In a timely nod to March Madness, today's four theme answers all end with the sound
fɔː, as does the explanatory revealer itself: FINALFOUR. The constructor gets points for the range of sources and formulas used to spell the same sound in English: common phrases, actors, and my favorite, an ancient apparatus used to transmit a visual signal over long distances. According to the Wikipedia, March Madness - the NCAA variety - is one of the biggest annual sporting events in the U.S. It's not the kind of thing I'm super ALERT to, but I'll WAGER most solvers out there already knew that. :) I couldn't help thinking that it would have been cool if all instances of the final "for" had used four letters, even though I realize that's irrelevant and a bridge too far.
The C/AP "Dampens" for WET struck me as something of an icky double dribble, but champion clues include the MIXEDMETAPHOR at 23A: "'When the going gets tough, the early bird gets the worm,' e.g." Heh. SAMOA things I liked were the bit of etymology for crossword darling ODE ("Work whose name comes from the Greek for 'sing'"), and the C/APs "Whatever floats your boat!" for SEA and "Unworthy of debate" (MOOT). Also, a shoutout to the rarely-seen RARED. We scored big with fun fill including SNORT, TROMP, AGAPE, and JAMB.
Best swishes to all for an exciting tournament.
~Frannie.
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