is hot stuff. I did find it considerably more of a challenge than usual.
The
next two weeks will find me travelling outside the country. As I may
not have access to the Internet on a regular basis, I may not be able to
post the puzzles and reviews in a timely manner.
I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
Solution to Today's Puzzle
Falcon's Experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
█ - solved without assistance
█ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
█ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
█ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools
█ - solved but without fully parsing the clue
█ - yet to be solved
|
| Legend: | "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed |
| "( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue |
| Primary
indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the
clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with
a dashed underline in all-in-one (& lit.) clues,
semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions.
Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/)
and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//). |
Across
1a Hot // range brand coming in green (7)
CHAR(GE)D — GE (range brand;
General Electric) contained in (coming in) CHARD (green;
leafy vegetable)
Hot could be used in the sense of acrimonious or as Henry suggests (see comments below) all fired up, as in excited, or electrically charged..
5a Hot // up in tree (7)
POP(U)LAR — U (up;
abbrev.) contained in (in) POPLAR (tree)
The
setters appear to be using U as an abbreviation for "up", a usage for
which I can find no justification in the several dictionaries that I consulted. Perhaps one might encounter this on
elevator signage or on volume controls or channel selectors on electronic equipment, but usually one would merely see up and down arrows
being used.
The list of acronyms at
The Free Dictionary website shows
U as being the abbreviation for
upper and
upper class but not
up.
In particle physics,
u is the symbol for the
up quark[7]. However, I found nothing to suggest that the
up quark is otherwise known simply as an
up, although the
up antiquark (the antiparticle of the
up quark) is sometimes called
antiup quark or simply
antiup.
9a Hot // one in East Germany (5)
E(A)GER — A (one) contained in (in) {E (East;
abbrev.) + GER (Germany;
abbrev.)}
I did initially try to use I instead of A thereby finding myself stranded atop a mountain in the Swiss Alps.
10a Hostilities // get a ruler hot? (3-6)
WAR-M|A|KING —WARM (get ... hot) + A (†) + KING (ruler)
To properly appreciate the clue, read both the solution and the wordplay as complete phrases: WARM A KING (get a ruler hot).
11a Vacation // quarrel broken up by me with love (4,3)
TI(ME| O)FF — TIFF (quarrel) containing (broken up by) {ME (†) + O (love;
score of nil in tennis)}
12a After most of trip, half-remember // boat (7)
TRI|REME — REME (half-remember;
[first] half of the word REMEmber) following (after) TRI (most of trip;
most of the letters in the word TRIp)
A
trireme[5] is an
ancient Greek or Roman war galley with three banks of oars.
13a Star in Leo // prepared bed alone (8)
DENEBOLA* — anagram (prepared) of BED ALONE
I did not know this star, but I did know
Deneb[5] and so tried to incorporate it into the solution. As it turns out, Deneb is located in another constellation, Cygnus.
Denebola[5,10] is the
second-brightest* star in the constellation Leo.
* According to Wikipedia,
Denebola[7] is the third-brightest star in Leo — and Wikipedia would appear to be correct. The editors at both
Oxford Dictionaries and
Collins English Dictionary seem to have fallen victim to the misconception that the
Bayer designation[7] is an accurate indication of a star's relative brightness in a constellation.
15a Abominable // Snowman’s head stuck in well again (6)
CUR(S)ED — S (Snowman's head;
initial letter of the word Snowman) contained in (stuck in) CURED (well again)
Scratching the Surface
|
|---|
| The Abominable Snowman[5] (also called yeti) is a large hairy creature resembling a human or bear, said to live in the highest part of the Himalayas. |
18a Lucy’s husband regarding // hot feeling (6)
DESI|RE — DESI (Lucy's husband) + RE (regarding)
Desi Arnaz[7]
(1917–1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, musician, and television
producer. He is best remembered for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the
American television series sitcom
I Love Lucy (which originally ran from 1951 to 1957). He co-starred on that show with Lucille Ball, to whom he was married at the time.
19a Hot // at any time in search (8)
F(EVER)ISH — EVER (at any time) contained in (in) FISH (search;
for information, perhaps)
22a Relay including one // flame (7)
PASSION — PASS ON (relay) containing (including) I ([
Roman numeral for] one)
24a Mother’s new // container for hot drinks (7)
THERMOS* — anagram (new) of MOTHERS
26a Pasta // tossed at the pigs (9)
SPAGHETTI* — anagram (tossed) of AT THE PIGS
27a Composer /and/ I had gun returned (5)
{VER|DI}< — reversal (returned) of {ID (I had;
contracted as I'd} + REV (gun;
as you would an automobile engine)
Giuseppe Verdi[5] (1813–1901) was an Italian composer. His many operas, such as
La Traviata (1853),
Aida (1871), and
Otello
(1887), emphasize the dramatic element, treating personal stories on a
heroic scale and often against backgrounds that reflect his political
interests. Verdi is also famous for his
Requiem (1874).
