Saturday, March 19, 2022 — Fire and Ice (NP 220319)

Introduction

I found today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220319) to be fairly gentle. Might the theme be an allusion to some poetic musings on the end of the world by Robert Frost.

The puzzle will be posted on the blog next Saturday.

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.

Across

1a	500 inches per second mark // indicator under the hood (8)

D|IPS|TICK — D ([Roman numeral] 500) + IPS (inches per second) + TICK (mark)

5a	Called after salt and pepper // suddenly appeared (6)

SP|RANG — RANG (called) following (after) {S(alt) + (and) P(epper)}

9a	Exercise // is put off (3-2)

{SIT UP}*_ — anagram of (off) IS PUT

10a	Family member, a Communist, // not exonerated (9)

UNCLE|A|RED — UNCLE (family member) + A (†) + RED (Communist)

12a	Sturdy // vehicle surrounded by decay (6)

RO(BUS)T — BUS (vehicle) contained in (surrounded by) ROT (decay)

13a	Art celeb sporting wristwear (8)

BRACELET* — anagram of (sporting) ART CELEB

15a	Bike race tangled up with emergency room // introductory event (10)

ICEBREAK*|ER — anagram of (tangled up) BIKE RACE + (with) ER (emergency room)

16a	Get lost, // singing with improvised words (4)

SCAT — double definition, the second being a style of music I associate with Ella Fitzgerald

19a	Tiring at last, imitate // yawn (4)

G|APE — G (tiring at last; final letter of tirinG) + APE (imitate)

21a	One riding in fine green convertible // emergency vehicle (4,6)

{F(I)RE ENGINE}* or {FIRE ENG(I)NE}* — I ([Roman numeral] one) contained in (riding in) anagram of (convertible) FINE GREEN

24a	Leave // warm coat next to Irish lake (8)

FUR|LOUGH — FUR (warm coat) + (next to) LOUGH (Irish lake; word for 'lake' in Irish Gaelic)

25a	The guy inside embraces // Howard, the aviator (6)

HUG(HE)S — HE (the guy) contained in (inside) HUGS (embraces)

Howard Hughes^[5] (1905–1976) was an American industrialist, film producer, and aviator. He made his fortune through the Hughes Tool Company, made his debut as a film director in 1926, and from 1935 to 1938 broke many world aviation records. For the last twenty-five years of his life he lived as a recluse.

27a	Puzzle // company and sister with crude container (9)

CO|NUN|DRUM — CO (company) + (and) NUN (sister) + (with) DRUM (crude container; container for crude oil)

28a	Potato, perhaps // one sliding down a snowy slope? (5)

TUBER — double definition

29a	Excellent // vessel with hole returned (3-3)

{TIP|TOP}< — reversal of (returned) {POT (vessel) + PIT (hole)}

30a	In apothecary, a tidbit // supporting female figure (8)

_CARY|A|TID_ — hidden in (in) apothaCARY A TIDbit

A caryatid^[5] is a stone carving of a draped female figure, used as a pillar to support the entablature of a Greek or Greek-style building.

Down

1d	Winsome // maid grins cryptically (9)

DISARMING* — anagram of (cryptically) MAID GRINS

2d	Safe to drink // old diet cola brand carried by Eastern European (7)

PO(TAB)LE — TAB (old diet cola brand) contained in (carried by) POLE (Eastern European)

Tab^[7] was a diet cola marketed by Coca-Cola from 1963 to 2020 when it was discontinued having been supplanted by Diet Coke.

3d	Makes a video of sample // weaving (8)

TAPES|TRY — TAPES (makes a video of) + TRY (sample)

4d	Stroke // head of owlet stuck in chalice (4)

C(O)UP — O (head [initial letter] of Owlet) contained in (stuck in) CUP (chalice)

6d	Advocate // promotion for every person (6)

PR|EACH — PR (promotion; public relations) + EACH (for every person)

7d	Call taken by Alice missing the final // material (7)

A(CRY)LIC_ — CRY (call) contained in (taken by) ALIC (ALIC[E] missing the final [letter])

8d	Beckett character // understood about act (5)

GO(DO)T — GOT (understood) containing (about) DO (act)

Waiting for Godot^[7] is a play by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett in which two characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters while awaiting the titular Godot, who never arrives. In a poll conducted by the British Royal National Theatre in 1998/99 it was voted the "most significant English language play of the 20th century".

11d	Was concerned about dog or cat // having a mat (8)

CAR(PET)ED — CARED (was concerned) containing (about) PET (dog or cat)

14d	Left by myself in part of a nativity scene, // feign illness (8)

MA(L|I)NGER — {L(eft) + (by) I (myself)} contained in (in) MANGER (part of a nativity scene)

17d	Held dear // steady entering part of a staircase (9)

TREA(SURE)D — SURE (steady) contained in (entering) TREAD (part of a staircase)

18d	Crackpot runs tidy // business (8)

INDUSTRY* — anagram of (crackpot) RUNS TIDY

20d	Norm cut // vegetable (7)

PAR|SNIP — PAR (norm) + SNIP (cut)

22d	Occupy // New Hampshire slightly after one (7)

I|NH|A|BIT — {NH (New Hampshire) + A BIT (slightly)} following (after) I ([Roman numeral] one)

23d	Indonesian island // tolerated nothing (6)

BORNE|O — BORNE (tolerated) + O (nothing; letter that looks like a zero)

24d	Fort breached by hole in one // side (5)

F(ACE)T — FT (fort) containing (breached by) ACE (hole in one; a golf score of one on a hole)

26d	Austen heroine // seen in requiem mass (4)

_EM|MA_ — hidden in (seen in) requiEM MAss

Emma Woodhouse^[7] is the 21-year-old protagonist of Emma^[7], a novel by English author Jane Austen (1775–1817) that was first published in 1815.

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by 21a and 15a. I wonder if the setters were in turn inspired by Robert Frost^[7].

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References

Sources referenced in the blog are identified by the following symbols. The reference numbers themselves are hyperlinks to the entry in the source being referenced. Click on the number to view the source.

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