1.1: Alternatives (Solution)

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Author: Kiran Kedlaya

Hint 0: Read the introduction.
Hint 1: Disregard the first letters of the clues.
Hint 2: Do you notice any similarities between any pairs of your answers
to the clues?
Hint 3: Do you notice any similarities between any triplets of your
answers to the clues? (Think about the title.)

Solution:

Most of the words being clued can be grouped into triplets
like CACHE, CAUSE, CHORUS, where the first two words differ
in their middle letters and the third word tells you what
the alternatives for the middle letters are: "CH or US".

The other triples are, in no particular order:
ASPEN, ASIAN, PEORIA
BLABBER, BERBER, LABORER
CATHODE, CATHOUSE, ODOROUS
DIVA, DIANA, IVORIAN
SHOER, SAYER, HOORAY
SIDING, SIAMANG, DIORAMA
SIMMONS, SALONS, IMMORAL

After forming these triples, there are two words left over:
WIGNER and WANTER. The answer is the word that forms a triplet
with these: IGNORANT.

Note: the fact that the clues each begin with a different letter of
the alphabet has no bearing on the rest of the puzzle.