Saturday, April 2, 2022 — Astrological Heart to Heart (NP 220402)

Introduction

I found today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220402) to be a tad more challenging than usual—and all the more fun for it.

I know the review is appearing a bit later this week than readers are accustomed to. Unfortunately, a slew of competing demands on my time prevented me from tackling it as quickly as I normally do.

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	Churl outside the Eternal City // was a bouncer? (7)

CA(ROME)D — CAD (churl) containing (outside) ROME (the Eternal City)

5a	Beamed tavern framed with green and crimson (7)

G|R(INN)ED — INN (tavern) contained in (framed with) {G (green; for instance, label found on RGB video terminals) + (and) RED (†)}

9a	Pro-German exhibits // I read (5)

_RO|GER_ — hidden in (exhibits) pRO-GERman

In radio communication, roger^[5] is a code word used to indicate (to the sender) that a message has been received (or, in radio lingo, 'read').

10a	Remarks about a boy, “poor // youth” (5,4)

S(A|LAD| D)AYS — SAYS (remarks) containing (about) {A (†) + LAD (boy) + D (poor; academic grade)}

Salad days^[5] is used in the sense of the period when one is young and inexperienced rather than the peak or heyday of something.

11a	Scientist // tears up plastic (7)

PASTEUR* — anagram of (plastic) TEARS UP

Louis Pasteur^[5] (1822–1895) was a French chemist and bacteriologist. He introduced pasteurization and made pioneering studies in vaccination techniques.

12a	Complex // Chinese dynasty was first (7)

TANG|LED — TANG (Chinese dynasty^[7]) + LED (was first)

13a	Medical records // one found in vehicle with hound and sheep (11)

CAR|D(I)OG|RAMS — I ([Roman numeral] one) contained in (found in) {CAR (vehicle) + (with) DOG (hound) + RAM (sheep)}

17a	Small vessels // put a limit on bad sign (11)

CAP|ILL|ARIES — CAP (put a limit on) + ILL (bad) + ARIES (sign [of the zodiac])

22a	A growth disfigured // wild swine (7)

WARTHOG* — anagram of (disfigured) A GROWTH

23a	Driver of a cart // running into stake (7)

WAG(ON)ER — ON (running; in operation) contained in (into) WAGER (stake; make a bet)

25a	Resident of Gotham // athletic club taken in by northeastern labourer (3,6)

NE|W (Y)ORKER — Y (athletic club; YMCA/YWCA) contained in (taken in by) {NE (northeastern) + WORKER (labourer)}

26a	Big ringer snagging one // on the way out (5)

GO(I)NG — GONG (big ringer) containing (snagging) I ([Roman numeral] one)

27a	President before Putin // transformed in style (7)

YELTSIN* — anagram of (transformed) IN STYLE

We need the person who was president before Putin's first stint in the post. Boris Yeltsin^[5] (1931–2007) was president of the Russian Federation 1991–9. He was succeeded by Vladimir Putin^[7] who served as president from 1999-2008 at which time he and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev switched roles. The two switched roles again in 2012^* with Putin again becoming president and Medvedev Prime Minister.

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^* a cynic might say that, in practice, Putin never actually relinquished the post

28a	Pet Flipper, say?? (7)

{DOL|PHIN}~ — sounds like (say) {DOLL (pet; as a term of endearment) + FIN (flipper)}

At first, this clue clue seemed rather bizarre. I knew the double question mark had some significance but it took a long while for it to dawn on me. Once I did twig to it, I realized just how clever this clue is.

This is an &lit. clue^[7] (or, as they prefer to call it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, an all-in-one clue) in which the entire clue is both the definition and the wordplay. Read as a definition, the clue describes Flipper^[7], a pet dolphin that featured in a 1960s television series. Read as wordplay, we have the homophone I have shown above.

Down

1d	Complain about a hole in one // shell (8)

CAR(A)P|ACE — CARP (complain) containing (about) A (†) + ACE (hole in one)

2d	List of gifts, // for example, is included in Ralph’s first essay (8)

R(EG|IS)TRY — {EG (for example) + IS (†)} contained in (included in) {R (Ralph's first [letter]) + TRY (essay)}

3d	Code // bit cut short (5)

MORSE_ — MORSE[L] (bit) with the final letter removed (cut short)

4d	Cryptic grid has // cleanup aid (7)

DISHRAG* — anagram of (cryptic) GRID HAS

5d	Sea nymph // dined in festive occasion (7)

GAL(ATE)A — ATE (dined) contained in (in) GALA (festive occasion)

6d	Small bills accepted by Pakistan’s neighbour // nation of many islands (9)

IND(ONES)IA — ONES (small bills) contained in (accepted by) INDIA (Pakistan's neighbour)

These small bills are no longer accepted in Canada. Last printed in 1989, they ceased being legal tender as of January 1, 2021.

7d	Approaching // terminal in London ahead of schedule (6)

N|EARLY — N (terminal [final letter] in LondoN) + EARLY (ahead of schedule)}

Despite approaching being an adjective and nearly an adverb, I suppose the two are interchangeable in a construction such as:

As it is approaching Easter, the shelves are laden with chocolate eggs and bunnies.

where approaching is a verb. Grammatically, does this really make them synonyms?

8d	Square dancing move // I perform after parties (2-2-2)

DO-SI-DO — {I (†) + DO (perform)} following (after) DOS (parties)

14d	Conspiring // old Peruvian laughs with glee (2,7)

IN CA|HOOTS — INCA (old Peruvian) + HOOTS (laughs with glee)

15d	Wicked, // cold-blooded sort securing one goal (8)

F(I|END)ISH — FISH (cold-blooded sort) containing (securing) {I ([Roman numeral] one) + END (goal)}

16d	Beckett character // grates on bum (8)

ESTRAGON* — anagram of (bum) GRATES ON

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.

18d	Creatively spiking // football (7)

PIGSKIN*— anagram of (creatively) SPIKING

19d	Let down, // gave a sullen look (7)

LOWERED — double definition

20d	Score // left in the grasp of Cobb (6)

T(WENT)Y — WENT (left) contained in (in the grasp of) TY (Cobb; baseball legend Ty Cobb^[7])

21d	Heard merciless // yarn (6)

CREWEL~ — sounds like (heard) CRUEL (merciless)

24d	Russian writer // left behind disco (5)

GOGO|L — L(eft) following (behind) GOGO (disco)

Nikolai Gogol^[5] (1809–1852) was a Russian novelist, playwright, and short-story writer who was born in Ukraine.

Epilogue

The title of this review is inspired by 13a and 17a, both of which—as Richard points out in his comment below—allude to our cardiovascular system. Both also incorporate a reference to the the astrological sign we are currently under, namely Aries (the Ram).

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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