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:
www.mgwcc.com
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:
“You Skipped Me” was last week’s title, and the prompt asked for simply a nine-letter word. No obvious theme entries to be found, but alert solvers noticed an odd clue for TYPOS in the central down: [They’re understandable when your finger just missed by one, but by two is a bit much].
And then a bunch of typos in clues, nine in all:
17-A [Two of these in an NBA game means an election] = TECHNICALS. “Election” should be “ejection”.
19-A [Road, to an ancient woman] = ITER. “Woman” should be “Roman.”
23-A [Routing animals] = CARRION. “Routing” should be “Rotting.”
38-A [Channel for Rachel Maddox] = MSNBC. “Maddox” should be “Maddow.”
40-A [They make sure your papers star together] = STAPLES. “Star” should be “stay.”
43-A [Taster animal] = BUNNY. “Taster” should be “Easter.”
53-A [Beginning of siring] = EQUINOX. “Siring” should be “spring.”
62-A [Coming bird] = DOVE. “Coming” should be “cooing.”
63-A [3-Day commander] = EISENHOWER. Tricky one — “3-Day” should be “D-Day.”
Going back to our TYPOS clue, we notice that each of these letter shifts is two keyboard keys away from its intended letter. For example, in the J–>L shift in the first example above, the J is two keys from the L. And what key got skipped over there? The K. And herein lies the tale: those nine letters skipped by our careless typist spell out contest answer KEYSTROKE:
17A J–>L skips the K
19A R–>W skips the E
23A T–>U skips the Y
38A W–>X skips the S
40A Y–>R skips the T
43A E–>T skips the R
53A P–>I skips the O
62A O–>M skips the K
63-A D–>3 skips the E
401 solvers got it right, which was far above my guess of 220, and way above normal for a Week 3. Was the meta too easy or are you people just too damn smart? Probably both.
Small Wave Dave says:
I pwned this one!
Greenstarfanatic asks:
So question: How many people messaged you about typos before realizing what you were doing?
Zero! Now that’s some high-level meta solving from you all. No flinching whatsoever.
imfromjersey says:
loved teh meta!
alabast got it, but not right away:
All it took for me was the ginormous hint in 28 down that I somehow missed for two hours.
lisepac is both good solver and good citizen:
Two good things happened today, in spite of the Nor’easter blasting down on us: fulfilled my jury service for the next 3 years without being impaneled, and finished MGWCC #451 while waiting to be called.
And finally, BretBloomquist points out:
This only works if you have a ZXCVBN keyboard.
This week’s winner, whose name was chosen at random from among the 401 correct entries received, is Robert Hutchinson of Valdosta, Ga. In addition to a MGWCC pen, pencil, and notepad set, Robert will also receive a 1-year subscription to Matt Gaffney’s Daily Crossword.
MULLER MONTHLY MUSIC META, SEASON 6:
The great Pete Muller is back with another season of his monthly music-related metas. I’ve blogged the first five seasons every month at Crossword Fiend and will be doing it again this year. Had a painful 10/12 in 2016 but I’m going to go ahead and claim that I will not be stumped in 2017. 12/12, baby! Vegas or bust.
The first puzzle of 2017 went up on Tuesday, and the deadline is 11 PM ET on Sunday. Try it here:
http://pmxwords.com/january-mmmm-the-2017-contest-begins/
THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:
This week’s contest answer is a six-letter word you might shout when you solve this meta.
Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.