Jonathan Black’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Mixers”—Jim P’s evaluation

Theme: Certain drinks are clued by way of anagrams that are additionally acquainted(ish) phrases.

Wall St Journal crossword answer · “Mixers” · Jonathan Black · Wed., 1.18.23

• 17a. [WINTER COAT] TONIC WATER. Nice discover! And I picked up on the theme virtually instantly.
• 24a. [MOVE THRU] VERMOUTH.
• 37a. [ENDEARING] GRENADINE.
• 53a. [LEAD ME ON] LEMONADE.
• 61a. [CLIPPED EAR] APPLE CIDER.

My first thought was that these would all be alcoholic drinks however solely one among them is. Then, per the title, I anticipated all of them to be elements one would combine into an alcoholic drink. In my expertise APPLE CIDER isn’t often used as a mixer, however a fast search on the web proved me unsuitable. I’m nonetheless a bit of bothered by the inconsistency in that one of many drinks is alcoholic, two of the mixers aren’t often drunk straight, and the opposite two are very generally drunk straight. But it’s definitely true that every of those can be utilized as an ingredient in a blended drink.

In the fill, the nook 7-stacks are fairly good, particularly with AVOCADO, WINE RED, CAVED IN, TRIDENT, and EYESORE. I’m much less ENTHUSEd about ANES and ERODER within the heart, however ALL TRUE is enjoyable (although it’d be extra enjoyable clued colloquially than with [Factual in every detail]).

Other clues of observe:

• 54d. [Where to find dates?] OASIS. Cute. I ponder how correct it’s, although.
• 60d. [Downloaded crossword, perhaps] PDF. I a lot favor a PUZ file.

Nice puzzle. 3.75 stars.