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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “Pretty Cool”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is something that may give you a chill.
Answer: WIND, but I also accepted COLD WIND and several other two-word phrases starting with COLD
Correct entries: 299, of which 227 were solo solves

I’d had this idea in my notebook for a while and I’m glad it finally saw the light of day. Turned out to be slightly flawed, but I’m not sure there was a way around it.

The core concept is that four pairs of same-length, inherently “cold” entries (ALASKA and GELATO, e.g.) are placed in this grid so that they “sandwich” a non-inherently-cold third same-length entry. These two entries then make the entry between them cold (TURKEY, in this case), thereby changing its meaning (TURKEY becomes COLD TURKEY, as in quitting a bad habit for good).

Sounded great but had a few drawbacks, the main one being that there were several other plausible answers than my intended WIND. Most solvers submitted WIND, since those were the first letters of the alt-answers to four key clues — (see solution grid by Gridmaster J). But you might plausibly have thought that that COLD WIND was the answer, as submitted by 51 solvers (who all got full credit). Probably should’ve specified a four-letter word, but didn’t want to give too much away.

Good luck to everyone participating in Stamford this weekend at the ACPT!

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

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

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