Saturday, August 26, 2017

Saturday, August 26, 2017 — Cox & Rathvon (Preliminary Post)

Introduction

Here is today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon. I — or perhaps Henry — will return later with the solution.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Signing off for the moment — Falcon

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16 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 26, 2017 at 10:03 AM

    Nice mix of gimmes and more challenging clues today. A "sleepy" puzzle theme.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HenryAugust 26, 2017 at 10:55 AM

    Hi, everyone! Nice warm day here in the GTA. And thanks, Falcon, for posting, and putting no pressure on me!.
    Well, as @Anonymous said - today's offering from C&R just might put you to sleep. But you'll just have to lumber along. Last one in was 14d - had to work out the anagram - so cute!
    Henry

    ReplyDelete
  3. CarlAugust 26, 2017 at 12:52 PM

    Nice puzzle. Wondering if 26d is a bird so that I can try to complete 31a which also has me puzzled.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 26, 2017 at 1:03 PM

    Yes 26d is a bird made up of a short form of a word for raincoat and a sound one might make when encountering something cute.

    For 31a, the answer is in keeping with the puzzle theme, and uses a preposition, the first name of a famous baseball player, and something one might do to signal another person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HenryAugust 26, 2017 at 4:34 PM

      Not that it makes that much difference, but the second word is W (from with) and a short word that means signs (e.g. a contract).

      Delete
    2. AnonymousAugust 27, 2017 at 8:31 AM

      Your interpretation of the clue is definitely better than mine! I guess I got lucky and my misinterpretation still led me to the correct answer.

      Delete
  5. AnonymousAugust 26, 2017 at 2:10 PM

    Hello Falcon et al,
    Enjoyable little puzzle - did not need to google anything. Last one in was 31a. At least two of the clues I had seen before.

    Thank you for posting and have a great weekend all.
    Cheers,
    MG

    ReplyDelete
  6. HenryAugust 27, 2017 at 11:04 AM

    Continuing with giving Falcon a summer vacation break, here is the solution for this week's C&R offering.

    These sleepy Eastern Europeans
    Across
    1 Carol carries timber//out (10)
    S(LUMBER)ING (as in ‘out like a light’) (SING = to carol, around (carries) LUMBER = timber)
    6 Pop into steamship/’s/hot tubs (4)
    S(PA)S (PA or Pop for father, contained in (into) SS = short form for SteamShip)
    9 Brownish//salt water engulfing private investigator (5)
    SE(PI)A (SEA = salt water, around (engulfing) PI = Private Investigator)
    10 In game, Chan is manipulating//device (9)
    MECHANISM (hidden in ‘gaME CHAN IS Manipulating’)
    12 Supermodel Kate//raised heavy weight (5)
    UP|TON (UP= raised, TON = heavy weight) Katherine Elizabeth "Kate" Upton (born June 10, 1992 is an American model and actress, known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Upton was named Rookie of the Year following her first appearance in 2011, and was the cover model for the 2012, 2013 and 2017 issues. She was also the subject of the 100th-anniversary Vanity Fair cover. Upton has also appeared in the films Tower Heist (2011) and The Other Woman (2014). It’s a pity I can’t post a picture here for you.
    13 Italian City//auction, right now unfinished (7)
    SALE|R|NO (SALE = auction, R = short form for RIGHT, NO = NOW unfinished – last letter of now removed) Salerno is a city and commune in Campania (south-western Italy) and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
    15 Sleep//bare in the wild (9)
    HIBERNATE* (acronym (wild) on BARE IN THE)
    18 Bagels among the//yonder items (5)
    TH(OS)E (OS = O’s or bagels, letters that look like a circle, in (among) THE, from the clue)
    20 Unhappy about//former Egyptian leader (5)
    SAD|AT (Split 3-2, it means UNHAPPY ABOUT) Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers. Sadat was a senior member of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whom he served as Vice President twice and whom he succeeded as President in 1970. His work on the Egypt-Israel peace treaty earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.
    21 Poor sci-fi novel/is/far from exciting (9)
    SOPORIFIC* (anagram (novel) on POOR SCI-FI)
    22 Wild//Russian range after turning brown (7)
    NAT<|URAL (TAN = brown, turning or reversal, with URAL = a Russian range)
    25 Cow and mice with their tails cut off/:/very funny (5)
    CO|MIC (COW and MICE with the last letters removed (tails cut off))
    28 Balkan country//club put on one act at the start (9)
    MACE|DON|I|A (MACE = a club, DON = put on (e.g. clothes), I = one, roman numeral, and A = first letter of act (at the start))
    29 Make your way up//cedar’s first bough (5)
    C|LIMB (C= cedar’s first, first letter of cedar, LIMB = bough)
    30 Some votes/occurring/marginally on name days (4)
    NA|YS (outer margin (marginally) of NAme daYS)
    31 Brief time out//for Cobb, with signs (5,5)
    FOR|TY W|INKS (FOR from the clue, TY = TY Cobbs, W = With, INKS = signs (e.g. a contract) Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed The Georgia Peach, was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics.

