Introduction
Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220820) presents a broad choice of activities one might choose to pursue once the grid has been completed. Given the weather forecast, a cold drink by the lake might be in order but, sadly, that is not in the cards for me today. I'm confined to quarters due to COVID isolation -- which explains the rare date-of-publication appearance of the review.The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, August 27, 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 | Fairly competitive // talk about dessert wine (8) |
S(PORT)ING — SING (talk; inform on) containing (about) PORT (dessert wine)
| 5a | Oldest // buddy gaining edge (6) |
P(RIM)AL — PAL (buddy) containing (gaining) RIM (edge)
| 9a | Extreme // exhibited by Paul Tracy (5) |
_UL|TRA_ — hidden in (exhibited by) PaUL TRAcy
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Paul Tracy[7] is a Canadian-American*
professional auto racing driver who formerly competed in open-wheel
car racing in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series.
Since 2021, he competes full time in stock car racing in the Superstar
Racing Experience. * Canadian-born Tracy became a dual citizen in 2015 |
| 10a | Martial art // takedown damaged ring (9) |
TAEKWOND*|O — anagram of (damaged) TAKEDOWN + O ([letter that looks like a] ring)
| 12a | Shooting with a bow // mistakenly, hear cry (7) |
ARCHERY* — anagram of (mistakenly) HEAR CRY
| 13a | Vehicle, while outside of a cold // place in Venezuela (7) |
CAR(A|C)AS — {CAR (vehicle) + AS (while)} containing (outside of) {A (†) + C(old)}
| 14a | Rider // shifted a rein, taking in hunt (10) |
{E(QUEST)RIAN}* — anagram of (shifted) A REIN containing (taking in) QUEST (hunt)
| 17a | Surprise // fans on the way back (4) |
STUN< — reversal of (on the way back) NUTS (fans)
| 19a | Extremely hot old // London district (4) |
SO|H|O — SO (extremely) + H(ot) + O(ld)
| 20a | Hike alongside zip line // recreational apparatus (10) |
TRAMP|O|LINE — TRAMP (hike) + (alongside) O ([letter that looks like] zip; zero) + LINE (†)
| 23a | Captain or sergeant, perhaps, with bomb’s original // pipe material (7) |
C|OR|NCO|B — C(aptain) + OR (†) + NCO (sergeant, perhaps; non-commissioned officer) + (with) B (Bomb's original [initial letter])
| 24a | CNN, e.g., if playing // event featuring swords (7) |
FENCING* — anagram of (playing) CNN EG IF
| 26a | Ill fortune concerning // game with a net (9) |
BAD|MINT|ON — BAD (ill) + MINT (fortune) + ON (concerning)
| 27a | Sound track // I included in gold celebration (5) |
AU|D(I)O — I (†) contained in (included in) {AU ([chemical symbol for] gold) + DO (celebration; party)}
| 28a | Someone who rents // simple shelter acquiring article (6) |
TEN(AN)T — TENT (simple shelter) containing (acquiring) AN ([grammatical] article)
| 29a | Awfully fat slob left // game (8) |
SOFTBAL*|L — anagram of (awfully) FAT SLOB + L(eft)
Down
| 1d | Wise about Yankee // side for breakfast (7) |
SA(USA)GE — SAGE (wise) containing (about) USA (Yankee)
What is a Yankee?
| |
|---|---|
| An American visitor to Big Dave's Crossword Blog once explained how one's perception of the term Yankee changes depending on one's perspective:
To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner. To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander. To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter. To Vermonters, a Yankee is a Flatlander*. To Flatlanders, Yankees suck. * a term for newcomers to the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont. According to Wikipedia, "The changing demographics between those with multi-generational ties to [Vermont] and those who are newcomers, bringing different values with them, has resulted in a degree of tension between the two perspectives. This tension is expressed in the terms, "Woodchuck", being applied to those established in the state, and "Flatlander", applied to the newcomers."[7] |
| 2d | Choose one camera’s front // lens (5) |
OPT|I|C — OPT (choose) + I ([Roman numeral] one) C (Camera's front [initial letter])
| 3d | Pass over // retrograde painting and poetry (8) |
TRA<|VERSE — reversal of (retrograde) ART (painting) + (and) VERSE (poetry)
| 4d | Dapper // Dan’s last attorney (5) |
N|ATTY — N (DaN's last [letter]) + ATTY (attorney)
| 6d | Prize // artist returned (6) |
REWARD< — reversal of (returned) DRAWER (artist)
| 7d | Stuffed pasta // in taco Tim whipped up (9) |
MANICOTTI* — anagram of (whipped up) IN TACO TIM
| 8d | Watches // Canadian diver receiving endorsements (5,2) |
LO(OKS) ON — LOON (Canadian diver; diving bird emblematic of Canada which appears on the Canadian one dollar coin) + containing (receiving) OKS (endorsements)
| 11d | Call out // ninety aboard city train by design (7) |
E(XC)L|AIM — XC ([Roman numeral] ninety) contained in (aboard) {EL (city train; elevated railway in Chicago) + (by) AIM (design)}
| 15d | Marked the debut of // our group in this place with loud noise (7,2) |
US|HERE|D IN — US (our group) + HERE (in this place) + (with) DIN (loud noise)
| 16d | Cheesy snack // refreshments initially are nibbled (7) |
RAREBIT — R (Refreshments initially [initial letter]) + ARE (†) + BIT (nibbled)
| 18d | Blue // feathers agitated cats (8) |
DOWN|CAST* — DOWN (feathers) + anagram of (agitated) CATS
| 19d | After fire, save // old trombone (7) |
SACK|BUT — BUT (save; with the exception of) following (after) SACK (fire; dismiss from employment)
| 21d | Logger reordered large // appetizer (3,4) |
{EGG ROL}*L — anagram of (reordered) LOGGER + L(arge)
| 22d | Fighting // contingent with no leader (6) |
_ACTION — [
| 24d | Run after enjoyable // fly in outfield practice (5) |
FUN|GO — GO (run; function or operate) following (after) FUN (enjoyable)
In baseball, a fungo[3]
is a fly ball hit for fielding practice by a player who tosses the
ball up and hits it on its way down with a long, thin, light bat.
