Transformations

Context

The context behind this puzzle is a spoiler for the endgame of this puzzle. (Although, quite frankly, it’s a little impossible to be on this site and not be spoiled.) Therefore, we have put the context of this puzzle in a spoiler below.

Hints

• 1a. unclued
• 10a. Two from Spain return with a drink (4)
• Split Location: Between "a drink"
  
• Wordplay Type: Reversal and Charade
  
• Clue Explanation: "Two from spain" is DOS, "return" is a reversal to give SOD, "with a" indicates to put an A afterwards for SODA.
  
• 11a. Unfinished hemp edge (3)
• Split Location: Between "hemp edge"
  
• Wordplay Type: Deletion
  
• Clue Explanation: "Unfinished hemp" means to cut the last letter off of HEMP to give HEM.
  
• 12a. Briskness in cha-cha steps (5)
• Split Location: Between "Briskness in"
  
• Wordplay Type: Hidden Word
  
• Clue Explanation: "in" indicates to find the word inside "cha-cHA STEps".
  
• 13a. Pop is filled with energy, but boring (4)
• Split Location: Between "energy, but"
  
• Wordplay Type: Charade
  
• Clue Explanation: "Pop" is another word for DAD. "energy" can be shortened to E. Therefore you put the E in DAD to get DEAD.
  
• 14a. Cretin fouls sample data (4)
• Split Location: Between "sample data"
  
• Wordplay Type: Hidden Word
  
• Clue Explanation: "sample" is a hidden word indicator for "cretIN FOuls".
  
• 16a. Alternating doesn’t seem stupid (5)
• Split Location: Between "seem stupid"
  
• Wordplay Type: Hidden Word
  
• Clue Explanation: "Alternating" means to take every other letter of "DoEsNt SeEm".
  
• 19a. Warriors enclose Olympic site (3)
• Split Location: Between "enclose Olympic"
  
• Wordplay Type: Container
  
• Clue Explanation: "enclose" means to look inside "warRIOrs".
  
• 21a. Records Landers’ pennant series without catcher (6)
• Split Location: Between "Records Landers'"
  
• Wordplay Type: Charade and Deletion
  
• Clue Explanation: "Landers" is ANN. "pennant series" is ACLS. "catcher" can be abbreviated as C, and take that out of ACLS and put it after ANN to get ANNALS.
  
• 24a. Do performance-enhancing drugs? Did performance-enhancing drugs! (5)
• Split Location: Between "drugs? Did"
  
• Wordplay Type: Charade
  
• Clue Explanation: This is a little untraditional. The first part is wordplay, with DO + P.E.D. The second part is the definition.
  
• 26a. Cheer “The Sun God” vociferously (3)
• Split Location: Between "Cheer "The "
  
• Wordplay Type: Homophone
  
• Clue Explanation: "The Sun God" is RA. "vociferously" is a homophone indicator to give RAH, a cheer. (Note that this clue is mean since "cheer" is also a homophone indicator, but it is used here as the definition.)
  
• 28a. Add extra about father (5)
• Split Location: Between "about father"
  
• Wordplay Type: Charade
  
• Clue Explanation: "Add extra" is PAD, "about" is RE, combined they are PADRE.
  
• 30a. State surrounded by twice the love! (4)
• Split Location: Given that this is a ! clue, the entire thing is both definition and wordplay.
  
• Wordplay Type: Container
  
• Clue Explanation: "State" is HI (Hawaii), "love" is a clue for O (as in tennis), so HI surrounded by two O's is OHIO.
  
• 31a. Devil fruit goes from $50 to $500 (5)
• Split Location: Between "Devil fruit"
  
• Wordplay Type: Letter replacement
  
• Clue Explanation: "fruit" is a LEMON, "goes from $50 to $500" is an indication to switch the L to D (Roman numerals).
  
• 32a. Stooge ignores odd digit (3)
• Split Location: Between "odd digit"
  
• Wordplay Type: Hidden Word
  
• Clue Explanation: "ignore odd" is an idicator to remove all the odd letters from "sToOgE". (Note that "digit" is a definition for TOE)
  
• 33a. unclued
• 1d. Top weird thirst (hyph)
• Split Location: Between "top weird"
  
• Wordplay Type: Anagram
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "weird" is an anagram indicator to mix up "thirst" to T-SHIRT.
  
