Prompt: This week’s contest answer is what you might say after you get the meta.
Answer: HOLY MOLY!
Correct entries: 519
Thanks to Joe Ross at the Muggles Forum for this awesome graphic. If you don’t know about the Muggles Forum, it’s a place where hundreds of meta solvers hang out and discuss contest crosswords over adult beverages. They have a good time. Highly recommended.
On to the puzzle: Solvers stared in befuddlement at fill-in-the-blank clues last week. There were eight of them, and in each instance, one of the two crossings worked but the other did not:
6-A: [Captains’ superiors (abbr.)] = MAJS, but then 8-D was [___ button (navel)] for BELLY at the J. So is it JELLY or BELLY there?
10-D: [___ a coin (see who gets to go first, maybe)] = FLIP, but then 20-A [Genre you can find on Spotify] is OPERA at the O, so is it FLIP or FLOP there?
21-A: [Hong ___ (special administrative region of China currently in political crisis)] = KONG but then 19-D is [Periodicals, casually] at the O for ZINES, so is it KING or KONG there?
48-A: [Vietnamese ___ (currency of southeast Asia)] = DONG, but then 42-D is [Lunes or martes, por ejemplo] at the I for DIA, so is it DING or DONG there?
59-A: [Person rocking a baton] for TWIRLER, but then 60-D is [“___ Nights” (1997 drama starring Mark Wahlberg and Julianne Moore)] is WOOGIE at the W, so is it BOOGIE or WOOGIE there?
63-A: [___ Wars (1970’s-80s advertising rivalry that included ads featuring Lionel Richie)] = COLA, but then 64-D is [Barbecuer’s needs] for COALS at the C, so is it COCA or COLA there?
79-A: [___ chi (Chinese martial art)], but then 76-A is [Noted movie of 1933] for LITTLE WOMEN at the M, so is it MAI or TAI there?
82-A: [“Free ___” (1993 movie about a boy who befriends a killer whale)] is WILLY, but then 59-D [Cruel ruler] is TYRANT at the N, so is it WILLY or NILLY there?
So which of the two answers to take? Well, why not both! And indeed, the two indicated answers there combine to form another phrase…and wouldn’t you know it, each of those eight phrases can satisfy a different clue in the grid:
JELLY BELLY works as an answer for the clue to YORK at 29-A, [Well-known candy brand]
FLIP-FLOP works as an answer for the clue to LOAFER at 26-D, [Casual shoe]
KING KONG works as an answer for the clue to LITTLE WOMEN at 76-A, [Noted movie of 1933]
DING-DONG works as an answer for the clue to YO-YO at 86-A, [Foolish person, in dated but amusing slang]
BOOGIE-WOOGIE works as an answer for the clue to OPERA at 20-A [Genre you can find on Spotify]
COCA-COLA works as an answer for the clue to ORANGE SODA at 51-A [Popular soft drink]
MAI TAI works as an answer for the clue to MOJITO at 43-D [Cocktail made with rum]
WILLY-NILLY works as an answer for the clue to HAPHAZARDLY at 18-A [In a random way]
Take the first letter of each of those in grid order (red letters in the graphic above) and you get the contest answer, undoubtedly shouted across the nation as solvers puzzled it out: HOLY MOLY!
DrDedalus writes:
Wowie Zowie!
I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not going to let this comments section devolve into a bunch of reduplicative phrases à la the theme. I think we’re all better than that.
SmallWaveDave writes:
Hells bells! Time for some AC/DC.
Love AC/DC! Unpopular opinion, but I think their best album — hey, wait. Cut that out.
pannonica laments:
If I didn’t dilly-dally, I could have submitted earlier.
That’s true — timeliness is important when solving metas, since contest crosswords involve — HEY! STOP THIS NOW, I SAID!
And finally, Lily says:
Some real hocus pocus going on here – just super duper work getting this hodge podge of reduplications into the grid for a razzle dazzle solving experience! And lucky me, I have last month’s Mars Bars handy dandy as a little reward.
Thanks, Lily! It’s gratifying when solvers write me with — HEY!!
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a well-known movie from the past decade.