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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “It’s Integral to the Clue”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is a noted historical figure.
Answer: CAESAR
Correct entries: 164, of which 38 were solo solves

I figured this one would play pretty tough, but when both JanglerNPL and e.a. showed up on the leaderboard at 12 minutes past noon I thought well, maybe not. But then the third solver didn’t show up for almost another hour, and the the fourth an hour after that. In the end just 38 solvers puzzled everything out solo, making this one of the toughest challenges in recent memory.

Musing on the wonderfully precise title (which was given to me by Supertester) seemed to be the key; why the word “Integral”? That word has two main meanings: it’s “very important” in a non-mathematical sense, but it’s really closer to “necessary.” In a mathematical sense, it means “of a number,” specifically a whole number. So a couple of moments of reflection on the title might have suggested that (whole) numbers are necessary for the clues.

And indeed they were, since six clues became very different when you prepended their numbers to them. The tricky part: you’ve got to use Roman numerals. OK, I still don’t understand how JanglerNPL and e.a. got there in 12 minutes…

In grid order, they are:

1-D: [Van of note] = ASTRO. That’s the Chevy Astro, produced from 1985-2005.
4-D: [Ory’s frequent musical partner] = ARMSTRONG, as in Louis.
6-D: [Car’s place] = ROAD
10-D: [File examiner] = TECH
51-A: [MIT for Harvard, say] = RIVAL
54-A: [Ely in music] = JOE

Romanize those clue numbers to create a clue that satisfies another entry:

[Ivan of note] = REITMAN at 85-A
[Ivory’s frequent musical partner] = EBONY at 61-A
[Vicar’s place] = APSE at 30-A
[X-file examiner] = SCULLY at 68-A
[Limit for Harvard, say] = CLASS SIZE at 29-D
[Lively, in music] = ALLEGRO at 82-A

Circle the first letter of each of those six and they spell, in the usual grid order, contest answer CAESAR. Julius of course, though I would’ve take Augustus as well had anyone submitted him. They both used Roman numerals, after all. But not Sid, since he didn’t.

C.Y. Hollander says:

This one took me a very long time to spot, in part because the first time the idea occurred to me, I dismissed it out of hand as too much of a stretch.

One of my favorite comments to get, since it takes solvers so long to circle back after rejecting an idea as unlikely. Does that sound too gleeful?! I hope not (evil villain laugh)…

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is an automotive term.

NOTE: Due to the late post, the deadline for submitting entries to this meta is Wednesday, May 3rd, at noon ET.

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