Arcy

@Alan Bryant Meanwhile I've been having a ball. I'm grateful that the editors include all different kinds of "fun" so that we never spend too long being being either especially disappointed or especially delighted. All the same, I can certainly understand why a run of puzzles that don't align with your favorite types of challenges might be a bit of a downer. I hope the pendulum will swing your way soon!

@Niall Thanks for mention regional differences in pronunciation. It's been interesting to see how many solvers believe there is only one "right" way to pronounce a given word.

@Francis Your story put a smile on my face. I'll never tire of learning about regional pronunciation variations and the little ways they show up in our daily lives.

@Francis May I quote you? I might need to put this in my email signature.

@John Did they change the clue for the revealer recently? I've been confused by the comments because I didn't see anything promising a phonetic equivalence. When I got to the revealer I simply thought "oh how clever, chants does sound rather like chance" and went on with my solving.

@B Ooh, now I'm wondering if there are any Wordplay columns that complain about the puzzle. Perhaps they've done it for April Fools Day?

@Steve Hear hear! Or in this case, here here!

@Arcy *mentioning