Puzzle
#73 answer:
TOOTH DECAY (also accepted
TOOTH FAIRY, which I thought clever).
Correct entries:
43
Thanks,
@BrennerTJ!
I had this idea rattling around in my brain for a while, and it's probably one where the image in my brain was a bit better than execution. In retrospect, I probably would've had asterisks on the six symmetrical entries.
Two things are going on in here:
1. A lot of the entries seem like their answers are incomplete. You can see them highlighted above and below:
Honey =
SWEETHEART
Unleashes = TURNS
LOOSE
Eats every last bit of =
PICKS CLEAN
Gummy substance = WHEAT
PASTE
Forceful weapon? = LIGHT
SABER (as in using the Force!)
Item with ferrule = PAINT
BRUSH
These six words all have
TOOTH as a lateral link with them; note they're also both 5-5, which implies the 10-letter phrase will likely also be 5-5 (confirmed again with
TOOTH).
And, indeed, those things were missing. But what else is missing?
2. I've pulled this mechanism before or variants of it with the near-pangram: as hinted at by the final anchor entry (
TWO clued in an anodyne but peculiar way as "26 - 24") and reinforced by the title (and the fact that 24 letters
are in the grid), we'll probably have to search for the two letters that aren't!
Alphabetically, these are "D" and "K" (not a single "D" or "K" makes an appearance in any clue either - when I thought I did this correctly, I went back and caught 12 instances of "D," mostly in words like "and" and past tense that slipped through). Phonetically, this sounds like
DECAY, which also makes sense with the teeth-related words being eliminated from the grid. Thus, the intended answer was
TOOTH DECAY, a fitting answer for a late October meta. (Brush and floss, folks!). I also liked the idea of a
TOOTH FAIRY coming and "taking away" the teeth-related words, so I gave that retroactive credit. (And fairies are common costumes also.)
I do like the idea of having a couple of riffs on a mechanism alluded to by the title, but there probably needed to be a bit more concrete to get in that lane.
Thanks all for solving! #74 drops next Saturday!
Mikey G