Épée (Solution No. 3,321)

And to top it off, the guy
on the medal is  a lefty too...

The solution and annotation to puzzle no. 3,321 is below the fold.

Well that was a lovely coincidence.  “Épée” showed up in two puzzles this week, and I was absolutely chuffed because I had this shiny new bit of metal hanging up in my office.  Even better that Hot and Trazom used that word to clue “lunge”: does one of them fence?

While I’ve coached and refereed all that time, and you’ve seen some of the medals my family has earned, I hadn’t actually competed in an athletic event in 25 years or so before this winter, when I fenced a couple of saber tournaments so there’d be enough competitors for the event to be rated.  During one of them, I realized I was getting touches more like an épée than a saber, so maybe I should try that weapon.

There were two novice-level épée tournaments this month.  I did more than OK in the first one: won two bouts, finished fifth out of nine, and didn’t feel like a fool or a stranger in a game where slashing and spearing is not only legal but encouraged.  But I knew I made a bunch of mistakes that the more experienced fencers (all of them!) exploited. Fortunately, Margo and Steve were kind enough to take me aside at practice and show me what I was doing wrong.  So I was better-prepared for the second tournament, which was last Sunday.

I got encouragement from winning the first bout, and when I beat the fencer I thought would be a medal favorite, all of a sudden there was a possibility of winning a medal myself.  Sticking with what was working, I finished the pool round with 4 wins and only 1 loss, good enough for a bye to the quarterfinal.  One bout away from a medal!  I traded scouting reports with one of Sabers’s friends who faced my quarterfinal opponent in the pool round, and though I fell behind 6-2 in the early going, I was definitely seeing scoring opportunities.   Even though I was still behind by 10-8 when the first period ended, I felt I was in control of the bout, and I pulled into the lead soon after.  A double touch made it 14-13, and I had two chances to close it out.  I only needed one, and the final was 15-13.

Bronze medal clinched, I didn’t let up in the semi, but the attack line I was using went right into my opponent’s parry, and I couldn’t find another way to score.  But it didn’t matter: I fenced much better than the week before, surpassed my goal going into the tournament, and even won a medal.  Big celebration at practice this week with thanks (and beers) to the coaches.

Solution to The Nation puzzle no. 3,321

This one wasn’t as hard as the previous few puzzles.  There were more straight anagrams, and I wasn’t tricked by the misdirection.  However, 13d eluded me for a while, and this one took me longer to finish.

Degree of difficulty: 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, “‡” Spoonerism

Across

1a	*DEMOCRATIC PARTY	*A PRETTY RAD COMIC (anagram indicated by “playing”)
9a	US *URPE R	US (“America”) + *PERU (anagram indicated by “bombed”) + ^R^evolution (first letter indicated by “onset”)
10a	I M(PR)INT	I (“one”) + MINT (“in perfect condition”) containing (“involves”) PR (“hype”)
11a	LUNG E	LUNG (“organ,” cross-reference to 19a) + ^É^pées (first letter indicated by “on the left”)
12a	*ETHERNET	*THREE TEN (anagram indicated by “rethink”) Tricky, especially right after using a number for a cross-reference
14a	<DARTS<	<STRAD< (“violin,” reversal indicated by “backward”)
15a	‡PAYMASTER	‡MAY PASTOR (“a clergyman in the springtime,” Spoonerism indicated by “for the Rev. Spooner”)
17a	*TREA(SURE)S	*TEARS (anagram indicated by “flowing”) containing (“concealing”) SURE (“certain”)
19a	_ORGAN	_m_ORGAN (“J.P.” [James Pierpont Morgan, banker], omission of first letter indicated by “is missing front”)
21a	*THALAMUS	*HAT MAULS (anagram indicated by “ill-made”)
24a	RUB LE	RUB (“polish”) + LE (“French for ‘the’”)
26a	*AB(D)OMEN	*BEMOAN (anagram indicated by “upset”) containing (“swallowing”) ^D^irt (first letter indicated by “piece of”)
27a	*NAPPING	*GNP PAIN (anagram indicated by “terrible”)
28a	BRAND(Y ALE) X AND ER	BRAND X (“a generic product”) containing (“around”) YALE (“school”) + AND (“with”) + ER (“hesitation”)

Down

1d	§DOUBLE DATE	DOUBLE D AT E (reference to Dwight Eisenhower’s initials: DDE)
2d	*MO(URN)ER	*MORE (anagram indicated by “disturbed”) containing (“about”) URN (“vessel”)
3d	CY PRESSES	CY (“Young” [Cy Young, pitcher]) + PRESSES (“crowds”)
4d	A GREE_	A (†) + GREE_k_ (“resident of Athens,” omission of last letter indicated by “incompletely”)
5d	IRIS H E YES	IRIS (“author Murdoch”) + HE (“that man”) + YES (“indeed”)
6d	P APER	^P^aint (first letter indicated by “bit of”) + APER (“impressionist”)
7d	*RAIMENT	*MINARET (anagram indicated by “dilapidated”), definition is cross-reference to 25d, GARB
8d	Y E T I	^Y^arn ^E^verest ^T^errifying ^I^ceman (initials indicated by “origins”)
13d	~PRINCE IGOR	~SPRINTS (“runs”)  ~E-GORE (“blood online”) homonym indicated by “reportedly” This was the last answer I got, and might have been the hardest clue in a while.  I’ll take the blame for missing the indicator initially, but I thought “sprints” and “prince” were a little too different-sounding. Anyone else want to sound off for or against this clue?
15d	P_Y ROMANIA	^P^ornograph^Y^ (first and last letters indicated by “becomes hollow”) preceding (“north of”) ROMANIA (“European country”)
16d	*APOCRYPHA	*OH A CRAPPY (anagram indicated by “alternative”) Apocrypha are books that some translations incorporate as part of the Bible.  The Royal Dutch Library has a nice description of the stories with illustrations from early volumes in their collection.
18d	*ECHIDNA	*CHAINED (anagram indicated by “savage”)
20d	GO BLIND	GOB (“sailor”) + LIND ([Jenny], “the Swedish Nightingale”)
22d	LAMED	LAME’D (Double definition)
23d	SIN CE	SIN (“wickedness”) + CE (“from the time of Christ”) C.E. (“common era”) is a modern secularist replacement for A.D. (“anno domini,” “year of our Lord”)
25d	<GARB<	<BRAG< (“boast,” reversal indicated by “about”) With the indicator in the middle, you can’t tell which one is the reversed version and which is the answer.  However, the cross-ref in 7d settles it for us.

Congratulations to Avi (right) for winning the tournament.