Thursday, July 14, 2022, Alan Arbesfeld

This week's Thursday trick is requires a letter swap that results in common phrases being changed into less common and slightly wacky entries that are clued so they "make sense" :). For example, if you take 'after shave' and change the 'h' to an 'o' you may be "Seeking a dry Italian wine?" or AFTERSOAVE. A FIRESIDECOAT fits the clue "Blazer worn next to a blaze?" after changing the 'h' in 'fireside chat' to an 'o'. The use of the numeral 2 in the revealer, H2O ("Fire fighter, informally") reminded me of a previous ACPT puzzle that had MAROON5 as an answer. Remember that? And speaking of odd endings, how about TRANK/C/Q - the last letter is always anyone's guess, especially when the final letter crosses the name of a person you've never heard of. Trouble!

And speaking of trouble, I had the most trouble in the northeast corner. I didn't know any of the "fact" answers ("Best-selling author of legal thrillers" (TUROW), "Kirin alternative" (ASAHI), and the other clues were either too generic ("It isn't much" for TAD, "Furnishings" for DECOR), or too tricky for me to get without help from some other entries. I finally solved it by guessing a bunch of stuff - Genius!

There were a number of fun C/APs like "Phone tapping target?" (ICON) and "Graphic text?" (EMOJI). I also liked the ambiguity of the clues "Put on" for DON, "Take up again, in a way" for REHEM, and "Take off" for SOAR. 

I'm running late today, so I'll sign off now, but I'll leave you with this thought: If Natalie worked for AAA, picking up cars that stopped working, their owners would get a PORTMAN tow. I'll be here all week!

~Frannie.