Collective
Solution
by Ivan Wang, Patrick Xia, and Tracey Lin
Each puzzle in this round is a set of cryptic clues themed around a particular mechanic. The clues are given alphabetically by answer, and solving a subset unlocks the next puzzle in the sequence. For a list of standard mechanics, see the Puzzled Pint guide.
This puzzle replaces animals with their collective nouns, for example a “murder of crows” or “charm of finches”. A non-exhaustive list can be found on Wikipedia.
Clue | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Cent paramour’s lucky finches (6) | CLOVER | C + LOVER (finches → charm) |
| One of Minoungou’s team’s back muscle in made-up language (3 5) | PIG LATIN | (Sounders → PIG) + LAT + IN |
| Sonic and friends tingle (7) | PRICKLE | hedgehogs → prickle |
| Utensil acts like a bowl (10) | SPOONBILLS | SPOON + BILLS (bowl → spoonbills) |
| Begin north, new group of ferrets (7) | STARTUP | START + UP (ferrets → business) |