Introduction
It would appear that most solvers breezed through today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon.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
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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
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Symbols and Markup Conventions | |
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Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog. |
Across
1a | Team leaders // ran games badly (8) |
MANAGERS* — anagram of (badly) RAN GAMES
5a | Riding // pig in advertisement (6) |
A(BOAR)D — BOAR (pig) contained in (in) AD (advertisement)
9a | Participant in a class // prank holding back education (7) |
STU(DE<)NT — STUNT (prank) containing (holding) {reversal of (back) ED (education)}
10a | Smart about Alien // scenery (7) |
S(ET)TING — STING (smart) containing (about) ET (Alien; extraterrestrial[2])
11a | Strange // lake, by the sound of it (5) |
EERIE~ — sounds like (by the sound of it) ERIE (lake)
12a | Sound of hogs // at home interrupting blessing (7) |
O(IN)KING — IN (at home) contained in (interrupting) OKING (blessing; OKing [okaying])
14a | Dadaist taking time with last of tuna // fish (5,3) |
MAN(T|A) RAY — MAN RAY (Dadaist) containing (taking) {T(ime) + A (last [letter] of tunA)}
Man Ray[5] (1890–1976) was an American photographer, painter, and film-maker; born Emmanuel Rudnitsky. A leading figure in the Dada and surrealist movements, he is known for his photographs in which images were manipulated and superimposed on one another.
16a | A great violinist // toward the back (6) |
A|STERN — A (†) + STERN (great violinist; Russian-born US violinist Isaac Stern[6])
18a | Small amphibian touching // scientist (6) |
NEWT|ON — NEWT (small amphibian) + ON (touching)
Sir Isaac Newton[5] (1642–1727) was an English mathematician and physicist, considered the greatest single influence on theoretical physics until Einstein.
20a | Main boat drifting around // lake (8) |
MANITOBA* — anagram of (drifting around) MAIN BOAT
Lake Manitoba[7] is the 14th largest lake in Canada and the 33rd largest lake in the world*. It is located within the Canadian province of Manitoba.
* yet tiny compared to nearby Lake Winnipeg
23a | Following // blunder engulfing Nelson Mandela’s party (3,4) |
F(AN C)LUB — FLUB (blunder) containing (engulfing) ANC (Nelson Mandela's party: African National Congress[7])
The African National Congress[5] (abbreviation ANC) is a South African political party and black nationalist organization. Having been banned by the South African government 1960–90, the ANC was victorious in the country’s first democratic elections in 1994 and its leader Nelson Mandela became the country’s President.
24a | Worker’s first step on a ladder // twisted (5) |
W|RUNG — W (Worker's first [letter]) + RUNG (step on a ladder)
26a | Short story by monarch // making a statement? (7) |
TAL_|KING — TAL[
27a | Cascades peak // having wetter weather (7) |
RAINIER — double definition
Mount Rainier[5] is a volcanic peak in the south-west of Washington State in the US. Rising to a height of 4,395 m (14,410 ft), it is the highest peak in the Cascade Range.
28a | Stoop containing “S” // pattern (6) |
DE(S)IGN — DEIGN (stoop) containing (†) S (†)
29a | Paired up outside and // ordered (8) |
M(AND)ATED — MATED (paired up) containing (outside) AND (†)
Down
1d | Plot out // Mom’s tenure in depth (10) |
MA|S|TERM|IN|D — MA (mom) + S ('s) + TERM (tenure) + IN (†) + D(epth)
2d | Particle // nun tore off (7) |
NEUTRON* — anagram of (off) NUN TORE
3d | Avian // essential to filming Rebecca (5) |
_GREBE_ — hidden in (essential to) filminG REBEcca
Scratching the Surface
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Rebecca[7] is a 1940 American romantic psychological thriller film starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine directed by English film director, producer and screenwriter Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on the 1938 novel of the same name by English author and playwright Daphne du Maurier. |
4d | Sensible // liar, not a crackpot (8) |
RATIONAL* — anagram of (crackpot) LIAR NOT A
6d | Intruder, // however, can make tracks in the snow (9) |
BUT|TIN|SKI — BUT (however) + TIN (can) + SKI (make tracks in the snow)
7d | Excited // in skating lesson (7) |
_ATING|LE_ — hidden in (in) skATING LEsson
8d | Likes // where one lives (4) |
DIGS — double definition
10d | Vocalize // wrong note (4) |
SIN|G — SIN (wrong) + G ([musical] note)
13d | At risk, // stopped bottling up rage (10) |
END(ANGER)ED — ENDED (stopped) containing (bottling up) ANGER (rage)
15d | One leaping, // being rich (9) |
A|BOUNDING — A (one) + BOUNDING (leaping)
17d | Disturbed crab near // Australian city (8) |
CANBERRA* — anagram of (disturbed) CRAB NEAR
Canberra[5] is the capital of Australia and seat of the federal government, in Australian Capital Territory, an enclave of New South Wales.
19d | Has trouble choosing // brunch options (7) |
WAFFLES — double definition
21d | Eye doctor // is in love cult (7) |
O|CUL(IS)T — IS (†) contained in (in) {O (love; nil score in tennis) + CULT (†)}
22d | Jam // left in machine part (4) |
C(L)OG — L(eft) contained in (in) COG (machine part)
24d | Eccentrically wired?? (5) |
WEIRD — anagram of (eccentrically) WIRED
This is an &lit. clue[7] in which the entire clue is both wordplay and definition. A question mark in a clue is often a flag that there is something strange about the clue. Does the presence of two question marks up the ante from strange to weird?
25d | Dust off // sort of poker (4) |
STUD* — anagram of (off) DUST
Epilogue
The rather uninspired title of today's review was prompted by 1a, 14a, 20a and 29a.Key to Reference Sources:
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
[4] - TheFreeDictionarycom (Collins English Dictionary)
[5] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)
[6] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Advanced 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)
[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)
[15] - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )
Signing off for today — Falcon