MGWCC crossword 2:02
meta -1:30 rate it
hello, and welcome to episode #944 of matt gaffney’s weekly crossword contest, a week 1 puzzle called “There Were Signs”. this week’s puzzle did not require the instructions at all, really. what were the theme answers?
- {1784: Here’s looking at you (and you!)} BIFOCALS.
- {1749-1753; became a hot seller!} LIGHTNING ROD.
- {c. 1760; two-in-one furniture!} LIBRARY CHAIR. i’m guessing this is/was a chair/desk hybrid.
- {c. 1775; how far can we go!?} ODOMETER.
these are odd clues, to be sure, but it sure looks like these are all inventions of benjamin franklin, and presumably those are the dates when he invented them. LIBRARY CHAIR and ODOMETER (presumably for a carriage?) helped me not at all, but BIFOCALS and LIGHTNING ROD had already sealed the deal. the only thing that gave me a little pause was that i didn’t understand the title, but the instructions did clear that up: This puzzle’s contest answer is one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. makes sense, given that this contest occurred over the weekend, when the 250th anniversary celebrations of the declaration were in full swing.
there is not a whole lot else to say about the crossword—it was a little undersized (13×13), a solid choice considering the theme answers were 8/12/12/8. i enjoyed seeing {Roger ___ (94-year-old British winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics; his brother was a chess grandmaster)} PENROSE; i’m familiar with the physicist/mathematician, but not the chess player.
that’s all for me. your thoughts?
Philadelphian here. Didn’t know about the odometer. When I led walking tours, I always talked about the Ben Franklin street lamps (as well as the hospital, insurance company, library, etc.). He’s very much still a presence in the city.
I’m familiar with Roland Penrose, the art historian. He was uncle to Roger and Jonathan.