This is a clever one!
The revealer appears, unusually, in a Down answer in the top right corner of the grid. It makes sense for it to be in a Down answer, though, because the theme is so vertical. So what's going on? The answer HANDMEDOWN (Something that's kept in the family ... or a hint to making sense of three pairs of answers in this puzzle) is interpreted to mean that the letters "ME" must be removed from the upper answer and inserted into the lower one, in the same column, but for the clues to work with the answers that appear in the grid, you must imagine that the removal and insertion never happened. Simple, right? Let's look at one example: 3D is "*Material for a sidewalk," and the answer that is forced into the grid by the crosses turns out to be CENT. Makes no sense, but if we imagine that ME is still in the word, we get "cement," which works perfectly well. For the entry directly below that, the answer BEEFLOMEIN doesn't work with the clue "*Choice cut," but if we remove the ME, we get "beef loin," which does work. Ahh, Thursdays.
It would have been kind of cool if the revealer could have been somehow spread across both Down answers in its column, but I can't really think of a way that could have been achieved, so it's hardly worth mentioning. Heh.
I had a bit of a misstep in the beginning by guessing "infact" instead of FACTIS ("Truth be told ..."), and then running "nike" off the "n" for "Adidas competitor" (AVIA). But NAT Geo cleared that up pretty quickly. And in the top right, the revealer was slow in coming to me because I had entered ScAM for "Hoax" instead of the correct SHAM.
I liked FEELSEEN (Experience deep affirmation, in modern lingo), and it's hard to believe that this is the first time it has appeared in a grid. (But if xwordinfo says it is, then it is!)
I just listened to "Under Pressure" yesterday in the car. Such a good song.
Also, why do I insist on entering "bolos" when faced with the clue "Alternative to bow ties" (PENNE). When will I learn?!?
Best clue: "Test release?" (TIMESUP).
Really good Thursday.
- Horace
I loved the clue and answer for TIMESUP; brilliant. And count me among those who, at first, entered ScAM instead of SHAM, which cost me some time in the solve, but I agree that it's an excellent Thursday. It's just the king of thing that a regular solver enjoys and anticipates for a Thursday offering. CICADAS was well clued, and I must admit that I originally entered PRIDEMarcH where PRIDEMONTH belongs, but other than that, it was a pretty smooth solve, once I figured out the trick, which happened within a few minutes. I suppose that ET59 guessed NFLGAMES for 42A off of the clue. I didn't.
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