| 25d | Popular doctor connected with a // Hindu deity (5) |
IN|DR|A — IN (popular) + DR (doctor) + (connected with) A (†)
In Hinduism, Indra[10] is the most celebrated god of the Rig-Veda, governing the weather and dispensing rain.
Epilogue
The Olympics may have its pentathlon and decathlon, but today, Cox and Rathvon serve up an octathlon of sporting clues.
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
Good morning from a few days on Cape Cod where the weather is just fine.
ReplyDeleteLooks like C&R have offered us a sampling of sport. An olympic achievement it seems to me.
Nothing too hard here. 23a took some time to parse but a satisfying one.
Didn't know 10a was a single word.
19d was new to me. After figuring the wordplay, I had to check with google for confirmation.
22d was LOI. These types, where the wordplay is minimal, can be difficult - you have to think of a word then remove the first letter - not much to go on sometimes.
Have a good weekend and coming week everyone.
Thanks to Falcon for his yeoman's work.
Richard
A good Saturday morning from Winnipeg where we continue to experience Summer storms with a funnel cloud here and there but nothing more serious than that.
ReplyDeleteSo, after getting us drunk last week, C&R expect us to play sports this week - Hmm!
I am more familiar with 10a being (3,4,2) rather than a single word.
24d was a new word for me but it was easy to 'put together' and then dictionary confirm.
Lots of smiles for 1a, 5a, 14a, 3d, 8d, and 18d.
Thanks to C&R and to Falcon.
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteMy goodness Richard and especially Senf: you are up very early in the morning. Was today's offering a tip of the hat to the recent Commonwealth Games? I thought the answer to 28a should have been tennis but that would have required a rather obscure word in 22d. On the other hand I don't think it would be more obscure than the answer to 24d. Not sure that 2d works. But all in all this was an enjoyable puzzle. Have a good weekend!
Peter
I was doing double duty with an extra 'shift,' in addition to my normal Sunday 'slot,' on BD's Crossword Blog!
DeleteAh, well that explains it!
DeleteMy internal alarm after years of use has me up at the earliest of hours. (But don't ask me what was on the 11pm news. I'll never have seen it.)
DeleteFor 2d, I also paused, thinking of the entry as an adjective. When used as a noun, the clue works - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/optic
Hello Falcon and friends,
ReplyDeleteToday's puzzle had me sweating for awhile because there were a few clues that had me totally stymied. Did something else and upon my return, all fell neatly into place. Really liked 14a and19d. LOI for me was also 22d.
Thank you for posting Falcon. Have a nice week all - summer is winding down. The orioles are gobbling up my grape jelly, getting ready for their long journey south.
Cheers,
MG
Hi Falcon! Nice to see you back (albeit for a short time, no doubt)
ReplyDeleteYou might want to check your Roman Numerals in 11d.
I blew 24d. Didn't find it in my Google search. But the rest was a healthy exercise. And it helped that C&R provided some cheese and egg dishes for nourishment.
Have a hot one everyone!
Oops! Thanks for bringing the seriously undervalued Roman numeral to my attention.
DeleteHope you are feeling ok Falcon and recover quickly.
ReplyDeleteMG
It didn't take that long to solve all the clues. I stopped briefly with 9 left and soon got the rest when I revisited the puzzle. I didn't really agree with the word for extremely or the word used for fans. The word used for fans I would consider as more of a derogatory term.
ReplyDelete