Monday, July 6, 2015

Diversity (Solution No. 3,368)


With Bolivians, Irish dancers, and even a green thing, there’s never been a doubt that the annual Fourth of July parade in Glenside represents the glorious diversity of America.  But this year, the cause brotherhood and harmony of took another great step forward: the motorcycle drill team included a Honda and a BMW as well as the usual collection of Harleys (video below).

A few grumbles about the puzzle, though I didn’t find it difficult.

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/puzzle-no-3368/

Degree of difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle): easy

Agility factor: light to moderate

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
RUBBER DUCK
RUBBER (“masseuse”) + DUCK (“to avoid”)
6a
*OPUS
*SOUP (anagram indicated by “prepare”)
10a
<_PLATO_<
<t_OTAL P_anic< (reversal indicated by “retreats”, hidden word indicated by “in”)
11a, 12a
*COMMANDER
IN CHIEF
*INFORMED MECHANIC (anagram indicated by “in criis”)
13a
OFF ICES
OFF (†) + ICES (“frozen sweets”)
14a
BOOS*TER CABLE
BOOS (“complains loudly”) + *BRACELET (anagram indicated by “broken”)
19a
IN(V_E)STIGATOR
INSTIGATOR (“troublemaker”) containing (“on both sides of”) ^V^enic^E^ (first and last letters indicated by “borders”)
22a
§BARRAGE
§BAR RAGE
24a
<SLEEP IN<
<NIP (“bite”) + EELS< (“fish,” reversal of the whole thing indicated by “after turning over”)
25a
BITTE R END
BITTE (“please [in] German”) + REND (“tear”)
26a
AL IKE
AL (“Albert” [Einstein]) + IKE (“Isaac” [Newton})
Both were physicists, which would distinguish them from some other random Als and Ikes.  Fun clue.
27a
_TYPE_
nas_TY PE_rson (hidden word indicated by “at heart”)
28a
*PLURALIZED
*A DULL PRIZE (anagram indicated by “shockingly”)


Down
1d
REP AIR
REP (“member of Congress”) + AIR (“appearance”)
2d
B RANCH
B (“second rate”) + RANCH (“farm”)
3d
*EMOTICONS
*COMES INTO (anagram indicated by “play”)
4d
<DECAF<
<FACED< (“braved,” reversal indicated by “getting up”)
5d
COMMON ER A
^A^ristocracy (first letter indicated by “leader”) following (“goes after”) COMMONER (“peasant”)
7d
*PEDICABS
*SPACE BID (anagram indicated by “exploded”)
8d
<STRESSED<
<DESSERTS< (“cakes,” reversal indicated by “upside-down”)
9d
CALF
Double definition
15d
SPI(K_E HE)EL
^K^afkaesqu^E^ (first and last letters indicated by “superficially”) + HE (“man”) contained in (“captivated by”) SPIEL (“sales pitch”)
16d
CLOSE CALL
Double definition
17d
BIT BY BIT
^B^atter^Y^ (first and last letters indicated by “terminals”) contained in (“into”) BIT BIT (“a quarter” [two bits])
The only real challenge to work out in this one.
18d
*OVERST EP
*VOTERS (anagram indicated by “messing up”) + EP (“record”)
Can we retire “EP”?  It’s not been seen outside of crosswords in decades.
20d
SP(R)ITZ
R (“runs”) contained in (“into”) SPITZ (“Olympic swimmer”)
Mark Spitz won seven gold medals in Munich in 1972.  How many solvers of any age would have remembered that?
21d
*UNRE AD
*RUNE (anagram indicated by “mysterious”) + AD (cross-ref to 5d: “common era”)
23d
APE X
APE (“primate”) + X (“times”)
I thought the “at” in the clue violates Ximenean principles.
24d
_SEDER_
sudane_SE DER_vish (hidden word indicated by “maintained by”)


1 comment:

  1. 23d: I'm not averse to the occasional violation of Ximenean or Hexian principles, but I believe that this clue is entirely legit. "at" can certainly indicate proximity (e.g. I'm sitting at my desk)

    ReplyDelete

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