LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “It Takes One”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is a five-letter part of the body.
Answer: ELBOW, found by 258 solvers, of which 167 were solo solves
Step 1 last week: Notice that each of the five grid-spanning entries conceals a verb:
LEAVES DROPPINGS = EAVESDROP
DEATH ROW RECORDS = THROW
HOSTESS TWINKIES = WINK
WILL SHAKESPEARE = SHAKE
THE SCOTTISH OPEN = HOP
Step 2: Notice that each of these verbs pertains to a certain part of the body, especially to *one of the pair of body parts performing an action*:
You EAVESDROP with one ear (usually)
You THROW with one arm (usually)
You WINK with one eye
You SHAKE with one hand
You HOP with one leg
Step 3:
Find a grid entry that conceals each of these body parts:
Find an EAR in NEAR at 3-d (not in WILL SHAKESPEARE, as the note on its clue suggests. There was no other usable entry with SHAKE I could find that wasn’t just using SHAKE as the verb, so I had to go with a SHAKESPEARE, but then that contains a spare EAR, which necessitated its awkward-but-still-mysteriously-hinty note).
Find an ARM in UNHARMED at 74-A
Find a EYE in DREYER at 8-A
Find a HAND in GHANDI at 73-A. Sort of a stretchy entry, but Google “Ghandi” and see how many reputable news, politics, history, etc. sites misspell it this way. And they’ve had a century of famous GANDHIs to practice on, not just the Mahatma. Still not as grating as “Lionel Ritchie” though.
Find a LEG in ELEGY at 53-A.
Take the first letter of those five:
NEAR
UNHARMED
DREYER
GHANDI
ELEGY
That spells NUDGE, and what five-letter body part does one nudge with? Contest answer the ELBOW, found by 258 entrants.
Dude did not appear to know that ELBOW was coming!
2023 MGWCC MEDALISTS:
The following solvers puzzled out the answer to between 47 and 51 of 2023’s MGWCC Metas. Each will receive a MGWCC pen and notepad set.
2023 GOLD MEDALISTS:
The following two solvers were unstumpable in 2023, going 51-for-51 on MGWCC’s. Wow!
Jeffrey Harris — Nashville, Tenn.
Bennett Washburn — Aurora, Colo.
2023 SILVER MEDALISTS:
The following sixteen solvers got 49 or 50 of 2023’s 51 metas. Not easy to pull off, but they did it!
Rich Bragg — Los Altos, Calif.
Ameet Brahmavar — Vancouver, Wash.
Neville Fogarty — Newport News, Va.
Mike Graczyk — Chicago, Ill.
Hector — San Francisco, Calif.
Travis Hime — New York City, N.Y.
Brent Holman — San Francisco, Calif.
Jeremy Horwitz — San Francisco, Calif.
Jasters — Seattle, Wash.
B.K.
J.M.
A.M.
Alex Sisti — Whitesboro, N.Y.
J.S.
Vraal
P.Y.
2023 BRONZE MEDALISTS:
The following solvers found 47 or 48 of last year’s meta answers. Much respect!
David Bael — Minneapolis, Minn.
Andy Nelson — Baton Rouge, La.
DJB — Sydney, Australia
Rich Pardoe — Houston, Tex.
Jason Rau — Campbell, Calif.
David Squire — Flagstaff, Ariz.
Maggie Wittlin — New York City, N.Y.
Congrats to all our winners! Your prizes are on their way.
NEGRONI’S COCKTAILS:
Bumping this from last week since I posted it late *and* because it’s getting rave reviews from solvers:
Attention cryptic crossword fans: Martin Reinfried has a new Patreon up called “Negroni’s Cocktails.” It’s a series of six variety cryptic crosswords in 2024, one every two months, each with a meta. There is also a final meta for the entire year. Check it out here:
https://www.patreon.com/negronis_cocktails
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer a Top 10 hit of the early 1990s.