#712 - “Which Side Are You On?”

[Joe Ross]

MGWCC #712 — Friday, January 21st, 2022 — “Which Side Are You On?”

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is a five-letter verb.

Solve well, and be not led astray by words intended to deceive.

NOTE: there are no electronic files available for solving this week, just the PDF. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Good luck!


2021 PRIZE WINNERS:

They’ve all been notified and I’ve heard back from most. If you earned a MGWCC prize in 2021 and didn’t hear from me, please e-mail me at crosswordcontest@gmail.com. All prizewinners will be announced here next week!

--Matt

Join MGWCC.

[RPardoe]

Matt comments at the bottom of his page:

NOTE: there are no electronic files available for solving this week, just the PDF. Apologies for any inconvenience.

[MajordomoTom]

no spoilers possible, I just printed the PDF.

[Please don't discuss individual aspects of the puzzles before deadline, even by reference.]

[auee89]

[Please don't discuss individual aspects of the puzzles before deadline, even by reference.] Really don't think that is a spoiler.

[Dannyvee]

Beam me up! #3!

[HeadinHome]

Well so far I’d say this one wins the prize for the most rabbit holes EVER. Holy smokes. (I am completely lost and 74A’d.)

[Bob cruise director]

Well so far I’d say this one wins the prize for the most rabbit holes EVER. Holy smokes. (I am completely lost and 74A’d.)

And an entry in the Guiness Book of Records (and a free one for Al) for the longest clue ever

Just working on the grid

[MikeyG]

My streak's been fun while it lasted!

[davidb]

Thought I'd celebrate what I think is my highest ever position in the weekly leaderboard (#5) by commenting in this forum for the first time!

[Meg]

Getting in before Al is always a treat. Now I can spend more time this weekend on weeding. Yay!

[Bird Lives]

Well so far I’d say this one wins the prize for the most rabbit holes EVER. Holy smokes. (I am completely lost and 74A’d.)

"Rabbit hole" implies at least some idea of things to look for or themes in the puzzle. So you're way ahead of me.

[Cindy]

Solved

[Bird Lives]

Hi Joe,

Do you have a tutorial on doing crosswords in Excel? The only thing I can do is fill in the grid, and I'm not very good at that. Getting the cursor in the right square can be difficult. In puz, you can make the current square a different color, but I don't know how to do the same thing in Excel. I also have no idea what all those duplicate grids below the top one are for.

Thanks.

Jay

[Joe Ross]

Hi Joe,

Do you have a tutorial on doing crosswords in Excel? The only thing I can do is fill in the grid, and I'm not very good at that. Getting the cursor in the right square can be difficult. In puz, you can make the current square a different color, but I don't know how to do the same thing in Excel. I also have no idea what all those duplicate grids below the top one are for.

Thanks.

Jay

There's a discussion of a lot of these tips here.

Only fill in the top grid. The lower grids fill in automatically with the top. Use the TAB or Enter keys to go from left to right & skip the block squares. I find that it's easier to use the arrow keys, particularly for vertical entries.

The lower grids are used to highlight, explore different ideas in each, build word lists to their right, etc. Hopefully, there are enough.

To highlight, bold, italicize, change fonts & color, add patterns, & change borders, click & drag the cells, right-click on the selected cells, and choose from options on pop-up menu. There are a lot of ways to alter the grid.

You can also add formatted shapes, which requires Unprotecting the spreadsheet, first. Be careful when the sheet is unprotected, it's easy to drag clue numbers out of place or make other unwanted changes. To unprotect, Review, Unprotect.

I could type out a lot of details that won't be remembered. It's easier to show, answer questions, & to have you do them in a Zoom session. Let me know if & when you'd like to give it a go. We can set a time & publicize it, here, & other muggles will be welcome to attend.

[MajordomoTom]

Wandering the wilderness with too many clues.

[Laura M]

So many red herrings! I'm pretty sure I've finally beamed up, waiting for an update.

Edit: #17!

[woozy]

I wonder if I spent my youth doing the wrong sort of things.

Wow... this is .... wow.

EDIT: Forgive my cursing but O. M. @ G! .... I'm ... I'm going to go for it. Wish me luck. This is one of the least sure I've ever been and if I'm right this is a week 8 or 9, not a 3.....

EDIT 2: WOOHOOO! #22. I'm not sure it has ever occurred where #22 happens after 12 1/2 hours but..... I'll just flat out say it. This one was hard.

[ChrisKochmanski]

Beam me up!

Needed a nudge to the teleporter.

Very cool!

[DrTom]

Well then, it appears I am in rather good company out here roaming the wilderness...

I thought several times that I had a foothold only to slide off the cliff.

[cbarbee002]

This week is about as hard as below. . .