WSJ (Contest) Grid: 15 minutes; Meta: 15 more 
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Matt Gaffney’s Wall Street Journal contest crossword, “Please State in Full” — Conrad’s writeup.
This week we’re looking for a two-syllable word. There were five long multi-word theme entries, each containing a state abbreviation. Some had multiple abbreviations, which threw me off for a bit, until I realized that the thematic ones formed separate words:
WSJ Contest – 01.18.2026
- (OH) WELL THEN: [“I guess that’s that”]
- HELP (ME) OUT: [“I need a hand here”]
- PAS (DE) DEUX: [Couple’s dance]
- (HI) AND LOIS: [Comic strip since 1954]
- MILITARY (ID): [It may be checked at a checkpoint]
Next step: map back to the grid. There were five grid entries that formed the full names of the states, minus the two abbreviated letters, plus one extra letter. Here they are in theme entry order:
- [F]IO -> (OH)IO
- [I]AIN -> (M)AIN(E)
- LAW[F]ARE -> (DE)LAWARE
- AWAI[T] -> (H)AWA(I)
- AHO[Y] -> (ID)AHO
The extra letters spell our contest solution FIFTY. Fun puzzle! It seemed messy at first, until I realized that the state abbreviations formed separate words in the themers. And the answer was a lock. Solvers: please share your thoughts.
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4.5 stars
When I saw the title of this puzzle, I thought this sounds like a puzzle I’ve seen before. I looked back through my saved excel notes and found a puzzle titled “Please state your full name” from 5/21/2021. Different theme answers, same words to complete the state names found in the themers, same solution. Still a solid meta. I enjoyed the rerun.
Here’s a link to the write up FWIW. https://crosswordfiend.com/2021/05/23/wsj-contest-friday-may-21-2021/
I knew I had seen that LAWFARE wordplay before, but Googling for LAWFARE restricted to the crosswordfiend site only found the 2026 puzzle. I wonder if Matt did the same thing before writing, and when his search came up nil, decided he hadn’t yet used the theme. Just speculating.
please mark your calendars now for the thrilling 2031 threequel and then the 2036 series finale
But yeah you’re right Jangler — if there’s any chance of a dupe at all I check and this one didn’t come up, so off I went.
LAWFARE was the giveaway for me. Very strange grid entry and very close to the missing letters from DELAWARE! Then off to the races. Was just delayed initially by all of the extra state abbreviations in the theme answers that weren’t present in any form in the grid.
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 3.5 stars
Nope…from Palatine, IL. Even with the Discord hints. I immediately saw multiple state abbreviations within several of the themers. But what to do with ILLINOIS (IL) and ARKANSAS (AR) within 61A, for example. What to do with IOWA (IA) and NORTH DAKOTA (ND) within 52A. Gobsmacked! Didn’t even bother to submit a Hail Mary.
That’s exactly where we ended up. Now we’re kicking ourselves!
Me three.
I was thrown off for a couple minutes by IWO – Rick Sanchez says “Get WIFTY, everybody!” – but the rest looked so solid I dug around and saw the much more usable FIO.
Is there a 1-syllable word you can make from F I F T Y? Usually when that’s the prompt there’s an alternate answer lurking in the letters.
Delightful puzzle. I too was sidetracked momentarily by extra states. PA for example in Pas de Deux. But figured out that the two-letter words in the themers made more sense. I hope we stay at FIFTY for the next few years at least.
Puzzle: WSJ (Contest); Rating: 4.5 stars
+1
The second long answer had ME and UT. The third long answer had PA, SD and DE. The forth long answer had HI, IA, and ND. The fifth long answer had MI, IL, AR, and ID. How were you supposed to know that you should only use one and which to use? Not a fan.
Also, since there is IA in the forth answer, that leaves OW, and there are two answers that fit the pattern with the remaining letters OW: OW(N) and (I)WO, which adds to the ambiguity.
What you do with any meta is to look for what the theme answers have in common. The ONLY thing that these theme answers had in common is that each one contained a two-letter word that was also a state USPS abbreviation. The rest of those theme answers are to be ignored at this point.
+1
The abbreviations that are themselves two-letter words. That was fine with me.
What I’d like to ask is how were we supposed to know we were supposed to use (F)IO rather than I(W)O. Using I(W)O yields the word WIFTY (eccentrically silly or scatterbrained) which isn’t as relevant an answer is a legitimate and not irrelevant an answer.
Conrad,
Your Hawaii is missing an i where you pair it with AWAIT