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El remate fue todo un éxito y el público aplaudió.

El remate fue todo un éxito y el público aplaudió.
The punchline was a complete success and the audience applauded.
From Lesson 418:Emphasizing nouns (todo un / toda una)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El remate fue todo un éxito y el público aplaudió.

How does todo un work here to mean "a complete"?
In Spanish, placing todo un (or toda una) before a singular noun is an idiomatic way to emphasize that something is the ultimate example of that noun. Here, todo un éxito emphasizes that it wasn't just a mild success, but a complete, undeniable success.
I thought a remate was a shot in soccer or an auction. How does it mean "punchline"?
The word remate comes from the verb rematar, which means to conclude or finish something off. In the context of a joke or a comedic story, the remate is the final sentence that "finishes it off" and delivers the laugh, which is exactly what a punchline does in English.
Could I say fue un éxito total instead of fue todo un éxito?
Yes, fue un éxito total is completely valid and means the same thing. However, todo un is a very natural, expressive structure in Spanish that puts the emphasis upfront. It signals to the listener immediately that whatever noun comes next is going to be an extreme example.
Why is the verb aplaudió singular if an audience is made up of many people?
The word público is a collective noun. Even though it represents a group of people, the word itself is grammatically singular. Spanish strictly requires a singular verb for singular collective nouns, so you must say el público aplaudió, never el público aplaudieron.

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