This puzzle is modeled on the upper-class Victorian habit of changing into special clothes at dinner-time—not, as you might expect, special food-repellant clothes, that might be difficult to stain and easy to clean—but extra-fancy clothes.
The process of adapting this custom to the crossword form required a good deal of punning. Now, the ability to enjoy unlikely puns is something you’re born with or not. No doubt it results from a long-ago genetic mutation; probably it confers some survival advantage—though it also exposes its carrier to unique risks. Anyway, if you don’t have such an ability, you might want to spare yourself this week’s puzzle.
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