Saturday, July 30, 2022 — All Bases Covered (NP 220730)

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

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	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[A|L]IA (Oz) discarding (ignoring) {A (†) + L(arge)}

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.

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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