28a Interjecting oneself, exchanges // hot outbursts (7)
T(I)RADES —TRADES (exchanges) containing (interjecting) I (myself)
29a General puzzle // hot spot (7)
G|RIDDLE — G (general; abbrev.) + RIDDLE (puzzle)
G[11] is an abbreviation for
general, a
motion-picture rating advising that the film is
suitable for general audiences, or
for children as
well as
adults and, more generally, g.[11] is the abbreviation for general.
Down
1d Took advantage of // cold and hot (7)
C|HEATED — C (cold; abbrev.;
on a water faucet) + (and) HEATED (hot)
2d Something to chew on in a Broadway hit’s // hot discussions (9)
A|R(GUM)ENT|S — GUM (something to chew on) contained in (in) {A (†) + RENT (Broadway hit) + S ('s)}
Rent[5] is a rock musical loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's opera
La Bohème.
It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling
to survive and create a life in New York City's East Village under the
shadow of HIV/AIDS.
3d Dress old Hollywood legend (5)
GARB|O — GARB (dress) + O (old;
abbrev.)
Greta Garbo[5] (1905–1990) was a Swedish-born American actress; born Greta Gustafsson. She is remembered for films such as
Anna Christie (1930),
Mata Hari (1931), and
Anna Karenina (1935). After her retirement in 1941 she lived as a recluse.
4d Ruin // insulating material, failing completely (8)
DOWN|F|ALL — DOWN (insulating material) +
FAll (failing completely) F (failing;
abysmal academic result) + ALL (completely)
Thank you to MG for suggesting the parsing which is superior to my original attempt.
5d Hot in pursuit of penny // thief (6)
P|IRATE — IRATE (hot) following (in pursuit of) P (penny)
In Britain's current decimal currency system, a
penny[5] (
plural pennies [for separate coins] or pence [for a sum of money]) is
a bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a
pound. The abbreviation for
penny or
pence is
p[5].
6d Liberality behind pitcher/’s/ trite remark (9)
P|LATITUDE — LATITUDE (liberality) following (behind) P (pitcher;
position on a baseball team)
7d Tours river /and/ island, getting into folk knowledge (5)
LO(I)RE — I (island;
abbrev.) contained in (getting into) LORE (folk knowledge)
The
Loire[7],
at a length of 1,012 kilometres (629 mi), is the longest river in
France. It rises in the highlands of the southeastern quarter of the
Massif Central in the Cévennes range (in the department of Ardèche) at
1,350 m (4,430 ft) near Mont Gerbier de Jonc; it flows north for over
1,000 km (620 mi) through Nevers to Orléans, then west through
Tours and Nantes until it reaches the Bay of Biscay (Atlantic Ocean) at St Nazaire.
8d Common allergen // we put inside got hot (7)
RAG(WE)ED — WE (†) contained in (put inside) RAGED (got hot)
14d With freshening rub, shined? (9)
BURNISHED* — an anagram (with freshening) of RUB SHINED
This is what is known as an
&lit.[7] clue, a type of clue in which the entire clue not only
provides the definition (according to one interpretation) but also
serves as the wordplay (according to a different interpretation). Those of you who do the weekday cryptic crosswords in the
National Post may recognize this as being what
Big Dave's Crossword Blog likes to call an
all-in-one clue.
16d High inside, was hot /and/ appeared to quiver (9)
S(H)IMMERED — H (high;
abbrev., symbol on a gearshift lever perhaps) contained in (inside) SIMMERED (was hot)
17d Observe object // boiling (8)
SEE|THING — SEE (observe) + THING (object)
18d So I worked over in department // store (7)
DEP(OSI*)T — anagram (worked over) of SO I contained in (in) DEPT (department;
abbrev.)
20d Most of hot, hot stuff /in/ medical facility (7)
HO|SPICE — HO (most of hot;
most of the letters of the word HOt) + SPICE (hot stuff)
21d Merges // iTunes mistakenly (6)
UNITES* — anagram (mistakenly) of ITUNES
23d Commotion about baby’s second // step (5)
ST(A)IR — STIR (commotion) containing (about) A (baby's second;
second letter of the word bAby)
25d Final stanza, // in drunken voices (5)
_EN|VOI_ — hidden in (in) drunk
EN VOIces
An
envoi[3] (
alternate spelling of envoy) is a
short closing stanza in
certain verse forms, such as
the ballade or
sestina, dedicating the poem to a
patron or
summarizing its main ideas.
Epilogue
The theme of today's puzzle is immediately seared upon
one's consciousness. Of the clues that don't include the word "hot",
many include related words such as "flame" and "boiling". We also have
an insulating material found in garments meant to keep one warm and an
actress who was one of Hollywood's hottest stars in her day.
The title of the review also alludes to the possibly questionable abbreviation at 5a.
Key to Reference Sources:
[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)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)
Signing off for today — Falcon
