IMPORTANT NOTE: As of January 2015 MGWCC is a subscribers-only crossword. The cost is $26 per year, and you can subscribe (or get a free trial month first) here:
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
Title: “At Movies”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is a Best Picture-winning film.
Answer: THE DEPARTED
This theme was inspired by reading the great Amy Reynaldo‘s review of a recent NYT crossword, where she noted that a clue contained what she amusingly termed “The dreaded ‘with the‘.” Now there’s a meta idea, I said.
Lots of movies in this one. In the order that wound up mattering, which is row-by-row of the entry’s first letter:
1-A: [1982 sci-fi horror film set in Antarctica] = (THE) THING
8-D: [2011 period drama for which Viola Davis earned a Best Actress nomination] = (THE) HELP
11-D: [2006 musical drama where Beyoncé Knowles plays a character based on Diana Ross] = DREAMGIRLS
17-A: [2010 action movie directed by Sylvester Stallone] = (THE) EXPENDABLES
18-D: [1991 biopic directed by Oliver Stone] = (THE) DOORS
19-A: [2002 Pang Brothers horror movie remade into a 2008 version starring Jessica Alba] = (THE) EYE
22-A: [1993 drama for which 11-year-old Anna Paquin won an Oscar] = (THE) PIANO
26-A: [1996 thriller where Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a U.S. Marshal] = ERASER
27-D: [2018 drama named for the neighborhood of Mexico City that it depicts] = ROMA
28-D: [2016 drama where Ben Affleck plays a math genius] = (THE) ACCOUNTANT
29-D: [2009 post-apocalyptic drama starring Viggo Mortensen] = (THE) ROAD
36-D: [2010 crime drama where a gang of thieves tries to steal from Fenway Park] = (THE) TOWN
38-D: [1973 classic with the line “I’m telling you that that thing upstairs isn’t my daughter” = (THE) EXORCIST
43-A: [1980 movie whose title song was a Top-10 hit for ELO and Olivia Newton-John] = XANADU
46-A: [2001 crime drama set partly in Medellin]
51-D: [1994 drama in which Sandra Bullock plays a bus passenger] = SPEED
58-D: [2010 thriller in which Helen Mirren plays a former Mossad agent] = (THE) DEBT
60-A: [2012 Marisa Tomei drama set partly in Syria] = INESCAPABLE
Some of these movies were missing their “The” in the title, while others were the-less to begin with so didn’t miss them at all. The first letters of those in which the THE was missing spell out THE DEPARTED, fittingly since the THE has indeed DEPARTED from each entry. The other seven were red herrings (note color scheme in grid above) necessary to keep solvers from just using the first letters of all the movies in the grid without even noticing their THE-lessness.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 501 correct answers, is Foggy Brume of Mesa, Ariz. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Foggy will also receive a signed copy of my book Pint-Size Crosswords.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is an 11-letter word.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.