Three from LAT:
Op. cit. below opposite (5)
Boosters are pigs (7)
Swore a curse at the party (6)
Two from ST:
Farm machine sounds like it got off the freeway to avoid a jam (5)
Found collage on Junior's soap-box derby entry (4,3)
 LAT |  Seattle Times 8/30/14 NYT |
Here are the solutions to yesterday's clues:
Laughed at the | spar Odysseus | was bound into (6)
[PARODY] = [sPAR ODYsseus] [hidden]
Sixth | classic car | is said to sing beautifully (5)
[VI] [REO] = [VIREO]
Abstract | dirty | paintings (4)
[SOIL] [anagram] = [OILS]
This one is second level, i.e. the word to be rearranged, SOIL, should be given directly. But it seemed too obvious in this case. Dirty could more effectively masquerade as an adjective in the clue, and a verb in the cryptic.
Tropical spot | in | northeast | Virgin Islands (5)
[NIVIS] [=] [NE] [V.I.S]
Briefly, | where an acorn would think he was in an afterlife surrounded by squirrels? (2,1,8)
[IN A NUTSHELL] = [IN A NUT'S HELL]
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: Op. cit. below opposite (5)
ReplyDeleteDD. I just finished the crossword, so had no trouble here. Not sure Op. cit. is the best definition, but adequate. Vide supra is the closest phrase used in this context, but rather too obvious, perhaps.
LAT2: Boosters are pigs (7)
DD. I once had truffles in a posh LA restaurant (business account). Quite tasteless. Apparently, a substantial proportion of adults do not have the smell/taste receptors (That’s the trouble with truffles…).
LAT3: Swore a curse at the party (6)
Homophone. Here we re-enter the realm of US. versus Brit. pronunciation, in this case of direct imports from the French language, albeit this one is not at all recent - 16th Century. It took me a moment then I recalled the comments on clientèle in the LAT crossword blog a few days ago. Most educated Brits will take a stab at the modern French pronunciation, including nasalization of the “on”– roughly “clee-on-tell”; whereas Americans (with perfect justification) generally Anglicize it to Cly-‘nt-ell or sometimes Clee-‘nt-ell. “Masseuse” is another one, which most Americans pronounce Mass-uice to rhyme with “juice”, while Brits will say Mass-urz.
Enough already. Back to the present case, Brits will say S(u)WA-RAY rather then SWORE-AY, as you suggest here.
But none of this is directly relevant to your clue, for which I have no complaints* (it is covered by the usual comment from Dorothy to TOTO – the latter also in today’s crossword).
*I assume that "curse" as the homophone indicator is meant to point also to the stressed pronunciation of "a" (i.e., "ay") (as well as fitting nicely with "swore").
ST1: Farm machine sounds like it got off the freeway to avoid a jam (5)
Homophone. I get the general sense of leaving as in “bail out” of an aircraft. Is it also commonly used in the sense you have given, or is this just a link to the machine concept (I will believe you).
ST2: Found collage on Junior's soap-box derby entry (4,3).
Charade. I am supposed to tell my children that the boxes full of old school projects enable only 1 car to fit into our 3-car garage are in fact just this?
NC
One response to your comment on my LAT4 clue from yesterday
ReplyDeleteThey are clearly able to recall street expression when repeated verbatim (8).
Your comment ST.+ OH!, don't know why you added "verbatim"
My response I added "verbatim" because I was intrigued that the word comprises an exact repeat of a sequence of 4 letters (but is reparsed to form the new word): so HOTS-HOTS => HOT-SHOTS; and of course, by symmetry, it works backwards too: STOH-STOH. I wonder how many examples there are of this.
Just 4 from me:
ReplyDeleteLAT4: Victoria was not employed (6).
LAT5: I’m clever, perfect, and a Long Island dish (10)
ST3: The poor man of Europe loses north but absorbs a southern state (7)
ST4: Iron age supplies Crown agent (7)
A day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes. Got 3 out of 4, after spending way too much time on the fail.
ReplyDeleteLAT4: Victoria was not employed (6).
The first part is a nice famous queenish quote, but employed seems a rather iffy synonym. Both words list "engaged" as a synonym, but with very different connotations.
LAT5: I’m clever, perfect, and a Long Island dish (10)
Anagram with a bit of charade tagged on. Nice.
ST3: The poor man of Europe loses north but absorbs a southern state (7)
28 7-letter words in this grid, and none seem to fit any part of this clue. I'm stumped.
ST4: Iron age supplies Crown agent (7)
Cute direct, good anagram.