Saturday, May 28, 2022 — Seeing Stars (NP 220528)

Introduction

Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220528) takes us on a journey across the nighttime skies.

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, June 4.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Powerless and Incommunicado

The reviews for the puzzles published on May 21 and May 28 have been delayed by the damage from the unprecedented weather event of May 21. On that day, parts of Ontario and Quebec from Windsor to Quebec City were hit by a derecho. This is a storm system that is more devastating than a tornado as it covers far more territory. I think of a tornado as a saw that cuts a narrow swath of destruction that is perhaps a few hundred feet wide. A derecho is like a bulldozer with a blade hundreds of kilometres wide moving at over 100 kilometres per hour destroying everything in its path. Wind speeds of 130 kmph were measured at the Ottawa airport (about 5 km from my home). In some areas, it has been determined that wind speeds reached 190 kmph.

 

I escaped relatively unscathed compared to many of my neighbours. My fence was flattened, branches were torn from my maple tree and my flue is now 45 degrees off vertical. My power was off for six days and my cable services (phone, TV and internet) for seven days.

To add insult to injury, after composing this review, it disappeared into the ether without a trace and I had to rewrite the entire piece.

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	Iraq: USA mistaken about uranium // sign (8)

(AQUARI(U)S}* — anagram of (mistaken) IRAQ USA containing (about) U ([chemical symbol for] uranium)

In astrology, Aquarius^[10] (also called the Water Carrier) is the eleventh sign of the zodiac, symbol ♒, having a fixed air classification and ruled by the planets Saturn and Uranus. The sun is in this sign between about Jan 20 and Feb 18.

In astronomy, Aquarius^[5] is the name of a large constellation (the Water Carrier or Water Bearer), said to represent a man pouring water from a jar. It contains no bright stars but has several planetary nebulae.

5a	Climbs // balanced pans (6)

SCALES — double definition

9a	Salt contained in desert // herb (5)

BA(S)IL — S (salt; symbol on a salt shaker) contained in (in) BAIL (desert; abandon)

10a	Mythic princess // and date halfway outside Eternal City (9)

AND(ROME)DA — {AND (†) + DA (date halfway; initial half of DA[TE])} containing (outside) ROME (Eternal City)

In Greek mythology, Andromeda^[5] is an Ethiopian princess whose mother Cassiopeia boasted that she herself (or, in some stories, her daughter) was more beautiful than the Nereids. In revenge Poseidon sent a sea monster to ravage the country; to placate him Andromeda was fastened to a rock and exposed to the monster, from which she was rescued by Perseus.

Andromeda^[5] is a large northern constellation between Perseus and Pegasus, with few bright stars. It is chiefly notable for the Andromeda Galaxy (or Great Nebula of Andromeda), a conspicuous spiral galaxy probably twice as massive as our own and located two million light years away.

12a	Storm // hit sheet on one side (7)

RAM|PAGE — RAM (hit) + PAGE (sheet [of paper] on one side)

13a	Legendary horse // tosses around a small horseshoe (7)

PEG(A|S|U)S — PEGS (tosses) containing (around) {A (†) + S(mall) + U ([letter that looks like a] horseshoe)}

In Greek mythology, Pegasus^[5] is a winged horse which sprang from the blood of Medusa when Perseus cut off her head.

In astronomy, Pegasus^[5] is a large northern constellation, said to represent a winged horse. The three brightest stars, together with one star of Andromeda, form the prominent Square of Pegasus.

14a	Spots // rough section (7)

NOTICES* — anagram of (rough) SECTION

16a	Transferred image // spiked from behind (5)

DECAL< — reversal of (from behind) LACED (spiked; added alcohol [to a drink])

19a	Passed // over in audition (5)

THREW~ — sounds like (in audition) THROUGH (over)

21a	Dump // portion with sticky goo on the way back (7)

{RAT|TRAP}< — reversal of (on the way back) {PART (portion) + (with) TAR (sticky goo)}

24a	Bum cola off // Irish saint (7)

COLUMBA* — anagram of (off) BUM COLA

St. Columba^[5] (c.521–597) was an Irish abbot and missionary. He established the monastery at Iona in c.563 and converted the Picts to Christianity. Feast day, 9 June.

In astronomy, Columba^[5] is a small and faint southern constellation (the Dove), near Canis Major. It is sometimes said to represent the dove that Noah sent out from the Ark.

