LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “Just Add Water”
Prompt: This puzzle’s contest answer is a 5-letter proper name.
Answer: SEINE, found by 230 solvers, 153 of which were solo solves

I thought we needed a less hinty title than “Just Add Water” last week, but Consigliere insisted that it wouldn’t give too much away. He was proven correct as even the great Joonmeister needed a meandering path to succeess on this one.

Our five theme entries were:

17-A: [It lets you type notes] = GOOGLE CHAT
20-A: [Very British greeting] = HELLO OLD CHAP
37-A: [Herb named for a U.S. state] = COLORADO BUR. Odd entry!
57-A: [They may play “Stars and Stripes Forever”] = MILITARY BAND
62-A: [Fierce flyer] = VAMPIRE BAT

What’s the common bond here? With a nudge from the title, let’s just “add water” to our five theme entries…with E-A-U, the French word for “water.” Comme ça:

CHAT –> CHATEAU
CHAP –> CHAPEAU
BUR –> BUREAU
BAND –> BANDEAU
BAT –> BATEAU

Next step: Stealing the Joonmeister’s text here since I’m low on time:

Find a clue whose first word is the English translation of those French words we formed by adding a little eau:
{House member’s superior (abbr.)} SEN. a CHATEAU is a kind of house.
{Hat size, sometimes} EIGHT. yeah, this clue did look suspicious—why hats? because a CHAPEAU is a hat.
{Office memo clarification} ID EST. a BUREAU can mean an office.
{Top of the seasoning chain, chemically} NACL. this clue was also totally sus from the start. a BANDEAU is a kind of strapless top.
{Riverboat rowers might attend it} ETON. BATEAU = riverboat, as discussed.

Taking the first letters of those we get contest answer SEINE, the Frenchest water after Perrier.

GUEST CONSTRUCTOR: MIKE GRACZYK

This week we have a puzzle from frequent guest constructor Mike Graczyk. . I hope I will always be your favorite meta-constructor with the initials M.G. but if Mikey G. takes my place I shall understand. Let’s get to it…

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This puzzle’s contest answer is a piece of advice.