Updated: Friday, October 7, 2011
I will be on the road again tomorrow, off to spend the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend with relatives - so postings will likely continue to be somewhat erratic.
Finally, a big thank you to Matt Mitchell for stepping in to provide a solution to the puzzle (see Comments section) in my absence.
Signing off for today - Falcon
Hi Falcon!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your vacation - hope it is relaxing as well as interesting.
And, of course, hurry back!
Cheers,
MG
Falcon's on vacation? Time for the guest blogger to make an appearance.
ReplyDeleteSaturday, October 1: Tea for Six
Six theme answers this week (1a, 11a, 14a, 20a, 26a, 29a: symmetric), all of which are varieties of tea. Gunpowder tea is not a specific kind of leaf like pekoe or Assam: it’s a tea whose leaves have been rolled into tiny pellets. Darjeeling is a very famous black or oolong tea. Earl Grey is a variety of tea that is distinctively flavored with rind or oil from bergamot oranges. Hibiscus and chamomile flowers, and peppermint leaves, are used to make herbal teas.
Themework: easy to pick up, average creativity, might have included some tea references in the cluing
Difficulty (by standards of the Nat Post weekly): average
Across
1a H (IBIS) CUS< — “Ibis” (bird) contained in (among) “such” (similar things) reversed (turned)
5a U (SAGE) S — “Us” (our group) containing (adopting) “sage” (pundit)
10a <STRAP< — Reversal (read the wrong way) of “parts” (pieces)
11a CH (A | MOM) ILE — “Chile” (South American land) containing (around) “a” and “dam” (mother). Note nice pairing with 28a!
12a *LET SLIP* — Anagram (wretched) of “pest I’ll”
13a EX | POSED — “Ex” (former spouse) + “posed” (worked as a model)
14a DARJEELING — Anagram (all about) of “read jingle”
17a <SNAP< — Reversal (retracted) of “pans” (bad reviews)
19a VEDA — contained in (covering) interpretiVE DAnce
20a PEP | PER | MINT — “Pep” (enthusiasm) + “per” (for every) + “mint” (brand new)
23a *SOLARIA* — Anagram (roaming) of “a sailor”
24a SU (BUN) IT — “Bun” (roll) contained in (into) “suit” (executive)
26a *GUNPOWDER* — Anagram (playing) of “Don grew up”
27a NAVAL~ — Homonym (in the sound) of “navel”
28a S (AT) IRE — “Sire” (father) containing (grasping) “at” (literal)
29a EARL (<GRE<) Y — “Erg” (bit of work) reversed (brought back) and contained in (in) “early” (ahead of time)
Down
1d HAS | SLED — “Has” (keeps) + “sled” (Iditarod entrant). The Itidarod is a famous dogsled race in Alaska
2d BE (RE) T — “Re” (note) contained in (kept in) “bet” (hazard)
3d SUPP (L | I) ED — “L” (litre) + “I” (myself) containing (outside) “supped” (ate)
4d *UNCAP* — Anagram (messily) of “up can”
6d STOOPS — Double definition
7d *GLISSANDI* — Anagram (fluid) of “sliding as.” Glissando is the run through all the notes of a scale, typically heard in music for piano or harp.
8d <SPEED | UP< — Reversal (reversing) “Pu” (plutonium) + “deeps” (low levels)
9d *TAKE A NAP* — Anagram (unusual) of “at peak an”
15d *RED PLANET* — Anagram (ruined) of “lander pet.” One could easily be misled by the clue and try for a “Mars lander” like the Viking and Phoenix probes.
16d LEE (WAR) DS — “Leeds” (Yorkshire town) containing (holding) “war” (contest). The Leeward Islands are the northern half of the Antilles: they include the Virgin Islands, Saint Martin, Antigua, Montserrat, and Guadeloupe, among many others.
18d T (RIB) UNA | L — “Tuna” (fish) + “L” (left) containing (outside) “rib” (mock)
19d VI (SAG) ES — “Sag” (sink) contained in (in) “vies” (fights).
21d TOT | ALLY — “Tot” (kid) + “ally” (friend)
22d A(R_omantic_) MOUR — “Amour” (love affair) containing (involving) first letter of (piece of) “romantic.” This was the last answer I got, because of the British/Canadian spelling.
24d <S | YRIA< — Reversal (backward) of “airy” (breezy) + “S” (small)
25d *VERNE* — Anagram (novel) of “Verne”
Matt Mitchell