Today's theme revealer is aptly instructional. It provides a hint to understanding four of the puzzle clue answers. The trick is that the answer to the first clue in each of four rows only makes complete sense if
SECRET PASSAGES are included. I say "complete sense" because, as we all know - and heard amusing examples of at the ACPT - solvers can make almost any answer make sense in their minds, if they think it fits. To get the full answer to the theme clues, one must posit two letters, hidden in the black squares, between the Across answers in the row. Which two letters? The first row uses the first two letters of the word PASSAGES (P & A), the fourth row uses the next two (S & S) and so on. As an example, the clue for 1A was "Slicing and dicing, say" and the entire answer, with the secret letters added in, is
FOOD[P]REP[A]RATION. I had a little trouble with the bottom two rows of the puzzle and ended up needing to figure out the theme in order to finally get
PRIMER[E]ALE[S]TATE ("Valuable property"). As you can see in these two examples, one of the excellent features of this puzzle is that the words that make up the complete theme answer are fully acceptable entries on their own.
To top it off, the remainder of the puzzle was not FORSAKEN. Good clues and answers were not SCARCE. I thought "Training unit" was nicely ambiguous for REP, as was "Place to take shots" for VEIN. Also entertaining were "When theatrical special effects happen, one hopes" (ONCUE) and "Something to take when you are in the dark" (STAB) - not literally, I hope. Although, that's one way Mr. Boddy could have been done away with in the game Clue. :) I also enjoyed the double language clue "French translation of the Spanish 'calle'" (RUE).
I didn't love the C/AP "Appeals to" for BEGS, which I found somewhat INAPT. But, I did love the words RATION and TIRADE. And who knew Stephen King had a SON who is author Joe Hill? NOTI.
~Frannie.
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