Mike Shenk’s Wall Street Journal contest crossword, “United Nations” — Conrad’s writeup.
This week we’re looking for a country. There were five long theme entries:
- UPINTHEAIR: [Not yet decided]
- MACHINEOIL: [Syrup, in diner lingo]
- IMARRIEDANANGEL: [1938 Rodgers and Hart musical]
- GOODCHANCE: [Favorable odds]
- OBLIGATORY: [Not optional]
WSJ Contest – 12.08.2024
I failed to locate a signal in the themers, but I noticed that Mike referenced a lot of countries in the clues. Exactly ten, double the themer count. And they appeared at the end of each clue. That wasn’t an accident. Here they are:
- 16a: Cape of Chile -> HORN
- 24a: Gp. whose members include Libya -> OPEC
- 29d: Poet’s name for Ireland -> ERIN
- 34d: Official language of Congo -> FRENCH
- 35a: Pal, in Haiti -> AMI
- 41d: Capital of Togo -> LOME
- 45a: Bygone resident of Peru -> INCAN
- 49a: Currency of Armenia -> DRAM
- 55d: Ethnic group of Chad -> SARA
- 64a: Currency of Oman -> RIAL
I stumbled into the solution when I spotted YEN at 63d. Clued as “Longing,” but also the currency of China (Japan, as a commenter noted). That misdirection accidentally encouraged me to look at MACHINEOIL (which contains the letters in China). Dead rabbit hole, but correct idea. That theme entry also included Chile. I was off to the races. Each themer was an anagram of two United Nations with one letter left over:
- N: UPI(N)THEAIR -> HAITI/PERU
- I: MACHINEO(I)L -> CHILE/OMAN
- G: MARRIEDANAN(G)EL -> ARMENIA/IRELAND
- E: GOODCHANC(E) -> CHAD/CONGO
- R: OBLIGATO(R)Y -> LIBYA/TOGO
The leftover letters spell our contest solution NIGER. Solvers: please share your thoughts. I don’t have a thematic song to end with, so I’ll end with this gem that I heard in a London pub this week.
You really did stumble into the solution! YEN is the currency of Japan, not China.
This puzzle was quite a feat of construction.
😂
Also spotted China in Machineoil but made no further progress. 😢
Maybe a little knowledge, as they say. I saw CHINE in MACHINE OIL, or French for China, but alas a dead end. Then, the comstructor being Mike Shenk, looked instead at the clues. I saw the many countries, which couldn’t be an accident, tried their first letters in sequence, and gave up. I fear that deleting a letter plus an anagram of two unclued countries would be a heck of a lot to ask even in a variety cryptic.
Added a correction. Thanks!
I too noticed the preponderance of country names in the clues. My brain automatically makes anagrams so I quickly spotted Armenia in “I Married An Angel.” And fully enjoyed unscrambling the other nine nations. Hats off to Mike for composing this very complicated grid. 36 Across is a beaut. Jeanette Macdonald and Nelson Eddy starred in the 1942 movie. There’s a video on YouTube of Johnny Mathis singing the title song.
Mike Shenk is a next level genius!! I was able to figure it out, after trying several other rabbit holes.
I noticed CHINE, but not Chile. I was sidetracked by the notion of OPEC members being united somehow, until I abandoned it.
I finally made a list of the ten countries in the clues, but got distracted by family matters…
it’s the UNITED KINGDOM, Conrad and mates.
I STAND CORRECTED.
That’s one amazing construction! Nice work, Mike!