    ReplyDelete
  7. HenryAugust 27, 2017 at 11:09 AM

    Down
    1 Small grey//kimono belt (4)
    S|ASH (S = Small as in clothes, ASH = grey colour)
    2 French article on “Purple Plot”//not deeply investigated (9)
    UN|PLUM|BED (UN = French for a or one, PLUM = the colour purple, BED = a flower bed or plot of land) Numerous tracts have been written about the plot of “The Colour Purple” so that one cannot say that it was not deeply investigated.
    3 Vessel accommodating second//crow (5)
    BOA(S)T (BOAT = vessel around (accommodating) S = short form for Second)
    4 Some Eastern Europeans//wrecked San Marino (9)
    ROMANIANS* (acronym (wrecked) on SAN MARINO) San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino is an enclaved microstate surrounded by Italy, situated on the Italian Peninsula on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains. Its size is just over 61 sq km (24 sq mi), with a population of 33,562.
    5 Announced no//small cuts (5)
    NICKS (homophone (announced) on NIX = no)
    7 Former//officer of a religious house (5)
    PRIOR (double definition)
    8 Lemon scone disturbed//sleepy state (10)
    SOMNOLENCE* (anagram (disturbed) on LEMON SCONE)
    11 Top athlete//left speechless, ultimately, in ceremony site (3-4)
    AL(L-S)TAR (L = short form for Left, S = last letter (ultimately) from Speechless, in ALTAR = Ceremony Site)
    14 Hasn’t named new//sleep-inducing agent (3,7)
    (THE SANDMAN)* (acronym (new) on HASN’T NAMED) My favourite this week. I was singing ‘Mr Sandman’ for the next hour.
    16 Done working/,/like a newly rubberized wheel? (7)
    RETIRED (cryptic definition of a newly rubberized wheel)
    17 Tape next broadcast about Canada’s capital/,/looking to the future (9)
    [EXPE(C)TANT]* (acronym (broadcast) on TAPE NEXT, around (about) C = Canada’s capital, first letter of Canada)
    19 Smelling//trace of onion on large splinter? (9)
    O|L|FACTION (O = first letter (trace) of onion, (on in a down clue,) L = Large, FACTION = a splinter group) Olfaction is a chemoreception that forms the sense of smell. Olfaction has many purposes, such as the detection of hazards, pheremones, and food. It integrates with other senses to form the sense of flavor.
    23 In poor taste/,/like a little nail? (5)
    TACKY (like a TACK (a LITTLE NAIL), e.g. curly, woody, boxy)
    24 Spell in government/includes/special vocabulary (5)
    LINGO (hidden in ‘spelL IN GOvernment’)
    26 Parrot//raincoat – that’s so cute! (5)
    MAC|AW (MAC = raincoat, AW is the sound you make when you see something cute) The Mackintosh or raincoat (abbreviated as mac or mack) is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made out of rubberized fabric. Of the many different Psittacidae (true parrots) genera, six are classified as macaws. It’s a pity I can’t post a picture here for you.
    27 Wading bird//starts for its bath in spring (4)
    IBIS (initial letters of the phrase (starts for) ‘Its Bath In Spring’)

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousAugust 27, 2017 at 12:20 PM

    Hi Harry!
    Thank you for posting the solutions - great job! One suggestion I have is for solution to 17d. I believe you meant "anagram" and not "acronym".

    Cheers,
    MG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HenryAugust 27, 2017 at 3:39 PM

      I swear fingers have a mind of their own! Yes, I meant anagram. (there are a couple of other errors in the text that I noted after posting, but I'll let some sharp-eyed sleuth point them out.
      Just as likely you meant to call me Henry.

      Delete
  9. AnonymousAugust 27, 2017 at 9:13 PM

    So sorry Henry - shameful of me. In my case, it was not my fingers but my brain that misfired!
    Regards,
    MG

    ReplyDelete
  10. HenryAugust 28, 2017 at 8:56 AM

    MG - Not to worry - and no shame required! :-} I saw that I used acronym twice in the text. Obviously it is easy to get that ole brain to misfire.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bill PAugust 28, 2017 at 1:56 PM

    Having run the Hood-to-Coast Relay on Friday and Saturday, I did not get to this week's puzzle until I was back home recovering in my favorite chair on Sunday. Being exhausted, I only made it halfway through the puzzle until I fell asleep. Later, when I figured out this week's theme I had a good laugh!

    ReplyDelete
  12. prof prem raj pushpakaranJanuary 26, 2018 at 10:01 PM

    prof premraj pushpakaran writes -- 2018 marks the 100th birth year of Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat!!!

    ReplyDelete

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