MGWCC #874

 

hello, and welcome to episode #874 of matt gaffney’s weekly crossword contest, a week 1 puzzle called “We Interrupt Our Regularly Schedule Programming…”. indeed, this puzzle does, in a way, interrupt our regularly scheduled programming, as it’s a guest puzzle by the incomparable erik agard. as it was, in fact, a week 1 puzzle rather than the week 5 puzzle from februrary we thought we might get, i tried to solve it without the instructions. what were the theme answers? there were only three long answers in this unusually-proportioned (17×13, asymmetric) grid:

• 22- and 36-across combined had the clue {Mass-appeal chart-topper co-written by beloved crossword blogger fuels beef with pageant winner} JOON TEAM-DISSES / MISS USA IN POP HIT. i know this is a 29-letter answer, but it’s pretty stale crosswordese by now, isn’t it? i feel like i’ve seen every possible clue for JOON TEAM-DISSES MISS USA IN POP HIT about a million times already. that said, miss usa knows what she did, and i’m not sorry, and i’ll be performing the diss track at the next super bowl halftime show.
• {Adage on a wall sign in “The Bear”} EVERY SECOND COUNTS.

based on that last answer and the apparently arbitrary made-up answer occupying the rest of the theme’s real estate, it seemed fairly clear that we were going to take every other letter of the 29-letter answer. doing so gives JOTADSEMSUANOHT, which … well, that doesn’t look like anything, does it? (though it does start with JOTA, as in portuguese forward diogo JOTA of my beloved liverpool football club.) well, okay, let’s try the other letters: ONE MISSISSIPPI. well, that looks more promising, as it’s an actual phrase—and it gives an extra kick to the COUNTS in EVERY SECOND COUNTS. it’s really quite a brilliant and progressive reimagining of the phrase from [each] + [short unit of time] + [matters] to [alternating letters] + [matter] to [alternating letters] + [spell out a phrase associated with counting].

before submitting, i checked on the instructions in the file, and found that they would not have helped me in the least had i looked before solving: This week’s contest answer is a 21st-century TV show (not “The Bear”). i have not heard of this tv show—though it see that it starred and was co-created by crossword favorite tig notaro.

i’ve been slightly flippant in this blog post, but if i can be earnest for a bit, it is quite surprising and gratifying to be woven into a meta like this. when i was beginning my solve of this crossword, i got the first four letters of 22-across from the first four down answers, and my eyebrow definitely went up when i saw that it started to spell out my own name (which does not often appear in grids—less than TIG notaro’s, certainly). erik certainly didn’t have to do this—any four-letter noun that fits _O_N could have gone there—so i’m grateful. JOON isn’t exactly a household name, but i suppose i have been blogging this particular puzzle for diary of a crossword fiend for over 15 years now, so it’s hopefully a familiar name to mgwcc solvers.

other bits:

• {Disappointment for a sports fan (unless their team is tanking for a good draft pick)} LOSS. don’t get me started! tanking is a scourge.
• {The author of this puzzle has never sent one} FAX. it’s hard to imagine anyone under, like, 40 has ever sent one. unless they work in a doctor’s office.
• {Creatures common to Middle-earth and the Keeblerverse} ELVES. this juxtaposition is very amusing to me. tolkien took himself and his elves very seriously, whereas the keeblerverse? not so much.
• {Trail marker?} ELLIPSIS. as in trailing off… brilliant clue.
• {WTF is three of them} DAYS. the next three days, in fact.
• {2000 movie with a forgettable antagonist} MEMENTO. this clue is sheer genius. no spoilers for the film, though.

big thank-you to erik both for the puzzle and for the honor of appearing in it. what’d you all think of the puzzle?