Saturday, July 31, 2021 — Hazy Days & Krazy Kays

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon finds the skies mostly clear with a few clouds. However, the sky does not seem to be as blue as usual, so I expect the haze from the forest fires is definitely muting the colour somewhat even here in Ottawa.

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

Symbols and Markup Conventions
"*" - anagram "~" - sounds like "<" - indicates the preceding letters are reversed "( )" - encloses contained letters "_" - replaces letters that have been deleted  "†" - indicates that the word is present in the clue	"//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present "solid underline" - precise definition "dotted underline" - cryptic definition "dashed underline" - wordplay "wavy underline" - whimsical and inferred definitions
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

Markup Conventions
"//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present	"solid underline" - precise definition "dotted underline" - cryptic definition "dashed underline" - wordplay "wavy underline" - whimsical and inferred definitions
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

9a	Poet // might blab on the way back about opening of Hamlet (7)

{K(H)AY|YAM}< — reversal of (on the way back){MAY (might) + YAK (blab)} containing (about) H (opening [letter] of Hamlet)

Omar Khayyám^[10] (?1050–?1123) was a Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer, noted for the Rubáiyát, a collection of quatrains, popularized in the West by Edward Fitzgerald's version (1859).

10a	The art of arranging flowers // somewhat like bananas (7)

_IKE|BANA_ — hidden in (somewhat) lIKE BANAnas

Ikebana^[5] is the art of Japanese flower arrangement, with formal display according to strict rules.

Nice misdirection here with "bananas" appearing to be an anagram indicator, reinforced by its re-appearance in the following clue.

11a	Spooks eat bananas, // you might say (2,2,5)

{SO TO SPEAK}* — anagram of (bananas) SPOOKS EAT

12a	Boat // ride over the water failing twice (5)

SKI|FF — SKI (ride over the water) + FF (failing twice; two instances of a failing grade)

13a	Letter // penned by Greek apparently (5)

_K|APPA_ — hidden in (penned by) GreeK APPArently

Kappa^[5] is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Κ, κ).

14a	Time to recover // harvesting tool before hail (4,5)

SICK LE|AVE — SICKLE (harvesting tool) preceding (before) AVE (hail; greeting)

16a	Mr. Thicke takes in Jamaican music // of a Yukon neighbour (7)

ALA(SKA)N — ALAN (Mr. Thicke; Canadian actor Alan Thicke^[7]) containing (takes in) SKA (Jamaican music)

18a	Laundry carriers // inquire into wagers (7)

B(ASK)ETS — ASK (inquire) contained in (into) BETS (wagers)

20a	Little gaps // in conversation, not things regarded as complete (9)

{KNOT|HOLES}~ — sounds like (in conversation) {NOT (†) + WHOLES (things regarded as complete)}

22a	A Republican family // name shared by Adam and Alan in Hollywood (5)

A|R|KIN — A () + R(epublican) + KIN (family)

American television, film and stage actor and director Adam Arkin^[7] is the son of Oscar winning American actor, director, and screenwriter Alan Arkin^[7].

24a	Boat // soldier not found in G7 nation (5)

U(MIA)K — MIA (soldier not found; missing in action) contained in (in) UK (G7 nation; United Kingdom)

An umiak^[5] is an open boat made of animal hide stretched over a wooden frame, traditionally rowed by Inuit women.

25a	Monarch eats green fodder, // complaining a lot (9)

K(VETCH)ING — KING (monarch) containing (eats) VETCH (green fodder)

Vetch^[11] is any of several climbing plants of the legume family, bearing pealike flowers, cultivated for forage and soil improvement.

27a	Needleworkers collecting fourth of hockey // sticks (7)

S(K)EWERS — SEWERS (needleworkers) containing (collecting) K (fourth [letter] of hocKey)

28a	Awareness about craving // room (7)

K(ITCH)EN — KEN (awareness) containing (about) ITCH (craving)

Down

1d	Some noblemen, except for the first, // strummed instruments (4)

_UKES — [D]UKES (some noblemen) with the first letter removed (except for the first)

A duke^[5] is a male holding the highest hereditary title in the British and certain other peerages^*.

