Certain spoken-word performer

As a detective, I looked at the clue ‘Certain spoken-word performer’ and immediately knew that I needed to focus on spoken-word performance. I thought about the various forms of spoken-word performance, such as poetry, storytelling, and comedy, but none of those seemed to quite fit the clue. Then I remembered an emerging art form, slam poetry.

Slam poetry is a type of poetry performed in front of an audience, where the performer delivers his or her material in a rhythmic and engaging way. It’s also called spoken-word poetry. I knew that it was sometimes judged in competitions, or ‘slams’, where the audience would award points to the performers.

From there, it was a small leap to arrive at the answer: ‘SLAMPOET‘. A slam poet is a performer who creates and recites poems specifically for a slam poetry competition. I knew that this answer fit the clues we had been given, and I was confident in my deduction.

In solving this crossword clue, I drew upon my knowledge of various forms of spoken-word performance and combined it with some creative thinking. The process was both challenging and rewarding, and I felt a sense of satisfaction in arriving at the correct answer.