Themework: none, other than the long answer at 1a/28a and its cross-reference in 2d.
Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle): moderate
Political content: 15a, 26a (see comment)
Solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle No. 3,288 below the fold.
Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted; "_" or lower case: letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue, “^” first or last letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters; “§” heteronym, “¶“ letter bank
1a,
28a |
CONSPICUOUS
CONSUMPTION |
Double definition, referring to the film Camille (I had to look it up) and the Dumas novel by the
same name. The film starred
Greta Garbo as Dame Camille: a French lady who by putting on airs of wealth
and fame becomes wealthy and famous.
But that’s not enough to prevent her from coming down with
tuberculosis, or as it was called then “consumption.” See cross-reference in 2d.
|
7a,
27a |
ANG LE | E
|
ANGLE (“fish”) preceding (“anticipating”) rumbl^E^
(last letter indicated by “conclusion”)
|
9a
|
B(A TH TU)B
|
BB (“walk”) containing (“outside”) the combination A
(†) + TH (“Thursday”) + TU (“Tuesday”)
|
10a
|
J | OCULAR
|
^J^ests (first letter indicated by “originally”) +
OCULAR (“related to peepers” [eyes])
|
11a
|
LOO | K IN
|
LOO (“bathroom”) + KIN (“relatives”)
A look-in pass is pretty much what it sounds
like.
|
12a
|
*OTTOMANS
|
*ONTO MATS (anagram indicated by “arranged”)
|
14a
|
PO(K | *ER HA)ND
|
^K^ronos (first letter indicated by “to begin with”) +
*HERA (anagram indicated by “swimming”) contained in POND (“small lake”)
|
15a
|
FO | <LIO<
|
FO (Dario, Italian leftist and playwright) +
<OIL< (“product of olive,” reversal indicated by “returning”)
Had to look this one up too.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Fo
|
16a
|
IRIS | H
|
IRIS (“flower”) + ^H^ungary (first letter indicated by
“capital”)
Lots of misdirection possible here.
|
18a
|
FAR | AND | OLE
|
OLE (“cheer”) following (†) FAR (“remote”) + AND (†)
The literals here have some misdirection value.
|
20a
|
*CAVITIES
|
*IS ACTIVE (anagram indicated by “doctor”)
|
22a
|
*NEBULA
|
*UNABLE (anagram indicated by “to disperse”)
|
25a
|
<PILS | NER<
|
REN (“Stimpy’s friend”) + SLIP (“to slide”), reversal
of the whole thing indicated by “back”
|
26a
|
A | C(TED) UP
|
TED (“Nugent”) contained in (“splitting”) A (†) + CUP
(“mug”)
Interesting choice here, since Ted Nugent is pretty
well known for his conservative views and his love of guns and hunting. But examples which might resonate
more with The Nation readers (“Kennedy,” “Turner”) run afoul of the guideline
Hot and Trazom espoused in a recent Word Salad post: Setting an Example: they’re not specific enough.
|
Down
1d
|
CAB | A | L
|
CAB (“hack”) + A (†) + ^L^inux (first letter indicated
by “startup”)
There is no cabal.
|
2d
|
N(E | TB)OOK
|
E (“transcendental number”) + TB (cross reference to
28a) contained in (“in”) NOOK (“a corner”)
|
3d
|
*PATR | *IARCH
|
*PART (anagram indicated by “playing”) preceding
(“on”) *CHAIR (anagram indicated by “broken”)
|
4d
|
CUB | E
|
CUB (“baby”) + ^E^lephants (first letter indicated by
“in front”)
8 is 2 cubed
|
5d
|
<OB< JETS | D’ART
|
<BO< (“Derek,” reversal indicated by “brought
up”) + JETS (“flies”) + DART (“an arrow”)
|
6d
|
S_A_C_C_O
|
SeArCh CeO (selection of odd letters indicated by
“oddly”)
|
7d
|
ALL HAIL
|
Double definition
|
8d
|
*GYRO | S | COPE
|
COPE (“to manage”) follwing (“after”) *ORGY (anagram
indicated by “bacchanalian”) + S (“Saturday”)
|
13d
|
}W{AFF(LE I)RON
|
{S}AFFRON (“orange-yellow spice,” replacement of S
with W indicated by “turning south to west”) containing (“around”) LEI
(“floral wreath”)
I like replacement and relocation clues.
|
14d
|
~PRINCIPAL
|
~PRINTS A PULL (“publishes a yank”, homonym indicated
by “is heard”)
Marginal at best.
|
15d
|
*FINGERTIP
|
*GRIP NET IF (anagram indicated by “tangled”)
|
17d
|
I | *N(V)OLVE
|
I (“the first”) + *NOVEL (anagram indicated by
“experimental”) containing (“about”) V (†)
|
19d
|
*OPUS DEI
|
*OEDIPUS (anagram indicated by “undermined”)
I don’t like “undermined” as an indicator.
|
21d
|
*TUNIC
|
*CUT IN (anagram indicated by “tailored”)
|
23d
|
AS | PEN
|
AS (“like”) + PEN (“enclosure”)
|
24d
|
_oa hu_
|
bOA HUnter (hidden word indicated by “covers”)
|
Conspicuous Consumption is very funny. I still don't see why BB is "walk" in 9A. But excellent puzzle, not just because I could solve it.
ReplyDelete"BB" is baseball scorecard notation for a walk: "base on balls." Are you from the LBW side of the pond, Toby? Welcome!
ReplyDelete