A fond nickname for pricey sandals with some scowling moron in the background.
Here at the year's end we are all weary and punch-drunk. Our nerves are either sharp and quivering as the spines of a hysterical sea urchin on crank, or we're number than a mud puddle shot full of Novocain and Tased into submission. There has been one constant in the news--besides political horrors and climactic cataclysms. Need I name it?
Here is a 21 clue puzzle about that timely topic. The answer to each clue is a word, name, or acronym we have heard many times before. The clues are in Cryptic form.
Many crossworders, dabblers and addicts alike, shy away from Cryptic puzzles as a pursuit only fit for lunatics, but I've tried to make these less opaque than they might be for a hardcore audience. Each clue offers at least two hints at the answer.
Here's an example:
Curse amid the hoopla guests raise--it's infectious! (6)
The answer is plague: a curse, hidden amid hoopla guests raise, it's infectious!
Make sense? Ready to crack a few code ones? These theoretically go from easy to hard. I will post the answers at the end of the comments section next year, probably tomorrow, mid-morning.
1 Mississippi area airline force is still a health threat. (5)
2 Oprah's small measure produces rising variant. (7)
3 You can find this little prick in Baja brothel; please go to a clinic instead. (3)
4 Suddenly everyone has goat feet! They're playing reed pipes! It's a widespread infection! (8)
5 At first dumbass overconfident Americans eschew science; many go on to become one of the toe-tagged. (3)
6 Brooks & Bruce: a source of a war's worth of shots. (7)
7 In a Norse rumpus there is hope for protection. (5)
8 Shop sucker meets unfinished theater, gets bottled, distributed. (7)
9 Rapunzel was in one of a sort, known for letting loose more than one, contemplating the soft fuzz on a Yale product. (8)
10 The Brothers Grimm: 'Unity provides a measure of protection'. (8)
11 Ancestral haggis lover's compendium of maps: a quack! (5, 5)
12 Alamogordo area for example, or Bikini Atoll: going to one in your neighborhood would be safer. (4, 4)
Now for some slightly trickier ones.
13 Pi broken by falsehood, nothing falls short in company. (6)
14 It seems this inherent danger is garbled: Yo! Morbid tic! (2-9)
15 A treatment of last resort, where a confused, violent rat might save you. (10)
16 Two bros at a candlelit dinner decree what must be done: staff the sweet, gummy stone fruit! (7)
17 He was a right-wing darling and, a cannier ham, acted up, came to a bad end. (6, 4)
18 One feature of Drumpf regime response to Covid: sounds like it was at home, got a free ticket, had to take a leak, and was nervous. (12)
19 Noted dangerous spreader of misinformation believes he is a rock star uncle--wrong! (6, 7)
20 Our friend the Doctor: glitzy, high-class. (4)
21 This sounds like what would have happened had the Orange Menace stayed in charge: a volunteer plant picks up detergent, goes to a quilting party, meets that smartass Pool guy. (3, 3, 2, 4)
Good luck, hope you have some fun with these, and happy new year.
