36. Top of the Class

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Last week's Week 3 was probably a Week 5.

1. Puzzle #35 recap

Puzzle #35 answer: IMPOSTOR

Correct entries: 20, of which fewer than 10 were likely solo solves

I'm not sure how much credit I can take for a mere 15-by-9, but I'd love to see if this could've been done as a 15-by-15 (I think I tried for like 10 minutes, if that, and kept whittling it down, haha). There was certainly a lot of trial-and-error to make this one, and I figured what seemed obvious to me was probably only because I spent so long making it that the constraint loomed large in my mind.

The left and right portions of the grid, not connected, and the "Left and Right" in the title referred to your hands, which may have even used to solve a bunch of the puzzle if you did it online! The left grid comprised, mostly, of letters that are typed using the left hand in a standard QWERTY keyboard; the right grid was, well, the right! Thank goodness I was able to at least squeeze a T in the right and a good 'ole OREO in the left, but I'm curious now how possible this would be to make a non-meta in a 15-by-15 setup that has this going for it! A cruciverbalist's imponderables.

We got 20 entries of those who realized that those letters on the wrong side of the grid were the eight IMPOSTOR letters that you seek. Hopefully, you're yelling that at those letters and not yours truly!

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2. The planned Week 2 for August never materialized, leading me to a cobble together the less-than-ideal one two weeks ago. Last week's Week 3, really a Week 4 or 5, was written about three months ago or so: I still like it! This Week 4 came together nicely, and I thank oldjudge for test solving and feedback!

This is the last somewhat challenging one in a while, I hope, as I'm planning some smoother waters for September and October.

Good luck!

Mikey G

The answer to the meta is a school supply of more than 7 letters.