LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Hand to Mouth”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is a two-word phrase often spoken on the Las Vegas Strip.
Answer: SAY CHEESE, found by 181 solvers, of which 46 were solo solves
The Week 2 curse is in full flower this month: Week 1 was a Week 1, then Week 2 was a Week 3, then Week 3 was intended to be a Week 2 but was a Week 4! So we’ve gotten a proper Week 1, Week 3, and Week 4, which means if I can nail the Week 2 difficulty level this week then you’ll have gotten your money’s worth somehow in February. I think I’ve done it, but I’ve been wrong before…
No overt theme entries, but the omega-Across was suggestive: [Short form of the name of a popular poker game] = HOLD EM. Its placement in the grid, along with its relationship to the prompt, was highly suggestive. The long form of the game’s name is “Texas holdem,” so let’s see where that leads. Lots of X’s in the grid, four of which are preceded in their entry by a T, which would form TX (Texas) “holding” some other letters. Like so, in the usual grid order:
3-D: [Literary dialect of Old English] = WEST SAXON. The T and X are “holding” the letters SA
22-D: [Band named for a river] = STYX. The T and X are holding Y
47-A: [General Mills cereal] = WHEAT CHEX. The T and X are holding CHE
61-A: [Like about half of all sets of twins] = OPPOSITE-SEX. The T and X are holding ESE
Put those together and you’ve got SAY CHEESE, suitable since the Strip is full of tourists photographing one another. Not a super-Vegas-related answer, but the available combinations betwixt T and X were few and mostly not helpful, so it took me a couple of hours even to get the answer I used.
Why did this one play so tough? I think the extraneous X’s I purposely strewed around the grid played a role. I thought the meta was too easy for a Week 2 as it was, so dropped those in as a smokescreen, but looks like it worked a little too well.
2024 ORCAS:
The annual Orca Awards are gearing up for 2024’s honors. Crossword constructor/Orcas team member Rich Proulx writes:
“Voting is now open for the 12th ORCA Awards – the annual celebration of creativity in crosswords! Winners will be announced on March 6 during a livestream filled with games and prizes. Five long-time solvers will receive special awards. For each day of their streak, solvers can receive a chance to win crossword memorabilia inscribed to them and signed by Will Shortz. Need not be present to win. Details and voting info can be found at Diary of a Crossword Fiend.”
XKCD Comic:
Highly recommend that you look at this comic from xkcd earlier this week. Just go do it now! You’ll get another nudge about it very soon so might as well do it now. Go!
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer, which is eight letters long, is a category of people that includes many cartoonists.