26a	Figure who saves // Sports Illustrated article in netting (7)

MES(SI|A)H — {SI (Sports Illustrated) + A ([indefinite] article)} contained in (in) MESH (netting)

27a	Unsure act agitated // celestial horseman? (9)

CENTAURUS* — anagram of (agitated) UNSURE ACT

The horseman in the clue is not a man on horseback but a creature that is half man, half horse.

In Greek mythology, a centaur^[5] is a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse.

In astronomy, Centaurus^[5] is a large southern constellation (the Centaur). It lies in the Milky Way and contains the stars Alpha and Proxima Centauri.

28a	Ties up // conquerors of Spain (5)

MOORS — double definition

The Moors^[5] were a north-western African Muslim people of mixed Berber and Arab descent. In the 8th century they conquered the Iberian peninsula, but were finally driven out of their last stronghold in Granada at the end of the 15th century.

29a	Pleasure // in doggerel is human (6)

_REL|IS|H_ — hidden in (in) doggeREL IS Human

30a	Use drain, deviating // river that’s up high (8)

ERIDANUS* — anagram of (deviating) USE DRAIN

Down

1d	Reddish // gold and blue vase (6)

AU|B|URN_ — AU ([chemical symbol for] gold) + (and) B (blue; as in RGB video connectors) + URN (vase)

2d	Bear // ancient city’s sort of acid rain initially (4,5)

UR|S|A MINO|R — UR (ancient city) + S('s) + AMINO (sort of acid) + R (rain initially; initial letter of Rain)

Ur^[5] was an ancient Sumerian city on the River Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC.

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Ursa Minor^[5] is a northern constellation (the Little Bear), which contains the north celestial pole and the pole star Polaris. The brightest stars form a shape that is also known as the Little Dipper.

3d	Sound off about biblical priest // counting (7)

R(ELI)ANT — RANT (sound off) containing (about) ELI (biblical priest)

In the Bible, Eli^[5] is a priest who acted as a teacher to the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 1-3).

4d	American era // convention (5)

US|AGE — US (American) + AGE (era)

6d	Obstructed // Conservative noted for the record (7)

C|LOGGED — C(onservative) + LOGGED (noted for the record)

7d	Oxygen added to not so // fertile soil (5)

L(O)ESS — O ([chemical symbol for] oxygen) contained in (added to) LESS (not so)

8d	Cunning bears analyze grammar // here and there (8)

S(PARSE)LY — SLY (cunning) containing (bears) PARSE (analyze grammar)

11d	Leave // crackpot topside (7)

DEPOSIT* — anagram of (crackpot) TOPSIDE

15d	Pirate // captain’s tune about French gold (7)

C(OR)S|AIR — {C (captain [of a sports team]) + S ('s) + AIR (tune)} containing (about) OR (French [word for] gold)

17d	Goat // cheese initially paired with apricot not finished by nurse (9)

C|APRICO||RN — C (cheese initially; initial letter of Cheese) + (paired with) APRICO[T] with the final letter removed (not finished) + (by) RN (nurse; Registered Nurse)

In astronomy, Capricorn^[10] (another name for Capricornus^[5]) is a constellation (the Goat), said to represent a goat with a fish's tail. It is a faint zodiacal constellation in the southern hemisphere, lying between Sagittarius and Aquarius.

18d	Racer hurt deeply about second announcement? (5,3)

S(TOCK)CAR — SCAR (hurt deeply) containing (about) TOCK (second announcement; as in tick-tock, the sound made by a clock)

20d	Marsupials // one time found in gestational places (7)

WOMB(A|T)S — {A (one) + T(ime)} contained in (found in) WOMBS (gestational places)

A wombat^[5] is a burrowing plant-eating Australian marsupial which resembles a small bear with short legs.

22d	Picked up // grass, keeping amount (7)

RE(SUM)ED — REED (grass) containing (keeping) SUM (amount)

23d	The symbol of Superman is // postgraduate work (6)

THE|S|IS — THE (†) + S (symbol of Superman) + IS (†)

25d	Tennis champion // left after advance (5)

LEND|L — L(eft) following (after) LEND (advance [funds])

Ivan Lendl^[5] is a Czech-born US tennis player. During 1984–90, he won the men's singles title at two Australian Open, three French Open, and three US Open tournaments.

26d	Timeless Mr. // Scrooge (5)

MIS||ER — MIS[T]ER (Mr.) with T(ime) removed (timeless)

Epilogue

One would be hard-pressed to miss the theme today.

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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