Patrick Berry’s Fireball contest, “Undershorts” — Laura’s review
Fireball Contest – 7.10.19 – Solution
This’ll be a quick one as the deadline is fast approaching. Patrick Berry wants to know: “What eight-letter word is hinted at by this puzzle?” Let’s take a look at the themers, or at what we might assume are the themers:
- [17a: Fight ender]: KNOCKOUT
- [25a: 2001 Nobel Peace Prize cowinner]: UNITED NATIONS
- [44a: Triage nurse’s workplace]: EMERGENCY ROOM
- [57a: Where Lincoln was born]: KENTUCKY
Observation #1: All four of these words/phrases are also commonly known by a two-letter abbreviation: KO, UN, ER, and KY, respectively.
Observation #2: Each of these words/phrases contains that two-letter abbreviation within itself:
KNOCKOUT
UNITED NATIONS
EMERGENCY ROOM
KENTUCKY
Observation #3: If you look in the grid under the shorts, per the title, i.e. at the squares beneath the two-letter abbreviations, you get:
SK IV VI ES
… that is, SKIVVIES, slang for undershorts, and the eight-letter word that is hinted at by this puzzle, a.k.a. the answer. Fun and excellent!
If I were to link to a video to illustrate [23d: Request for sugar?]: KISS ME, you might expect it to be this one, but I felt like hearing this one, an all-time fave, instead: