LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “MGWCC #913 — “The Bottom Line” by Ben Chenoweth
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is where you’ll find it.
Answer: A CRACK IN THE GRID, found by 285 solvers, 224 of which were solo solves

Stunner from Down Under! Ben Chenoweth delivers us a lovely idea: there is a hidden “crack” in the grid between the ninth and tenth columns, where a secret column hides!

First thing to notice is that 15 clues have an asterisk:

1-A: [*Finished] = KAPUT
17-A: [*Piece of wood used to bind a broken bone] = STAKE
38-A: [*Flat-bottomed vessel] = RAFT
45-A: [*PR agent’s concerns] = SINS
67-A: [**Golden Globe-winning Peter] = FALK
69-A: [*Words after have or save] = ALIFE
72-A: [*Mammal found in the Andean cloud forest] = LLAMA
1-D: [*Location mentioned in the first few chapters of the Bible] = KUSH
5-D: [*Entwine the rope] = TIE
21-D: [*Beatles craze, for example] = FAD
27-D: [*Finales] = ENDS
29-D: [*Abraham Lincoln had one] = CHIN
39-D: [*Club or racing preceder] = AUTO
47-D: [*Super Bowl halftime performer of the 2020s] = DRE
69-D: [*Ecclesiastical vestment that starts with the letter A] = ALB

Next step: Find an alternate answer for each of these in the grid. For example, the clue for KAPUT at 1-A, [Finished], could also be satisfied by adding a D to the end of ENDE at 74-A, yielding ENDED. The other 14 are listed in Ben’s graphic below.

Burak says:

10/10, no notes. Amazing meta.

Garrett dug it, too:

I came close to getting one of Ben’s metas once before, but this my first complete solve (and solo!). Very happy with this meta. A five star one, for me.

As did HunterX:

Holy Moly! Astounding!

Ryoustra says:

Wow! Quite the tour de force!

And finally, lbray53 says:

Wow! So fun. I was lost until I wasn’t. Multiple AHA moments.

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

No instructions given here since there are no-instructions solving options available.