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.

Solution to The Nation puzzle #3,357

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	S(L)IGHTS	SIGHTS (“notices”) containing ^L^ent (first letter indicated by “beginning of”)
5a	JE JUNE	JE (“in France, I”) preceding (“before”) JUNE (“a month”) Good misdirection here: how many of you were going through the French calendar?
8a	<_OCTAL_<	<f_LAT CO_ntradiction_<  (reversal indicated by “is overturned,” hidden word indicated by “in”) A clue for us geeks who remember Digital Equipment Corp. computers like the PDP-8.  Intentionally placed at 8a?
9a	<ANAL *GE(S)IC<	ANAL (“compulsive”) + *E-CIG (anagram indicated by “mixture”) containing ^S^moker (first letter indicated by “originally”)
11a	P(RO B)O NO	ROB (“Lowe”) contained in (“gets into”) PO (“a river”) + NO (“I don’t think so”)
12a	§SPAREST	§SPA REST
13a	*CINDERELLA	*RECALLED IN (anagram indicated by “tangled”) Great indicator: makes the surface glossy-smooth
16a	PAWN	Double definition
18a	LIED	Double definition LIED is a German word for art song
19a	¶GARGANTUAN	¶TAR GUN (letter bank indicated by “assemblage with some components reused”)
21a	P(*OST DO)C	*STOOD (anagram indicated by “awkwardly”) contained in (“captivated by”) PC (“political correctness”)
23a	_REELECT_	f_REE LECT_ure (hidden word indicated by “conceals”)
25a	<EROT I< C ART	<I TORE< (“I raced,” reversal indicated by “backward”) followed by (“ahead of”) CART (“vehicle”)
26a	_CORGI_	quebe_C OR GI_braltar (hidden word indicated by “found in”)
27a	F(R)IEND	FIEND (“addict”) containing (“embraces”) ^R^ehab (first letter indicated by “start of”)
28a	*ME(MPH)IS	MPH (“unit”) contained in (“in”) *SEMI (anagram indicated by “ruined”)

Down

1d	*SNOWPO(CALYPS_)E	*WE SNOOP (anagram indicated by “suspiciously”) containing (“around”) CALYPS_o_ (“Caribbean music,” omission of last letter indicated by “endless”)
2d	*IN(T)RO	*IRON (anagram indicated by “wrought”) containing (“surrounds”) ^T^raditional (first letter indicated by “top”) There was a typo in the clue as originally printed: “entrace” should be “entrance.”
3d	HALL OWED	HALL (“building”) + OWED (“outstanding”) I was trying to fit “holy” in here for a while.
4d	SO_AP OPERA	SO_d_A POP ERA (“the Age of Dr. Pepper,” omission of ^D^rama (first letter indicated by “opening”) indicated by “omits”)
5d	JEANS	Double definition
6d	JIG<SAW<	JIG (“dance”) + <WAS< (†, reversal indicated by “held upside-down”)
7d	*NOSFERATU	*FUTONS ARE (anagram indicated by “unsuitable”)
10d	CAT O NINE TAILS	CATO (“Roman statesman”) + NIN (“diarist”) + E-TAILS (“uses the internet to sell”)
14d	*NIELS BOHR	*BROILS HEN (anagram indicated by “in a stew”) For some reason, physicists get more recognition in crosswords than chemists or biologists.
15d	~LOGARITHM	~LAGER RHYTHM (“beer flow,” homophone indicated by “announced”)
17d	*INTERCOM	*MICRONET (anagram indicated by “econfigured”)
20d	AD VICE	BC (“opposite of AD”) + VICE (“opposite of virtue”)
22d	~CHARD	~CHARRED (“buned,” homophone indicated by “we hear”)
24d	E(ART)H	EH (“what”) containing (“encompasses”) ART (“things of beauty”)