaced Week 3 during the second week of the month. Just 240 right answers came in, right about dead-center for a 3, so today’s puzzle is more like a Week 2. Next week we’ll get back on track with a 4.
Anyway, the idea was: change the last letter of the last word in each theme entry to form a Spanish word whose English equivalent is found in the grid. So CASE, AMOK, SEX, QUEST, and PAD became CASA, AMOR, SER, QUESO, and PAZ, whose translations in the grid are HOME, LOVE, TO BE, CHEESE, and PEACE. Yes, “house” is a better translation for “casa” than “home,” but 1) “home” is also a fine translation for “house” — “mi casa es su casa” doesn’t imply that you have to pay half of my mortgage — but also 2) I spent 90 minutes trying to get HOUSE in there, in many grid permutations, so HOME it is.
Anyway, it played tough so as I mentioned, today’s is gentler than a Week 3. I think.
Jason Shapiro says:
ay dios mio that was hard!
Jason T says:
My gusts!
And Sharkicicles says:
I’d like to think arroz to the challenge.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 240 correct entries received, is Scott Dai of San Leandro, Calif. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Scott will also receive a signed copy of my book Fast & Fun Mini Crosswords.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a well-known island.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.