Introduction
Although Monday is the traditional day to do laundry, in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon, the setters give us an opportunity to get an early start on this weekly chore. Perhaps they were inspired by the prognosticating groundhogs[4] (or, if you prefer, ground-hogs or ground hogs[3]) — which by majority vote appear to have declared that we are in for an early spring.Solution to Today's Puzzle
| Legend: | "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed |
| "( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue |
Across
1a C|AGE — C ([Roman numeral for] one hundred) + AGE (years)
3a WASHING|TON — WASHING (cleaning) + TON (great deal)
Washington, D.C.[7], formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States.10a MENIALS* — anagram (mixed) of IN MEALS
11a NARRATE* — anagram (in an alien form) of A TERRAN
In science fiction, Terran[6] is a term meaning an inhabitant of the planet Earth [as opposed to an extraterrestrial].12a LA|UNDRESS — LA (in Rome, the; feminine singular form of the definite article in Italian) + UNDRESS (strip)
13a YOKE|L — YOKE (heavy neckwear) + L (left)
14a TA<|COMA — reversal (reversing) of AT (upon; "upon the stroke of midnight") + COMA (long blackout)
16a B|LEACHED — B (front [first letter] of Blouse) + LEACHED (bled)
19a S_T|ARCHED — ST (sides [outer letters] of SkirT) + ARCHED (bowed)
20a PA_|RENT — PA (pair [first two letters] of PAnts) + RENT (torn)
Note: there is nothing in the clue to specify which pair of letters to take from the word "pants", but I don't recall ever having seen any pair used other pair than the first.23a LORCA* — anagram (wilder) of CAROL
Federico García Lorca[7] (1898 – 1936) was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27[7] (an influential group of poets that arose in Spanish literary circles during the 1920s). He was murdered by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War.25a {STEAM IRON}* — anagram (rearranged) of MAIN STORE
Carol Wilder would seem to be a mythical writer who dwells in Crosswordland.
27a TRIPOLI~ — sounds like (announced) TRIPLE E (a big shoe size; EEE)
Tripoli[5] is the capital and chief port of Libya, on the Mediterranean coast in the north-west of the country; population 1.065,400 (est. 2006). The city was founded by Phoenicians in the 7th century BC.28a MU(STAN)G — STAN {Laurel; English comedian Stan Laurel[7] (1890 – 1965)} contained in (filled) MUG (cup)
29a DETER|GENTS — DETER (check) + GENTS (guy's)
30a S|HUT — S (small) + HUT (hovel)
Down
1d CAMEL|OT< — CAMEL (beast that's ridden) + OT {reversal (backward) of TO}
2d GINSU* — anagram (recycled) of GUN IS
The Ginsu[7] knife is a product best known for the sales techniques used to promote it. The Ginsu ads adapted the "hard sell" direct-marketing techniques of door-to-door sales and print advertising to the medium of television. In the process they established the formula for the modern infomercial.4d A|US|TEN — A (one) + US (U.S.) + TEN (decade)
Jane Austen[7] (1775 – 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism and biting social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics.5d HO(NEST)LY — HOLY (blessed) containing (about) NEST (home)
"One U.S. Decade" would appear to be a mythical work of fiction found on the shelves of the Crosswordland Library. Perhaps it was written by the equally mythical Carol Wilder whom we encountered in 23a.
6d _NER|DY_ — hidden in (some) greeNER DYe
In high school, someone who is nerdy would be "out" (not part of the "in crowd").7d TRACKSHOE* — anagram (trampled) of SHORTCAKE
8d NEED|LED — NEED (requirement) + LED (was first)
9d PANDEMIC* — anagram (loose) of DENIM CAP
15d C(HAIR)LIFT — CLIFT {Montgomery; American actor Montgomery Clift[7] (1920 – 1966)} containing (acquires) HAIR (†)
17d ALAR|MIST — ALAR (apple treatment) + MIST (spray)
Alar[5] (trademark) is a growth retardant sprayed on fruit and vegetables to enhance the quality of the crop.18d PER|SPIRE — PER (for each) + SPIRE (high point)
19d SAL(U)TED — SALTER (like some nuts) containing (around) U (university)
21d T(ON)IGHT — ON (performing) contained in (in) TIGHT (tipsy)
22d PERMI*|T — anagram (changing) of PRIME + T (time)
24d AM|OUR — AM (in the morning) + OUR (†)
26d _REACH — [
Key to Reference Sources:Happy Groundhog Day — Falcon
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
[4] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
[5] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
[6] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
[7] - Wikipedia
[8] - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
[9] - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
Hi Falcon,
ReplyDeleteYou don't give ratings, but any thoughts on the difficult of this cryptic? Almost too easy for me.
Megaculpa
Hi Megaculpa,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blog. It's always great to hear from readers.
Before I get to the specifics of your question, let me provide some background for the benefit of readers who may only visit the blog on Saturday.
The cryptic crossword puzzles that I regularly solve (and blog on) are The Sunday Times puzzle which is carried in the Weekend Edition of the Ottawa Citizen, The Daily Telegraph puzzle which appears Monday to Friday in the National Post, and the Cox & Rathvon puzzle which is published on Saturday in the National Post.
Big Dave's Crossword Blog (a British blog which reviews the puzzles from The Daily Telegraph) rates puzzles on a five point scale (one star for least difficult up to five stars for most difficult). Most puzzles receive either two stars or three stars, with one star or four stars being awarded on rare occasions. The Daily Telegraph also carries a more difficult cryptic crossword puzzle -- commonly referred to as "The Toughie" -- for which this same scale is used. A puzzle that receives four stars is considered to be getting into "Toughie" territory.
Getting back to your question, I would say that the Cox & Rathvon puzzles would range from one to three stars on this scale (with most of them getting two stars). Of course, many of the British puzzles are more difficult for North Americans due to the Briticisms in them that are not familiar to those of us on this side of the pond. The converse is also likely true to some extent when Brits take a crack at the Cox & Rathvon puzzles.
The Sunday Times puzzles are usually more difficult than those from The Daily Telegraph. I would say that they range from three stars to five stars on the BD (Big Dave) scale (with the majority of them meriting four stars).
Falcon
Do you celebrate George Birthington's washday in Canada?
ReplyDeleteIs 20a legit? Where is the straight definition?
Hi Anonymous,
DeleteWelcome to the blog.
I'll deal with your second question first. The straight definition is "rear" as in "to rear children". The clue is cleverly constructed so that one might easily interpret "rear" (as you seem to have done) as part of the charade indication.
As for your first question, we do not celebrate the first US president's laundry day in Canada. It never occurred to me that there might be any connection between the US holiday and this clue -- and given that Washington's Birthday is still two weeks away, I doubt that the setters' intended any.
Six out of the ten Canadian provinces have a public holiday in February (called Family Day in most jurisdictions). In five provinces this holiday falls on the third Monday in February coinciding with Washington's Birthday in the US. British Columbia, as usual being a bit out of step with the rest of the country, celebrate a week earlier.
The holiday was introduced relatively recently in answer to a long-standing campaign to provide an additional holiday to break up the long interval between New Year's Day and Easter. Although Alberta has had Family Day since 1990, the other provinces which celebrate a February holiday have only done so since 2007 or later.
Falcon
I didn't mean to imply a connection between 20a and the father of our country. (I'm from the U.S.A.)
ReplyDeleteIn 20a, I think "in the rear" should be "in rear". "In the" is not really used otherwise.
Thank you very much indeed for your blog. First thing I do on Saturday is look at your blog for the puzzle, and try not to look at your title. Then every 4th Saturday the WSJ variety too.
oops, I misread the clue!
ReplyDelete