AL’s Trick – Solutions, Annotations & Results

Stats – We had a good response to the grid with 34 submissions, a decent number although not as high as 42 for our previous grid.  Of those who submitted, only 18 managed to complete the grid with zero errors but 17 got the maximum possible score of 180. Here’s the completed grid.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

In eight clues, the definition parts have been replaced by the words “AL’s Trick.” Once you’ve figured out AL’s Trick, you can replace each “AL’s Trick” in these eight clues with one of the eight words revealed in the puzzle by applying AL’s Trick.

AL’s Trick is a technique for altering what a printed sheet of paper depicts. Here’s a down clue that reveals what AL’s Trick is:

If held upside-down, sneaking old man finally reveals AL’s Trick (4-2)

Once you enter the right solution to this clue in the designated space under the grid, you might even be able to see AL’s Trick in action! AL’s Trick has been a regular feature in X Y for over 55 years. Discerning solvers can also find the words X and Y in this puzzle.

The solvers had to answer the following questions after solving the grid:

(1) If held upside-down, sneaking old man finally reveals Al’s Trick (4-2)

(2) Al’s Trick has been a regular feature in what? (Two Words)

(3) What are the eight words that need to replace “Al’s Trick,” in the order of the clues in which they are used as definitions (viz, 3a, 11a, 12a, 43a, 48a, 3d, 23d, 38d)?

The correct answers are

1) FOLD-IN

(2) MAD MAGAZINE (NINA)

(3) SEASON, MENTOR, LEGION, THESIS, CORPUS, PHOTON, IMPACT, TITLED

Solvers were also in for a spectacular treat when they entered the answer for the 1st question. Gussalufz had used technology very cleverly to actually show the fold-in action – thus revealing the answers to question 3. You can access the Grid with solutions Here – Clicking Reveal ALL will show you the solutions, Annotations and the NINA.

Here are the notes from Gussalufz on how the grid came about:

I had started work on this grid quite a while back. The “MAD Fold-In” connection possibility had suggested itself inevitably to me, when I was thinking of ideas for my last 1ACross grid for the year, trying to stick to some sort of a visual theme.

In fact, the prospect of animating the grid to show the Fold-In in action was a bit of a motivator for Exolve.

In the middle of setting this grid, I learned of the sad closure of MAD Magazine. What a loss! Hats off to the team, and especially to Al Jaffee, who will turn a hundred years old in a couple of years, and who has spent his years fabulously, creating MAD Fold-Ins through over 55 years of his life.

If you are not familiar with this amazing artist, please do take a minute to peek into his Wikipedia page.

Here is the scorecard (sorted by total). Congrats to the 17 people who maxed the score. 

Grid Rating: The puzzle got a  good phenomenal score of 9.2 and got 18 perfect 10s. Take a bow Gussalufz (Viresh) – What an amazing concept and execution. You have truly pioneered a way forward for interactive puzzles to give solvers of cryptic crosswords – much more than they can expect from a normal puzzle.

Top 3 Clues:  The most favorite clues were “Atop” and “Cartridge” which got 7 votes each and “Capsaicin”, and “Zeal”  which got 6 votes each.  Once again, thanks for all the fun Viresh – Can’t wait to see what you come up with next. Hope you all enjoyed this fabulous puzzle.  Did you like the puzzle? Do you have any feedback for us or for the setter? Please leave a comment in the blog.