LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Divide and Conquer”
Prompt: “This puzzle contest’s sixteen-letter answer is what you did to solve the meta.”
Answer: WORKED THOSE QUADS, found by 164 solvers, 48 of which were solo solves
SAD one last week! Meaning it was Simple And Difficult, “simple” here meaning not “easy” but rather “uncomplicated” (for a Week 4). Let’s take a look-see…
No obvious theme answers in this one, with the longest entry found in the 16×16 grid clocking in at a mere 8 letters (and just two of those!). So must be a lot going on behind the serene surface…
So let’s take a look at this 16×16 grid. It consists of 16 4×4 squares, each of which contains exactly 16 squares! Aha — there it is. In each of those 4×4 squares, take the letter from the grid that’s in the position of its 4×4 block.
So for the first one, we see the 4×4 square in the upper left has a W in its (1,1) spot, as its 4×4 does in the 16×16 grid. So we take the W there, then move on to the (1,2) block to its right, where we find an O in the (1,2) position. Do all 16 and you get contest answer WORKED THOSE QUADS, found by 164 solvers.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
Today’s puzzle is Week 1 of 4 in February. Prompt: This week’s contest answer is one of the sixteen sports at the Winter Olympics in Italy, which begins today. Here is the list of them for convenience.
Good luck!
–Matt