Saturday, June 5, 2010 - Thinking Outside the Box (& Inside The Box)

Introduction

One might suspect that the National Post has published the wrong grid for today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon. An observant solver will notice that the solutions for many of the clues (4a, 10a, 13a, 15a, 21a, 23a, 28a, 29a, 1d, 5d, 6d, 7d, 14d, 16d, 20d, & 24d) don't seem to fit the grid. But that is not the case. The grid is correct, and (with a bit of concentration) the solutions can be made to fit the grid . I won't give away the secret just yet. However, I can say that it would certainly be helpful to start solving at clue 28a. The secret is revealed later in the blog.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

30a Remover of words, as in "um, that is..." (6)

The definition is "remover of words" for which the solution is ERASER. The wordplay is AS contained in (in) {ER (um) + ER (that is)}. In this case, "that is" is just a phrase that one might utter while they fumble for words, similar to "um" or "er", or even (Heaven forbid) "you know".

The Secret Revealed

The solutions for the 16 clues which appear not to fit the grid each contains the string AND. If you substitute an ampersand (&) for the string AND in each of these solutions, the resulting "words" (or, if you prefer, strings of characters) do fit the grid. Moreover, each & occurs at a point where horizontal and vertical clues intersect.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a BUFFET - double definition; "serve yourself meal" and "punch"

4a B&ICOOTS [BANDI(COO)TS] - COO (cry like pigeons) contained in (when caught by) BANDITS (thieves)

10a &OMEDA [_AN|DROMEDA_] - hidden in (has eaten) egyptiAN DROMEDAry; andromeda: shrub of the genus pieris

11a _R|OUTER|S_ - hidden in (in) faR OUTER Space

12a SCENT~ - "something smelled" that sounds like (said) penny

13a GIANT P&A [(GIANT PANDA)*] - anagram (mistakenly) of TAPING AN AD

15a MISH&LING [MI|SHANDLING] - MI (musical note) + SHANDLING (American comedian Garry Shandling)

18a RID(G)E - RIDE (go on horseback) containing (around) G (green)

19a N(ASH)E - ASH (powdery remains) contained in (buried in) NE (northeast); Elizabethan writer Thomas Nashe

21a HOLL&AISE [HOLLANDAISE*] - anagram of (cooked) ON A DISH ELLA

23a P&OWDIES [PANDOWDIES*] - anagram of (drunk) DOWNED A SIP; Apple Pandowdy: a variant of Apple Crisp or Apple Crumble (depending on whether you prefer the American or British name)

25a UN|PEG - UN (French article) + PEG (common nickname for Margaret)

27a COR(TEG<)E - reversal of (back) GET contained in (in) CORE (centre)

28a AMPERS& [AMPERSAND*] - anagram of (out) MAN SPREAD; the & sign appears eight times in this puzzle

29a MARSHL&S [MAR|S(H|L)ANDS] - MAR (damage) + {SANDS (beaches) containing H (high) + (and) L (low)}

30a ER(AS)ER - AS contained in (in) {ER (um) + ER (that is)}

Down

1d BL&ISHMENT [BLANDISHMENT*] - anagram of (new) THE BLIND MANS

2d FLOWERS - double definition; a river is a flower since it is "something that flows" (a well-worn crossword cliché)

3d EVEN|T - EVEN (still) + T (time)

5d &ORRA [AND|OR|RA] - AND (conjunction #1) + OR (conjunctions #2) + RA (Egyptian sun god)

6d COUNTERM& [COUNTERMAN|D] - COUNTERMAN (diner employee) D (dee)

7d ONE-H&ED [ONE-HANDED] - anagram of (dizzy) DEAN HONED; Dizzy Dean: former Major League Baseball player (by the way, he was a pitcher - not a catcher)

8d SOS|A - SOS (call for help) + (by) A; Sammy Sosa: former Major League Baseball player whose home run hitting achievements have been tainted by allegations of the use of performance enhancing drugs

9d L|ANGUISH - L (left) + ANGUISH (distress)

14d NEW ENGL&ER [(NEW ENGLANDER)*] - anagram of (cultivated) GREEN LAWN NED; Québécois: a native or inhabitant of Quebec (a province of Canada) [Note: although the word Québécois can also mean a native or inhabitant of the city of Quebec, in this case the context clearly indicates that the clue is referring to the province rather than the city]

16d &REW WYETH [(ANDREW WYETH)*] - anagram of (abstractly) DREW THE YAWN; Andrew Wyeth: American artist

17d G|OLD|S|TAR - G (good) OLD S (southern) TAR (sailor)

20d SL&ERER [SLANDERER*] - anagram of (upset) REAL NERDS

22d IMP|ARTS - double definition with one part cryptic; "conveys" and "the wiles of rascals" (i.e., "imp arts" or, in other words, "the arts of imps")

24d IREL& [I|RELAND] - I RELAND (touch down again); James Joyce: Irish writer

25d _UPPER - sUPPER (meal) with the initial letter deleted (not starting)

26d SCAM_ - SCAMp (rogue) with the final letter deleted (unfinished)

Signing off for today - Falcon