LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Deciphering Contest”
Prompt: Happy T. Hanks-Giving, everyone! This week’s contest answer is three Tom Hanks movies whose titles total 23 letters.
Answer: THE DA VINCI CODE, BIG, SPLASH
Correct entries: 191 overall, of which 106 were solo solves (more correct answers pending this afternoon; see below)
Writeup for last week will be up at 1:00 PM ET. There were also several alternate answers I wound up accepting; explanation and credit given for those by 1:00 as well.
UPDATED: OK, so which three Tom Hanks movies were suggested by last week’s puzzle? First thing you’d notice upon solving is the clue for 61-Across: [Suggests subtly, as a meta title might a movie title]. Our title is “Decipher Contest,” and if you scan a list of Tom Hanks movies, the one that jumps out from that is the 2006 megahit “The Da Vinci” code.
Second insight: many 7s in this grid, especially on the acrosses. And Da Vinci is a 7…code…wires crossing in brain…aha! Next insight: a whole bunch of these 7’s feature the same “code” as the name DA VINCI, i.e. 1234564. In fact, 11 of the 19 7-letter entries in this grid use this pattern, and they’re all on the Acrosses. Concidence? I think not!
They are:
STOPGAP
MAPONTO
LESOTHO
SCALPEL
ADVERSE
FERMIUM
FLIPTOP
HINTSAT
RAVIOLI
ALDENTE
SMARTER
Those repeated letters spell POOL EMPTIER. So can we find two Tom Hanks movie titles, totaling 9 letters, that could be called a “Pool emptier”? Yes, we can — BIG SPLASH, making those two + THE DA VINCI CODE our contest answer, found by 183 solvers.
Unfortunately, there was uncertainty here for some solvers who weren’t sure if “The Da Vinci Code” itself was one of the three. It was a little unusual that one of the three answers would be derived one way and the other two another, so I’m going to give credit to anyone who got as far as POOL EMPTIER, whether or not they ultimately chose “The Da Vinci Code.” For example, eight solvers chose “That Thing You Do,” also 14 letters, using the logic that MGWCC is “that thing you do.”
If you don’t see yourself credited for this meta and feel you should have been, please e-mail me (crosswordcontest@gmail.com) and I’ll take a look.
GUEST CONSTRUCTOR PUZZLE:
Today’s guest puzzle is by Terry Fridman. I really don’t know much about Terry, except that I thought this debut puzzle was exceptionally clever, so here it is!
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a seven-letter word you might say when you get the meta.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.