LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “Eating in Bed”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is something you might eat in bed.
Answer: SNACKS
Correct entries: 598 overall, of which 553 were solo solves

Fun Week 2 from guest constructor Ben Chenoweth last week. The central across was PRINCESS AND THE P, clued as [Fairy tale about a very sensitive girl, and the inspiration for this meta]. You’ll recall that the princess was unable to sleep due to a pea under her mattress, a problem replicated six times in this grid!

Start with the five beds: SACK, FUTON, SOFA, BUNK, and COTS, all on the Acrosses. Under each of those you’ll find a letter “P,” as in the fairy tale, which is also part of a food: PEAR, SOUP, TAPA, DIPS, and CREPE. Take the letter just above the P in each bed and you spell contest answer SNACKS. Neat illustration of the story, and notice the kicker: the C in SNACKS comes from the PRINCESS herself, whose P underneath, from SYRUP, is surely causing her much discomfort.

Complex and fun but still Week-2 easy meta. Thanks very much, Ben! I dug it and so did solvers:

Heather Kennedy says:

Was just perfect for finishing before MIT Hunt puzzles go live! Also, I need some SNACKS.

sharkcicles notes:

Nice to see benchen on mgwcc! His Tuesday puzzles have been a lot of fun.

Laura M says:

Nice one from Ben! I always enjoy the MOATs!

That’s Metas On A Tuesday, Ben’s weekly meta feature.

And finally, Squonk writes:

Congratulate Ben on a fun puzzle!

I do! Thanks very much, Ben.

2021 PRIZE WINNERS:

They’ve all been notified and I’ve heard back from most. If you earned a MGWCC prize in 2021 and didn’t hear from me, please e-mail me at crosswordcontest@gmail.com. All prizewinners will be announced here next week!

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a five-letter verb.

NOTE: there are no electronic files available for solving this week, just the PDF. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.