Saturday, January 15, 2011 - Geography (and Dance) Lesson

Introduction

In today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon, we travel around the world paying visits to a half-dozen major geographical features. We are also given the opportunity to receive a bit of a lesson in dance terminology.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

4d   Recorded kind of jazz-dance education (5)

Is tap dance a "kind of jazz-dance"? I was surprised to learn that the answer is apparently "Yes" - or more correctly perhaps, would have been "Yes" some 60 years ago. According to the Wikipedia article on jazz dance:

Until the mid 1950s, jazz dance ... often referred to tap dance because tap dancing, set to jazz music, was one of the predominant dances of the era. ... After the 1950s, ... jazz dance evolved on Broadway into the new, smooth style that is taught today and known as modern jazz, while tap dance branched off to follow its own, separate evolutionary path.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a C(APE) HATTER|AS - {CHATTER (jabber) + AS (while)} containing (acquiring) APE (copier); Cape Hatteras - promontory in North Carolina, U.S.A.

8a EVEN|T - EVEN (tied) + T (time)

9a IMP|ACTORS - IMP ACTORS (rascals on stage)

11a INVEIGHED~ - sounds like (at hearing) INVADE (attack)

Singer Norah Jones

12a NO|RAH - NO RAH (cheer); American singer Norah Jones

13a GOGO|L - L (left) following (behind) GO-GO (disco); Russian writer Nikolai Gogol

15a EA|ST RIVER - EA (each) + STRIVER (person contending); East River - waterway in New York City

18a {TASMAN SEA}* - anagram (damaged) of SANTA MESA; Tasman Sea - body of water separating Australia and New Zealand; Santa Mesa - district of Manila, Philippines

19a CANED* - anagram (irregular) of DANCE

20a ADD|LE - ADD (tot) + LE (the French; i.e., French word meaning 'the')

22a HALLMARKS~ - sounds like (vocally) HAUL (convey) + MARX (Groucho); American comedian Groucho Marx

24a {TEA FOR TWO}* - anagram (playing) of FAR TOO WET;

"Tea for Two" is a song from the 1925 American stage musical No, No, Nanette as well as a 1950 American musical film inspired by the play [Tea for Two (film)].

25a GATOR~ - sounds like (audibly) GAITER (spat; legging)

26a {EASTER ISLAND}* - anagram (shifted) of EARLIEST SAND; Easter Island (native name: Rapa Nui) - a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.

Down

Actress Scarlett Johansson

1d CLEAVAGES* - anagram (breaking) LEG AS CAVE

2d _PE|TRI_ - hidden (some) in doPE TRIes

3d H(EIGHT)ENS - HENS (chickens) containing (around) EIGHT (four short of a dozen)

4d TAPED - TAP (kind of jazz dance) + ED (education; as in phys ed, sex ed, driver ed, etc.)

See discussion of jazz dance in Commentary on Today's Puzzle (above).

Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus

5d EC(CENT)RIC< - reversal (returns) of CIRCE (sorceress) containing (carrying) CENT (penny); Circe - sorceress from Greek mythology

6d AM|OUR - AM (in the morning) + OUR

7d BE|RING S|TRAIT - BE (live) + RINGS (band's) + TRAIT (characteristic); Bering Strait - channel between Russia and Alaska

10d {SAHARA DESERT}* - anagram (moved) of REST AREAS HAD; Sahara - the world's largest hot desert, located in North Africa.

14d {LEAVES O(U)T}* - U (hairpin; as 'U-turn'/'hairpin turn') contained in an anagram (new) of LOVE SEAT

16d STALL|I(ON)S - STALL (stable area) + {IS containing (housing) ON (riding; as 'on a horse'/'riding a horse')}

17d VENERATED* - anagram (changed) of DATE NEVER

21d DRAM|A - DRAM (shot; of strong drink) + A

22d HATER* - anagram (broken) of HEART

23d MA(G)MA - MAMA (mom) contains (possesses) G (grand; thousand)

Signing off for today - Falcon