Monday, September 21, 2026, Alexander Liebeskind

0:04:05

An ODE to the FORTIES, or, more to the point, "the four Ts." Four theme answers are strings of four words each, and all the words start with the letter T. In cases like these, Colum often likes to rank the entries, so today I will do the same.

TOOTIREDTOTHINK (Mentally pooped) - This is my favorite because it is where I am right now.
TOTELLTHETRUTH (If I'm being honest ...) - Even though the TV show of the same name debuted in the decade after the forties, this one is still very much alive.
TEACHTOTHETEST (Deliberately give instruction in a way that targets an exam) - This one needed too much of a clue, and who wants to think about taking a test?
TAKESTWOTOTANGO ("A fight requires more than one person") - Again, the clue is a bit forced, and the expression often includes a fifth word, "it."

So there's the ranking, what else? I liked TROPE (Familiar narrative device), USEME ("I'm available to help"), and even RADIOAD (Commercial that may come with a jingle). But what did you think about "Any Olympian" as a clue for ATHLETE? Don't they have skeet shooting in the Summer Olympics? Can we call someone who fires a gun an ATHLETE? Oh, what do I know, I'm just sitting here on the couch.

- Horace