Solution to That Sinking Feeling
Each column of words (which is in alphabetical order) can be rearranged to make 10 clues of 10 words each, reading across:
| Clue | Answer |
|---|---|
| Adjective describing indigenous people whose languages include Warlpiri and Pitjantjatjara | ABORIGINAL |
| Alternate name for a jawbreaker notably used by Willy Wonka | GOBSTOPPER |
| English heavy metal band that's named for a torture device | IRON MAIDEN |
| Game published by Milton Bradley that involves guessing fleet locations | BATTLESHIP |
| Olympic events that included dressage and show jumping in 2016 | EQUESTRIAN |
| Science Channel television series explaining the manufacturing of common objects | HOW ITS MADE |
| Type of art exemplified by Joseph Kosuth and Sol LeWitt | CONCEPTUAL |
| Urban theorist who opposed Robert Moses' plans for Greenwich Village | JANE JACOBS |
| With "muscle", disorder where someone perceives their body as small | DYSMORPHIA |
| Young wedding figure whose dress should match with the bride's | FLOWER GIRL |
Each answer is 10 letters long and begins with a different letter from A-J, so we can reorder them in alphabetical order and color the letters red or white if the corresponding word in the clue is red or white.
| A | B | O | R | I | G | I | N | A | L |
| B | A | T | T | L | E | S | H | I | P |
| C | O | N | C | E | P | T | U | A | L |
| D | Y | S | M | O | R | P | H | I | A |
| E | Q | U | E | S | T | R | I | A | N |
| F | L | O | W | E | R | G | I | R | L |
| G | O | B | S | T | O | P | P | E | R |
| H | O | W | I | T | S | M | A | D | E |
| I | R | O | N | M | A | I | D | E | N |
| J | A | N | E | J | A | C | O | B | S |
The red letters, read from top to bottom, spell out APPLY ROW B. The answer beginning with B is BATTLESHIP, which clues that the red and white words correspond to guesses in a game of Battleship (where red and white pegs are used to represent hits and misses, respectively, and which also labels rows with A-J). This is also hinted at by the title and the light blue background.
In the Milton Bradley game Battleship, there are 5 ships, of sizes 5, 4, 3, 3, and 2. We can uniquely determine the positions of these ships in the given grid, using fairly simple logic (e.g., the red W needs to be part of the size-2 ship, which means the red B and P/L must be size 3 ships, and then the red A/Y is the size 4 ship and P/R/O is the size 5 ship).
The remaining ship cells, highlighted in red below, spell out the answer BOAT RIDE.
| A | B | O | R | I | G | I | N | A | L |
| B | A | T | T | L | E | S | H | I | P |
| C | O | N | C | E | P | T | U | A | L |
| D | Y | S | M | O | R | P | H | I | A |
| E | Q | U | E | S | T | R | I | A | N |
| F | L | O | W | E | R | G | I | R | L |
| G | O | B | S | T | O | P | P | E | R |
| H | O | W | I | T | S | M | A | D | E |
| I | R | O | N | M | A | I | D | E | N |
| J | A | N | E | J | A | C | O | B | S |