Overloaded flats
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Overloaded flats are puzzles in which a cueword can stand for any of two or more solution words. For example:
OVERLOADED THIRD-LETTER CHANGE (2 4, 4-2)
It’s time to start the bacchanal;
Everyone disrobes. I count
Eleven folks (an odd amount)
Who’ll cause the bed to rock, in all.
I’m feeling just a little shy,
So I check out the dinner spread.
It’s just some veggies on a bed
Of stir-fried noodles, which I try—
It stinks! But it’s the only food,
So I fill up a plate and wander
Back to the bedroom, where I ponder
What to do. It might be rude
To cut in on a busy pair,
And everyone seems occupied…
Back to the kitchen. I must confide,
I’m not enjoying this AFFAIR.
=Lunch
The solution: lo mein, love-in. A cueword can correspond to more than two parts:
OVERLOADED LETTER-BANK (7, 3 7, 10 4) (3 7 = NI2)
I’ll spill it: I’m elated, quite,
When visiting that aged site
Wherein I look at oils hung right
On walls so old they’ve changed from white
To ashen—I enjoy that BLIGHT!
=Ucaoimhu
Solution: greatly, art gallery, tattletale gray. As this flat shows, one can even overload a solution with different parts of speech.
If some, but not all, words share a cueword, the puzzle is partially overloaded; the author should clearly indicate which words go where, either in a tag or by choice of cuewords.