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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Five theme entries last week, and we sought a Vegas Strip hotel that could have served as a sixth. They were:
17-A [Florida street famed for its art deco hotels] = OCEAN DRIVE
25-A [University founded by Jesuits] = GEORGETOWN. Also my birthplace (at the university’s hospital, not in a classroom).
34-A [Area referenced in a Sondheim musical’s title] = THE WEST SIDE. He writes puzzles, too, as you may know.
47-A [Mayor between Sam Yorty and Dick Riordan] = TOM BRADLEY, mayor of Los Angeles for 20 years (1973-1993).
56-A [It’s celebrated in the French Quarter] = FAT TUESDAY.
Major insight #1: each of these clues and answers suggests a U.S. city: OCEAN DRIVE is in Miami Beach; GEORGETOWN U. is in Washington; THE WEST SIDE is part of New York City; TOM BRADLEY was mayor of Los Angeles; and the French Quarter and FAT TUESDAY, a.k.a. Mardi Gras, are part of the storied culture of NEW ORLEANS.
Major insight #2: each of these cities shares its enumeration with the theme entry: (5,5) for OCEAN DRIVE and Miami Beach, (10) for GEORGETOWN and Washington; (3,4,4) for THE WEST SIDE and New York City; (3,7) for TOM BRADLEY and Los Angeles; and (3,7) again for FAT TUESDAY and New Orleans.
So we need a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip that shares the (3,5) enumeration of that city, and the only one that fits the bill is the MGM GRAND, found by 172 solvers. Not THE SANDS, which one solver submitted, which fits the enumeration nicely…but was demolished in 1996.
Neville writes:
Here’s my contribution to what’s sure to be a deluge of emails this week: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_News_Victory_Arch
Jeff Louie says:
I was thinking Taj Mahal, but wrong city.
mjsandler suggests, from a city you can guess:
Hello from the land of CHEESESTEAKS
And finally, Tyler Hinman solved on location:
Took a few looks… And I’m solving from the Aria!
If he’d been in the MGM Grand, that would’ve been super-meta.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen randomly from the 172 correct entries received, is Joon Pahk of Somerville, Mass. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, Joon will also receive a 1-year subscription to MGDX.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a bird that would have made a good sixth theme entry in this puzzle.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.