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: “Clue”
Instructions: This week’s contest answer is a famous movie.
Answer: SHANE
We had five movie titles starred in the grid: FIRST MAN, SOME LIKE IT HOT, TAXI DRIVER, MEN IN BLACK, and THE SIXTH SENSE. Nudged by the title (which is also the title of a great little movie), 394 solvers noticed that those movie titles also serve as crossword-style clues to entries elsewhere in the grid:
[First man] would be ADAM at 45-A
[Some like it hot] would be SALSA at 9-A
[Taxi driver] would be HACK at 34-A
[Men in black] would be NINJAS at 49-D
[The sixth sense] would be ESP at 63-D
Take the first letter of those clued entries in grid order (top-to-bottom) and they spell the contest answer, the classic 1953 Western SHANE.
Squonk says:
Spent some time trying to figure out if scones were served hot.
SALSA is a better answer than SCONE for that clue, but luckily either one you choose works for the meta!
Steve Blais says:
You clever Ladd!
And finally, Laura E-D writes:
You wouldn’t believe how long I spent trying to match theme answers to characters from Clue!
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from the 394 correct entries received, is Johnny Aldape of Boise, Idaho.. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Johnny will also receive a signed copy of my book Fast & Fun Mini Crosswords.
2018 YEARLY PRIZES:
OK, for real this time, one more week. I fell way behind on weekly and monthly prizes during the holidays; I’m now fully caught up on monthly prizes and getting there on weekly. So finally by next Friday I’ll have all the yearly prizes ready to announce.
SOLO SOLVE / GROUP SOLVES:
You’ll notice there is now a “Solo solve?” question when you submit your answer to MGWCC. Webmaster Dave Sullivan and I have instituted this for 2019 due to requests from solvers who religiously reject any outside help at all on MGWCC metas and feel it’s unfair group solvers are eligible for the same prizes at year’s end. On the other hand, there’s a wide spectrum between 100% solo and 100% group, and I don’t want anyone to lose their enjoyment of the puzzles because of these new prize rules. So we’ve tried to come to a Solomon-like resolution that will make everyone happy, or at least not unhappy. So work with us, and here goes:
1) January 2019 does not count. We’ve taken some time to get the new rules hashed out, so this month is a grace period that will in no way affect your prize situation at the end of the year. To put it another way, everyone goes 4-for-4 on January this year when calculating year-end prizes.
2) Solo/group solve status ONLY affects year-end prizes, NOT weekly or monthly prizes. Everyone is eligible for all weekly and monthly prizes.
3) Solo solve on a puzzle means that you got ZERO outside help. No nudges, no winks, no hints, not one little letter. [Clarification, 12:10 PM: This means no help from other HUMANS. You can Google anything you like.]
4) Group solve on a puzzle means everything else.
5) There will be separate GOLD, SILVER, and BRONZE prizes for solo solvers and groups solvers. If you have even one puzzle that was technically a group solve, then you’re in the group category for the year.
6) I know 5) seems harsh, but anything else would be a slippery slope that I’d need to constantly police.
7) This is the most important one: If you’re enjoying how you solve now, please keep doing it. I don’t want to ruin or even alter anyone’s solving experience. Whether you solve solo, with one pal, with ten pals, or solve with an ever-shifting constellation of pals, I want you to keep doing what’s working for you. All the prizes will be nice.
8) I’m happy to get feedback on this system — e-mail me at crosswordcontest@gmail.com. But please keep in mind that Dave and I are just two people and there are endless situations that could arise, so please only contact us about it if there’s something that’s really bothering you or that you really want clarification on.
That’s all for now. One more week of free January, and then I’ll probably post a couple of amendments next week, and then we’ll be off to the races.
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a famous movie from the 1970s.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.