Wednesday, September 6 2023, Blake Slonecker

To this puzzle I say, "Right on!!"  In a very clever homophonic juxtaposition, Mr. Slonecker has taken four common phrases, each containing one of the four homonyms of the word RIGHT, mixed the RIGHTs around among the phrases to create new made-up ones, and then invented clues to fit the mutations.  And so we get...

• GHOSTRIGHT not GHOSTWRITE - "Cut off communications, but do it nicely?"
• CIVILWRIGHTS not CIVIL RIGHTS - "Cordial shipbuilders?"
• WRITESOFPASSAGE not RITES OF PASSAGE - "Pens a seafaring tale?"
• RITEBROTHERS not WRIGHT BROTHERS - "Sacramental friars?"

All of this SOUNDSGOOD, per the revealer in 57A.  I find it whimsical and humourous and fully approve!  

Outside these permutational shenanigans, I found this grid a bit of a challenge.  Not sure why, as everything seems fair and KOSHER... I appreciated SHOULDI ("Fence sitter's question") as an inventive way to get a word into the grid ending with the letter 'I'.  Of course ESSO was a gimme for this Canuck.  I had forgotten that SITONIT has its origins with the Fonz.  I think I'll try saying it around the office tomorrow.   My older colleagues will get it; the young 'uns will be mystified.  I may try WKRP out on them, as well.

This and that : Can someone tell me why Con Ed is UTIL? ... I find AROAR a bit of a space-filling groaner ... "Lightens up" is IRRADIATES?  Ummm... okaaay.... I was all ready to cavil at a SKOR bar being a shelfmate of a Health bar, but caught myself just in time - it says Heath not Health - a bar I've never heard of, apparently quite similar to the aforementioned Skor.  So ok fine, then 🙂

Loved this puzzle overall.  Hope you did too!

-philbo