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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Periods of Reconciliation”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is a ’90s political rival of 55-Across.
Answer: Ross PEROT
Seven rivals for former president Clinton — which is our secret contest answer?
First insight, with a nudge from the “90s” mention in the prompt: each of the events in the four rivalries mentioned are set in a different decade. Like so:
17-A [Space Race rival of 33-Down who launched the first solar-powered satellite (Vanguard 1)] = USA
33-A [Space Race rival of 17-Across who sent the first dog into space] = USSR
Vanguard 1 was launched in 1958 and Laika the dog was launched in 1957, so this is the ’50s.
13-D: [Musical rivals of 47-Down who traded albums like “Sgt. Pepper’s” and “Magical Mystery Tour” with them (with “The”)] = BEATLES
47-D: [Musical rivals of 13-Down who traded albums like “Beggars Banquet” and “Let It Bleed” with them (casually, and with “The”) = STONES
All four of those albums came out between 1967 and 1969, so we’re looking here at the ’60s.
1-A: [Athletic rival of 69-Across whom he beat in the Fight of the Century] = Joe FRAZIER
69-A: [Athletic rival of 1-Across whom he beat in Super Fight II and the Thrilla in Manila] = Muhammad ALI
Those three fights took place in 1971, 1974, and 1975, so this is the ’70s.
26-A: [Corporate rival of 54-Down who featured Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson in their ads] = PEPSI
54-D: [Corporate rival of 26-Across whose “wars” with them included releasing a new version of their drink] = COKE
Those Pepsi ads came out in the mid-80s and the awful “New Coke” was released in 1985, so this is the ’80s.
How do you reconcile rivals? Bring them together…but how? Second insight: Since it’s a crossword, how about adding their clue numbers?:
17+33 = ’50s
13+47 = ’60s
1+69 = ’70s
26+54 = ’80s
So for former president Bill Clinton at 55-Across we need a rival whose clue number is 35, which would be two-time presidential candidate Ross PEROT at 35-Across. He was one of the few pre-internet tech billionaires as well, and passed away last month at the age of 89.
Laurabrarian says:
This was like the metapuzzle version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” … “rock and roller cola wars”
And it wasn’t the first Perot puzzle for Gwinns:
I played Ross Perot as part of a puzzle in the 1996 Miami Herald Tropic Hunt, which was a big reason I got into puzzles!
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 169 correct entries received, is R.R. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, R.R. will also receive a signed copy my book Pint-Size Crosswords.
strong>THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a nine-letter word.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.