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: “Why Can’t We?”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is a two-word phrase.
Answer: BE FRIENDS
The Week 2 curse returns! This one turned out to be a tough Week 3, so we’re returning to Week 2 levels this week and then for MGWCC #582 we’ll do a Week 4 as expected.
First insight, not too tough: each entry contains one or more words that are also letters of the alphabet:
17-A [It’s a four-hour drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico (2,8)] = EL PASO, TEXAS. L.
27-A [Hackneyed prison movie line (1,5,7)] = WHAT ARE YOU IN FOR? R and U.
43-A [Disagree (9,3)] = DON’T SEE EYE TO EYE. C, I, and another I.
56-A [Act poorly, perhaps (4,6)] = MISS ONE’S CUE. Q.
Not really an insight, but also not the parenthetical numbers, which include everything from 1-9 exactly once. So those will probably spell out the contest answer.
Second insight, the tricky one: Treating non-letter words as blank spaces, each of these patterns fits one entry in the grid, all four of which happen to be in the corners:
L _ _ (from EL paso, texas) = LED
_ R U _ _ (from what ARE YOU in for) = BRUIN
_ C I _ I (from don’t SEE EYE to EYE) = SCIFI
_ _ Q (from miss one’s CUE) = REQ
Third insight, easy: order the missing letters from each entry by their parenthetical numbers and you get contest BE FRIENDS, which both completes the song title of the puzzle title plus uses another letter/word combo with BE. Joon suggested in his fiend review that including a Y _ _ B _ entry like YERBA would have been an awesome easter egg, since it fits the song title “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” in the same way as the theme entries work. Wish I had thought of that one.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 195 correct entries received, is Eric Klis of St. Louis Park, Minn. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Eric will also receive a signed copy of Eric Berlin’s new book Puzzlesnacks, and thanks to Eric for letting me give away copies of his book! Next week we return to regular prizes.
LOLLAPUZZOOLA 2019:
The 12th edition of this venerable tournament will take place in Manhattan on Saturday, August 17th. More info here, and I’ll have more to say about it in coming weeks. But for now: it’s great fun — I’ve been three times and always had a blast. Consider going if you’re nearby.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a New York City Attraction.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.