Don’t leave without the check (Solution No. 3,341)

The solution to puzzle no. 3.341 is below the fold

Yesterday started at the hockey rink (well, actually it started at church) and ended at the figure skating rink.  In between, I refereed both a hockey game and a fencing tournament (hadn’t ever done both the same day before).  The hockey game was at the nearby rink where the ice feels dead.  This year, I know they melted down and remade the ice over the summer, since there’s a ‘heads-up’ line around the perimeter.  It was marginally better than it was last year, but it’s still by far the worst ice of any rink I ref at.

While we were at the season-opening cocktail party (it’s the Main Line, you don’t need much of an excuse for cocktails) at the figure skating club, I mentioned to the manager and the Zamboni driver the contrast between their ice and where I had skated in the morning.  The Zam driver actually had worked at that rink a coupla years ago, and the manager hears all the rink scuttlebutt from around the area (rink people frequently need to borrow parts and equipment from each other).  Both of them weren’t surprised at the conditions at the other rink.  They apparently have a couple of floor and refrigeration problems they can’t afford to fix (an old story at this place, even under the previous management—I’ll tell you about it another time), and everyone knows the ice there is crummy.

That they were having money problems didn’t surprise me either.  Before the season started, we got a directive from our supervisor: don’t leave that rink without the game check.  Apparently a couple of guys got their checks three months late last season.  There’s too much history of rinks failing to pay their refs when they get into cash-flow trouble, so when something like this happens, the rink is kept on a very short leash.  If we don’t get our money right after the game, we notify our supervisor, and very soon that rink isn’t going to have any refs.

Solution to The Nation crossword no. 3,341

You may have figured out that the comment about unexpected clue forms becoming a lot easier when they stop being unexpected referred to the three-part clues in this week’s puzzle.  I was working around the outside to get started, figured out the three-parter in 29a, and that set me up to get 27a immediately, even though it was a good and somewhat deceptive three-parter.

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/182110/puzzle-no-3341

Degree of difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle: hard

Political references (sort of): 8d (The Nation likes this one), 19a

Musical references: 5d (easy)  Was Trazom thinking of P.D.Q. Bach when cluing 1d?

Across

1a	C_EASE	C_r_EASE (“fold,” omission of R (“right”) indicated by “away”)
4a	*INJECTORS	*CORN I JEST (anagram indicated by “creamed”)
9a	<_OCTUPLE_<	<yok_EL PUT CO_ws< (hidden word indicated by “sheltering”, reversal indicated by “back”)
10a	L(*UNAT)IC_	*AUNT (anagram indicated by “mixed-up”) contained in (“sits in”) LIC_k_ (“lap,” omission of last letter indicated by “mostly”)
11a	CENTRALLY	CENT (“penny”) preceding (“leads”) RALLY (“demonstration”)
12a	HON DA	DA (“prosecutor”) following (“goes after”) HON (“precious”)
13a	OK A PI	OK (“well”) preceding (“ahead of”) A (†) + PA (“detective”)
14a	<S(NOW)BIR D<	<D (“500”) + RIBS (“kids”)< (reversal indicated by “returning”) containing (“around”) NOW (“current”)
17a	SIDE REAL	SIDE (“border”) + REAL (“kind of property”)
19a	O U T D O	^O^rganized ^U^nions ^T^ry ^D^elivering ^O^ur (first letters indicated by “leaders of”)
22a	_APSES	_l_APSES (“errors,” omission of first letter indicated by “expunging foremost”)
24a	¶REORDERED	¶REDO (letter bank indicated by “components, repeating some”)
26a	ESP O USE	ESP (“supernatural powers”) + O (“love”) + USE (“to do drugs”)
27a	T REASON	T (“true”) + REASON (“motivation”) *SENATOR (anagram indicated by “corrupt”) Three-part clue: one definition and two pieces of wordplay.  I got 29a first, and this became a lot easier once I was on the lookout for three-part clues.
28a	RED-HANDED	Coinage: spades and clubs are black suits.
29a	*LANCE	*CLEAN (anagram indicated by “unusually”) Another three-part clue: two definitions and the anagram

Down

1d	CHOP CHOP	(Somewhat visual) pun: “chops” is a term jazz artists and fans use for virtuosity
2d	ANT<ENNA<	<ANNE< (“Frank,” reversal indicated by “rising up”) following (“in support of”) ANT (“worker”)
3d	E*(XP)ERTISE	XP (“Windows release”) contained in (“obscured by) *EERIEST (anagram indicated by “arcane”)
4d	_ID EAL_	r_IDE AL_ong (hidden word indicated by “passenger”) Well-hidden.
5d	JELLY ROLL	JELLY (“jam”) + ROLL (“rock”) About as easy a clue as I’ve ever seen in these pages.
6d	C INCH	C (100) + INCH (100 inches equals 8 1/3 feet)
7d	_OFTENER	_s_OFTENER (“laundry additive,” omission of first letter indicated by “is unopened”)
8d	SO(CIA)L	SOL (“note”) containing (“involving”) CIA (“spies”)
14d	S(PEAR)HE AD	SHE (“woman”) containing (“eating”) PEAR (“fruit”) + AD (“commercial”)
15d	B(LOO D C)ELL	BELL (“type of curve”) containing (“enveloping”) LOO (“john”) + DC (“Washington”)
16d	CON DENSE	CON (“scam”) preceding (“comes first”) DENSE (“stupid”)
18d	<IN SI PID<	<DIP (“fool”) + IS (“lives”) + NI (“nickel”)<  (reversal of the whole thing indicated by “…back”)
20d	T(URNS) ON	TON (“unit”) containing (“around”) URNS (“containers”)
21d	CAR(E)ER	hors^E^ (last letter indicated by “ass”) contained in (“interrupting”) CARER (“someone who gives a damn”) We’ll see if that draws any complaints.
23d	S CUBA	S (“small”) + CUBA (“island”)
25d	O(PT)ED	OED (“large reference book’ [Oxford English Dictionary]) contained in (“about”) PT (“Barnum”)