MGWCC #675

 

hello and welcome to episode #675 of matt gaffney’s weekly crossword contest, “Sporting Chance”. for this week 1 puzzle, i didn’t look at the instructions, as per usual for week 1 puzzles. what are the theme answers?

• {Like a birthday ribbon, often} TIED IN A BOW.
• {Radio personality who began her career as a trauma nurse in the U.S. Air Force} ROBIN QUIVERS.
• {Groups you want to please} TARGET AUDIENCES.
• {Some trade stocks on it} ROBIN HOOD APP.
• {It means you may turn} GREEN ARROW.

with BOW, QUIVERS, TARGET, ROBIN HOOD, and ARROW, it was pretty clear we were looking at an archery theme. the title suggested that just archery itself was likely to be the meta answer, and sure enough, the instructions say that This week’s contest answer is a sport you’ll see at the Olympics this summer. that is maybe a little too definitive, since i don’t think anybody knows for sure that there will definitely be an olympics this summer, but let’s at least hope so. japan has a long way to go in terms of controlling the spread of covid and vaccinating its population, so perhaps the word “chance” from the title is a little more apt than the wording of the instructions.

either way, though, a simple enough week 1. from a constructing standpoint, i admire how none of the relevant words are used in their archery sense in the theme answers.

that’s all i’ve got for this week. i hope you all hit the bullseye on this one!