Saturday, June 25, 2022 — Tops at the Track

Introduction

Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220625) features the seven horses who have reached the pinnacle of Thoroughbred racing in Canada since 1959. Fortunately they appear in the clues rather than as answers to the clues.

I must apologize for the non-appearance of the "Pre-review Forum" posting on Saturday. I was on the highway heading to my off-grid, no internet available campsite when I realized I had neglected to post it.

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, July 2, 2022.

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	Pad RV travelling with a // rival of Izvestia (6)

PRAVD*|A — anagram of (travelling) PAD RV + (with) A (†)

Izvestia^[5] and Pravda^[5] are Russian daily newspapers.

Thematically Speaking
Izvestia[7] (1987–1991) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1990.

4a	Taxi taken by kin not starting // in a friendly way (8)

_AMI(CAB)LY — CAB (taxi) contained in (taken by) [F]AMILY (kin) with the initial letter removed (not starting)

9a	Flavourful plant, // different when coated with peanut butter (7)

P(OTHER)B — OTHER (different) contained in (when coated with) PB (peanut butter)

Is It In The Dictionary?
My first reaction on seeing PB was "Surely, this is not in the dictionary!". While I failed to find an explicit reference for it I did find implicit references in a couple of dictionaries. PB & J[5] (also P.B. & J.[5] or PB&J[12]) is an informal North American term for peanut butter and jelly (sandwich).

11a	Auction New // Providence (7)

CAUTION* — anagram of (new) AUCTION

I believe providence^[5] must be used in the sense of timely preparation for future eventualities^[5] or the foresight or care exercised by a person in the management of his or her affairs or resources^[10].

Thematically Speaking
New Providence[7] (1956–1981) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1959 became the first official winner of the Canadian Triple Crown.

12a	On a fast // turn, a field’s ignoring the odds (5)

_U_N_F_E_D_ — [T]U[R]N[A]F[I]E[L]D[S] with the odd letters removed (ignoring the odds)

13a	Drifting, Wando gets // closer to the audience (9)

DOWNSTAGE* — anagram of (drifting) WANDO GETS

Thematically Speaking
Wando[7] (2000–2014) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 2003.

14a	Peerless // Canebora, limp corrected (12)

INCOMPARABLE* — anagram of (corrected) CANEBORA LIMP

Thematically Speaking
Canebora[7] (foaled in 1960) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1963.

19a	Horseracing feats // engage camera device, capturing boast (6,6)

TRIP|LE (CROW)NS — TRIP (engage; as in "trip a circuit breaker") + LENS (camera device) containing (capturing) CROW (boast)

Thematically Speaking
This clue provides the key to the theme.

22a	Two lengths behind Peteski, entangled, // don’t make a move (4,5)

{KEEP STI}*L|L — {L(ength) + L(ength)} (two lengths) following (behind) an anagram of (entangled) PETESKI

Thematically Speaking
Peteski[7] (1990–2001) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1993.

24a	Flat // against party (5)

CON|DO — CON (against) + DO (party)

A Bit of a British Flavour

Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒the soccer club Christmas do. * Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not. Flat[5] is the common British term for what would be called an apartment[5] in North America.

25a	Conservative riding dispatched /With/ Approval (7)

C|ON|SENT — C (Conservative; Canadian political party) + ON (riding; a horse, perhaps) + SENT (dispatched)

Thematically Speaking
With Approval[7] (1986–2010) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1989.

26a	Canters, sloshing // sweet drinks (7)

NECTARS* — anagram of (sloshing) CANTERS

27a	Pinto is excited about companion’s second // place (8)

{P(O)SITION}* or {POSITI(O)N}* — anagram of (excited) PINTO IS containing (about) O (cOmpanion's second [letter])

28a	Celebrates // victory in Dance Smartly’s debut (6)

RE(V)EL|S — V(ictory) contained in (in) REEL (dance) + S (Smartly's debut [initial letter])

Thematically Speaking
Dance Smartly[7] (1988–2007) was a Thoroughbred racemare who won the Canadian Triple Crown in 1991.

Down

1d	Dad and Greek character attack // tunes on the radio (3,5)

POP| MU|SIC — POP (dad) + (and) MU (Greek character; twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet) + SIC (attack; command to a dog)

2d	Cunning // race, if it transformed (8)

ARTIFICE* — anagram of (transformed) RACE IF IT

3d	Fear // distance, and understand (5)

D|READ — D (distance; symbol in physics formulae) + (and) READ (understand; term used in radio communication)

5d	Gaping hole containing a cold // bird (5)

M(A|C)AW — MAW (gaping hole) containing (†) {A (†) + C (cold; symbol on a water tap)}

6d	Cool nurse treated // adviser (9)

COUNSELOR* — anagram of (treated) COOL NURSE

7d	Heard of equine headgear // for a shower? (6)

BRIDAL — sounds like (heard of) BRIDLE (equine headgear)

8d	American // one jerked around? (6)

YANKEE — double definition, the second being whimsical

10d	Zoo initially placed // light by the sack (7)

BEDLAM|P — BEDLAM (zoo) + P (initially placed; initial letter of Placed)

15d	Fraud // troubled steersman (5,4)

{MARE'S NEST}* — anagram of (troubled) STEERSMAN

16d	Digital talking // lion of Narnia captivating me (7)

A(ME)SLAN — ASLAN (lion of Narnia; character from The Chronicles of Narnia^[7] book series by British writer C. S. Lewis) containing (captivating) ME (†)

Ameslan^[5] is another term for American Sign Language.

17d	Pale girl’s finale in benefit // ballet (4,4)

S(WAN| LA)KE — {WAN (pale) + L (girL's final [letter])} contained in (in) SAKE (benefit)

Swan Lake^[7] is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76.

18d	Phil Esposito employs // supports (8)

ESPO|USES — ESPO ([nickname of retired National Hockey League player] Phil Esposito^[7]) + USES (employs)

20d	Porter // prepares to travel back around day’s end (6)

{SK(Y)CAP}< — reversal of (back) PACKS (prepares to travel) containing (around) Y (daY's end [final letter])

21d	Roughly mid-morning, unfinished // ball game (6)

TENNIS_ — TENNIS[H] (roughly mid-morning) with the last letter removed (unfinished)

23d	Organ finally interrupts trio playing // prelude (5)

{I(N)TRO}* — N (organ finally; final letter of orgaN) contained in (interrupts) an anagram of (playing) TRIO

24d	Hoard // money for audit (5)

CACHE~ — sounds like (for audit) CASH (money)

Epilogue

The Canadian Triple Crown^[7] is a series of three Thoroughbred horse races run annually in Canada which is open to three-year-old horses foaled in Canada. Established in 1959, the series is unique in that it shares the same distances as its American counterpart but is contested on three different track surfaces.

The races are now held later in the season than shown the Wikipedia article. The first leg, the Queen's Plate (to be held on August 21), is contested at 1¼ miles on a synthetic surface (Tapeta) at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, whereas the Prince of Wales Stakes (September 13) is a 1³/16 mile event run on dirt at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. The final leg is the 1½ mile Breeders' Stakes (October 2), which is run on turf over one full lap of the E. P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine.

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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