Clue: Après-___ (following a day on the slopes -- and, literally, where the first words of the four longest puzzle answers can be found)

Answer: SKI

Length: 3

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Similar Clues:

• Number of times this puzzle's theme word appears diagonally in the grid (to complete the puzzle, shade those words plus the Down answers that begin where they meet) (FOUR with 4 letters)
• Choice words swapped in this puzzle's theme answers (ANDOR with 5 letters)
• Big fight, and clue to this puzzle's theme that begins the four longest answers (BOUT with 4 letters)
• Postseason gridiron game, and a hint to the puzzle theme found in starred answers (BOWL with 4 letters)
• "The wart stops here" product, and a hint to the theme found in eight puzzle answers (COMPOUNDW with 9 letters)
• Attendance check, and a hint to the puzzle theme in the first words of the starred answers (ROLLCALL with 8 letters)
• What the self-contradictory words found in this puzzle's theme answers are examples of (ANTAGONYMS with 10 letters)
• "Dog the Bounty Hunter" network, and a hint to the theme in this puzzle's four longest answers (AANDE with 5 letters)
• Alternative words used as alternatives for each other in this puzzle's theme answers (ANDOR with 5 letters)
• ___ to school . . . or a hint to the puzzle theme suggested by the ends of five answers (BACK with 4 letters)