Past WSJ Crossword Contests & Solutions

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

May 2022


TO-GO ORDERS — RUBIDIUM — PETE GORDON & MATT GAFFNEY



BUZZ CUT — HAIR — Mike Shenk



MAKE THE CONNECTION — JOINT — MATT GAFFNEY



DIRTY POOL — POCKETS — Mike Shenk

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

JUNE 2022


BE TRANSFORMED — EBAY — MATT GAFFNEY



THINK OF A NUMBER — STATE LOTTERY — MIKE SHENK



WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? — ARCTIC OCEAN — MATT GAFFNEY



ALTERNATE VERSION — KNOCKOFF — PATRICK BERRY

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

JULY 2022


COVER BAND — AARON NEVILLE — MATT GAFFNEY



COUNTDOWN — OUTER PLANETS — MIKE SHENK



POWER TRIPS — THE POLICE — MATT GAFFNEY



HOW HARD CAN IT BE? — ROCKY — MIKE SHENK



SOUNDS DELICIOUS — FLAVOR — MATT GAFFNEY

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

AUGUST 2022



POWER PLAY — MATH — MIKE SHENK




THIS PLACE HAS CHANGED — AFRICA — MATT GAFFNEY




POSITION STATEMENT — REMARK — MIKE SHENK




TENSE SITUATION — BUY IT AT 13-DOWN — MATT GAFFNEY

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

SEPTEMBER 2022



FINISHING THE STORY — ATHOS — MIKE SHENK



I MADE YOU A PAIR OF SHORTS — CHARLES SCHULTZ — MATT GAFFNEY



CHIT CHAT — FUNDS — MIKE SHENK



FIND US ONLINE! — MOVIE — MATT GAFFNEY



BACK NINE — CLUBHOUSE — PAT BERRY

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

OCTOBER 2022


CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVE — OPTION — MATT GAFFNEY



KEEP ON TRUCKIN' — SEMI PROFESSIONAL — MIKE SHENK



FALL CLASSIC — BALTIMORE ORIOLES — MATT GAFFNEY



START WITH FEAR — MASKS — MIKE SHENK



TRENDING ENDING — SLYLY — MATT GAFFNEY

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

NOVEMBER 2022


TRENDING ENDING — SLYLY — MATT GAFFNEY



SHIFTY SCHEMERS — PLAN — MIKE SHENK



WHAT A CHARACTER — FIVE-K, 5K, 20K, 21K, HALF-MARATHON — MATT GAFFNEY

A lot going on this week!

We had a big turnout, and lots of discussion about alternative answers. Most of you on this board know the whole story now, but here's the official solution we printed:

The contest answer is a FIVE-K. Each of the four long theme entries contains five K’s, suggesting the answer.

But... lots of solvers pointed out that the Ks in the four theme entries add up to 20K, which is a kind of race too. Others pointed out that there was a 21st K in the grid, and that 21K races are commonly known as half marathons. We agree those are both legitimate and acceptable answers. You can read a nice post from Matt about all this on this discussion board here viewtopic.php?p=112562#p112562.

For the record, we had 3,125 entries this week, a huge number for us. 1,645 for 5K, 346 for HALF MARATHON, and 269 for 20K. (Those are big numbers for alternative answers.)

Thanks to everyone here for riding out our technical problems and thanks to Matt and Mike for generously seeing alternative answers. Great artists are always open to interpretations they never had in mind when they wrote their novel or painted their picture. And congrats to this week's randomly selected winner (who submitted 20K): Bruce Cranna of Needham, MA!

SHOWTIME — SCORE — MIKE SHENK

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

DECEMBER 2022


I ALMOST GAVE AWAY THE ENDING — SMALL CHANGE — MATT GAFFNEY




IN FORMATION PLEASE — FLIGHT STRIPS — MIKE SHENK



WHAT SHOULD I WHERE? — FOOT — MATT GAFFNEY



JOLLY OLD ST. NICK — LISTS — MIKE SHENK



IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN — 70A "AU REVOIR!" — MATT GAFFNEY

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

JANUARY 2023


EPIPHANY — I SEE IT — MIKE SHENK



INTERIOR DESIGN — HEART — MATT GAFFNEY



SIGN OF THE TIMES — LUNAR NEW YEAR — MIKE SHENK



THIS STAYS BETWEEN US — INTERLOCK — MATT GAFFNEY

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

FEBRUARY 2023


BACKDROPS — REHEARSAL — MIKE SHENK



THE STATE OF AMERICAN CINEMA — A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT — MATT GAFFNEY


THE WOMAN IN WHITE — BESS TRUMAN — MIKE SHENK

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

MARCH 2023


FILM EDITING — ACTOR — MIKE SHENK



THERE'S THAT VOICE AGAIN — I WASN'T FOOLED — MATT GAFFNEY



SHAMROCKS — YEATS — MIKE SHENK



DOUBLE TROUBLE — TAKE CUES — MATT GAFFNEY




AUTOCORRECTION — AD LIB — MIKE SHENK

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

APRIL 2023


HIDING PLACES — THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA — MATT GAFFNEY



YOU CAN BET ON IT — THOROUGHBRED — MIKE SHENK



WE WERE JUST LEAVING — DOUBLETREE — MATT GAFFNEY



STUCK IN THE MIDDLE — GLUE — MIKE SHENK

[PastWSJCCsolutions]

MAY 2023


CONNECT FOUR — FRED FLINTSTONE — MATT GAFFNEY



PLURALITY — — MIKE SHENK