Word Puzzle 66

Word Puzzle 66 – Solution with Explanation

Theme: Answers to thematic clues are words of Spanish origin in English.

1. Embarcadero, adrift (anagram of) armored + cab (taxi) + e (boat), dockyard (def)

2. Exasperate, annoy (def), characters (hidden), rest is fodder

3. Desperado, outlaw (def), violently (anagram of) deposed + a + R (king)

4. Beleaguer, invest (def), be (live), concert (league), r (road)

5. Stampede, stamp (print), ed (journalist), e (point), beeline (def)

6. Cross section, selection (def), leads to (implicit meta), notices (target), one way to get notices is via anagram (cross) of section

7. Canyon, Ca (state), NY (city), on (drinking), pass (def)

8. Venerate, glorify (def), vente (selling in France i.e., in French), about (container), era (time)

9. Quixotic, utopian (def), Qu (queen), i (a), exotic (romantic), delete (without), e (energy)

10. Rationale, ration (assign), ale (beer), case (def)

11. Renegade, separatist (def), renege (back down), seizing (container), A (Austria), D (Germany)

12. Congenial, delicious (def), n (new), i (line), in (insertion in), congeal (jelly)

13. Vigilante, worried (anagram of) evil + giant, nemesis (def)

14. Somersault, summer (season), salt (salt), they say (homophone), flip (def)

15. Mosquito, “Sumos ... to” (fodder), hidden (hidden), flying menace (def)

16. Honest mistake, unintentional error (def), led to (implicit meta), the son (target), one way to get the son is anagram (mistake of) honest

17. Bronco, hackney (def), Br (British), on (operating), co (company)

18. Aficionado, bad (anagram of), of (regular goof i.e. alternate letters in goof) + on + ai (good) + acid, junkie (def)

19. Compound interest, how (meta), trientes (target), help grow money faster (def), one way to get trientes is anagram (compound of) interest

20. Guerrilla, irregular (def), also replace l (liberal) with r (republican) in irregular with anagram (could be), leads to guerrilla which is synonym of irregular

21. Hoosegow, how (how), about (container), silly (anagram of) goose, slammer (def)