Complete the enthusiastic inventor's pitch for their highly unusual, yet effective, new gadget.

_____, this giant umbrella hat actually keeps you perfectly dry during a hurricane!

The correct answer is Ridiculous as it may sound.

To form an advanced concessive clause, we can front an adjective or adverb, followed by as or though, and then the subject and verb (e.g., Adjective + as + subject + verb).

Despite cannot be followed directly by a subject-verb clause. However does not trigger subject-auxiliary inversion in dependent concessive clauses (it should be However ridiculous it sounds).