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MITMH2022
Public Access

Solution to Peter Pan

The Investigation

Answer: BIRTHDAY
by Mark Halpin

Ten entries must have adult animal names replaced with "not grown up" versions to fit into the grid; e.g., CAT -> KITTEN.

17 clues must have a letter added at the end of one "stunted" word to parse correctly. Those letters in clue order spell PARADOX, CAKE OR SUIT, all of which can be preceded with BIRTHDAY.

C O M M A N F A W N E D T
U P V O T E S G O I T E R
B T A D P O L E E G R E E
D E K E U N W I S E A P A
E D I N A S H S C R N A S
D O T I N G E T H O S L O
A U T F O A L D I T I O N
N Z E N D U P I C E T E A
T O N S Y L I T K I D I T
I F I A N T E E D P U N T
F I N G E R S H O A T D R
L A G U N A H E N R Y I I
U T I M E S L E V E R E T

Across

Clue Explanations
(*=anagram; "=homophone")
COMMANDEERED 1 Mom danced drunkenly around before being taken hold of MOMDANCED* holding ERE
UPVOTES 9 Spout off about profile ultimately getting five online "likes" SPOUT* + [profil]E holding V
GOITER 11 BumP that's a pain in the neck aggravated trio, e.g. P TRIOEG*
TO A DEGREE 13 Tear geode apart, more or less (3 wds.) TEARGEODE*
DEKE 16 Half shrieked, flipping over crafty hockey maneuver shriEKED reversed
UNWISE 17 At university, wine's flowing -- not too smart U + WINES*
EDINA 18 Commotion in 50% of each Minneapolis suburb EA[ch] holding DIN
RNAS 20 Materials used for coding even components of Trans Ams tRaNsAmS
DOTING 22 Taking care of obtaining slightly tight gagA for a grandchild, perhaps A DOING holding T[ight]
ETHOS 24 Those troublesome shared values THOSE*
AUTHOR'S EDITION 25 Redo thorniest audio book financed by its writer (2 wds.) THORNIESTAUDIO*
END UP 26 Craftsmen duplicated matteR finish (2 wds.) R craftsmEN DUPlicated
ICE TEA 28 SodA alternative is cheat, we say oddly (2 wds.) A IsChEaTwEsAy
TONS 30 Contrary, obnoxious twerp's quite a handful, to say the least SNOT reversed
GO AT IT 33 Agitator stripped, excited for fight (3 wds.) [a]GITATO[r]*
ANTEED 36 Paid to see a carD savagely eaten by foremost of dinosaurs (var.) D EATEN* + D[inosaurs]
PUNT 37 Casually give up flat-bottomed boat double definition
FINGERBOARD 38 Foreign bard composed piece for a violin or cello FOREIGNBARD*
LAGUNA 39 Tarry by a Spanish beach LAG + UNA
HENRY II 40 English king's decapitated, finery torn asunder in hellO (2 wds.) O HI holding [f]INERY*
TIMESHARE 41 Plan for a vacation in debauched harem site HAREMSITE*

Down

Clue Explanations
(*=anagram; "=homophone")
BEARDED 1 Like Socrates, Darwin and Marx, live with terrible dread BE + DREAD*
OPTED 2 ApeX scratching head at Senator Cruz getting elected X [t]OP + TED
MODE 3 What's ChiC McBride's debut poem? C M[cbride] + ODE
NEONS 4 Video game console sporting active, vibrant colors NES holding ON
AGEIST 5 Tossing gamiest codA in stockroom away, favoring those that aren't so old A GAMIEST+ minus [stockroo]M
NIGER 6 Chad's neighbor's silly grin having a flanK for entree K GRIN* holding [E]ntree or entr[E]
DEEP 7 MadE epeeist's somewhat hard to understand E maDE EPeeist
TREASON 8 True motivation for crime T + REASON
VACATING 10 Clearing out monstrous, giant cave almost GIANTCAV[e]*
TRANSIT DUTY 12 Strenuously study train carrying timber primarily for tax to be levied on freight (2 wds.) STUDYTRAIN* holding T[imber]
LOTTERIES 14 Criminal stole tire; there's more than one way to get rich STOLETIRE*
ESCROW 15 Not so good to return about quarter of cash in a third-party account WORSE reversed holding C[ash]
ANODYNE 19 Novel adO featuring new gym (almost new) is harmless O ADO* holding N and Y + NE[w]
ALOE 21 Playing a role, not getting close to wageR for soothing agent R AROLE* minus [wage]R
OUZO 23 Liqueur that's "sludge" and "toilette water" in one's mouth "ooze + eau"
ANTIFLU 25 AmisS aunt swallows provided bit of laudanum intended to combat disease S AUNT* holding IF and L[audanum]
ULTRAS 27 Extremists getting upset at slur ATSLUR*
ATTRIT 29 To weaken through constant harrassment, regularly rant at artist rAnTaTaRtIsT
SAGUM 31 Magus shredded old Roman cloak MAGUS*
TEHEE 32 Peg describes color, ignoring last of menU with a giggle U TEE containing HUE minus [men]U
INDIE 34 Low-budget film climaxes in, yetI again, lurid jacuzzi scene I "yeti...scene" last letters
FIAT 35 The author's sitting in unnecessary extra automobile FAT holding I
PARE 37 Cut down the usual firsT in England T PAR + E[ngland]