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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Union Meeting”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is 1 out of 50.
Answer: DELAWARE
One of my favorite metas of the year thus far, though there was, for reasons not clear to me, a small faction of haters. Half of those who rated it at Fiend gave it five stars, but four solvers also gave it one star. Too tough for a Week 2? Certainly, but a glance at the leaderboard makes its difficulty level clear. Sour grapes? Maybe. If you don’t explain in comments why you hated a puzzle then I’m left with guessing. A missed opportunity there, or perhaps not.
Besides the title and prompt, the puzzle contained two main nudges, one of which was subtle. The obvious one was BORDER STATE at the central across, clued as [It may touch Sonora or Saskatchewan, say]. So clearly we’re looking at the touches-Canada-or-Mexico meaning of that term, not the Civil War meaning.
The subtle hint was the black square in the first square in the grid. That’s asymmetrically placed, and there must be a reason for it. But what is it?
I’ll let Kristin explain in comments at Crossword Fiend:
The central entry, BORDER STATE, prompted me to immediately look at the border of the puzzle. The row of Ms in the upper left was clearly unusual and it brought to mind all the states that start with M. I thought, “He couldn’t have possibly built the entire border out of initial letters of states!” Then I counted them and there were 49. My mind was blown that Matt fit all those letters so elegantly around the border. The whole thing only took me a few minutes to figure out because it seemed to jump out with BORDER STATE right in the middle. It told us in no uncertain terms where to look (in my opinion!).
And there it is — the 49 squares of the puzzles border are the first letter of 49 US states. The only one missing is Delaware — the first state, and missing from the first box in the grid. Hence the grid’s minor asymmetry (you can’t have an odd number of black squares on a puzzle’s border using standard crossword symmetry).
BTW, it took me 3.5 hours to choose and place those eight entries around the border. Not to fill the grid as well, just to determine and place those eight answers.
Squonk says:
Nice construction! I wondered what that extra cheater square was for…
Magoo writes:
This is a classic. I can add it to the list of times when I have figured out the meta while not even in possession of the puzzle. This is an event that I would expect barely ever to happen – but instead it seemingly happens once a month on average. This is a real measure of the brilliance of so many of these metas: that they are ideas allowing the solver to use the information gained from grid or clues, the hints from title and meta instruction to suddenly reach the moment when the penny drops.
Certainly this is sometimes misjudged, because … obviously that will happen. Certainly I am irritated and sour-grapey if I can’t crack the meta – because I’m human too. But overall your judgement of what makes a good meta is astonishingly prescient.
On this occasion, I completed the grid, and researched the term BORDER STATE. I knew I was looking for a state, that 1ac MMMMMM must be there for a reason, and that the cheater square in the north-west corner was deliberate. I knew it was harder than a standard Week Two from the fact that only two solvers were in after an hour. I could see quite a few two-letter state abbreviations, and lots of letters that make up state names, and of course those (Minnesota) VIKINGS. But what was the solution?
Two hours later, I was at a party, when I started thinking again about the term BORDER STATE again. And I wondered about ALL the grid’s ‘borders’ – and I went in my mind through what I could remember of the perimeter entries, and realised that the MMMMMM answer could well be there because so many states begin with M – and that the cheater square would leave an odd number of white cells around the edge – and BAM! I was done. So satisfying – so clever – so well-executed – so simple (but only after the event!). Just joyous. Thank you.
Matt M. says:
Wow wow wow. I have been solving your metas for more than 500 puzzles, and this is definitely one of my all-time favorites. Everything is so perfect and elegant. I’m really impressed!!
And finally, Gwinns says:
Now you’re just showing off. 🙂
Yup…
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 176 correct entries received, is Karen Spencer of Morgantown, W. Va. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Karen will also receive a copy of Nate Cardin et al.’s new puzzle pack, Queer Qrosswords 2. This week’s winner will receive the same.
LAST WEEK’S WINNER:
I forgot to pick a winner last week, so doing it now: it’s Adam Allen of Glen Oaks, N.Y., who will receive a MGWCC stationery set plus a singed copy of my book Pint-Size Crosswords.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is an ancient city.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.