Friday, April 1, 2022, Evan Mahnken

When I booted up the puzzle app today, I noticed the blinking info icon, so I took a look and saw the note: "This puzzle has four different solutions. When you're done, read the circled letters from top to bottom to find another one." I didn't think too much about it while solving the puzzle, but when Horace and I had both finished the puzzle, we discussed it. I found the puzzle kind of easy today (12:25), so I says to Horace, I says, I must have ended up with the easy solution. Horace started to ask what I had for various answers and after comparing several, we realized that we had everything the same. Then, came the AHA moment. The note said the puzzle had four different solutions, and it did - but solutions of the liquidy variety: MOUTHWASH, HANDSANITIZER, WINDOWCLEANER, and SALTWATER - that's four, unless SLURPEE also counts. :) And guess what - when you read the circled letters from top to bottom, you find A N O T H E R O N E. April Fool's!

There were all types of C/APs in today's grid. Some were surprisingly easy for a Friday puzzle ("Event with Easter eggs" (HUNT)), others were clever ("It may be perfect for writing" (TENSE)), still others were interesting ("First man, in Maori mythology" (TIKI)), several were nicely trixy like "Runs" for AIRS and "Drove" for ARMY, and some were apt ("Like many college film projects" (ARTY) - apt!

The puzzle had a few more acronyms and abbreviations than I like, especially in the mid-section (ISU, ENE, PSAS, LDS, HTML), but one or two like ATM ("Vegas machine with the best odds?") had amusing clues. Also, I usually think of a TYKE as a kid, but not necessarily a rascal, maybe that's just me. 

In other NEWSWORTHY news, Horace and I are en route to the 2022 ACPT even as I type. I look forward to seeing any and all of dear readers who are attending this year's event and conducting the tournament puzzle reviews IRL. Good luck everyone, and happy puzzling.

~Frannie.