Fireball Contest — March 29, 2023

Alex Eaton Salners’ Fireball contest, “Resounding Success” — Conrad’s writeup

This month, we are asked, What multiple-choice word is hinted at by this puzzle? There were five theme entries:

• [“Everything you say is true …”]: FAIRPOINTS
• [Unmaintained part of a golf course]: WASTEAREA
• [Night owl’s counterpart]: MORNINGPERSON
• [Fight in a war]: SEEACTION
• [Reach base on a dropped third strike, informally]: STEALFIRST

FB Contest – 03.29.2023

I poked around the grid for awhile, thinking of “sound,” and spotted WASTEAREA. HIPS are in a WAIST AREA, and I had the rabbit: changing the first word of each themer formed a homonym that matched another grid entry:

• 5a: WIDOW -> MOURNING PERSON
• 19a: IRON -> STEEL FIRST
• 19a: TIDE -> SEA ACTION
• 49a: CABS -> FARE POINTS
• 57a: HIPS -> WAIST AREA

The mapped entries spell WITCH, and we’re looking for a multiple-choice word, making the homonym WHICH our contest answer.