“E” is for Encore (Solution No. 3,339)

The solution to The Nation puzzle no. 3,339 is below the fold.

If you were following this blog a year ago, you will recall Sabers winning a Philly Cup tournament, and with it an "E" rating from the US Fencing Association.  Well it turned out a few weeks later, when we didn’t ever get confirmation of the rating, that the host club had not properly renewed their sanctioning paperwork for the new season, and as a result, the tournament, its results, and Sabers’ rating were all annulled.  Ever since, he’d been looking for a chance to re-win the "E."

That chance came Sunday.  While the lineup included a hotshot from New Jersey who won last week’s youth event, Sabers went in as the favorite for a change.  He took care of business in the preliminary round, losing only one bout (by one touch to a high-schooler from the Panthers club) and earning a bye to the semifinals.  There he had a comfortable win against a rookie who had upset the Panthers fencer in the quarters.  Meanwhile, the Jersey kid won his semi.  

Between warm-ups (one of the good parts of the sport is how fencers can support and help each other one moment, then turn around and compete the next) and the preliminary bout, Sabers had figured out  this particular opponent and had a game plan: defend his initial attack (either with a parry or distance), and catch an easy riposte.  Brainwork rather than a physical battle.  It worked well, but the opponent changed his timing and got a couple of favorable calls from the referee to take an 8-6 lead at the halfway break.

Tweaking his strategy during the break, Sabers threw a feint into his defense to slow things a little more.  The kid’s attacks started to fall short again, and Sabers got three easy touches and the lead. After that, it was a cruise to the finish with four chances for the winning point–comfortable enough for his old man to get video of the victory.  15-12 final, and this one they won’t take away.

No gold medals or official ratings for finishing this puzzle, but the smarter solvers who can anticipate Hot and Trazom’s moves will feel good about themselves.  I especially liked the three-part clues and other misdirections.




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	H(OM)E BREW	OM (“meditative word”) contained in (“in”) HEBREW (“a foreign language”)
5a	ER AS ER	ER (“um”) + AS (“like”) + ER (“um”)
10a	*P(I)LAF	*FLAP (anagram indicated by “wrong”) containing (“all around”) ^I^raq (first letter indicated by “original”)
11a	ANTIQUITY	Pun: ATI-QUIT Y
12a	_IN T AND EM_	cl_INT AND EM_ily (hidden phrase indicated by “are linked by”)
13a	IRIS}H{	I (†) + RIS}K{ (“take a chance,” replacement of  K (“potassium”) with H (“hydrogen” indicated by “replacing… with”)
15a	*IMPLODE	*PIE MOLD (anagram indicated by “cooking”)
18a	EYE W EAR	^W^urlitzer (first letter indicated by “in front”) contained in (“on either side”) EYE + EAR (“organs”)
19a	O VERB ID	O (“love”) + VERB (“smooch, for example”) + ID (“instinctual drive”) VERB was a good misdirection
21a	<_EN MASSE_<	<hopel_ESS AMNE_sia< (hidden phrase indicated by “held,” reversal indicated by “back”)
23a	~PHLOX	~FLOCKS (“herds,” homophone indicated by “loud”)
24a	*ARTIFACT	*FRAT ACT I (anagram indicated by “obnoxious”) This time the definition is being hidden behind the I
28a	TAG(S ALON)G	TAGG (“Mitt Romney’s son”) containing (“outside of”) SALON (“beauty shop”)
29a	*IN BED	*I BEND (anagram indicated by “flexibly”) I remember this one!  You read a fortune cookie phrase, and follow it with “in bed.”  Hilarity ensues!
30a	*RETEST	Two pieces of wordplay in this one *SETTER (anagram indicated by “cryptic”) and *STREET (anagram indicated by “anagram”)
31a	<TRAS_H CAN<	<NACH_o_S ART< (“crafting of Mexican snacks,” reversal indicated by “rejecting,” omission of O (“orange”) indicated by “toss”)

Down

1d	HOP I	HOP (“skip”) + I (“one”)
2d	MELON	ME LON (pun on “me Tarzan, you Jane” and actor Lon Chaney)
3d	BUFFALO	Triple definition
4d	§ELAND	§E-LAND (“cyberspace”)
6d	RE QUIRE	RE (“note”) + QUIRE (“paper, 24 sheets at least”)
7d	S(PIC)INES S	PIC (“shot”) contained in (“amid”) SINES (“some functions”) + S (“satisfactory”)
8d	RA}Y{ CHARLES	RA{N}CH (“farm,” replacement of N (“no”) with Y (“yes”) indicated by “turns to” + ARLES (“where Van Gogh painted”)
9d	*S(TAM)PEDE	*SPEED (anagram indicated by “reckless”) containing (“circumventing”) TAM (“cap”)
14d	*SIMON PETER	*PRE-MOISTEN (anagram indicated by “nuts”)
16d	P(REF)LIGHT	REF (“official”) contained in (“is in”) PLIGHT (“trouble”)
17d	END *EAVOR	END (“stop”) + *OVER A (anagram indicated by “disturbance”) More misdirection: “over” looks like an indicator instead of anagram fodder.
20d	BO(XC)ARS	BOARS (“pigs”) containing (“swallowing”) XC (“90”) “Boxcars” is gambling slang for 6-6 on a pair of dice.
22d	MUFF IN S	MUFF (“make a mistake”) + IN (†) + ^S^ow (first letter indicated by “front of”) Similar misdirection: this time, a common indicator word is used as charade fodder.
25d	TI(G)ER	G (“one thousand dollars”) contained in (“in”) TIER (“a row”)
26d	CUBIC	CU (“copper”) + BIC (“pen”)
27d	_O_ DIN	j_O_y (omission of first and last letters indicated by “boundless”) + DIN (“noise”)