Saturday, December 26, 2009 - Dressed for the Cold

Introduction

Today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon presents us with several items of winter clothing, one of which was new to me.

Christmas festivities have delayed me in posting this blog.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

26a Departs through English port (5)

The setters may be using D as an abbreviation for departs. However, I could find no reference to substantiate this as a valid meaning. Perhaps they are using an indirect reference here. D is an abbreviation for dead or died, which is also a meaning for departed. However, if this were to be the case, departs would seem to be in the wrong tense; that is, the clue would need to read "Departed through English port".

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a _PIC|ADOR_ - hidden in (in) ePIC ADORed

5a WAR|RANT - WAR RANT; in other words a RANT (bombastic speech) concerning (about) WAR (conflict)

9a P(U)RIM - U (half of US) contained in (involved in) PRIM (stiffly formal); Purim: Jewish holy day

10a BALAC<|LAVA - CA (California) LAB (research centre) reversed (backed) LAVA (hot rock)

11a TI(BE)TAN - BE (take place) contained in (held by) TITAN (giant)

12a SERVANT* - anagram of (changed) TAVERNS

13a SALOPETTES* - anagram of (after adjusting) TEST A SLOPE; salopettes: plural noun padded or fleecy trousers with a high waist and shoulder straps, worn for skiing

16a S|CAR - S (small) CAR (wheels)

18a PAWN - DD; "someone manipulated" and "deposit as security"

19a TURTLENECK* - anagram of (bum) TUCKER LENT

22a LI(MITE)D - MITE (arachnid) contained in (inside) LID (cap)

23a P|ARAGON - ARAGON (part of Spain) following (after) P (Portugal's capital; i.e., capital letter or first letter of Portugal)

25a DOWN| PARK|A - DOWN (further south) PARK (temporarily leave) A

26a D|OVER - D (departs) OVER (through)

27a PI(RAT)ED - PIED (like the Piper) containing (catching) RAT (vermin)

28a HAS|SLED - HAS (possesses) SLED (means for coasting)

Down

1d PUP|ATE|S - PUP (youngster) ATE (worried) next to (by) S (start of school; i.e., first letter of school)

2d C(A)RIB - CRIB (plagiarized work) containing (about) A

3d {DEMO TAPE}* - anagram of (rambling) POET MADE

4d ROB|IN - ROB (steal from) IN (popular)

5d WELL-S|PENT - WELLS (sources of oil) PENT (shut up)

6d RE(CO|R)D - CO (company) R (run) contained in (in) RED (debit side)

7d A|VALANC(H)E - A VALANCE (curtain) containing (surrounding) H (hot)

8d TRAIT|OR - TRAIT (characteristic) OR (otherwise)

14d {LAWN MO(W)ER}* - anagram of (agitated) WARN ELMO containing (about) W (chemical symbol for tungsten, also known as wolfram)

15d T|HUND(E)RED - E (economy initially) contained in (in) T (start of twentieth) HUNDRED (century)

17d HE|BRIDES - HE (man) and BRIDES (new wife's)

18d P(ILED<) UP - PUP (pooch) containing (outside) DELI (sandwich shop) reversed (on the way back)

20d KIND|RE|D - KIND (considerate) RE (with regard to) D (poor; as a school grade, for example)

21d S(TOP) IT - TOP (best) contained in (among) SIT (rest)

23d P|EACH - P (penny) EACH (per)

24d GAVE|L - GAVE (presented) L (Liberal) /and\ GAVEL (MC Hammer); in the definition, MC actually means Master of Ceremonies, although the surface reading is intended to make us think of the rap singer, MC Hammer

Signing off for today - Falcon