Saturday, September 3, 2022 — Nothing Else to Offer (NP 220903)

Introduction

Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220903) may require a Churchillian effort to complete.

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, September 10, 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	Conifer endured around middle of rambling // movie about Rambo (5,5)

FIR|ST (BL)OOD — {FIR (conifer) + STOOD (endured)} containing (around) BL (middle [letters] of ramBLing)

6a	Track // back in Slavonia (4)

{_OVAL_}< — reversed (back) and contained in (in) SLAVOnia

Slavonia^[16] is a historic region in northen Croatia.

9a	Kin of Spanish // family going outside at one (7)

CATALAN — CLAN (family) containing (going outside) {AT (†) + A (one)}

In the definition, I believe "Spanish" refers to the Spanish language and not the Spanish people.

Catalan^[16B] (in addition to being a a native or inhabitant of Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain) is a language of Catalonia, quite closely related to Spanish and Provençal, belonging to the Romance group of the Indo-European family of languages.

10a	Reversing current, run into // tungsten (7)

WOLF<|RAM — reversal of (reversing) FLOW (current) + RAM (run into)

Wolfram^[16B] is another name for the metallic element tungsten.

12a	Toss bagel // canine found in the western US (4)

LOB|O — LOB (toss) + O ([letter that looks like a] bagel)

In the western US, lobo^[16B] is another name for the timber wolf.

13a	Attempts acquiring lubricant and French // bath items (10)

T(OIL|ET)RIES — TRIES (attempts) containing (acquiring) { OIL (lubricant) + ET (and French; French word meaning 'and')

15a	Precious // antique, in general (6)

G(OLD)EN — OLD (antique) contained in (in) GEN (general; military rank)

16a	Blade // damaged relics (6)

SLICER* — anagram of (damaged) RELICS

20a	Face // slump in struggle (6)

VI(SAG)E — SAG (slump) contained in (in) VIE (struggle)

21a	Trophy taking hit in // exercise (4-2)

C(H|IN)-UP — CUP (trophy) containing (taking) {H (hit; baseball term) + IN (†)}

24a	Teacher pulls apart // antenna (6,4)

RABBI|T EARS — RABBI (teacher) + TEARS (pulls apart)

26a	Great swimmer // riding in motorcade (4)

_ORCA_ — hidden in (riding in) motORCAde

28a	Fuel // hog also out of order (7)

GASOHOL* — anagram of (out of order) HOG ALSO

29a	Ostentatious // agent carrying whip (7)

SP(LASH)Y — SPY (agent) containing (carrying) LASH (whip)

30a	Mythical river // persists through the sound (4)

STYX~ — sounds like (through the sound) STICKS (persists)

In Greek mythology, the Styx^[16B] is a river in Hades across which Charon ferried the souls of the dead.

31a	Pests want a new // athletic garment (10)

{SWEAT PANTS}* — anagram of (new) PESTS WANT A

Down

1d	Glib // set of documents about air conditioning (6)

F(AC)ILE — FILE (set of documents) containing (about) AC (air conditioning)

2d	Furrows around a sack with topgrade // turnips (9)

RUT(A|BAG|A)S — RUTS (furrows) containing (about) {A (†) + BAG (sack) + (with) A (topgrade)}

3d	Get ready to plant // drawer with money (4)

TILL — double definition

4d	Crime boss caught by recluse // Sherlock Holmes by residence (8)

LON(DON)ER — DON (crime boss) contained in (caught by) LONER (recluse)

Sherlock Holmes^[7] is a fictional detective created by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930). Holmes has lodgings at 221B Baker Street, London.

5d	Otherwise fine // writer (6)

OR|WELL — OR (otherwise) + WELL (fine)

George Orwell^[16B] is the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair (1903–1950), an English novelist and essayist, born in India. He is notable for his social criticism, as in The Road to Wigan Pier (1932); his account of his experiences of the Spanish Civil War Homage to Catalonia (1938); and his satirical novels Animal Farm (1945), an allegory on the Russian Revolution, and 1984 (1949), in which he depicts an authoritarian state of the future.

7d	Diver turned // composer (5)

VERDI* — anagram of (turned) DIVER

Giuseppe Verdi^[16B] (1813–1901) was an Italian composer of operas, especially Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1853), La Traviata (1853), and Aïda (1871).

8d	Radiation device seen in secular // home for monks (8)

LAMASERY — MASER (radiation device) contained in (seen in) LAY (secular)

A maser^[16B] is a device for amplifying microwaves, working on the same principle as a laser.

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Origin: acronym for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

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A lamasery^[16B] is a monastery of lamas (Buddhist monks).

11d	Spike split by nail // not even counting (3,5)

LE(T ALON)E — LEE (Spike; American actor and filmmaker Spike Lee^[7]) containing (split by) TALON (nail)

14d	Hit soldiers next to hospital, // moving slowly (8)

SLUG|GIS|H — SLUG (hit) + GIS ([American] soldiers; GIs) + (next to) H(ospital)

17d	Decorative cover for a horse // vehicle is paid for by accommodating dad (9)

CA(PA)R|IS|ON — {CAR (vehicle) + IS (†) + ON (paid for by; drinks are on me)} containing (accommodating) PA (dad)

A caparison^[16B] is a decorated covering for a horse or other animal, especially (formerly) for a warhorse.

18d	Hail ahead of storms // hitting figures (8)

AVE|RAGES — AVE (hail; Latin greeting, Ave, Maria) preceding (ahead of) RAGES (storms)

The definition alludes to baseball statistics; for example, Babe Ruth^[7] had a lifetime batting average of .342.

19d	Magnetism // is added to amulet article (8)

CHAR(IS)M|A — IS (†) contained in (added to) CHARM (amulet) + A ([grammatical] article)

22d	Gibson, dejected, // relaxed (6)

MEL|LOW — MEL (Gibson; American actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson^[7]) + LOW (dejected)

23d	Demigods of the Greeks // met with yours (6)

SAT|YRS — SAT (met; the committee sat late into the evening before coming to a decision) + (with) YRS ([abbreviation for] yours)

In Greek mythology, a satyr^[16B] is one of a class of sylvan deities, represented as goatlike men who drank and danced in the train of Dionysus and chased the nymphs.

25d	Large vehicle near // tall hat (5)

BUS|BY — BUS (large vehicle) + BY (near)

A busby^[16B] is a tall fur helmet with a bag hanging from the top to the right side, worn by certain soldiers, usually hussars, as in the British Army. Unofficially, it is also another name for a bearskin^[16B], a tall helmet of black fur worn by certain regiments in the British Army [as well as the Canadian army].

27d	Lingerie // receipt (4)

SLIP — double definition

Epilogue

The phrase "blood, toil, tears and sweat"^[7] became famous in a speech given by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 13 May 1940. The speech is sometimes known by that name. This was Churchill's first speech since becoming prime minister.

The Bank of England £5 note is adorned with the phrase "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat." beneath a portrait of Churchill^*.

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^* The portrait is by Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh.

Thank you to Peter for tipping me off to the Churchill connection.

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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