Note: I wrote a cryptic ("Still There") for my teammates shortly before the 2002 MIT Mystery Hunt, which made reference to the 2001 hunt. A year later, I decided to do the same thing, and this cryptic (written before the 2003 hunt, and referring to the 2002 hunt) is the result.
Nearly a year has gone by since the 2002 Mystery Hunt, and last year's winners will soon present their own hunt. I therefore present this cryptic both to honor the previous hunt, and to make my psychic predictions about the next one.
In this puzzle, certain squares are special; each of these indicates where to find a letter. When these letters are taken in left-to-right order (by their indicating squares), they will describe the coin that will be hidden; in top-to-bottom order (by indicating squares), they will describe the folks who will find it.
ACROSS
4. Lock Mr. Ed fiddled with, being confined to a pen?
9. Old Norse religion left woman's title in wedding vow
11. Resume flip-flopping at four
12. Halt performance of dancing cat in Evita
13. Farewell includes testimonial's first few bits
14. The author meets some spiteful person
16. Hesitation after peeling dove egg
18. Breaking deal with Helen of Troy's mother
20. Maiden, led astray, embraces famous cookie maker
23. Was obliged to recite poem
27. Groups maintaining credos, primarily!
29. Get fashionable dog
30. Hit copper very loudly
33. His last con upset a jolly philanthropist
34. Like gum, but tasteless
35. To film short subjects
36. Neat time-ship's cheapest passenger section
DOWN
1. A mob demolished Ruth's home
2. My ad misquoted the date for military mobilization
3. Five that object to top school Down East having limits
4. Film about agents in a spy organization
5. Treble note interrupted by vacuous, moronic host
6. About dog she initially sells
7. Naked, and hiding under singer's couch
8. Carriage totes screaming Bacchantes
10. Equivalent but, oddly, smarmier
11. Over in Brooklyn I view records of a previous era
15. Cited strange proclamation
16. Orchestral group is imprisoned by faceless androids
17. Very pained cries and oaths
19. Use isle randomly as location for mystery
21. Married a French singer/actress/gourmand?
22. Get out of clothing on a cable channel?
24. Finally washed disgusting shirtfront
25. Write "2 Kings, etc." in as a minimum number
26. Guthrie is, for many, sad-sounding
28. In the place of wickedness
31. Confront false one
32. Unchanging aspect of Yom Kippur