A brief word on my modus operandi on themed puzzles: I generally disregard the theme clues as I go through the grid, letting them reveal themselves via the crossers, and by the end it's generally pretty clear what's going on. (Very rarely do I use the theme as a direct aid to solving.) Today, though, I reached completion with correct answers to the five starred clues but no idea why. It took me a solid minute of inspection to reach a very satisfying "aha" moment. In a nutshell - each theme clue is a word, which can be broken into two parts: the first syllable, which sounds like a letter (e.g. 'CUE' representing the letter 'Q'), and the rest of the clue, which is also a word defining the answer - which begins with that starting letter. To wit:
- "Ensign" = "N" Sign = NOPARKING
- "Emirate" = "M" Irate = MADASHELL
- "Arbiter" = "R" Biter = RATTLER
- "Depot" = "D" Pot = DUTCHOVEN
- "Begin" = "B" Gin = BEEFEATER
I find this a weird construction but it really worked for me. Who thinks of these things?! Our esteemed setter community, is who. Respect.
A pretty gentle puzzle for a Thursday, notwithstanding the above. Right at the top, I thought of JAPE right away for "Practical joke" but left it blank until nearly the end because I couldn't think of a four-letter word for "Copacetic" starting with J. But there is - it's JAKE. "JAKE"?! Sounds like some of that newfangled slang the kids use these days. One other hiccup was with the fourth theme answer, for which I had ____HOVEN, so I guessed it had to be BEETHOVEN, and brief chaos ensued. I liked AIRGUITAR ("It's never out of tune") and POORTASTE ("Anathema to an aesthete") side by side. I bet aesthetes aren't all that fond of air guitar either.
I think my favourite clue was VIBES, which one may indeed pick up when entering a room. VIBES are also a really cool percussion instrument. Speaking of which ... the STEELDRUM - "Staple of Trinidadian music". Aah. Puts me in mind of our Caribbean vacation, which starts in three days!!
I'll try to stay focused for two more crosswords...
-philbo
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