Title: “MGWCC #909 — “Scary Movie”
Prompt: This puzzle’s contest answer is a descriptor for some scary films.
Answer: R-RATED, found by 347 solvers, 312 of which were solo solves
Nice little idea, but the puzzle fell between two stools difficulty-wise. There was a big hint I decided to give because without it I thought the meta might be too tough even for a Week 5, but in retrospect I probably should’ve just released the Kraken and let the chips fall where they may (nice mixed metaphor).
We had six theme entries, each marked clearly with a number from 1 to 6:
17-A: [Uninvited guest — 1] = GATECRASHER
63-A: [Made smart-alecky comments — 5] = WISECRACKED
5-D: [Went down — 3] = DECREASED
11-D: [Utterly destroy — 4] = EVISCERATE
29-D: [Make holy — 6] = CONSECRATE
36-D: [No-goodnik — 2] = MISCREANT
And then there was that one final hint at the omega-Across clue:
[Jump-scare in horror movies, e.g.] = TROPE
A jump scare being that cheap-but-effective shot in a horror movie when some creature leaps out from behind a door or wherever, accompanied by a shriek and a horrifyingly loud sound effect, after which everyone in the theater screams as well (and drops their candy/drink/popcorn on the floor).
And “jump-scare” was also the mechanism: note that each of our six theme entries contains the letters in SCARE consecutively in some order. “Jump over” those five letters, i.e. ignore them, and you’re left with another word. In order of parenthetical number:
1 — GATECRASHER = GATHER
2 — MISCREANT = MINT
3 — DECREASED = DEED
4 — EVISCERATE = EVITE
5 — WISECRACKED = WICKED
6 — CONSECRATE = CONTE
Next step: find a clue for which each of these words is a reasonable alt-answer to the one in the grid:
GATHER = 15-A: [Get together for a purpose] = RALLY
MINT = 21-A: [Flavoring for some ice cream] = RUM
DEED = 40-A: [Undertaking] = ACT
EVITE = 70-A: [Party-thrower’s tool, often] = TONGS
WICKED = [Just plain bad] = EVIL
CONTE = 1-D: [Italian noble title] = DOGE
The first letters of those alt-answers, ordered following the parenthetical numbers, gives us contest answer R-RATED, found by 347 solvers.
That’s a lot for a Week 5! In retrospect I should’ve perhaps not given the extra hint with the TROPE clue, but I worried that solvers who had never heard the term “jump-scare” would be hard-pressed to figure out the meta, and might not be thrilled with it. So I erred on the side of caution, but maybe I should’ve just gone for it? I never really get to know on these things…
Meta — World Peace says:
Man alive, I figured out a Week 5!
OK, so maybe there are positive aspects to having an easier Week 5 every year or two…
David Lonoff amusingly verifies that this wasn’t Week 5 difficulty:
Ok, so I didn’t get solve any other puzzles this month, even week 1. And somehow I got this one.
Wow! I wonder if that has ever happened before.
Bill C got it:
My first Week #5 !!!!
As did Q Mark:
wow…never solved a week 5 before!
And nilradical:
First week 5 solo solve!
And finally, TheBFOOL writes:
This is my first year of really getting into metas and I am regularly stumped by Weeks 2-3 so I’m almost crying with joy at the idea that I’ve caught the Week 5 Halloween achievement
Alright, so maybe the once-every-few-years easier Week 5 is not such a bad thing after all! There were a bunch more of these, too. Philosophical question: is my task with MGWCC to optimize human happiness? If so, this was the greatest Week 5 ever!
On to November’s Week 1, with an illustrious guest constructor:
GUEST CONSTRUCTOR: JEFFREY HARRIS (aka JanglerNPL)
Today’s guest constructor is the great Jeffrey Harris, aka JanglerNPL on the leaderboard, where he and e.a. vie for speed-meta dominance on a weekly basis. Jeffrey hails from Nashville, Tennessee, and is looking forward to the new Benoit Blanc movie (and he wants me to tell you that that is not meta-related).
Week 1, have fun!
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
No instructions given here since there are no-instructions solving options available.
Good luck!
–Matt