IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
We were looking for a famous singer last week, and the one overt theme entry was the central 13 at 37-A: [You’ll need to use one seven times to figure out the meta singer] for COCKNEY ACCENT. The well-known feature of which is dropping the H from the beginning of a word, so logical to find the grid entries starting with H. There were six, not seven, which turned out to be important. In grid order:
HADES
HARDEST
HAWN
HUE
HAR
HAND
Which, when Cockneyfied and properly punctuated, yields ’80s artist on “You Are” and… You might have gotten it there, since “You Are” by contest answer LIONEL RICHIE was one of the signature songs of the 1980s. But…what’s the and…? Only six H’s in the grid means something different must be going on with the seventh Cockney usage, and it’s right there at the last across, where ELLO is already Cockneyfied for Richie’s #1 hit of 1984, “Hello.” See what I did there? Switched it up on ya! So “’80s artist on ‘You Are’ and ‘Hello'” yields L.R. himself. You don’t get a Cockney accent growing up in Tuskegee, but there it is.
Touchdown asks:
Will you do a cover next week, like Pete Muller does?
Sure — here’s one I did under my stage name of “Blake Shelton”:
And Zach B. writes:
I convinced my parents to start doing the MGWCC with me in December; they were with my uncle yesterday when we got on the phone and hashed out the meta. First time ever I got help on a meta! Only took 7.5 years to get them involved 🙂
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 319 correct entries received, is Andrew Karas of Jamaica Plain, Mass. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Andrew will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.
QUEER QROSSWORDS:
Friend of MGWCC Nate Cardin writes:
Some of you may remember our all-call a few months ago for LGBTQ+ constructors to contribute to a charity puzzle packet in the style of Francis Heaney’s wildly successful Puzzles for Progress. Well, Queer Qrosswords is now out and so proud!
Queer Qrosswords is a fun packet of 22 wonderfully queer crosswords written by as many LGBTQ+ constructors to raise money for LGBTQ+ charities. We have puzzles from legends like Trip Payne, David Quarfoot, and Tracy Bennett; debut puzzles by Alexandra Carter, Becca Greenstein, Elizabeth Hook and Jenna LaFleur; a meta from Mark Halpin; and so much more!
Visit us at QueerQrosswords.com now to get your very own copy of the packet for as little as a $10 donation to an LGBTQ+ charity of your choice.
EXTENDED DEADLINE THIS WEEK DUE TO THE ACPT:
To everyone participating in this weekend’s American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, have fun! Due to the tournament, this week’s contest deadline is Wednesday, March 28th, at noon ET.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a well-known group of three.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.