Saturday, July 2, 2022 — One for the Twitchers (NP 220702)

Introduction

Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220702) is a bit of a bird watcher's mecca.

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, July 9, 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	Defy // Italian nobleman, catching bird (10)

CONT(RAVEN)E — CONTE (Italian nobleman) containing (catching) RAVEN (bird)

6a	A salt and a pepper, // right away (4)

A|S|A|P — A (†) + S(alt) + (and) A (†) P(epper)

9a	Worried // one with ten notes of debt (7)

AN|X|IOUS — AN (one) + (with) X ([Roman numeral] ten) + IOUS (notes of debt)

10a	Satirical magazine is covering // character in Hamilton (7)

MAD|IS|ON — MAD (satirical magazine) + IS (†) + ON (covering)

Hamilton: An American Musical^[7] is a musical that details the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, along with how various historical figures influenced his life, including the Marquis de Lafayette, Aaron Burr, John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, Angelica Schuyler Church, Peggy Schuyler, Philip Hamilton, Maria Reynolds, George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson.

12a	Rose // cut in a sawtooth pattern (4)

PINK — double definition, a colour and a seamstress's cut

Rose^[5] is a warm pink or light crimson colour.

Roses and Carnations
My first thought was of "rose" as a flower and I thought "A pink is a carnation, not a rose". It took a bit of contemplation before realizing that "rose" is being used in another sense.

13a	Honey drink, bird, and // grassy tract (10)

MEAD|OWL|AND — MEAD (honey drink) + OWL (bird) + AND (†)

15a	Bird kept by man in an ancient garden // structure on the Nile (5,3)

A(SWAN) DAM — SWAN (bird) contained in (kept by) ADAM (man in an ancient garden; namely, the Garden of Eden)

17a	Pay no heed to // rocky region (6)

IGNORE* — anagram of (rocky) REGION

20a	You can’t be serious about the end of our // country (6)

NO(R)WAY — NO WAY (you can't be serious) containing (about) R (the end [final letter] of ouR)

21a	English writer // left expert holding bird (8)

L|A(WREN)CE — L(eft) + ACE (expert) containing (holding) WREN (bird)

D. H. Lawrence^[5] (1885–1930) was an English novelist, poet, and essayist; full name David Herbert Lawrence. His work is characterized by its condemnation of industrial society and by its frank exploration of sexual relationships, as in Lady Chatterley's Lover, originally published in Italy in 1928, but not available in England in unexpurgated form until 1960. Other notable works: Sons and Lovers (1913) and Women in Love (1921).

23a	Completely plumed bird, before // quick movement (10)

ALLEGRETTO — ALL (completely) + EGRET (plumed bird) + TO (before; as "it's now 10 minutes to midnight")

Allegretto^[5] is a musical direction denoting at a fairly brisk speed.

24a	Mark // most of neckwear (4)

SCAR_ — SCAR[F] (neckwear) with the final letter removed (most of)

27a	Oarsmen moving around // Italian resort (3,4)

{SAN REMO}* — anagram of (moving around) OARSMEN

28a	Most handy // amount of corn in bird’s home (7)

N(EAR)EST — EAR (amount of corn) contained in (in) NEST (bird's home)

29a	Subsequent to // blog entry (4)

POST — double definition

30a	Gasps, having a bird inside // trousers (10)

PANT(A|LOON)S — PANTS (gasps) containing (having ... inside) {A (†) + LOON (bird)}

Down

1d	French explorer // rested behind trophy winner (9)

CHAMP|LAIN — LAIN (rested) following (behind) CHAMP (trophy winner)

Samuel de Champlain^[5,7] (1567–1635) was a French explorer and colonial statesman. In 1605, he set up the first permanent European settlement north of Florida, Port Royal, Acadia (in what is now Nova Scotia). He established a settlement at Quebec in 1608, developing alliances with the indigenous peoples, and was appointed Lieutenant Governor in 1612.

2d	Nothing on // US president who resigned (5)

NIX|ON — NIX (nothing) + ON (†)

3d	Something hilarious // I covered with garbage (4)

R(I)OT — I (†) contained in (covered with) ROT (garbage; nonsense)

4d	Five eclairs upset // gut (8)

V|ISCERAL* — V ([Roman numeral) five) + anagram of (upset) ECLAIRS

In the definition, gut is used as a modifier ⇒ gut reaction.

5d	Silently agrees about mum // wanderers (6)

NO(MA)DS — NODS (silently agrees) containing (about) MA (mum)

7d	Promptly taking question, visiting // provincial capital (9)

S(ASK|AT)OON — SOON (promptly) containing (taking) {ASK (question) + AT (visiting)}

Geography Lesson
Regina, not Saskatoon, is the capital of Saskatchewan.

8d	Felt nostalgic // going through camp in Edmonton (5)

_P|IN|ED_ — contained in (going through) camP IN EDmonton

11d	Property-holding widows // make stakes (8)

DO|WAGERS — DO (make) + WAGERS (stakes)

14d	Tree creature and fish /get/ snared (8)

ENT|ANGLE — ENT (tree creature) + (and) ANGLE (fish)

An Ent^[7] is a member of a species of beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-earth who closely resemble trees. Their name is derived from an Old English word for giant.

16d	Fighting aircraft // distort travel routes (9)

WARP|LANES — WARP (distort) + LANES (travel routes)

18d	Curses // suit prices (9)

EXEC|RATES — EXEC (suit; senior business person) + RATES (prices)

19d	Shell usually found in pairs // can taste funny (8)

CASTANET* — anagram of (funny) CAN TASTE

22d	Agitated over an // Italian city (6)

VERONA* — anagram of (agitated) OVER AN

Verona^[7] is a city which straddles the Adige river in Veneto, northern Italy. Three of Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Taming of the Shrew. The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

23d	Fabulist, // a model from the East (5)

A|ESOP< — A (†) + reversal of (from the East) POSE (model)

25d	Company adopting radical // belief system (5)

C(RED)O — CO (company) containing (adopting) RED (radical)

26d	Train // bird found in wetlands (4)

RAIL — double definition

In the first definition, RAIL is used as a metonym^[5], a word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. For example, Washington is a metonym for the US government ⇒ we travelled to Vancouver by rail.

Epilogue

Twitcher^[3] is a chiefly British term for a bird watcher, especially one who observes rare birds.

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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