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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “The Leftovers”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is something you might say while struggling with a tough meta.
Answer: MAMMA MIA!
First insights: the longest words in the grid are eight letters long, there are eight of them, and each contains four of one letter:
19-A: [Class starter] = ROLL CALL
21-A: [Canines] = EYE TEETH
36-A: [Her friends include Rebecca Rabbit and Freddy Fox] = PEPPA PIG. The seed entry. With a 19-month-old I’ve become something of a Peppa Pig aficionado. Let’s just say that I can name many more of her friends besides the two listed above.
41-A: [Cutting pair] = SCISSORS
62-A: [“Ta-ta!”] = TOODLE-OO
65-A: [Cylindrical food] = TATER TOT. I spared you a “Napoleon Dynamite” clue here since someone told me recently that my puzzles have a ton of Napoleon Dynamite references. “So?” (in Napoleon Dynamite voice)
84-A: [Beloved olive] = KALAMATA. Maybe “Beloved” is putting it a bit strongly, but they are popular.
87-A: [Holding an impromptu press conference, in journalist slang] = GAGGLING
The letters used four times spell LEPSOTAG, which isn’t much. Second insight: the title suggests we used what’s left over instead, and it turns out that the four letters remaining in each theme entry, with another letter added, anagram to a grid entry. So:
ROCA + M = CAROM
YTTH + A = HYATT
EAIG + M = IMAGE
CIOR + M = MICRO
TDLE + A = DELTA
AERO + M = AMORE
KLMT + I = KLIMT. This broke it open for a lot of solvers, since the letters are in order (+ are all the consonants in) the new word
ALIN + A = LANAI
These spell “Mamma Mia!” which might be something you’d utter in exasperation at a tough meta. Plus it’s an eight-letter entry with four of one letter, like the others.
Neville (followed by 18 others) writes:
Here I go again!
Excitingly, this one was almost a Week 2! I know I can do it. 365 right answers so just shy of the 400-500 of a normal Week 2, but getting close. Gentle April rolls on, though — let’s see if this week will provide the elusive, real-deal Week 2!
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 365 correct entries received, is C.A. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, C.A. will also receive a signed copy of my book Pint-Size Crosswords.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
Six of this puzzle’s theme entries are starred. What is the secret seventh theme entry? (You can submit either the clue number or the entry itself.)
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.