crossword 2:35
meta 0:05 

hiya and welcome to episode #762 of matt gaffney’s weekly crossword contest, “Pitch Perfect”. i’m completely satisfied to be again running a blog this week; many due to matt for filling in for me final week when i forgot! it’s week 1 of january, so i solved it with out the directions, and it was easy sufficient. what are the theme solutions?

• {Wastes of time and vitality} HOPELESS CAUSES.
• {Justin Trudeau known as one in 2021} SNAP ELECTION.
• {Fancy time period for a caver} SPELEOLOGIST. fancy certainly! i figured it will be one thing spelunker-adjacent, however was not anticipating -ologist.
• {Force somebody to testify} COMPEL EVIDENCE.

every of those phrases or phrases accommodates a hidden PELE, honoring the late brazilian soccer (futebol, for those who choose) nice who handed away the week earlier than this puzzle got here out. pele had been within the information all through the latest males’s world cup not solely as a result of he was rumored to be in failing well being but additionally as a result of lionel messi erased maybe the one remaining demerit to his personal case to overhaul pele because the GOAT by main argentina to a world cup championship by way of a sequence of spectacular performances.

one of many podcasts i loved fairly a bit in 2022 was 22 objectives by brian phillips of the ringer, a historical past of the (males’s) world cup advised by way of 22 vital objectives all through the match’s historical past. two of the episodes centered on pele (another than the opposite): one on his involvement within the remaining aim of brazil’s 4-1 victory over italy within the 1970 remaining, pele’s final world cup recreation, and one other on the 17-year previous pele’s resplendent arrival on the world scene within the 1958 world cup, together with two objectives within the remaining over sweden, the primary of which was in contrast to something i’ve ever seen.

this felt like a quintessential week 1 puzzle: completely beginner-friendly however nonetheless attention-grabbing and enjoyable and a well timed tribute to one of many nice historic figures of the twentieth century. right here’s to a different nice 12 months of MGWCC puzzles! and for those who’ll be at MIT for thriller hunt this weekend, come say hiya!