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LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “Bright Idea”
Prompt: This week’s contest answer is a 7-letter word.
Answer: MENORAH
Correct entries: 222 overall, of which 136 were solo solves

Definitely a SAD (Simple and Difficult) meta last week, which played tougher than I’d expected (like a 3.75/5 instead of my intended 2.75/5). Let’s give it the SAD test, which is: can the meta be described in two reasonable sentences?:

Alternate answers for the four theme entries anagram to MENORAH.

OK, that’s actually super-SAD since it only took 10 words! Like so:

17-A: [Part of a dress in a North African city?] = TUNIS BODICE, but could also be ORAN HEM

28-A: [Bring damage to a “Matrix” character?] = INJURE TRINITY, but could also be HARM NEO. I stupidly managed to leave the word “harm” in this clue in the original version I sent out, which I had changed to “damage” but then I think I failed to save the fixed version. So the “harm” version went out, I started getting emails (can’t have HARM in the alt-answer and the clue) and then I had to send out a correction. Which may have been a blessing in disguise, since that one-word change did nudge a few solvers over the finish line (but hardly elicited the torrent of “oh, now I get it” new answers that I feared).

43-A: [Pork product from a Nevada city?] = LAS VEGAS BACON, but could also be RENO HAM. I thought this would be the entry point for most solvers, since you know you’re looking for a 7-letter answer and if four of them were R-E-N-O (only so many cities in Nevada to try) then finding H-A-M as a 3-letter pork product gets you home. Not the most kosher entry (content-wise, not mechanism-wise).

57-A: [Pronoun used in an Arabian Peninsula nation?] = BAHRAIN THEY, but could also be OMAN HER. Another one I thought might break it open, since OMAN is a nice short start to a 7-letter entry.

Anyway, anagram those four to get MENORAH, the title’s “bright idea.”

paolo p. wrote at 12:25, while submitting the correct answer:

“Harm” in the INJURE TRINITY clue threw me off

Ah, the expletives I included in my response email to paolo when he pointed out what I’d done! (directed *to* him, not *at* him, I should clarify).

Myelbow writes:

Gotta admit, the correction you sent out was what unlocked the meta for me. Not sure I would have figured it out otherwise.

Silver lining!

Tyler Hinman commented at Fiend:

Surprisingly, no one else mentioned getting too-big a nudge from the title. Which isn’t to say it didn’t happen, but sounds like it wasn’t in the “gave too much away” category.

Eckless liked it:

Somebody might boo this? Me, no. Rah!

anna g says:

wondering how many “hermano” answers you’ll get — that was my first instinct but didn’t match up with the title at all

Was wondering about that, but Consigliere and I decided that it didn’t fit the title so no one would submit it. And no one did!

Golem proclaims:

Tune in again next week for the further solving adventures of… HERO-MAN!

Craig Mazin reports:

Craig RAN HOME to tell his wife about this one. Excellent meta!

And finally, Cruise Director writes:

Matt – just a note. A much better clue for 10D would be “our cruise director Bob”

Aha! Bob is our Fearless Leader here, and I’ll let you guess his surname.

Anyway, Happy and Merry to everyone! Much appreciate to everyone who solves. Some big things coming up for MGWCC for the 15th anniversary in June, so stay tuned and I’ll keep meta-ing if you all do!

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is something you’ll be if you get the meta.

NOTE: Due to the delayed post, the deadline for this meta is Wednesday, December 28th at noon ET.

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