IMPORTANT NOTE: As of February 2020 MGWCC is available only to subscribers at my Patreon page. A subscription costs $3/month.

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: Two for Two
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is a body part you’ll need to solve this meta.
Answer: THIRD EYE
Number of correct entries: 179

Shiva has a supremely insightful third eye on his forehead, and solvers could’ve used it for this one. There were no overt nudges towards the idea, but some of those clues were a bit oddly worded, like [Be home with honey] for COHABITATE or [B.A. source in a green field] for ECOLOGY. That first one was the key for many solvers, since we’ve got HIVE at 14-A, which sure seems like a “Bee home with honey”…

…and there’s the pattern! There are eight clues that begin with a two-letter word. Double that second letter, and the clue now works for a different answer in the grid. They are:

23-A: [As relatives] = AKIN, but [Ass relatives] = TAPIRS
34-A: [B.A. source in a green field] = ECOLOGY, but [Baa source in a green field] = EWE
58-A: [Go out for a morning meal, maybe] = BRUNCH, but [Goo out for a morning meal, maybe] = YOLK
63-A: [Be home with honey] = COHABITATE, but [Bee home with honey] = HIVE
4-D: [In for the night, say] = BEAT, but [Inn for the night, say] = RAMADA
12-D: [Al of the “Godfather” movies, etc.] = PACINO, but [All of the “Godfather” movies, etc.] = DRAMAS
21-D: [“Of course!”] = OH GOD YES, but [Off course] = ERRANT
37-D: [“To close…”] = LAST, but [Too close] = IN YOUR FACE

In grid order (see diagram at right) those spell out your hidden THIRD EYE, a useful meta-solving tool indeed.

Meg writes:

baa source. Made me laugh!

David Stein says:

I had “heredity” for the longest time. Darn anagrammer.

Same with Eduardo:

Can HEREDITY be considered a body part?

And finally, Julian L professes his undying love for MGWCC:

I’ll never let you go, never let you go…

PATREON UPDATE:

We’re up to 933 solvers who’ve made the switch over to Patreon! Join them at the link. Thanks to everyone who’s made the jump so far; If you have any trouble with it, please e-mail me at crosswordcontest@gmail.com or via Patreon messaging.

REFUNDS FOR JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, and APRIL:

OK, they’re all pretty much done! Finishing up the last few this afternoon, but if I owe you a refund for January, February, March, or April, and you haven’t received it yet, please e-mail me at crosswordcontest@gmail.com and I’ll take care of it ASAP.

PETITE PANGRAMS KICKSTARTER:

Reminder that the great Peter Gordon is running a 3-month-long series of 9×11 puzzles, each of which is a pangram. Join up here.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is something you might say after getting the meta.

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