MGWCC #914

MGWCC crossword 2:35 
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hello, and welcome to episode #914 of matt gaffney’s weekly crossword contest, a week 1 puzzle called “Sorry, Wrong Category”. what are the theme answers?

• {Nobel category our answer *didn’t* win in, despite their surname} ECONOMICS.
• {What half of our answer’s name is} ONE DOLLAR.
• {Category our answer did win in} LITERATURE.
• {What one-half of our answer’s name is} PRECIOUS GEM.

okay, so we are looking for a nobel laureate in LITERATURE (not ECONOMICS) whose names are a PRECIOUS GEM and ONE DOLLAR. that would be pearl (s.) buck, who won in 1938, mainly on the back of her bestselling novel the good earth.

this is definitely easy enough for a week 1—and the instructions were entirely unnecessary, as the theme clues themselves told you what answer was being sought. the puzzle’s timing is meant to coincide with the 2025 nobel prize ceremony, which is tomorrow. it’s all fine, i guess, but it wasn’t an especially interesting or exciting puzzle. a (non-meta) crossword theme involving four or so laureates whose names are seemingly in the wrong category might have been fun, or if pearl buck had been named after two other nobel categories (e.g. “molecule buck”)… anyway, that’s not the world we live in.

the fill, too, left me a little cold in places (and not just shivering where BRRR crossed BURR). BOOO with three O’s and 6-letter partial DROPS A were not highlights. i did enjoy the literary crossing where {“O Pioneers!” author Cather} WILLA crossed {Mr. Whitman} WALT, as cather’s title is taken from whitman’s poem pioneers! o pioneers!.

that’s all i’ve got this week. enjoy the nobel ceremony—i’m sure everybody has their nobel watch party plans made already. (i guess it’s less suspenseful given that they’ve already announced all the winners.)