Introduction
The consensus appears to be that today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220730) is a rather gentle exercise appropriate for a hot summer day.The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, August 6, 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
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| Symbols and Markup Conventions | |
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| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | Evergreens close around lake // when the sun appears (5,5) |
FIRS|T (L)IGHT — FIRS (evergreens) + TIGHT (close) containing (around) L(ake)
| 6a | White meat // hit loudly (4) |
W|HAM — W(hite) + HAM (meat)
| 9a | Like a saint, // always dressed in scarlet (7) |
R(EVER)ED — EVER (always) contained in (dressed in) RED (scarlet)
| 10a | African // jogged, carrying stick (7) |
R(WAND)AN — RAN (jogged) containing (carrying) WAND (stick)
| 12a | Go a-courting // without love (3) |
WO|O — WO (without) + O (love; nil score in tennis)
| 13a | Upper level // Conservative going after ticks? (6,5) |
SECOND S|TORY — TORY (Conservative) following (going after) SECONDS (ticks [of a timepiece])
For the most part Cox and Rathvon take care to use Canadian spellings; however, here a US spelling has crept in. Story is the US spelling of storey.
| 14a | Lot item, if adjusted, // repeating theme (9) |
LEITMOTIF* — anagram of (adjusted) LOT ITEM IF
| 17a | Talk-show host O’Donnell // got up around one (5) |
ROS(I)E — ROSE (got up) containing (about) I ([Roman numeral] one)
While Rosie O'Donnell was once a talk show host, I don't believe she has hosted one in the last eight years.
| 19a | Glacial ice // worries returning (5) |
SERAC< — reversal of (returning) CARES (worries)
| 21a | Make health resorts help // U.S.A. author (3,6) |
DO|S PAS|SOS — DO (make) + SPAS (health resorts) + SOS (help)
John Dos Passos[5] (1896–1970) was an American novelist, chiefly known for his portrayal of American life in such novels as Manhattan Transfer (1925) and USA (1938).
| 23a | He or she // drops hint re stranger (5,6) |
{THIRD PERSON}* — anagram of (stranger) DROPS HINT RE
| 26a | False report // essential to aliens (3) |
_LIE_ — hidden in (essential to) aLIEns
| 27a | Frozen princess keeps ten // rabbit ears (7) |
AN(TEN)NA — ANNA (Frozen princess) containing (keeps) TEN (†)
Anna, Princess of Arendelle[7] is a character who appears in the Disney animated film Frozen.
| 28a | Gradually build up // a cold Greek island (7) |
A|C|CRETE — A (†) + C(old) + CRETE (Greek island)
| 29a | Trim the coat off // fruit audibly (4) |
PARE~ — sounds like (audibly) PEAR (fruit)
| 30a | Big motorcycle carrying nice mom wildly // back to school event? (10) |
HO(MECOMIN*)G — HOG (big motorcycle) containing (carrying) anagram of (wildly) NICE MOM
Down
| 1d | Visually appealing, Orson said // goodbyes (9) |
FAREWELLS — sounds like (said) {FAIR (visually appealing) + WELLES (Orson; American film director and actor Orson Welles[5])
| 2d | In bar, a violinist // noodles (7) |
_R|A|VIOLI_ — hidden in (in) baR A VIOLInist
| 3d | Wears out // important parts of a car (5) |
TIRES — double definition
| 4d | Shown // article, charged outside (9) |
INDIC(A)TED — INDICTED (charged) containing (outside) A ([indefinite] article)
| 5d | That woman’s riding // large wading bird (5) |
HER|ON — HER (that woman's) + ON (riding)
| 7d | Ugly // ring stuck in skin by us (7) |
HIDE(O)US — O ([letter that looks like a] ring) contained in (stuck in) {HIDE (skin) + US (†)}
| 8d | Single among my // wallet contents (5) |
M(ONE)Y — ONE (single) contained in (among) MY (†)
| 11d | Oz ignoring a large // European country (7) |
AUST||RIA — AUSTR[
| 15d | Alexander’s country // club professor (7) |
MACE|DON — MACE (club) + DON ([British] professor)
Macedon[5] (another name for Macedonia) was an ancient country in south-eastern Europe, north of Greece. In classical times it was a kingdom that became a world power under Philip II and Alexander the Great. The region is now divided between Greece, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia.
| 16d | Resolved clashes if // measuring device for anglers (4,5) |
{FISH SCALE}* — anagram of (resolved) CLASHES IF
| 18d | Segregate abstract // artwork that’s hidden? (6,3) |
{EASTER EGG}* — anagram of (abstract) SEGREGATE
An Easter egg[3] is a hidden message or feature, as in a video game or DVD.
| 20d | Lineup maintaining I // make merry (7) |
RO(I)STER — ROSTER (lineup) containing (maintaining) I (†)
| 22d | New Israeli // composer jealous of Mozart (7) |
SALIERI* — anagram of (new) ISRAELI
Antonio Salieri[5]
(1750–1825) was an Italian composer. His output includes over forty
operas and four oratorios. Salieri lived in Vienna and taught Beethoven,
Schubert, and Liszt. He was hostile to Mozart, whom he considered his
rival, but a rumour that he poisoned him is now thought to be without
foundation.
| 23d | Bum // ride in a city park (5) |
TRAM|P — TRAM (ride in a city) + P(ark)
| 24d | Period of time for // Calliope’s sister (5) |
ERA|TO — ERA (period of time) + TO (for)
For[10] is a synonym of to in the sense of in the direction of ⇒
traffic jams heading for the coast.
In Greek and Roman mythology, the Muses[5] are the nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who preside over the arts and sciences. The Muses are generally listed as Calliope (epic poetry), Clio
(history), Euterpe (flute playing and lyric poetry), Terpsichore (choral
dancing and song), Erato (lyre playing and lyric poetry), Melpomene
(tragedy), Thalia (comedy and light verse), Polyhymnia (hymns, and later
mime), and Urania (astronomy).
| 25d | Some banana-chocolate // chip (5) |
_NA|CHO_ — hidden in (some) banaNA-CHOcolate
Epilogue
As readers suggest in their comments, the 6a of bat meeting ball precedes a circuit of the bases (1a, 13a, 23a and 30a) in this puzzle with a baseball 14a.
References
Key to Reference Sources:
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)
[15] - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )
Signing off for today — Falcon
