Authors: Erin Rhode and Anand Sarwate
In this puzzle, you are presented with two columns of 26 cluephrases each. You might notice that the first letters of the clues in the first column spell "THE ANSWER TO THE PUZZLE IS LYNN," which is great, except that you already know that, so you must actually solve the clues. (You didn't think we'd let you off that easy, did you?)
The answers to all of the clues are two word phrases, which pair up (one from each column) to form 26 backswitches. A backswitch is a word or phrase which becomes another when its last letter is changed (or "switched") and the remaining letters are reversed ("turned back"). So, for example, "Evaluate Aida or Carmen" in the left column is ASSESS OPERA, which forms a backswitch with REPOSSESS AM, which is the answer to the clue "Take back the morning" from the right column.
The final "switched" letter in all of the phrases from the left column are A-Z complete, which forms the ordering. Taking the pairs in this order and reading the final "switched" letter of the phrases from the right column gives the clue phrase "MOTION PICTURE ABOUT CHIGGERS." In addition, reading the first letter of the clues in the right column in this order (which were originally given alphabetically) spells "THIS TITLE IS A CABLE TV CHANNEL." A "MOTION PICTURE ABOUT CHIGGERS" is a MITE FILM, which forms a backswitch with the cable TV channel LIFETIME, which is the title to this puzzle.
Estimate value of Aida or Carmen e.g. | ASSESS OPERA | Take back the morning hrs. | REPOSSESS AM |
Prodigal son | LOST LAMB | Horlicks product alone | MALT SOLO |
Rhus flattened | OBLATE SUMAC | Indulge the Duke of Shrewsbury with some jokes | AMUSE TALBOT |
What actor Nathan insists on | LANE DEMAND | Supply the largest mountain in North America with a title | NAME DENALI |
Natural Selection artist's foundation | FUEL BASE | Tinctured heraldic black alien spacecraft | SABLE UFO |
Sprightly group of employees | AIRY STAFF | Immense native of Damascus | FAT SYRIAN |
Steep rock formation found in a gym | ARENA CRAG | Tupac song that is esoteric | ARCANE RAP |
Zap a yellow fish common to the Great Lakes with a high energy beam of light | LASE PERCH | Light French pancakes made in a style inspired by The Greatest | CREPES ALI |
Hard to find Pembroke or Cardigan | RARE CORGI | Early Sesame Street plotline featuring Mr. Hooper | GROCER ARC |
Lee County, MS resident Kevin Russell | TUPELO DJ | It's a light golf stroke made by former senator Bob | DOLE PUTT |
Yummy treat for a Belieber or a Trekkie | FAN SNACK | Screw up surrounding a soda container | CAN SNAFU |
Tolerate a nothing | ABIDE NULL | After-Sunday pub? (It.) | LUNEDI BAR |
Tawny or ruby company | PORT FIRM | Cord for a chasm | RIFT ROPE |
Ethical fall season | MORAL AUTUMN | A shared common odor | MUTUAL AROMA |
Ectoplasm from a roadside inn | MOTEL GOO | Behold, leeringly, a mausoleum | OGLE TOMB |
Tabulate mint relative enjoyed by felines | LIST CATNIP | Large cylindrical grain storage building in one piece | INTACT SILO |
Ancient Mesopotamia | OLD IRAQ | Eleanor's predecessor all dried out | ARID LOU |
Location for Roman harvest prayers | CERES ALTAR | The globe holder, upright | ATLAS ERECT |
Name of lemon juice, Cointreau, and cognac cocktails | SIDE CARS | Velocity contest audio recording medium | RACE DISC |
Zealous pamphlet about Yertle | TURTLE TRACT | Certainty about a syndicate | CARTEL TRUTH |
Exquisite trinket made from a beer | BREW BIJOU | Hit that scores a run from an Anishinaabe | OJIBWE RBI |
If Naldi married Andrey, this would be her name | NITA MARKOV | Abelmoschus getting it on | OKRA MATING |
US space agency's black bird | NASA CROW | Notes came out of Shamu | ORCA SANG |
Hey, lady knight, chill out! | DAME RELAX | Newcastle Brown brewed again | ALE REMADE |
Neutral color that is unattractive | HOMELY GRAY | Ernst, who developed a meteorological rocket, dressed in the Campbell tartan | ARGYLE MOHR |
Online chatter about the singing voice of Audrey, Deborah, and Natalie | MARNI BUZZ | Longest tenured director of the New York Philharmonic headbutts | ZUBIN RAMS |