Puzzle #12 Solution and Puzzle #13, “Look – Behind You”

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Last week’s 16×16 grid didn’t have obvious theme entries.  It was titled “Connect Five” and asked for a phrase formed by connecting two grid entries, and astute solvers noticed that connecting five pairs of grid entries yielded five two-word cities:

Those ten entries were arranged asymmetrically and mostly toward the top of the grid; what was going on? It turned out that the entries making up the city names were placed such that their grid numbers formed the AREA CODES used to call (or, ahem, connect to) those cities:

2d NEW + 12d YORK = NEW YORK (212)
33d WINSTON + 6a SALEM = WINSTON-SALEM (336)
41d SAN + 5d FRANCISCO = SAN FRANCISCO (415)
6d SAINT + 51a PAUL = SAINT PAUL (651)
7d ANN + 34d ARBOR = ANN ARBOR (734)

For the second week in a row I ran out of time to tally results – this time because I needed all weekend to solve Matt Gaffney’s strange and fiendish week 5. Next up here is puzzle #13, “Look – Behind You.” This week I’m including easy and hard versions from the outset. (Protip for those who start with the hard version and decide to switch to the easy: the only changes are in the clues, so no need to re-solve the grid.) As always, you can either download the .pdf below, or click on the link for the .puz file which is shared from Google Drive.

Hard version:

013_lookbehindyou_hard.puz

Easy version:

013_lookbehindyou_easy.puz

The answer to the metapuzzle is a seven-letter plural. Submit your answer using the contact form by Monday, June 10 at 11 p.m. Pacific Time. I’ll post the solution, and a new puzzle, next Tuesday.

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