Saturday, October 1, 2022 — The Roaring Game (NP 221001)

Introduction

Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 221001) features a winter sport that is likely second only to hockey in Canada.

The puzzle will be posted on the blog on Saturday, October 8, 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	Wave-making device // girl tossed together with unicorn (7,4)

{CURLING IRON}* — anagram of (tossed) {GIRL + (together with) UNICORN}

7a	I’m into stick // sport for recreation (7)

PAST(IM)E — IM (I'm) contained in (into) PASTE (stick)

8a	On the way back, look for no // US citizens (7)

{YAN|KEES}< — reversal of (on the way back) {SEEK (look for) + (NAY (no)}

10a	Dell user upset about one // calculation tool (5,4)

{SL(I)DE RULE}* — anagram of (upset) DELL USER containing (about) I ([Roman numeral] one)

11a	Volume inserted in only // crack (5)

SOL(V)E — V (volume; physics symbol) contained in (inserted in) SOLE (only)

12a	Dress // prohibition 500 years old? (7)

BAN|D|AGE — BAN (prohibition) + D ([Roman numeral] 500) + AGE (years old)

In the comments, the equivalence of "age" and "years old" is questioned. I think they are equivalent in the following sentences:

• She is age 100.
  
• She is 100 years old.
  

If I have my grammar correct, in the first example the adverb "100" comes after the adjective "age" (postpositive) while in the second it precedes the adjectival phrase "years old" (prepositive).

13a	Puck has busted // chops (5,2)

{HACKS UP}* — anagram of (busted) PUCK HAS

15a	Shellac // new counter (7)

TROUNCE* — anagram of (new) COUNTER

18a	Old Egyptian keeping yellow California // parrot (7)

COP(Y|CA)T — COPT (old Egyptian) containing (keeping) {Y (yellow) + CA (California; postal abbreviation)}

20a	Single American League // star in the NBA once (5)

O'NE|AL — ONE (single) + AL (American League; one of the two leagues forming Major League Baseball)

Shaquille O'Neal^[7] is an American former professional basketball player who played for six teams over his 19-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is a four-time NBA champion.

22a	Stitch hoop in sixty minutes before first of kitchen // chores (9)

HOUSEWORK — {SEW (stitch) + O ([letter that looks like a] hoop)} contained in (in) HOUR (sixty minutes) preceding (before) K (first [letter] of Kitchen)

23a	Band member // called and is returning (7)

{SI|DEMAN}< — reversal of (is returning) {NAMED (called) + (and) IS (†)}

24a	Added remark about enraged // outlaws (7)

P(IRATE)S — PS (added remark; postscript) containing (about) IRATE (enraged)

25a	Short distance // to home in quiet street (6,5)

S(TO|NE'S T)H|ROW — {TO (†) + NEST (home)} contained in (in) SH ([admonition to be] quiet) + ROW (street)

Row^[10] is a mainly British term for a street, especially a narrow one lined with identical houses.

Down

1d	Sea // snake and myself in vessel (7)

C(ASP|I)AN — {ASP (snake) + (and) I (myself)} contained in (in) CAN (vessel)

2d	Canaries I disturbed // make a fuss (5,4)

{RAISE CAIN}* — anagram of (disturbed) CANARIES I

3d	Rapper // pitches “Crud” beer, ignoring the odds (3,4)

||I||C||E|| C||U||B||E|| — the even letters from (ignoring the odds) pItChEs CrUd BeEr

Ice Cube^[7] is the professional name of American rapper O'Shea Jackson Sr.

4d	Ultimately, painting by Wyeth acquires new // woman’s name (7)

G|WY(N)ETH — G (ultimately, painting; final letter of paintinG) + WYETH (†) containing (acquires) N (new; abbreviation used in places names on maps)

Scratching the Surface
Andrew Wyeth[7] (1917–2009) was an American visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century.

5d	Player ultimately endorses // skating venues (5)

R|INKS — R (player ultimately; final letter of playeR) + INKS (endorses)

6d	Sharp objects // having no point, mostly (7)

NEEDLES_ — NEEDLES[S] (having no point) discarding the final letter (mostly)

7d	Switches // spun hot tubs mistakenly (4,7)

{PUSH BUTTONS}* — anagram (mistakenly) SPUN HOT TUBS

9d	Soprano cries and wins // contest (11)

S|WEEPS|TAKES — S (soprano) + WEEPS (cries) + (and) TAKES (wins)

14d	Wine server // prepared crab puree (9)

CUPBEARER* — anagram of (prepared) CRAB PUREE

16d	Iroquois people found among Shoshone, I’d assume (7)

_ONE|ID|AS_ — hidden in (found among) ShoshONE ID ASsume

The Oneida people^[7] are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy in the area of upstate New York, particularly near the Great Lakes. Today the Oneida are found mainly in New York, Wisconsin,  and Ontario.

  

Scratching the Surface
The Shoshone[7] (or Shoshoni) are a Native American tribe living in the western United States.

17d	Better // men chance individually losing face (7)

_EN|_HANCE — discard the initial letters from (individually losing face) [M]EN [C]HANCE

18d	Cold booze and favourite // snack with tea (7)

C|RUM|PET — C (cold; symbol on water taps) + RUM (booze) + (and) PET (favourite)

19d	Oklahoma tribe // reordered cat chow (7)

CHOCTAW* — anagram of (reordered) CAT CHOW

The Choctaw^[7] are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Today, the Choctaw are found mainly in Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

21d	Purgatory // dance (5)

LIMBO — double definition

Epilogue

The vocabulary of the sport of CURLING [1a] features prominently in today's puzzle including SLIDE [10a], HACK [13a], HOUSE [22a], STONE and THROW [25a], RAISE [2d], ICE [3d], RINK [5d], BUTTON [7d], and SWEEP [9d].

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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