Saturday, July 14, 2012

Spring is still springing (Puzzle No. 3240)

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/167914/puzzle-no-3240

Hozom’s comment: “Fair’s Fair” http://www.thenation.com/blog/167953/fairs-fair
Hot and Trazom deconstruct the argument over "fairness" in cryptic cluing.  A frequent cause of complaints from solvers is when a clue doesn't clearly separate definition and wordplay, or if a solving step is ambiguously indicated.  This is really a separate question from the other big complaint cause: puns and other clues that follow British rather than US rules.
Here Hot and Trazom admit that they were attempting to push the envelope a little bit with their clue " Generous one moving in two pieces of furniture (10)" in 3239, and wanted to see how the audience would react.  


My view?  This series of puzzles is not intended to be easy: it fills the gap between starter cryptics like you see in Games or the National Post, and those written for NPL members and other true connoisseurs.  If Hot and Trazom can stretch the solvers' minds a little every week, pretty soon they'll be clamoring for more.  That's good for our pastime.
Where would I draw the line?  No more than one or two envelope-pushers a week, and only if the crossing letters and definition make finding the answer easier.  If the solver gets the word but not necessarily the cluing, s/he can work backwards to understand how the clue was intended to work.   

Themework: 38%–kind of petered out when it got to the downs.  I guess spring can really hang you up the most...

Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle):  average.

Political content: 7d–Clever teasing of “birthers”, 21d–Clever teasing of Antonin Scalia (I wonder what he prefers to drink…)

solution and comments below the fold

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue, “^” first letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters

Across
1a
*OR (I) GINATE
I (“one”) contained in  (“found within”) *A ROGET IN (anagram indicated by “riffling”)
6a
PO | PUP
PO (“post office”) + PUP (“dog”)
9a
<TOS< | SPOT
<SOT< (“drunkard”, reversal indicated by “comes back”) + SPOT (“to see”)
10a
<P (ROC) EED<
<DEEP< (“sea”, reversal indicated by “returning”) containing ROC (“mythical bird”)
11a
C (*REAT) URE
CURE (“preserve”) containing (“adopts”) *RATE (anagram indicated by “adjustable”)
12a
D (E) RIVE
DRIVE (“go for a spin”) containing (“around”) ^E^gypt
14a
*LEAP
*PALE (anagram indicated by “awfully”)
16a
WAL (*L STREE) T
*LESTER (anagram indicated by “is miscast” contained in (“in”) WALT (“Disney”)
Good piece of misdirection in this clue: at first, you might try and connect “Disney” with “movie.”
19a
*YESTERDAY
*DEFINITELY (anagram indicated by “strayed off track”)
20a
STEM
Double definition
22a
P | OUNCE
P (piano: “softly”) + OUNCE (“a little weight”)
23a
*VITAMINS
*NATIVISM (anagram indicated by “wrecked”)
26a
*CITADEL
*DIALECT (anagram indicated by “in translation”)
27a
{E{MANATE
MANATE{E{ (“marine mammal” relocation indicated by “shifting tail forward”)
28a
S | IDES
^S^pring + IDES (“March 15”)
29a
*WINDSWEPT
*SHED TEARS (anagram indicated by “snakes” [I don’t think that was grammatically precise])

Down
1d
*OPTICALLY
*A CITY POLL (anagram indicated by “misconstrue”)
2d
IS | SUE
IS (“exists”) + SUE (“go to court”)
3d
*IMPUTE
*UPTIME (anagram indicated by “unfairly”)
4d
*AFTER (WARD) S
*FASTER (anagram indicated by “surprisingly”) containing (“keeping”) WARD (“guard”)
5d
EXPO
complEX POetry (container indicated by “incorporating”
6d
P | RO (PERT) Y
^P^ainter + ROY (“Lichtenstein”) containing (“captures”) PERT (“saucy”)
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1977) was a major figure in Pop Art, who often adopted the style of comic books for his paintings.
7d
PRES (ID) ENT
PRESENT (“here”) containing (“concealing”) ID (“birth certificate, perhaps”)
8d
*PADRE
*DRAPE (anagram indicated by “wrinkled”)
13d
*CLAY PIGEON
*LA COP EYING (anagram indicated by “suspicious”)
15d
AS | SAUL | TED
AS (“like”) + SAUL (“first ruler of Israel”) + TED (“Turner”)
17d
T (<IME S<) HE _m_ET
<SEMI< (“truck”, reversal indicated by “in reverse”) contained in (“breaks through”) †THE _m_ET (omission indicated by “missing the start”)
18d
DE (I) CIDES
DECIDES (“chooses”) containing (“to restrict”) ^I^mpious
21d
*CALAIS
*SCALIA (anagram indicated by “drunk”)
Antonin Scalia, US Supreme Court justice, 1986 to present
22d
~PACKS
~PAX (“peace”, homonym indicated by “to proclaim”)
24d
IN AN E
Inversion: “goose” ends “in an e”
25d
<FLOW<
<WOLF< (“carnivorous” [answer 11], reversal indicated by “rises”

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