• 2d. Multicolored, heartless Italian
• Split Location: Between "Multicolored, heartless"
  
• Wordplay Type: Deletion
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "Italian" is a ROMAN. "heartless" means to take the center letter out to get ROAN (a multicolored horse)
  
• 3d. President Lovelace, Master of Science
• Split Location: Between "President Lovelace"
  
• Wordplay Type: Charade
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This needs to be changed before entering
  
• Clue Explanation: "Lovelace" is ADA, "Master of Science" is MS, combined is ADAMS.
  
• 4d. Alliance messed up a ton (abbv)
• Split Location: Between "Alliance messed"
  
• Wordplay Type: Anagram
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "messed up" is an anagram indicator. Anagramming "a ton" gives NATO.
  
• 5d. Blended, mashed, blackened
• Split Location: Between "mashed, blackened"
  
• Wordplay Type: Anagram
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This needs to be changed before entering
  
• Clue Explanation: "blended" is an anagram indicator. Anagraming "mashed" gives SHAMED.
  
• 6d. Agent loaded paper
• Split Location: Between "Agent loaded"
  
• Wordplay Type: Double Definition
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: FED is both an agent (as in a federal agent) and means loaded paper (in a printer).
  
• 7d. Rising Disney fish is a bad sign
• Split Location: Between "fish is"
  
• Wordplay Type: Reversal
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "Disney fish" is NEMO. "Rising" is a reveral indicator since this is a down clue, to give OMEN.
  
• 8d. Really neat algorithm starts genetic encoding (abbv)
• Split Location: Between "starts genetic"
  
• Wordplay Type: Hidden Word
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "starts" means to take the first letters of "Really Neat Algorithm" to form RNA.
  
• 9d. French woman put diamond between Ma and her reflection with ecstasy
• Split Location: Between "woman put"
  
• Wordplay Type: Container and Charade
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This needs to be changed before entering
  
• Clue Explanation: "diamond" can be abbreviated as D. Putting it between "Ma and her reflection" gives MADAM. "ecstasy" can be abbreviated as E to give MADAME.
  
• 15d. Enemy takes back vow of eating lover
• Split Location: Between "of eating"
  
• Wordplay Type: Reversal and Container
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "Enemy" is FOE and "vow" is IDO. "takes back" is an indication to insert IDO backwards in FOE to get FOODIE.
  
• 17d. Nude Wendy’s bottom
• Split Location: Between "Wendy's Bottom"
  
• Wordplay Type: Deletion
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "Nude" means to remove the first and last letter from "Wendy" to get END. (Note that you can just ignore the "'s" because of how cryptics work.)
  
• 18d. Behold dividing impact of race
• Split Location: Between "impact of"
  
• Wordplay Type: Container
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "Behold" is LO and "impact" is SLAM. "dividing" is an indication to insert LO into SLAM to get SLALOM.
  
• 20d. Morse code sound interrupting input/output state
• Split Location: Between "output state"
  
• Wordplay Type: Container
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "Morse code sound" is DAH and "input/output" is IO. "interrupting" is an indication to insert DAH into IO to get IDAHO.
  
• 22d. Sordid compact disc announced
• Split Location: Between "Sordid compact"
  
• Wordplay Type: Homophone
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This needs to be changed before entering
  
• Clue Explanation: "Compact disc" is CD. "Announced" is an indicator for a homophone for SEEDY.
  
• 23d. Strange, incomplete armor with a nice scent
• Split Location: Between "a nice"
  
• Wordplay Type: Deletion, Anagram, Charade
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "Incomplete armor" is ARMO. "Strange" means to anagram it to AROM. "With a" means to add A at the end to get AROMA.
  
• 24d. First inning of matchup follows big-leaguer’s dance
• Split Location: Between "leaguer's dance"
  
• Wordplay Type: Charade
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: "First inning" is an indicator to take the first letter of matchup for M. "Big-leaguer" is PRO. M following PRO is PROM.
  
• 27d. Garden implement wrapped around a spade!
• Split Location: Given that this is a ! clue, the entire thing is both definition and wordplay.
  
• Wordplay Type: Container
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This needs to be changed before entering
  
• Clue Explanation: "Garden implement" is HOE. "A spade" is S. HOE wrapped around S is HOSE.
  
• 28d. Drug-cooking device
• Split Location: Between "drug-cooking"
  
• Wordplay Type: Double Definition
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This enters normally
  
• Clue Explanation: POT is both a drug and a cooking device.
  
• 29d. Roger Daltrey wrote marvelous finales
• Split Location: Between "Roger Daltrey"
  
• Wordplay Type: Hidden Word
  
• Entering Shenanigans: This needs to be changed before entering
  
• Clue Explanation: "Finales" is an indication to take the last words of "Daltrey wrote marvelous" to give YES.