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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “Hear, Here!”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is a four-letter word.
Answer: ECHO

Subtle one from Patrick last week. Insight #1: Notice that each of the four theme entries conceals a pair of homophones:

NETWORK PROTOCOLS
WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
BOARD OF REALTORS
RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR

Next step: find a clue that contains a third homophone of each:

“too” in the clue for EAT
“yew” in the clue for CONE
“ore” in the clue for HAUL
“sow” in the clue for OATS

Very tidy, and found by 245 solvers. Big thanks to Patrick!

GUEST CONSTRUCTOR MONTH, PUZZLE #1:

Guest Constructor Month 2023 starts NOW! Our leadoff batter is Erik Agard, a force of nature in the crossword world for the last decade-plus.

Well, those were my words. In his own self-description:

Erik is a professional hater and sometimes puzzlemaker based nominally in Kansas City but mostly on the internet. He keeps coming back to write or co-write guest Gaffneys like some sort of wrathful/annoying spirit; this is his third. His fee for this puzzle will go to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund.

Thanks, Erik! Let’s get to it…

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is how some crosswords are written.

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