Running in circles (Solution No. 3,370)

Call me Dopey if you like: I didn't spot the theme of this one until I got around to the bottom, though that came about because it was a smooth solve.  Usually I like to work in a circle around the puzzle rather than jumping ahead to fill in the easy answers first.  If I have to do the latter, it's a sign of a hard puzzle.

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/puzzle-no-3370/

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

Agility factor: moderate

Themework: The across clues incorporated the names of the Seven Dwarfs from the tale of Snow White.

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”)

 

Physical therapy (Solution No. 3,367)

The solution to puzzle no. 3,367 is below the fold.

For the better part of a year, I’ve had some pain in my knees: interestingly, it strikes when I’ve been sitting still for a while. Walking, running, or skating, they’re fine. But a long car trip or a day behind my desk is uncomfortable without regular breaks to walk around for a while. It’s probably fencing-related: something in my stance or the additional strength in my legs straining the joint, but not traumatic. I’m fortunate that I’ve never had any knee injuries. And I don’t want to let up on fencing, since it’s been a good way to get more exercise into my routine.

So when the hamstring I injured a couple of months ago took its time healing (the bumpy roads and sidewalks of Oslo were pretty bothersome), I made an appointment to see a physical therapist. We started this week. After a head to toe evaluation of my strength and range of motion, he started me on exercises to open up my hips and reduce quadriceps tightness. The hypothesis is that the quads are pulling on my kneecap, straining the tendons on the other end of it.

For what it’s worth, the knees do feel better after the first week. The pain isn’t gone by any account, but I can notice a difference.

Wall Street Journal solution (June 20, 2015)

Backdated to keep this post off the top.

Below the fold is the solution to this weekend’s Wall Street Journal variety puzzle: a Labyrinth by Mike Shenk.  I also have a hint grid up in case you’re having a hard time getting off the ground.  It shows the starting and ending squares for each of the “winding” answers. Try it if you don’t want quite as much help.

Reindeer steak (Solution No. 3,206)

The solution to The Nation puzzle 3,206 is below the fold.

After a long day of museuming and hiking (I didn’t have any conference sessions to attend yesterday), a light dinner was not going to cut it.  And as much as possible, I want to sample local foods.  So tonight’s dinner was reindeer with grape-sized potatoes, vegetables, and wilted arugula. The Sami and other peoples of the far north have been herding reindeer (also known as caribou, especially in Canada) for centuries—even now it’s still an important part of their economy.

The meat was excellent: lean but not tough.  The slightly gamy flavor reminded me (for some unknown reason) of duck.

Ice dance (solution no. 3,366)

The solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle 3,366 is below the fold.

While I was working the desk at the weekend’s fencing tournament, the conversation among a few of the parents turned to competitive ballroom dancing and the judging system (which needless to say isn’t like Dancing With the Stars).

It was timely from my perspective, because Saturday night was the big ice show at the skating club—Bangle being in several pieces (The Other Doctor Mitchell is on the 30-day DL while she undergoes physical therapy on the hip that’s been bothering her).  The choreography was good, and the kids learned their routines pretty quickly.  But the ice dancers were just as impressive, even though most of them were just skating their regular routines.

It was really great to watch, because the club is figure skating only: one of the few rinks in the country that doesn’t have any hockey program.  In fact there are no dasher boards, which makes it a great place to watch skating.

If you know what to watch, it’s even better.  While most spectators and the people watching on TV watch the faces and upper bodies of the skaters, our family and the judges watch the skates.  Are they tracing a smooth line?  Are the two skaters keeping their feet close together and working in unison? Are they making nice deep edges on the turns?  With no glass and no boards, and seats right next to the ice, you get a perfect view.

New York Times solution (June 6, 2015)

I solved the first New York Times Puns & Anagrams by Mark Diehl today.  It is certainly true to the type as Deb Amlen noted, and both Will Shortz (NYT puzzle editor) and Mel Taub (longtime P&A constructor) should be pleased.  However, I didn’t think this was a particularly smooth solve.  A few bits were jarring, and while I eventually figured out all the clues, I found a few of them ambiguous. The key to a good P&A clue is that there should be logic to decoding the type of clue and not guesswork.

Ice show (Solution No. 3,365)

The solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle no. 3,365 is below the fold.

Are you in the Philadelphia area?
A little put off by the sudden onset of warm weather?
Looking for something fun on a Saturday night?

Come see Bangle and her friends perform in the annual skating show at the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society(*), titled Fairy Tales and Fables. Along with Bangle, the cast includes some national medalist ice dance couples and the junior national champion of India. Perhaps some of them might be skating in the Olympics in 2018 or 2022.

The show will be this Saturday, June 6, at the Skating Club in Ardmore, on the Main Line.  E-mail me at thenationcryptic@gmail.com for ticket information

*--yes, that’s their real name: going back to when the club was located on the Schuylkill River and part of the club’s mission was to rescue people who fell through the ice.

Props to the laundryman (Solution No. 3,364)

The solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle #3,364 is below the fold.

If I counted right, I did 20 loads of laundry from Friday night to Monday night, about half of which were the choir robes from our church.  It was ideal drying weather: sunny with a light breeze in the evening that kept the dry cycle running after sunset, and with three clotheslines in the back yard and a big washer, I’m in a good position to do all the laundry.  Not to mention that my meager talent is put to better use behind the scenes than in the choir.

The prop also keeps afghans from dragging on the ground.
The house in back was Victoria’s.

The robes are long, so when they go out on the line, I need a couple of prized possessions: my laundry props.  They’re eight-foot aluminum poles with a wire loop at the end.  They hold the middle of the clothesline up nice and high so you can put long things on it without their dragging on the ground.  You can’t find them any more; even in my fairly traditional neighborhood, not many people dry their wash on the line.

Not long after we moved into our house, I found the hooks on the corners of the shed and on the back of the house, strung up clothes-lines, and put our wash on them.  The lady across the back fence (her name was Victoria, and she had literally had been born in that house and lived there her entire life) called me over to say how pleased she was to see a husband out sharing in the housework.  Some months later, when it became apparent that it wasn’t just that one time I was helping do the laundry, she called me over again, and seeing as how she wasn’t hanging out her wash much any more, gave me the props.  That was about twenty years ago.  Victoria died maybe ten years ago, but I’m sure she’d be pleased to know her props are still at work.

New York Times solution: May 24, 2015

Below the fold is the solution to this weekend’s New York Times variety puzzle: a diagramless by Paula Gamache.  Come back often for more discussions of cryptic and variety puzzles: we have the The Nation cryptic by Hot and Trazom on Thursdays and a roundup of puzzles around the net each weekend for Sunday brunch.

(backdated to keep the The Nation solution on top)

Wall Street Journal solution (May 23, 2015)

Below the fold is the solution to this weekend’s Wall Street Journal variety puzzle: Chatter Boxes by Patrick Berry.  Some hints are also posted, and that post also explains how to solve this kind of puzzle.

Spring solving season (Solution No. 3,363)

It’s Monday—time for a solution.  And I was wrong about the Harpers’ puzzle: I finished it in one go-round.

Bach Sunday (Solution No. 3,362)

The solution and annotation to puzzle No. 3,362 is below the fold.  Happy birthday, Raydoc!

If you like to solve cryptics, you probably also like to listen to Bach’s music.  I had plenty of opportunity to do both yesterday.  In the morning, the church choir (with Sabers augmenting the tenor section and The Other Doctor Mitchell steadying the sopranos) sang portions of two Bach masses.  I particularly liked the Kyrie from the Missa brevis in A.  There’s a simplicity in it, and it’s in a key you don’t hear often.

Right after that we had to leave for Germantown, where Sabers performed with the Philadelphia Sinfonia Players, the intermediate ensemble of Philadelphia’s top youth orchestra program.  They take a very professional approach to rehearsing and performing, and they play a lot of standard repertoire, all of which which is good preparation for the next level.  The added challenge helped with the school orchestra too, where Sabers was promoted to principal bass (or as we put it: first bassman) this year.

Along with the Bach Little Fugue, the PSP played Strauss’s Blue Danube and Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King.  That’s the piece with the famous theme that starts in the lowest registers of the orchestra.  The bassoonist did a great job with it, and Sabers and his standmate gave the bass line the ‘tiptoe’ feel of an approaching troll.

Between that and the high school concert Thursday (did I mention Sabers sang the entire school chorus concert tonight, too?--four performances in five days, plus a piano recital next Sunday), I was very impressed with the tone and solid projection of his instrument, which we bought last year and is now pretty well played-in.  So if you’re in the market for a new bass, give the folks at Gollihur’s a call.  If you’re looking for a half-size instrument for a junior high bassist, give me a call.

Hockey games should be two periods (Solution No. 3,361)

The solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle No. 3,361 is below the fold.

For every game where the the finish is exciting as the trailing team tries desperately to get the tying goal while the team that’s leading tries to hold on, there are three or four where the contest is over well before the third period even starts.  I had one of those Saturday afternoon.  It was a middle school game, the yellow team vs. the lawn chairs (they fold up when you push them).

The lawn chairs had one decent line, while the yellow team had much more depth and skill overall. Interestingly, the lawn chairs dominated the face-offs, but it was the opposite way in shots on goal and on the scoreboard, even though the yellow team coach had instructed his players to ease up midway through the second and not run up the score.  It was 5 to 1 after two periods.

I would have preferred not to have a third period in that game.  The yellow team got two more goals, the lawn chairs had two more injuries and two more miraculous recoveries (I was sure the kid with the bright green sweater was going to the hospital when he was helped off the ice unable to put any weight on his right leg—he was back skating five minutes later).  My partner got mouthed-off at by a 12-year-old from the yellow team, another one leveled an opponent with a two-hander in the back at the end of the game (I banged that penalty out right then and there, not waiting for a change of possession to blow the whistle—the coach might still be chewing out the kid for that one).  And about halfway through the third, I reinjured the hamstring I hurt fencing last weekend.

In the third, the players get tired, the ice gets slow, the coaches get frustrated, and the fans get bored. Refs get tired and bored too, but we don’t show it.  You might notice me stopping for a second when I hand off the puck or my partner.  I’ll say a few words to help us stay motivated or be alert for a situation that could result in a penalty, or to commend my partner’s hustle or a call he just made.

And no, I don’t really think hockey games should be just two periods.

Deflections (Solution No. 3,360)

The solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle #3,360 is below the fold.

During the Caps-Islanders Game 7 last night, there was a goal set up by a perfectly-placed shot from the blue line.  Not perfect as in evading the goalie’s glove and finding the top corner of the net, but perfectly set up to be deflected into the goal.

When you see kids playing street hockey or a pick-up game at the rink, they often make a big deal over who can “lift” their shot: getting it up in the air and going towards the top of the goal.  Try a shot like that in a higher-level game against a good goalie, and he’ll glove the puck and say “thank you.”

The place you really want to put a point shot is 5 or 6 inches above the ice.  That’s where havoc can ensue.  The puck is off the ice, so there’s no sliding resistance and you have maximum velocity.  It’s also high enough to evade the defensemen’s sticks most of the time, but not high enough for an easy glove save.  And a shot just above the ice maximizes the chances of a deflection.  Not even NHL goalies are quick enough to react to a puck that changes direction at the last instant.

Were your brains quick enough to handle the challenges Hot and Trazom teed up this week?  Here’s the solution. 

Congratulations, Devo (Solution No, 3,359)

[whoops--left this on draft status: sorry, solvers]

The solution to this week’s The Nation cryptic crossword is below the fold. 

There is no other sport that does better by its retiring officials than hockey. Paul Devorski, one of the last of the old-time referees from the era of the three-man system, nameplates on your sweater, and officials without helmets, hung up his skates two weeks ago.  As it has done for other retirees, the NHL gave Devo his choice of where to work his final game (here in Philly—Devo lives in Harrisburg) and which partners to work it with (among them Paul’s linesman brother Greg).

The players all skated over to the referee’s crease for a handshake line at the conclusion of the game, and to their great credit, the TV producers for NBC made sure to show it and take a moment to recognize some of the highlights of Devo’s career (including a seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final and the gold medal game of the 2006 Olympics).

Jake Voracek wishes Devo a happy and healthy retirement. 

Devo’s retirement had particular meaning for me, since he was the last active NHL official who was older than me.  Brad Watson, now the oldest ref remaining, is two weeks younger than I am.

There’s a few more years left in my legs, especially since I don’t have to keep up with the greatest players in the world like Devo did; but I’d be lying if I said retirement has never crossed my mind.  I’ve stepped aside from working high school and top-level midget games: they need younger and faster officials than me.  I also do a lot fewer three-game days than I used to.

There’s still plenty to skate for, even on the tail end of your career: working with younger officials, seeing players improve over the course of a season, nailing a close call on the line or an unusual situation and rules interpretation, and coming home with a story to share.  That’s why we lace ‘em up and blow the whistle.  

WSJ solution (March 28, 2015)

Below the fold is the solution to this weekend’s Wall Street Journal variety puzzle: “Hunting Season” by Patrick Berry.  I'll offer a hint grid elsewhere on the blog.

No wordplay (Solution No. 3,358)

The solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle No. 3,358 is below the fold.

The contrast between the cluing approaches of Hot/Trazom and Frank Lewis is really apparent in this puzzle.  If the Frank Lewis clues hadn’t been italicized, I probably would have been able to identify five or six of them.  The most obvious ones are clues like 1a and 25a, which lack the Ximinean construction of “a definition, wordplay, and nothing else.”  In most cases, Hot and Trazom hew pretty carefully to the Ximinean line. 

That’s not necessarily better or worse:  it’s different.  It takes a little more effort to make sure clues are neatly constructed, but it misses out on some of the associative possibilities that make you nod your head and smile when you figure out the answer. 

On the other hand, the British-style free association clues leave you grappling if you don’t see the clue phrase the same way the constructor does.  I find I have to rely more on intersecting letters, and often I need to see nearly all of them before the answer pops into my mind’s eye.  If you don’t have accessible answers crossing the clever ones, whole sections remain unsolved, and that’s where I think a lot of potential solvers give up on cryptics. 

Routine ejections (Solution No. 3,357)

This weekend I was managing a fencing tournament rather than refereeing hockey (I have hockey playoffs next weekend).  One of my refs, a promising 17-year-old, handed out his first black card (a black card in fencing is the equivalent of a game misconduct in hockey), so I had my hands full handling the paperwork and making sure nothing really stupid happened, and missed a concert that Sabers was singing in. Fortunately, there were no parents going bonkers, and no appeal.  In fact, the penalized athlete pretty much just ran out after the card was issued and we never saw him again.

No good official ever wants to dump a player or coach (even the notorious Earl Weaver), because it’s a hassle if not for any other reason.  But the paperwork here was a breeze and an appeal wouldn’t have stood up even if the fencer had stayed and appealed.  Though he was leading his bout and in a good position to win and move on to the quarterfinal, he got upset at a call and kicked his mask across the strip into the wall.  About as obvious a black card offense as you can get.  No second-guessing yourself: ideal for your first ejection.

So as I talked the ref through the process of writing up the report, we could focus on what to say and not to say: stick to the facts, keep it brief, and try and use the exact wording from the rulebook (with words like “vociferous”) to describe the offense as you saw or heard it.  The point being to demonstrate to anyone reading the report that the ref had no reasonable option other than pulling the card.

Good week of puzzles, particularly the Stickler, which had a few clues which had been buffed to a glow.  I agree with Falcon that this week’s National Post puzzle was unusually easy.  After I saw his post, I tried it golf-style, running through the clues to see how many I could get on first glance without any crossing letters (I didn’t fill anything into the grid, just to protect me from the temptation to cheat. Got all but three answers on the first pass.

Did you get your exercise? (Solution No. 3,356)

The solution to The Nation puzzle no. 3,356 is below the fold.

I said when I introduced this puzzle that it required more than the usual level of mental agility, and that solvers who prefer to grind out anagrams and rebus clues would find this one harder.  Keep reading and I’ll explain my thinking.