Added Across Lite files/Notepad
Default - 324760 Words

Transposal: PARCELSOUT / SPECULATOR

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     DISCOFEVER (75)

This was my favorite entry in a recent Trip Payne themeless puzzle. I asked Trip about the entry and he said that it wasn’t the puzzle’s seed but just a happy accident. Per Google, I learned that DISCO FEVER is the title of a film, a former dance club, and a pinball game, but the entry works fine as a reference to disco music fandom. And with respacing, the DISC OF EVER sounds like a magical artifact in a Legend of Zelda game.

     ISLANDOFMISFITTOYS (75)

The ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS is, of course, a location in the Rankin/Bass television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, a holiday favorite since the 1960s. In recent years, I’ve noticed an emergent interest in using the phrase metaphorically in discussions of cultural nonconformity and disenfranchisement. The children who watched Rudolph are now adult social scientists who can analyze the TV special as a Civil Rights era celebration of pluralism. The metaphorical sense of ISLANDOFMISFITTOYS isn’t widespread enough for crossword clue use, but I’m keeping my eye on it.