miniMeissner
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@Weak The "fallacy" clue isn't describing the term "slippery slope", it's referring to the "slippery slope fallacy", which is a logical fallacy whereby one argues that a starting condition will necessarily lead to a result, which will then necessarily lead to a further downstream result, etc., i.e. A leads to B, B leads to C, and C leads to D, therefore A leads to D. This line of argument can be fine, but it is a fallacy when each step is not actually a guaranteed, likely, or even plausible outcome.
I'm very surprised I was able to solve this with zero assistance or looking up anything (albeit with a couple of lucky guesses), which is rare for me on anything harder than a Wednesday! I cottoned on to the rebus pretty quickly, but was quite confused about how it related to the title. I expected "Nuclear Fusion" meant each rebus would contain the abbreviation of a chemical element, but that proved false. I had to come here to learn that "nuclear" was being used to mean "in the center". All around, bravo for a clever and fun theme, as well as an overall satisfying fill, to my sensibilities!
@George On the one hand, I did get thrown for a loop when I (embarrassingly) misspelled "partical" and had no idea what a "lye socket" was. But on the other hand, a substantial amount of clever wordplay deals in homophones, so I think the aural element of some of the theme clues hardly defies convention or expectation. Maybe I'm biased as a spoken-word poet, but I found the execution here to be delightful.
Absolutely phenomenal puzzle! I was able to pick up on the fun gimmick of the theme early, and that let me place the "ical/icle" segments relatively quickly, but while I grasped the theme, it took far longer than I'd like to admit to finally wrap my fingers around a couple of the full answers, particularly that one about electrolysis. But it was wonderfully satisfying when each one finally clicked, and the only thing I had to look up was that last Spice Girl and keg size. p.s. "Messing up on the big screen" was a brilliantly evil clue, I loved it!
I'm shocked, shocked I say, that ASMR is coming up so frequently in these comments as an unfamiliar clue and answer. Familiarity with ASMR, including its saturation in internet content for many years as to become something of a meme, is something I've clearly taken for granted. It was one of the quickest and most plainly obvious clue and answer for me in this puzzle, which may be in part why I didn't suffer the ATHEIS(M/T) dilemma many others did. Is ASMR age-dependent, or have I just run in exceedingly esoteric circles of the internet? Surely 28 isn't exceptionally young to be enjoying crosswords in the year of our Lord 2026?
Not me getting the "L" and "R" in and confidently filling in "LarRybird" at first! XD I like to work my way through acrosses and downs through my first lap, and I eventually figured out that (JAM) before even getting to the revealer, but I still took far too long to realize what the rebus was doing for the down clues. 12 minutes slower than my average, but a challenging a fun fill, a rare Thursday that didn't require any lookups (although I will look up some of the names I'm not familiar with now that I'm done). Well played today!
@Seward Parker I concur! Well, partly; this one was significantly harder to me than most Sundays (50% longer than my average 😅), but it was a very enjoyable solve for most of the way, and the theme clues were especially delightful!
@Jeff P. It might be very dependent on one's age and how they engage with the internet, but ASMR is well and commonly known to many, many people. Just because it's not something you've been long familiar with doesn't make it obscure.
Not a blistering pace for me today, although I never solve at a blistering pace, but I am pleased that this is the first puzzle I've successfully solved with only the across clues! And somehow nearly 40% faster than my average! I very much enjoyed the theme, and even made sure to read all the down clues after I finished it ^-^
@Chris Pommer Why should they? "Panini" is an entirely valid singular that does not need to be corrected—in English. Loanwords are rarely borrowed with all associated rules from the donor language, which leads many borrowed nouns to have different singular and/or plural forms than in the donor language. "Panini" is hardly unique in this regard. And since the clue is in English, it follows that the common English singular form is a correct answer.
@Nancy While the others go down the rabbit hole on the ATHEISM clue, I'd like to share that ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and refers to the tingling sensations from the scalp to the neck and down the spine that are triggered by various stimuli, such as soft touch and oddly satisfying sounds. Common cultural use of the term most often refers specifically to audio stimulus that triggers the response, as opposed to the response itself (e.g. "ASMR videos" of soft speaking or crinkling paper). Perhaps familiarity with it is strongly correlated with age (I'm on the younger side of 28), but I actually found that cloud and answer to be one of the quickest and most plainly obvious of this puzzle. To each their own strengths!
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