LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “Name Game”
Prompt: This puzzle’s contest answer is a famous author.
Answer: J.R.R. Tolkien, found by 193 solvers, 101 of which were solo solves
Well, you may have thought I’d seen everything meta-possible after writing about 1,100 of these over the past 18 years, but no! Last week’s puzzle brought a bizarre new experience. To wit: the entire time I was writing it, up to about an hour after publication, I thought this was supposed to be a Week 2, not a Week 4. I think all the 2’s in the date (2/2/2026) on my screen led me astray (not kidding). So I was ready to apologize for another Week 2 Curse situation when I realized we were actually on Week 4! I breathed a sigh of relief, because the meta played like a Week 4! Serendipity…
First thing to notice is that we had six nonsensical themers made up of two five-letter words apiece. They were:
17-A: [It runs around a Russian summer house?] = DACHA LEDGE
24-A: [Chocolate substitute that sat around too long?] = MOLDY CAROB
32-A: [Macho types dressed in frilly lace?] = JABOT HE-MEN
45-A: [Group of witches headed by an English automaker?] = ROYCE COVEN
50-A: [Those who determine who gets the most slices of breakfast food?] = BACON FATES. Be nice to the Fates who control your bacon supply.
63-A: [The clever words and actions of Mr. Youngman?] = HENNY WILES
Must be time to meta! First step, which I liked quite a bit: Change one letter in each of these 12 theme entries, then re-sort them to form the three-word names of four famous people, each name with a 5,5,5, enumeration:
SACHA BARON COHEN (from DACHA BACON COVEN)
JOYCE CAROL OATES (from ROYCE CAROB FATES)
HENRY CABOT LODGE (from HENNY JABOT LEDGE)
HELEN WILLS MOODY (from HE-MEN WILLS MOLDY)
OK, must still be on the right track, since everything fits! What next?
Answer: take the initials of these four famous folks, and find a clue with those same inits:
SACHA BARON COHEN –> [Strong Biblical chief] –> JACOB (32-D)
HENRY CABOT LODGE –> [Help clarify lines] –> RECODE (15-A)
HELEN WILLS MOODY –> [Just calls otherwise] –> RENAMES (40-A)
JOYCE CAROL OATES –> [Jamboree covers, often] –> TENTS (53-D)
In left-to-right order that leaves JRRT, suggesting the four-initial J.R.R. TOLKIEN, found by 193 solvers, 101 of which were solo.
Quite a workout! Luckily this was indeed a Week 4, so there’s not a tougher one after that! Time for a head-spinning journey back to Week 1-land…
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
Today’s puzzle is Week 1 of 4 in March. No instructions given here since there are no-instructions solving options this week. Good luck!
–Matt