Criss-Cross (solution)

by Kai Huang

The three MIT-themed clues (1, 5, and 15) each have exactly two possible answers that fit the given space:

• 1. MIT undergrad major (12 letters): ARCHITECTURE & ANTHROPOLOGY
• 5. Overall direction of travel if you take the Red Line for 5 stops from Kendall/MIT (9 letters): NORTHWEST & SOUTHEAST (to Alewife and Broadway, respectively)
• 15. MIT dorm (11 letters): SENIOR HOUSE & SIMMONS HALL

These two-answer clues hint the aha that this crossword has two solutions.

Here are all the clues with their answers:

Clue	Answer in solution 1	Answer in solution 2
1. MIT undergrad major	ARCHITECTURE	ANTHROPOLOGY
2. Aim or goal	TARGET	OBJECT
3. Repulsive or abominable	DISGUSTING	DETESTABLE
4. Severe distress or agony	TORMENT	ANGUISH
5. Overall direction of travel if you take the Red Line for 5 stops from Kendall/MIT	NORTHWEST	SOUTHEAST
6. Beautiful or admirable	WONDERFUL	EXQUISITE
7. Cease activity or end movement	REST	STOP
8. Congregation or caucus	ASSEMBLY	CONCLAVE
9. Glossy coating	LACQUER	VARNISH
10. Unfeeling or lacking sympathy	COLDHEARTED	INSENSITIVE
11. The Matrix actor	KEANU REEVES	HUGO WEAVING
12. Mythical horse	PEGASUS	UNICORN
13. Actor who played an X-Files agent	ROBERT PATRICK	DAVID DUCHOVNY
14. Skim or look through	PERUSE	BROWSE
15. MIT dorm	SENIOR HOUSE	SIMMONS HALL

And here are the completed grids (click for larger version):

To extract the final message, read the cross points of the two solutions alternately (highlighted in green in the image above). The final message is TO GET ANSWERS, SOLVE SEVEN ACROSS. The answers to 7 across are REST & STOP, which combine to form the final answer REST STOP.