meta 0 min
hello and welcome to episode #501 of matt gaffney’s weekly crossword contest, “Double Feature”. i solved this week 1 puzzle without the instructions, as i am often wont to do for week 1 puzzles. what are the theme answers?
- {+1 for those calling the U.S. or +52 for those calling Mexico, e.g.} COUNTRY CODE.
- {They watch their pennies} COIN COLLECTORS.
- {Oscar-nominated role for Talia Shire} CONNIE CORLEONE.
- {Business owner’s concern} COST CONTROL.
these are all two-word phrases where both parts start with CO. from the title, i guessed we were going to be asked for a movie, which would certainly suggest pixar’s COCO, and i was right—the instructions actually ask for a movie in theaters now. i haven’t seen it, but i believe it is set in mexico, which might make the clue for COUNTRY CODE an extra hint.
this is a very easy meta, and a nice appetizer for 2018. matt noted on twitter that it set a new record for most correct solves yesterday, with that number still growing.
i don’t have a lot else to say about the fill, but i enjoyed the african crossing of {Third-largest lake in Africa, or a nation it borders} MALAWI with {Mount Kilimanjaro’s top} SNOWCAP.
mystery hunt is this weekend. hope to see many of you there!
Thanks, Joon — subscription-era record 651 correct entries, crushing the old record of 607.
Looked like lots of first timers too. Subscriptions as Christmas presents? New Years resolutions to start solving? Good to see in any case.
How many paid subscribers do you have? I see that there are nearly 3,000 that have gotten at least one puzzle correct based on your “Overall” tab, but this probably includes users who have answered correctly since you’ve been tracking (pre-subscription, if I recall correctly). Just wondering what percentage of overall subscribers you’re seeing submissions from (and I completely understand if that info isn’t something you want to share).
At one point Matt did say the paid subscriptions were greater than the revenue from the tip jar, so you can do the arithmetic. But that was a while ago.
You also have to remember that some people don’t always stick to the same username – just guessing that there will be some overlap in that 3,000 number from that (though I don’t know). I bet Gaffney has something like 1,000 subscribers but that’s a total guess.