Affecting multiple MCs with a for loop?

Let's say I have ten widgets that have ten items that need to be turned off. What am I doing wrong here?

Code:

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for(i=1;i<=10;i++){
        var tempWidget = ["widget0" + i];
        trace(tempWidget);
        tempWidget.item._visible=false;
}

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The trace returns the correct value yet the loop doesn't turn the ten items off. Why? :confused:

Code:

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for (i=1; i<=10; i++) {
        var tempWidget=this["widget0"+i];
        trace(tempWidget);
        tempWidget.item._visible=false;
}

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Excellent! Why is the "this" required though? Is it like saying "Hey, now tempWidget is going to be called this equasion I define over here"?