Saturday, August 13, 2022 — Sommelier's Delight (NP 220813)

Introduction

Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220813) is one for the oenophiles.

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, August 20, 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	Winner Moorehead // drinks in flutes (10)

CHAMP|AGNES — CHAMP (winner) + AGNES ([American actress Agnes] Moorehead^[7])

6a	Stream // big bad animal in reverse (4)

FLOW< — reversal of (in reverse) WOLF (big bad animal [especially according to Little Red Riding Hood])

9a	Perfect state // vehicle for moving in scattered rain (7)

{NIR(VAN)A}* — VAN (vehicle for moving) contained in (in) anagram of (scattered) RAIN

10a	Composer // attacked by insects and beginning to run inside (7)

B(R)ITTEN — BITTEN (attacked by insects) containing (and ... inside) R (beginning [initial letter] to Run)

Benjamin Britten^[5], Lord Britten of Aldeburgh (1913–1976) was an English composer, pianist, and conductor. (show more )

He founded the Aldeburgh festival with Peter Pears in 1948, and in 1976 became the first composer to be made a life peer. Notable operas: Peter Grimes (1945), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), and Death in Venice (1973).

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12a	Article found in road along with two // wheel spokes (5)

R(A)D|II — A ([grammatical] article) contained in (found in) RD (road) + (along with) II ([Roman numeral] two)

13a	Thick soup containing popular // South African wine (8)

P(IN)OTAGE — POTAGE (thick soup) containing (†) IN (popular)

Pinotage^[5] is a red wine made from the pinotage grape, a variety of red wine grape grown in South Africa, produced by crossing Pinot Noir and other varieties.

15a	Nurse into California variety of red // wine (8)

CA|BE(RN)ET — RN ([registered] nurse) contained in (into) {CA (California) + BEET (variety of red}

17a	Mean-sounding // place to stay cheaply (6)

HOSTEL~ — sounds like (-sounding) HOSTILE (mean)

19a	Praise after passing // gel you blended (6)

EULOGY* — anagram of (blended) GEL YOU

21a	Observed change when auditing // cooking wine (8)

SAUTERNE~ — sounds like (when auditing) {SAW (observed) + TURN (change; like leaves or the tide)}

24a	Wine // that is cast after year’s end (8)

  R|IE|SLING — {IE (that is) + SLING (cast)} following (after) R (yeaR's end [final letter]}

25a	Girl’s name // I pronounce in misery while facing west (5)

{NAOM|I}< — reversal of (while facing west) {I + MOAN (pronounce in misery}

28a	Cold Italian dessert: // 2000 pounds in doughnuts (7)

TOR(TON)I — TON (2000 pounds) contained in (in) TORI (doughnuts)

Tortoni^[3] is an Italian ice cream made with heavy cream and often containing rum, almonds, and maraschino cherries, typically served in small cups.

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Origin: named after Giuseppe Tortoni (c.1775-c.1864), Neapolitan-born owner of a café in Paris famous for its ice cream

A torus^[5] (plural tori or toruses) is a geometrical surface or solid formed by rotating a closed curve, especially a circle, about a line which lies in the same plane but does not intersect it (e.g. like a ring doughnut).

29a	Jam-packed, // making a squad heard (7)

TEEMING~ — sounds like (heard) TEAMING (making a squad)

30a	Something sculpted // yet containing sulphur (4)

BU(S)T — BUT (yet) containing (†) S ([chemical symbol for] sulphur)

31a	Vote against following salad green with planned // wine (10)

CHARD|ON|NAY — NAY (vote against) following (†) {CHARD (salad green) + ON (planned)}

Down

1d	After adjusting net cord, act // tensed up (10)

CONTRACTED* — anagram of (after adjusting) NET CORD ACT

2d	Broadcast // spot full of anger (5)

A(IRE)D — AD ([commercial] spot) containing (full of) IRE (anger)

3d	Vegetable row // with more bog-derived soil (7)

PEA|TIER — PEA (vegetable) + TIER (row)

4d	Fights // pair of grizzlies with fruits (8)

GR|APPLES — GR (pair [initial two letters] of GRizzlies) + (with) APPLES (fruits)}

5d	Big Ben sadly // losing power (6)

EBBING* — anagram of (sadly) BIG BEN

Scratching the Surface
Big Ben[5] is a name given to the great clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London and its bell. Big Ben[7] (1976–1999) was a world champion show jumping horse ridden by Canadian equestrian Ian Millar.

7d	Figure in court // set fire to one reptile (9)

LIT|I|GATOR — LIT (set fire to) + I ([Roman numeral] one) + GATOR (reptile)

8d	Breaking dawn, // something magic (4)

WAND* — anagram of (breaking) DAWN

11d	Opening // concealed by paint roller (5)

_INT|RO_ — hidden in (concealed by) paINT ROller

14d	Run, feeling nervously excited // for just a moment (10)

FLEE|TINGLY — FLEE (run) + TINGLY (feeling excited)

16d	Game // bird is all mixed up (9)

BILLIARDS* — anagram of (mixed up) BIRD IS ALL

18d	Female issue: // changing of the guard? (8)

DAUGHTER* — anagram of (changing of) THE GUARD

Issue^[5] is a legal term denoting children of one's own ⇒ the earl died without male issue.

20d	Blow with zero // zest (5)

GUST|O — GUST (blow) + (with) O ([letter that looks like] zero)

22d	Some bright angel offers // fruit (7)

_T|ANGEL|O_ — hidden in (some) brighT ANGEL Offers

23d	Close // Scandinavian overheard (6)

FINISH~ — sounds like (heard) FINNISH (Scandinavian)

26d	Dark ring seen from behind // star cluster (5)

ORION — reversal of (seen from behind) {NOIR (dark; as in ''film noir"} + O ([letter that looks like a] ring)

Orion^[5] is a conspicuous constellation (the Hunter), said to represent a hunter holding a club and shield. It lies on the celestial equator and contains many bright stars, including Rigel, Betelgeuse, and a line of three that form Orion's Belt.

27d	Retracted crazy // wild guess (4)

STAB< — reversal of (retracted) BATS (crazy)

Epilogue

The setters lay out quite an extensive selection of wines for today's tasting. And thank you to Senf for suggesting the title to this review.

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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