Saturday, September 10, 2022 — Getting A Head (NP 220910)

 

Introduction

One might say today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220910) is fully-featured.

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, September 17, 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	Lightly touch Ms. Fitzgerald’s // kneecaps (8)

PAT|ELLA|S — PAT (lightly touch) + ELLA (Ms. Fitzgerald; American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald^[7]) + S ('s)

5a	Demolishes // Latin king in speech (6)

WRECKS~ — sounds like (in speech) REX (Latin [word for] king)

10a	Embellishment on a letter // shoots backward (5)

SERIF< — reversal of (backward) FIRES (shoots)

11a	Losses of power // won’t rob us terribly (9)

BROWNOUTS* — anagram of (terribly) WONT ROB US

12a	Bashful, Ms. Murray listened to “Tribe” (8)

CHEYENNE~ — sounds like (listened to) {SHY (bashful) + ANNE (Ms. Murray; Canadian singer Anne Murray^[7]}

13a	Dotty loves // crack (5)

SOLVE* — anagram of (dotty) LOVES

15a	Benefit // a second group (5)

A|S|SET — A (†) + S(econd) + SET (group)

16a	Analyzed // Dion’s first new song idea (9)

D|IAGNOSED* — D (Dion's first [letter]) + anagram of (new) SONG IDEA

Scratching the Surface
Céline Dion[7] is a Canadian singer.

18a	Family member, a radical, // still under suspicion (9)

UNCLE|A|RED — UNCLE (family member) + A (†) + RED (radical)

20a	Superior // portion of soup, perhaps (5)

_UP|PER_ — hidden in (portion of) [SO]UP PER[HAPS]

22a	Nary a fanatical // drifter (5)

NO|MAD — NO (nary a) + MAD (fanatical)

24a	Excessively dense // hayseed after bender (3,5)

TOO T|HICK — HICK (hayseed) following (after) TOOT (bender)

27a	Suckers // returned tablet stuck in endlessly repeating cycles (9)

LO(LLIP<)OPS — reversal of (returned) PILL (tablet) contained in (stuck in) LOOPS (endlessly repeating cycles)

28a	Press club // humour with a twist (5)

IRON|Y — IRON (press; remove wrinkles from clothing) + Y (club; YMCA/YWCA)

Scratching the Surface
A press club[7] is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news.

29a	Slew, in whatever // Shakespearean role (6)

AN(TON)Y — TON (slew; a large amount or number) contained in (in) ANY (whatever)

Mark Antony is a character in William Shakepeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar^[7].

30a	Push // facial growth, and hold (4,4)

BEAR D|OWN — BEARD (facial growth) + (and) OWN (hold; possess)

Down

1d	The sound of Edgar Allan’s // airs? (4)

POSE~ — sounds like (the sound of) {POE (Edgar Allan; American writer Edgar Allan Poe^[7]) + S ('s)}

2d	Providers of light // in that orchestra (7)

_T|ORCHES_ — hidden in (in) [THA]T ORCHES[TRA]

3d	Revolutionary Frenchman, // note, in baby’s outfit (9)

LA(FA)YETTE — LA ([musical] note) contained in (in) LAYETTE (baby's outfit)

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette^[7] (1757–1834), known in the United States as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the siege of Yorktown. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. He has been considered a national hero in both countries.

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Name in full: Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier

4d	British saint // left in a bar (5)

A(L)BAN — L(eft) contained in (in) {A () + BAN (bar; prevent)}

Saint Alban^[7] is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr.

6d	Jogs around grand // steps (5)

RUN(G)S — RUNS (jogs) containing (around) G (grand; $1000)

7d	Lovers // dancing up close (7)

COUPLES* — anagram of (dancing) UP CLOSE

8d	Uplifting accessory // US introduced to buyers (10)

S(US)PENDERS — US (†) contained in (introduced to) SPENDERS (buyers)

9d	Transmogrified body near // cemetery (8)

{BONE YARD}* — anagram of (transmogrified) BODY NEAR

14d	Wild Australian // orgy (10)

SATURNALIA* — anagram of (wild) AUSTRALIAN

In modern usage, Saturnalia^[12] denotes a period or occasion of unrestrained, often orgiastic, revelry.

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Origin: Saturnalia was the ancient Roman festival of Saturn, held about December 17, with general feasting and revelry in celebration of the winter solstice.

16d	Continuance // of the French share (8)

DU|RATION — DU (of the French; French word meaning 'of the') + RATION (share)

17d	Shot the air gun // more like a rascal? (9)

NAUGHTIER* — anagram of (shot) THE AIR GUN

19d	Arthur’s place // came with piece of land (7)

CAME|LOT — CAME (†) + (with) LOT (piece of land)

Camelot^[16] is the legendary site of King Arthur's palace and court, possibly near Exeter, England.

21d	Choose a low voiced // woodwind (7)

PICCOLO~ — sounds like (voiced) {PICK (choose) + A (†) + LOW (†)}

23d	Heard European // act condescendingly (5)

DEIGN~ — sounds like (heard) DANE (European)

25d	Hollywood’s Davis // partially read dossier (5)

_OSSIE_ — hidden in (partially read) [D]OSSIE[R]

26d	Song // that guy vocalized (4)

HYMN~ — sounds like (vocalized) HIM (that guy)

Epilogue

Hidden in today's puzzle are eight features of the human head – namely, PATE[ELLAS], BROW[NOUTS], CH[EYE]NNE, DIAG[NOSE]D, UNCL[EAR]ED, [TOO TH]ICK, LOL[LIP]OPS, BEAR D[OWN].

Kudos to Henry for his prowess in spotting this.

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References

Sources referenced in the blog are identified by the following reference numbers. 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 )

^[16]    - Dictionary.com (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

^[16B]  - Dictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary )

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Signing off for today — Falcon