MGWCC #574 — Friday, May 31st, 2019 — “Search Party”

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:

http://www.mgwcc.com/

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “Character Development”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is a six-letter word that’s a group of characters.
Answer: CHORUS

First insight: there are six Greek letters hiding in the grid:

ALPHA in ALPHABET
RHO in CARHOP
TAU in TAUNT
MU in CLAM UP
NU in BAR MENU
CHI in BRONCHI

This is very likely to be meta-related, since a) there are exactly six of them, and we’re looking for a six-letter word, and b) they’re all on the acrosses, which has a 1 in 64 chance of being random and a 63 of 64 chance of not.

Second insight, the trickiest one: if you change these letters to their Greek (uppercase) equivalent, they spell another cluable word:

alpha is A so ALPHABET becomes ABET
rho is P so CARHOP becomes CAPP
tau is T so TAUNT becomes TNT
mu is M so CLAM UP becomes CLAMP
nu is N so BAR MENU becomes BARMEN
chi is X so BRONCHI becomes BRONX

Third and final insight: each of those new words can answer a clue already in the grid:

28-D [Aid’s partner, in a legal phrase] = COMFORT, but also ABET
33-D [Al known for his newspaper illustrations] = HIRSCHFELD, but also CAPP
56-A [Explosive material] = OCTOL, but also TNT
72-A [Tool in a woodworking shop] = RASP, but also CLAMP
4-A [Their workdays may include pitchers and a nightcap] = UMPS, but also BARMEN
71-A [Word on New York City borough maps] = STATEN, but also BRONX

Those entries with dual-purpose clues spell contest answer CHORUS, as in the characters in a play’s (fittingly) Greek chorus.

This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 160 correct answers received, is M.M. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, M.M. will also receive a signed copy of my book Pint-Size Crosswords.

INDIE 500 THIS WEEKEND IN DC:

I’ll be at the Indie 500 Crossword Tournament in Washington, D.C. this weekend. If you’re there as well, find me and say hello!

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is an eight-letter name.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

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