Tag Archives: crossword contest

It’s Follow-Up Friday: Crossword Contest Conclusion edition!

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Welcome to Follow-Up Friday!

Follow-Up Friday is a chance for us to revisit the subjects of previous posts and bring the PuzzleNation audience up to speed on all things puzzly.

And today, I’m returning to the subject of crossword contests!

Last month, I announced the latest crossword contest from the topnotch puzzlers at Barany and Friends. The contest, titled Eliminating the Competition, wrapped up on February 8, but the answer to the meta puzzle concealed within each grid was only revealed this week!

As it turns out, the crafty cruciverbalists paid tribute to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament by dropping the letters A, C, P, and T from the theme entries in the grid! Not only that, but there were no As, Cs, Ps, or Ts to be found anywhere else in the puzzle grid! Diabolical!

Open division puzzle theme answers:

  • They are left over after division: REMINDERS (“Remainders” with the A eliminated)
  • Lack of affection, say: HILLINESS (“Chilliness” with the C eliminated)
  • A cylindrical utensil used to flatten dough: ROLLING IN (“Rolling pin” with the P eliminated)
  • They’re often found in churches or on campuses: BELL OWERS (“Bell towers” with the T eliminated)

They also hid the reveal, MHU, in the lower right corner. (Fiendishly, MHU is MATCHUP with A, C, P, and T eliminated!)

You can check out the full details of the meta puzzle here, including the theme answers for both the Open Division puzzle and the Master Division puzzle, which was a doozy!

But there’s more! They’ve also announced the prizes for the winners, which include paid registrations to the ACPT, puzzle e-books, crossword subscriptions, autographed puzzle books, and specialized crossword puzzles with the winner’s name built into the grid!

They’ve truly gone all out this year to make the Eliminating the Competition contest something special. Kudos to George Barany, Ralph Bunker, John Child, Michael Hanko, and Roy Leban for creating a terrific challenge and a puzzly feast for solvers.

Did you accept the Barany and Friends challenge this year, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers? Let us know if you did! We’d love to hear from you!

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A crossword contest!

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Regular readers of the blog probably know the name George Barany. He’s a top-flight puzzle constructor and one of the masterminds behind the Barany and Friends puzzle group.

Last year, George launched the Enigma Variations puzzle contest, and this year, he’s got another terrific crossword contest for ambitious solvers! And he reached out to PuzzleNation Blog to help spread the word!

It’s called Eliminating the Competition, and it’s the brainchild of George, Ralph Bunker, John Child, Michael Hanko, and Roy Leban.

There are two levels of difficulty, the open division and the master division. The open division is classified as a mid-week New York Times difficulty level, while the master division is late-week difficulty.

And both puzzles have a meta puzzle hidden within that you’ll have to unravel to win the contest:

Contest (Open Division): Explain this puzzle’s theme, including its title. Specifically, explain the answers to the four indicated clues.

Contest (Master Division): Explain this puzzle’s theme, including its title, and any nuances you see. Bonus for Grandmaster level solvers: How was the “reveal” chosen?

Prizes include crossword books and subscriptions, as well as some prizes to be posted after the contest is over!

You’re welcome to try your luck against either puzzle! The contest ends Monday, February 8, at midnight, so the deadline is looming, but hey, that just adds a little drama to the proceedings, doesn’t it?

You can find the full details of the contest here. And good luck!

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