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^* The peerage^[5] is the nobility in Britain or Ireland as a class, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.

2d	Shoot the breeze about GTO // convertible (6)

RA(GTO)P — RAP (shoot the breeze) containing (about) GTO (†)

Scratching the Surface

The Pontiac GTO[7] is an automobile that was manufactured by American automaker Pontiac from 1963 to 1974 for the 1964 to 1974 model years, and by GM's subsidiary Holden in Australia for the 2004 to 2006 model years. The first generation of the GTO is credited as popularizing the muscle car market segment in the 1960s. The Pontiac GTO is considered by some to have started the trend with all four domestic automakers offering a variety of competing models. The name was inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO, the successful race car. It is an Italian abbreviation for Gran Turismo Omologato, (grand tourer homologated) which means officially certified for racing in the grand tourer class. By the way, the Pontiac GTO was never certified as a Grand Tourer race car.

3d	Affirmative chat after excellent // lobster part (3-5)

EYE-S|TALK — {YES (affirmative) + TALK (chat)} following (after) E (excellent; grade on a school assignment or test)

4d	Rather cold // prison meal, sadly (10)

IMPERSONAL* — anagram of (sadly) PRISON MEAL

5d	Choose // what a chipper uses (4)

PICK — double definition; the second perhaps a reference to an ice pick

6d	Double-crosser // with support for the arts? (6)

W|EASEL — W(ith) + EASEL (support for the arts)

7d	Wildly reckless // joke teller Osbourne overheard (8)

KAMIKAZE~  — sounds like (overheard) {COMIC (joke teller) + OZZY (Osbourne; English singer, songwriter, and television personality Ozzy Osbourne^[7])}

One's ability to solve this clue will depend very much on how one pronounces the solution. TheFreeDictionary.com website provides two different US pronunciations and one British pronunciation. The first US pronunciation given sounds like KOMEH-KOZZY and works quite well in this homophone clue while the second US pronunciation (American Heritage Dictionary) sounds more like KAMEH-KAZZY and works not at all well. Unfortunately, it is this latter pronunciation that I use. As for the British pronunciation, good luck to anyone from the UK who may be attempting to solve this clue .

8d	Hold // on: Hans fell off (4,6)

{HALF NELSON}* — anagram of (off) ON HANS FELL

The nelson^[5] is a wrestling hold in which one arm is passed under the opponent's arm from behind and the hand is applied to the neck (half nelson), or both arms and hands are applied (full nelson).

13d	Vocally criticize lousiest // sausage (10)

{KNACK|WURST}~  — sounds like (vocally) {KNOCK (criticize) + WORST (lousiest)}

15d	Wandering bee sucks at // tenderized meat (4,6)

{CUBE STEAK}* — anagram of (wandering) BEE SUCKS AT

17d	Spray device // fixed maize rot (8)

ATOMIZER* — anagram of (fixed) MAIZE ROT

19d	Conditions of shortage // leave a mark on town (8)

SCAR|CITY — SCAR (leave a mark) + (on) CITY (town)

21d	Homer fed by Depression migrant // conveying more corn (6)

H(OKIE)R — HR (homer; home run [in baseball]) containing (fed by) OKIE (depression migrant)

23d	Speaker’s dark // chess piece (6)

KNIGHT~  — sounds like (speaker's) NIGHT (dark)

25d	Something sweet /in/ extremes of kindness (4)

KI||SS — the outer letters (extremes) of KI(ndne)SS

Although the other kind can certainly be sweet, the clue likely refers to a piece of candy. The setters may have had in mind the American chocolate kiss (think Hershey) although Canadians may well think of a molasses Halloween kiss (a confection apparently exclusive to Canada: A Trick or a Treat: The Story of Canada's Cursed Candy Kiss).

26d	Gee, somebody // vanished (4)

G|ONE — G (gee) + ONE (somebody)

Epilogue

As MG was first to point out, there is no dearth of K's in today's puzzle. In fact, there is one present in every across clue with a couple of extras thrown in for good measure.

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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 )

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Signing off for today — Falcon