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:
Title: “Work Your Way Up”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is a two-word phrase.
Were the four long entries theme? GOOD ADVICE, SPLIT PEAS, JOSEY WALES, and ROAST BEEF were the longest entries in the grid, but finding a commonality proved elusive. Although two of them are foods…
Following that line of thought, successful solvers then noticed that there are eight more foods in the grid as well: in addition to SPLIT PEAS and ROAST BEEF, we also have TOFU, CHORIZO, AVOCADOS, DUCK, CHERRIES, a HOTCAKE, ONION, and NAAN bread. So that’s ten foods in all…but now what?
As one (ultimately successful) solver wrote here:
I’m staring at a list of ten foods in your current grid. Just staring. And staring. And staring.
He felt like Mr. Pitt with the Magic Eye puzzles:
Finally he (and 242 others) realized here that these ten foods all link together in a chain from the bottom left to the upper right corner. If you highlight the connecting points, they spell contest answer FOOD CHAIN.
pgw says:
The four long two-word phrases are bonus food-theme content: a red herring
Spielekatze writes:
Oh man – should’ve gotten there faster, but I was trying too hard to force those words into the shape of a food pyramid!
Golem quips:
You, sir, are an apex constructor.
drdans says:
Not quite the same as the Froot Loops necklaces my kids used to make at daycare.
And finally, Tyler Hinman was happy to wrestle this one to the ground:
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 243 correct entries received, is David Olson of Lake Forest, Ill. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, David will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.
META MAESTRO TO PINCH HIT THIS WEEK:
Nice to have friends who write metas! It’s extremely rare to have a week where I don’t feel like writing a contest puzzle, but with a death in the family last week (my father-in-law, who was a great guy) I wasn’t feeling it. Pete Muller (and several others, thanks to all! But I can only run one) sensed this and sent me a nice idea he’s been working on, and I present it here as a pre-Guest Constructor Month puzzle (this is officially May’s fourth puzzle, not part of Guest Constructor Month 2018, which starts next week).
You may already know that Pete has been writing his outstanding Muller Monthly Music Meta for seven years now, all of which I’ve blogged at Diary of a Crossword Fiend. They’re free and extraordinarily clever, so give them a shot if you’re not a regular already (new puzzles released on the first Tuesday of each month).
Pete’s also a musician and singer who’s working on his fourth album. Here’s a pic of him playing a gig in Chicago earlier this month.
Check out more of Pete’s music here. And thanks again for pinch-hitting this week, Meta Maestro.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
NOTE: due to my late posting, this puzzle’s contest deadline is 12:00 NOON ET on Thursday, May 31st. I know that’s a day less than normal, but do your best!
This week’s contest answer is an object used in some constructions.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.