Whistles, part 2 (Solution No. 3,301)

Look below the fold for the solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle No. 3,301

A bit of white tape where the
mouthpiece meets the chamber. 

So last week we went whistle shopping.  But we’re not quite ready to go on the ice yet.  There’s still a little preparation work we refs do on our tools to make them more comfortable and convenient to use.  It also individualizes the whistle a little and for some refs, taping a whistle is part of the pre-game or pre-season routine.

Traditionally, we put white athletic tape on parts of the whistle to protect our fingers from the sharp edges of the fingerclamp and protect our teeth from the hard brass and chrome mouthpiece.  But nowadays there are rubber covers that come with the whistles; they slip over the fingerclamp and over the mouthpiece.  I find those more comfortable than tape, but I still wind a little tape on the mouthpiece to keep the cover from slipping down.  That also gives my whistles a unique look.

Then there’s also the bending of fingerclamps not too tight and not too loose.  The whistle needs to be able to go on and off quickly, especially if you’re left handed, but it also has to stay in place so you’re never fumbling around to blow the whistle.  And the fingerclamp has to stay comfortable through back-to-back games.  The fingerclamp also lets you alter the angle of the whistle to your own personal preference.  Most officials wear their whistles on their index and middle fingers; a few use their middle and ring fingers because it protects the whistle more and keeps the whistle a little further away from their mouth.  And some fidget with the fingerclamps all the time.

In our next thrilling episode, we’ll learn that whistles have their own character.

Annotated solution to The Nation cryptic crossword No. 3,301

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

Across

1a	N(*UMBS | K)ULL	*BUMS (anagram indicated by “no-good”) + ^K^eep (first letter indicated by “at first”) contained in (feeding) NULL (“invalid”)
6a	BOA(S)T	BOAT (“ark”) containing (“housing”) S (“small”)
9a	S(*CRA)PED	*CAR (anagram indicated by “broken”) contained (“into”) SPED (“went too fast”)
10a	MI(*XTU)RE	*TUX (anagram indicated by “ruined”) contained in (“covered with”) MIRE (“mud”)
11a	*EMIGRANTS	*STREAMING (anagram indicated by “illegally”)
12a	RH(IN)O	RHO (“letter from Greece”) containing (“describing”) IN (“fashionable”)
13a	*GU(NT)ER	*URGE (anagram indicated by “destroyed”) containing (“to protect”) ^N^es^T^ (first and last letters indicated by “boundaries”)
14a	BROTH | _ERS_	BROTH (“perhaps stock”) + cyb^ERS^hop (middle letters indicated by “center of”)
17a	~SAUCEPAN	~SAW (“proverb”) + ~SPAN (“reach across”), homophone indicated by “oral”
19a	P<RISON<	<NO SIR (†) + co^P^< (last letter indicated by “ultimately”, reversal of the whole thing indicated by “returned”)
23a	*ASCOT	*COATS (anagram indicated by “tangled up”)
25a	S(T)EVENS | ON	SEVENS (“77”) + ON (“running”) containing (“around”) ^T^ay (first letter indicated by “source”) That’s what Hot and Trazom call a “literal.”  The Tay is a river in Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Tay
26a	O(REGAN)O	OO (“donuts”) containing (“captivate”) REGAN (“Shakespearean princess”)
27a	ME | OWING	OWING (“due to”) following (“to follow”) ME (†)
28a	<GAN< JA	<NAG< (“horse,” reversal indicated by “comes back”) + JA (“in Germany, yes”)
29a	D | AND | ELI | ON	^D^epartment (anagram indicated by “head of”) + AND (†) + ELI (“student at Yale”) + ON (“using”) What do you think of long rebuses like this?

Down

1d	N | E<ST EG<G	<GETS< (†, reversal indicated by “returns”) contained in (“when invested in”) N (“nitrogen”) + EG (“for example”)
2d	MA | *RTIAN	MA (“Massachusetts”) + *TRAIN (†, anagram indicated by “wreck”)
3d	~SUPERSEDE	~SOUP OR SEED (“choice of bullion or grain,” homophone indicated by “speaker’s”)
4d	UN(D) | ONE	UN (“one from Quebec”) + ONE (“un Américain”) containing (“capturing”) cana^D^ians (middle letter indicated by “the heart of”)
5d	LA(*MESTR)Y	LAY (†) containing (“outside”) *SMEAR (anagram indicated by “scurrilous”)
6d	BOXER	Double definition, reference to Senator Barbara Boxer. Someone used this same clue a few weeks ago, so I got it right away.
7d	A | BUS | IVE	A (†) + BUS (“vehicle”) + IVE (“I have”)
8d	*THE BOS| S	willi^S^ (†, last letter indicated by “finally”) following (“goes after”) *SHE-BOT (anagram indicated by “malfunctioning”)
15d	T(*HREES)OME	TOME (“weighty book”) containing (“about”) *HERES (†, anagram indicated by “punk”) That definition of “punk” is pretty much unknown nowadays; I know it as “punk” (rotten) wood.
16d	PAS | SWORD	PAS (“father’s”) + SWORD (“weapon”)
17d	*SEABORG	*GO BEARS (anagram indicated by “snarled”) Glenn Seaborg was the leader of a research group that discovered many atomic elements, element # is named after him.  Don’t know if he was a football fan.
18d	UNCLE | A | N	UNCLE (“relative”) + A (†) + stai^N^ (†, last letter indicated by “in the rear”)
20d	*SASHIMI	*IS AMISH (anagram indicated by “stew”) Irony is always welcome--I don’t think I’ve seen much fish in Pennsylvania Dutch cooking.
21d	NONAGON	§NON-AGON “agon” is a Greek word relating to conflict or drama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agon
22d	_VER MIN_	ne_VER MIN_d (hidden word indicated by “swallowing”)
24d	T(I)ARA	TARA (“where Scarlett O’Hara was”) containing (“clutching”) I (“one”)