Saturday, July 16, 2022 — Size Matters (NP 220716)

Introduction

As readers observe in the comments below, the setters "go big" in today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220716) giving us a "big bundle of fun".

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, July 23, 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	Soldier talk, with its // large amounts of information (8)

GI|GAB|ITS — GI ([US] soldier) + GAB (talk) + (with) ITS (†)

5a	Web crawler // again drops back (6)

{SPID|ER}< — reversal of (back) {RE ([prefix denoting] again) + DIPS (drops)}

10a	Hold back // a blue dye (7)

A|B|STAIN — A (†) + B (blue; as in an RGB video interface) + STAIN (dye)

11a	With a twangy accent, // like everyone in New York (7)

N(AS|ALL)Y — {AS (like) + ALL (everyone)} contained in (in) NY (New York)

12a	Organize $1000 // political platform (5)

PLAN|K — PLAN (organize) + K ($1000)

13a	To call our dancing // “very hip” (9)

ULTRACOOL* — anagram of (dancing) TO CALL OUR

14a	Comic-book figure // rearranged our sphere (9)

SUPERHERO* — anagram of (rearranged) OUR SPHERE

16a	Nickname for master of suspense films: // “Thumb” (5)

HITCH — double definition; nickname of film director Alfred Hitchcock^[7] and to thumb (a ride)

18a	Turf outside we // seeded (5)

SO(WE)D — SOD (turf) containing (outside) WE (†)

20a	Crocodile caught by Chinese chairman: small // world (9)

MA(CROC)O|SM — CROC (crocodile) contained in (caught by) MAO (Chinese chairman; Mao Zedong^[7] or as he was once known Mao Tse-tung^[7]) + SM (small^[11])

23a	Made the most of // packaged ingredients turned into corn bread, ultimately (9)

MA(XIM<)IZE|D — {reversal of (turned) MIX (packaged ingredients)} contained in (into) MAIZE (corn) + D (breaD ultimately [final letter])

24a	Take a number, including // Mr. Reeves (5)

_KE|A|NU_ — hidden in (including) taKE A NUmber

Keanu Reeves^[7] is a Canadian actor known for playing the role of Neo in the science fiction series The Matrix.

25a	Pair of spurs on Private // Turner (7)

SP|INNER — SP (pair [initial two letters] of SPurs) + (on) INNER (private)

The capitalization in the clue is intentional misdirection.

26a	I call about performing // domestic chore (7)

I|R(ON)ING — {I (†) + RING (call)} containing (about) ON (performing)

27a	A University before rush // month (6)

A|U|GUST — A (†) + U(niversity) preceding (before) GUST (rush)

28a	Big celeb // disrupted Art’s game (8)

MEGASTAR* — anagram of (disrupted) ARTS GAME

Down

1d	General accessibility aid employs // some big swimmers (9)

G|RAMP|USES — G (general; film rating) + RAMP (accessibility aid) + USES (employs)

Grampus^[2] is the name of two "big swimmers":

• another term for Risso's dolphin, a large grey dolphin with a bulbous forehead, no beak, an extensively scarred body, relatively short flippers and a tall fin
• another name for a killer whale

2d	Light // impact in narrow opening (3,4)

GA(S LAM)P — SLAM (impact) contained in (in) GAP (narrow opening)

3d	Coffee order // left in rear (5)

B(L)ACK — L(eft) contained in (in) BACK

4d	True about certain // monkish feature (7)

T|ON|SURE — T(rue) + ON (about) + SURE (certain)

6d	Haiti’s cop busted // some kind of a nut (9)

PISTACHIO* — anagram of (busted) HAITIS COP

7d	“Distribute // dough,” lout said (4,3)

{DOLE OUT}~ — sounds like (said) {DOUGH LOUT}

8d	Like a king // in Troy, almost (5)

_ROY|AL_ — hidden in (in) TROY ALmost

Scratching the Surface
Troy[7] was an ancient city in present-day Turkey known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War.

9d	Boxing combo // was victorious also, we hear (3-3)

{ONE-TWO}~  — sounds like (we hear) {WON (was victorious) + TOO (also)}

15d	Coin among pipsqueak’s // nuts and bolts (9)

RU(DIME)NTS — DIME (coin) contained in (among) {RUNT (pipsqueak) + S ('s)}

17d	That woman eating food with mom returned // fast-food order (9)

H{(AM|BURG)<}ER — HER (that woman) containing (eating) reversal of (returned) {GRUB (food) + (with) MA (mom)}

19d	Bird // growing around start of winter (7)

WAX(W)ING — WAXING (growing) containing (around) W (start [initial letter] of Winter)

Cedar Waxwing

20d	Shop hosting “Oz” // composer (6)

M(OZ)ART — MART (shop) containing (hosting) OZ (†)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart^[7] (1756–1791) was a prolific and influential Austrian composer of the Classical period.

21d	Pain reliever // one iced, curiously (7)

CODEINE* — anagram of (curiously) ONE ICED

22d	Idea not bad, // counting calories (2,1,4)

{ON A DIET}* — anagram of (bad) IDEA NOT

23d	Accident curtailed // Baryshnikov (5)

MISHA_ — MISHA[P] (accident) with the final letter removed (curtailed)

24d	Plains tribe // heading to Kansas and Nebraska’s neighbour (5)

K|IOWA — K (heading to [initial letter of] Kansas) + (and) IOWA (Nebraska's neighbour)

The Kiowa^[7] are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States.

Epilogue

In addition to the mentions in the intro, today's puzzle was variously described in comments as being a "superior effort" having a "gargantuan theme" with "plenty of superlatives on offer".

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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