Saturday, June 4, 2022 — Squeeze Play (NP 220604)

Introduction

Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220604) comes with a twist. The solver not only has to decipher the clues but also has to figure out how to enter the resulting solutions into the grid. Hint: 28a provides the key to the puzzle. 

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, June 11.

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	Batter // spread in a hotel restaurant (6)

BUFFET — double definition

4a	Some marsupials // cry like pigeons when caught by thieves (10)

BANDI(COO)TS [B&ICOOTS] — COO (cry like pigeons) contained in (when caught by) BANDITS (thieves)

The bandicoot^[5] is a mainly insectivorous marsupial native to Australia and New Guinea.

10a	Egyptian dromedary has eaten // shrub (9)

_AN|DROMEDA_ [&ROMEDA] — hidden in (has eaten) EgyptiAN DROMEDAry

Andromeda^[10] is a common name for several species of evergreen shrubs of the heath family.

11a	Computer networking devices // disturbed our rest (7)

ROUTERS* — anagram of (disturbed) OUR REST

12a	“Something smelled,” // Penny said (5)

SCENT~ — sounds like (said) CENT (penny)

13a	Beijing Olympics mascot // taping an ad mistakenly (5,5)

GIANT PANDA [GIANT P&A] — anagram of (mistakenly) TAPING AN AD

15a	Messing up, // I’m back with comedian Garry (11)

MI<|SHANDLING [MISH&LING] — reversal of (back) IM (I'm) + SHANDLING (comedian Garry^[7])

18a	Go on horseback around Green // Hill (5)

RID(G)E — RIDE (go on horseback) containing (around) G (green; as in RGB video connections)

19a	Name a female // Elizabethan playwright (5)

N|A|SHE — N(ame) + A (†) + SHE (female)

Thomas Nashe^[5] (1567–1601) was an English pamphleteer, prose writer, and playwright. Notable works: The Unfortunate Traveller (1594).

21a	Butter-and-egg sauce // on a dish Ella cooked (11)

HOLLANDAISE* [HOLL&AISE] — anagram of (cooked) ON A DISH ELLA

23a	Fixed odd Winesap // apple desserts (10)

PANDOWDIES* [P&OWDIES] — anagram of (fixed) ODD WINESAP

25a	Remove a fastener /from/ a French piano, for example (5)

UN|P|EG — UN (a French; French word for 'a') + P (piano; musical direction to play softly) + EG (for example)

27a	Get back inside central // procession of mourners (7)

COR(TEG<)E — reversal of (back) GET contained in (inside) CORE (central)

28a	First off, hold up smooth // sign used eight times in this puzzle’s grid (9)

AMPER|SAND [AMPERS&] — [H]AMPER (hold up) with the initial letter removed (first off) + SAND (smooth)

29a	Place visited by Viking crew members around low // wet areas (10)

MARS|H(L)ANDS [MARSHL&S] — MARS (place visited by Viking; NASA's Viking landers^[7]) + HANDS (crew members) containing (around) L (low; symbol on a weather map)

30a	Remover of words, // as in “um, that is...” (6)

ER(AS)ER — AS (†) contained in (in) {ER (um) + ER (that is)}

Down

1d	The blind man’s new // soft soap? (12)

BLANDISHMENT* — anagram of (new) THE BLIND MANS

2d	Opens up // first of five drops (7)

F|LOWERS — F (first [initial letter] of Five) + LOWERS (drops)

3d	Happening // still, with time (5)

EVEN|T — EVEN (still) + (with) T(ime)

5d	One day beside legendary Bruin with a // place in the Pyrenees (7)

AN|D|ORR|A [&ORRA] — AN (one) + D(ay) + (beside) ORR (legendary Bruin; former Boston Bruin defenceman Bobby Orr^[7]) + (with) A (†)

Andorra^[5] is a small autonomous principality in the southern Pyrenees, between France and Spain. Its independence dates from the late 8th century, when Charlemagne is said to have granted the Andorrans self-government for their help in defeating the Moors.

6d	Overrule // diner employee Dee (11)

COUNTERMAND [COUNTERM&] — COUNTERMAN (diner employee) + D (dee)

7d	Dizzy Dean honed // way of catching? (3-6)

ONE-HANDED [ONE-H&ED] — anagram of (dizzy) DEAN HONED

Scratching the Surface
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean[7] (1910–1974) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Browns. After his playing career, Dean became a popular television sports commentator.

8d	Call for help by a // former Cubs slugger (4)

SOS|A — SOS (call for help) + (by) A (†)

Samuel "Sammy" Peralta Sosa^[7] is a Dominican-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs.

9d	Left with distress, // sit idly (8)

L|ANGUISH — L(eft) + (with) ANGUISH (distress)

14d	Yankee // nitrogen greened lawn poorly (3,9)

N|{EW ENGLANDER}* [NEW ENGL&ER] — N ([chemical symbol for] nitrogen) + anagram of (poorly) GREENED LAWN

16d	US artist // drew “The Yawn” abstractly (6,5)

{ANDREW WYETH}* — anagram of (abstractedly) DREW THE YAWN

17d	Good Old Salt (sailor // award) (4,4)

G|OLD| S|TAR — G(ood) + OLD (†) + S (salt; symbol on a salt shaker) + TAR (sailor)

20d	Name-caller // upset “real nerds” (9)

SLANDERER* [SL&ERER] — anagram of (upset) REAL NERDS

22d	Conveys // skills of rascals? (7)

IMP|ARTS — IMP (of rascals; noun used as a modifier) + ARTS (skills)

The parsing is easily seen when the solution is split (3,4) to get a phrase meaning "skills of rascals".

24d	Heart of entirely African antelope // country (7)

IR|ELAND [IREL&] — the two middle letters (heart) of entIRely + ELAND (African antelope)

25d	Superior // meal, after the start (5)

_UPPER — [S]UPPER (meal) with the initial letter removed (after the start)

26d	Rip off // small camera (4)

S|CAM — S(mall) + CAM(era)

Epilogue

The title not only alludes to the fact the setters have squeezed more letters into the grid than there are spots to hold them, but also seems appropriate in light of all the baseball references in the puzzle.

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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