Saturday, May 22, 2010 - Devil or Angel

Introduction

In today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon, we find an appearance by Dion. However, perhaps a performance by Bobby Vee would have been more appropriate.




There is a bit of a macabre connection between Dion and Bobby Vee. An article in Wikipedia reports that "[A string of hit records in 1958] won Dion and the Belmonts a place on the "Winter Dance Party" tour with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. On February 2, 1959, after playing in Clear Lake, Iowa, Dion decided that he could not afford the $36 cost of a flight to the next venue -- this was the same monthly rent his parents paid for his childhood apartment, and Dion decided he couldn't justify the indulgence. The plane crashed, and Holly and the other stars were killed, still the tour continued with Jimmy Clanton and Bobby Vee being added to the bill as replacements. Dion and the Belmonts continued to perform until the end of the tour."

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Used in Clues:

The Waltons - a 1970s era American television series

Used in Solutions:

Angel Cordero - Puerto Rican-born thoroughbred horse racing jockey

Celine Dion - Canadian singer

Dion DiMucci (known professionally simply as Dion) - American singer/songwriter

Teri Garr - an American actress and comedienne

Go - an ancient board game originating in the Orient

Eugene O'Neill - an American playwright

Sacramento Kings - a National Basketball Association team based in Sacramento, California

William Archibald Spooner - famous Oxford don after whom the spoonerism is named

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a SUP|PORT - SUP (dine) + (with) PORT (wine)

5a GRAPHED~ - sounds like (by audit) GRAFT (fiscal crime)

9a CR_|ATE - CR (a couple of crackers; i.e., the first two letters of the word "crackers") + ATE (devoured)

10a TEMP|TRESS - TEMP (part time worker) + TRESS (lock, as lock of hair)

11a {ANGEL CORDERO}* - anagram (off) of RANGER COOLED; jockey Angel Cordero

14a ETNA< - reversal of (taken back) ANTE (bet) 15a HEAR|T(S)EASE - {HEAR (listen to) + TEASE (kid)} containing (about) S (small)

18a {TALENT SHOW}* - anagram (arranged) of THE WALTONS

19a WELL - double definition; "fine" (as one might respond to the question, "How are you?") and "place for a bucket"

21a {DEVIL-MAY-CARE}* - anagram (mixed) of CAVIAR MEDLEY

25a R(AINT)IGHT - RIGHT (proper) containing (cl0thing) AINT (isn't commonly; i.e., ain't)

26a AMISH - cryptic definition which applies the suffix "-ish" (denoting "rather like") to AM (the morning)

27a MIN(ARE)T - ARE (live) contained in (in) MINT (brand new)

28a S(P)OONER - P (parking) contained in (taken by) SOONER (earlier); "watched his birds" is a Spoonerism for "botched his words"

Down

1d SACRAMENTO* - anagram (anagrammed into) of ACTORS NAME; Sacramento: home of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association

2d PLAN|GENTLY - PLAN (scheme) + GENTLY (nicely)

3d ONEILL - ONE (a) + ILL (bad); playwright Eugene O'Neill

4d TATT(OO)ERS - OO (two loops) contained in (in) TATTERS (shreds)

5d GO (M)AD - GOAD (egg) containing (inside) M (first of mallards; i.e., first letter of the word "mallards")

6d AS(TERIS)K - ASK (question) containing (about) TERIS (Ms. Garr's; i.e., Teri's); actress Teri Garr

7d HEED~ - sounds like (said) HE'D

8d DASH - double definition; "hastily write" and "punctuation"

12d LACE|RATION - LACE RATION {allotment (ration) of frilly stuff (lace)}; Note: this clue definitely works best by substituting the phrase "lace ration" for the phrase "allotment of frilly stuff"

13d {BELL|WETHER}~ - sounds like (pronounced) {BELLE (beauty) + WHETHER (if)}

16d ROOMMATES* - anagram (in ruins) of STORE AMMO

17d _ANCES|TO|R_ - hidden in (some) chANCES TO Rescue

20d D(YNAM"<")O - DO (party) containing (keeping) YNAM {a reversal (coming back) of MANY}

22d IN|GO|T - IN (popular) + GO (Japanese game) + T (tee)

23d G|RAM - G ($1000) + RAM (sheep)

24d DI(O)N - DIN (racket) containing (about) O (love; i.e., a score of 0 in tennis); Dion: perhaps intended to be Canadian singer Celine Dion, although I would like to think it may be American singer/songwriter Dion DiMucci

Signing off for today - Falcon