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:
Surely you heard something about that new movie? We sought a character from the “Star Wars” universe, and our theme entries were:
17-A [Asian river that Kipling called “The Road to Mandalay”] = IRRAWADDY
20-A [Red dessert that isn’t very common but sounds good] = CHERRY PUDDING. Reminds me of a Larry David rant in “Curb”: “They have grape jelly and grape popsicles. How come there’s no grape pie?”
37-A [Event where the bride and groom haven’t made the most important decision of all] = ARRANGED WEDDING. Another slightly dubious entry. Moving along…
56-A [Gift company named for its founder’s two sons] = HARRY AND DAVID. We order from them sometimes. They’re the ones who make Moose Munch.
61-A [Like the Balkans, historically] = WAR-RIDDEN. Or pretty much any other place on the globe, actually. Except Antarctica.
Double R’s and D’s in each entry surely means that our meta answer is the original droid, R2-D2, found by 504 solvers.
BretBloomquist declares:
That is the droid I’m looking for
drdans asks:
or is it artoo detoo?
Only in crosswords!
cyn thinks the answer was:
Terrifically hidden!
Redhead64 says:
Beep Boop Bleep Boop Beep Beep Bloop!
I’ll need C-3P0 to translate that.
Rincon says:
thought you might go for BB8 …or is that next month?
And Sanfordm thinks this was:
The easiest meta of the year
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen randomly from the 504 correct entries received, is Ben Johnston of St. Albert, Alta. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set, Ben will also receive a 1-year subscription to MGDX.
MONTHLY PRIZES:
151 solvers submitted correct entries to all four of December’s challenges (ADELE, WEDNESDAY, TWELFTH NIGHT, DEBRA WINGER). The following 10 solvers, chosen randomly from that group, will receive a MGWCC pen, pencil and notepad set:
Emma Astroth — Overland Park, Kan.
B.G.
C Gillett — Saint Paul, Minn.
James Lynch & Carmen Kilpatrick — Providence, R.I.
David Hanson — Mounds View, Minn.
Jeremy Horwitz — San Francisco, Calif.
Lance Nathan — Arlington, Mass.
Erich Peterson — Kentwood, Mich.
Adam Rosenfield — Cambridge, Mass.
Jed Scott — Rockford, Mich.
Congratulations to our ten winners, and to everyone who went 4-for-4 in December.
YEARLY PRIZES FOR 2016:
The following 56 (!) solvers submitted correct answers to 48 or more of the 52 metas on MGWCC last year. Each will receive a special (i.e., pretty fancy!) MGWCC “The Light Went on for Me” flashlight pen, plus an incalculably large amount of prestige and bragging rights:
Danny Augenbraun — Pittsburgh, Penna.
Dan Bowden — Sydney, Australia
Rich Bragg — Los Altos, Calif.
Matt Breen — Madison, Wisc.
Bri Nebulae — Los Gatos, Calif.
Jeff Chen — Seattle, Wash.
cyn — Mountain View, Calif.
Yossi Fendel — Jerusalem, Israel
Neville Fogarty — Lexington, Ky.
Gideon Fostick — Givat Shmuel, Israel
Peter Gordon — Great Neck, N.Y.
Jeffrey Harris — Nashville, Tenn.
Travis Hime — New York City, N.Y.
Tyler Hinman — San Francisco, Calif.
Brent Holman — San Francisco, Calif.
Carl Holzman — Chicago, Ill.
Jeremy Horwitz — San Francisco, Calif.
Robert Hutchinson — Valdosta, Ga.
Bob Johnson — Ambler, Penna.
Jason Juang — Mountain View, Calif.
Richard Kalustian — Tacoma, Wash.
Andy Keller — Apple Valley, Minn.
Kranke — Alameda, Calif.
Julian Lim — Singapore, Singapore
Jeff Louie — Cambridge, Mass.
James Lynch & Carmen Kilpatrick — Providence, R.I.
Jonathan McCue — Los Altos, Calif.
Paul Melamud — Milford, N.J.
Alexander Miller — Grand Rapids, Mich.
Mark Navarrete — Quezon City, Philippines
Kyle O. — Hamilton, O.
Paula P. — Pasadena, Calif.
Jill Palmer — Leverett, Mass.
Patanga — Colleyville, Tex.
Marcia R. — Mequon, Wisc.
Jason Rau — Carlsbad, Calif.
RPardoe — Houston, Tex.
Erich Peterson — Kentwood, Mich.
Brett Rose — Chicago, Ill.
Al Sanders — Loveland, Colo.
Dan Seidman — Watertown, Mass.
Jason Shapiro — New York City, N.Y.
Dave Sullivan — Woodstock, Vt.
Tom Tabanao — San Jose, Calif.
Jason Taniguchi — Toronto, Ont.
Tilly and Dave — Norwalk, Ct.
Seth Tribble — New York, N.Y.
Peter Washington — Chico, Calif.
Scott Weiss — Walkersville, Md.
Jimmy Williams — Elgin, Ill.
John L. Wilson — Shoreview, Minn.
Maggie Wittlin — New York City, N.Y.
Congratulations to these solvers — that’s quite a feat!
But no time to rest on your laurels now, because I’m upping the ante in 2016! Solvers with 48+ correct entries will receive a MGWCC flashlight pen again, but I’ll also be giving out to-be-announced super-prizes to anyone who gets 51+ correct, and super-duper prizes to anyone who goes 53-for-53 in 2016! So good luck! Gauntlet thrown down! It’s on! Bring it! Git ‘r’ done! And here’s your second challenge of the year:
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
What (specific!) Winter Olympics event is suggested by each of this puzzle’s theme entries?
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.
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: