Three from LAT:
Malaproped skyscraper for referee? (6)
What a hotel maid does to excel, for example (7,5)
Ringing in the ears at swimming match may be important to understand (4)
Two from ST:
Disney princess is drug eastward (7)
Corruption right in America? No, the other way around (4)
 LAT |  Seattle Times 8/19/14 NYT |
Here are the solutions to yesterday's clues:
Cotton | to | advice from | a frequent Star Trek villain (1-3)
[Q-TIP] [=] [Q {played by John de Lancie}] [TIP]
Rolling | stop | on a | dot (4)
[anagram] [STOP] [=] [SPOT]
Golfers' concerns! (4)
[LIES {ball position and score cheating}]
Square off on the canvas | or | hold the canvas square (4)
[SPAR {canvas boxing ring mat}] [=] [SPAR {ship's canvas sail support}]
Search in | C.S. Lewis, | you'll find he | killed off a lot of characters (4)
[hidden] [cS LEWis] [=] [SLEW]
If you are only reading the main entries on this blog, you're only reading part of it! The comments are often more interesting and informative than the main entries, so check them out even if you don't plan to add one yourself! Please post comments, guesses, questions, partial answers, rationales, alternative clues, or anything even marginally related.
LAT1: Malaproped skyscraper for referee? (6)
ReplyDeleteGot it. Er, combustible stuff by the sound of it. Actually closer than many of your homophones, to my ear, especially when used attributively. BTW, I don’t find malaprop listed as a verb in my dictionary. There is an adjectival form, malapropos, which could be used – but it does sound pretentious.
LAT2: What a hotel maid does to excel, for example (7,5)
Got it. Very nice image. I am sitting in a hotel room now, using Microsoft Office - I can picture the scene in the hallway.
LAT3: Ringing in the ears at swimming match may be important to understand (4)
Got it, finally. This was the trickiest, both for the cryptic part (“swimming” and “ringing in the ears” was an elaborate misdirect) and definition. Back to the heart of the matter: Well met, Sir!
ST1: Disney princess is drug eastward (7)
Got it. Not too tricky. Lou Reed did the best song about it (the drug, that is).
ST2: Corruption right in America? No, the other way around (4)
Got it. Nice misdirect with the definition (although the usage is classified “archaic” in my dictionary) plus an inventive charade.
NC
A few for your amusement:
ReplyDeleteLAT4: It’s sized very small, and the New World variety is 25% smaller still (4).
LAT5: See the Valley of Lost Silence exhibited in a gallery, perhaps (2,3,5).
LAT6: The mark of a beaten man before early thirties’ prosperity (6)
ST3: Data facility finds atrial fibrillation takes its toll with first clinicians (10,5)
LAT4: It’s sized very small, and the New World variety is 25% smaller still (4).
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing this involves a subtraction, but I can't figure out the original word, and the only candidate I can identify of the 4-letter words in this puzzle is PENS. [Though I might expect the Old World variety to be the smaller. ;] But the bottom line is, I really have no idea on this one.
LAT5: See the Valley of Lost Silence exhibited in a gallery, perhaps (2,3,5).
Numeration is unique, so seeing the direct is easy (except I can't tell if "exhibited" is included), but even so I don't understand the cryptic.
LAT6: The mark of a beaten man before early thirties’ prosperity (6)
Finally a comparatively easy one, though the contranym of the first part thru me for a bit.
ST3: Data facility finds atrial fibrillation takes its toll with first clinicians (10,5)
[anagram]-[TOLL]-[C] long but legal.