Saturday, March 12, 2011 - How's your wardrobe?

Introduction

By choosing from the various garments hidden within today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon, one could assemble a fairly complete wardrobe.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle.

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

The meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

charge - noun 3 [2^nd entry] a person or thing entrusted to the care of someone: the babysitter watched over her charges

Appearing in Solutions:

clog dance - noun a dance performed in clogs with rhythmic beating of the feet , especially as a traditional dance in Ireland, Scotland, and the North of England

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

24a   Infielder's cut-off pants and shirt (9)

Baseball Field

For readers, in particular those from overseas, who may not be familiar with baseball, a team consists of nine players - a pitcher, a catcher, four infielders (first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, and third baseman) and three outfielders (right fielder, centre fielder, and left fielder). The position of the catcher is behind home plate and that of the shortstop between second base and third base.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   AT|TIRE - AT (next to) + TIRE (flag; become exhausted)

4a   CLO(THIN)G - CLOG (dance shoe) containing (getting) THIN (flimsy)

See entry for clog dance in Today's Glossary (above).

9a   HA(RICO)T - HAT (cap) containing (covering) RICO

11a   BROGANS* - anagram (all about) of BAR SONG

12a   LA|UN|DRESS - LA (Los Angeles) + (with) UN (a French; i.e., French word meaning 'a') + DRESS (costume)

13a   T|HOSE - T (Wal-Mart's last [letter]) + HOSE (stockings)

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (formerly branded as Wal-Mart, branded as Walmart since 2008) is an American public multinational corporation that runs a chain of large discount department stores and a chain of warehouse stores. In 2010 it was the world's largest public corporation by revenue, according to the Forbes Global 2000 for that year ... Wal-Mart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, with 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States and  Puerto Rico. Wal-Mart operates in Mexico as Walmex, in the United Kingdom as Asda ("Asda Wal-Mart" in some branches), in Japan as Seiyu, and in India as Best Price. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, and Canada.

 14a   _E|THE|R_ - hidden in (essential to) tiE THE Ribbons

16a   BELT|RAN - BELT (hit) + (and) RAN (went around the basepath)

Carlos Ivan Beltrán - Puerto Rican-born Major League Baseball outfielder with the New York Mets

19a   BRA|VEST - {BRA + VEST} (pair of garments for the upper body)

20a   STOLE - double definition; "ripped off" & "article of fur"

23a   SEWER - double definition; "pipe" & "worker using threads"

24a   SHORTS|TOP - SHORTS (cut-off pants) + (and) TOP (shirt)

See Commentary on Today's Puzzle.

26a   A|DO|R(N)ED - N (Navy's leader; i.e., first letter of 'Navy') contained in (wearing) {A + DO (party) + RED (colour)}

27a   S|TUMBLE - S (beginning [first letter] of spring) + (and) TUMBLE (fall)

28a   PA(TIE)NTS - TIE (neckwear) contained in (tucked into) PANTS (trousers)

See entry for charge in Today's Glossary (above).

29a   THIRST* - anagram (torn) of T-SHIRT

Down
1d   ACH(ILL)ES - ACHES (feels sore) containing (taking) ILL (sick)

2d   THROUGH~ - sounds like (audibly) THREW (tossed)

3d   R(ACE)D - ACE (pro) contained in (in) RD (road)

5d   LOB(O)S - LOBS (looping shots) containing (around) O (hoop)

The Minnesota Timberwolves are a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

6d   {TOOK TURNS}* - anagram (beat-up) of TRUNKS TOO

7d   IDAHOANS* - anagram (might give) of NOAH AID

Idaho is a state in the Northwestern United States that shares a short portion of its border with the Canadian province of British Columbia.

8d   G|USTED - G (gee) + USTED (in Mexico you; i.e., Spanish word meaning 'you')

10d   TRE(M)BLE - M (bit of music; i.e., first letter of the word 'music') contained in (in) TREBLE (high-voiced)

15d   REAR|RANGE - {REAR RANGE} (back burners)

Note the question mark signalling a twist in the clue.

17d   LOT(ION)S - ION (charged item) contained in (among) LOTS (many)

18d   WEE|PIES|T - WEE (little) + PIES (pastries) + T (kind of square; i.e., T-square, a drafting implement)

19d   B(AWL) OUT - AWL (puncher) contained in (in) BOUT (boxing match)

21d   OCTOBER* - anagram (travelling) of ORC TO BE

22d   A-SHARP - AS (like) + HARP (stringed instrument)

24d   SAD|AT - SAD (unhappy) + AT (about)

Anwar Sadat (1918–1981) was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. He was a senior member of the Free Officers group that overthrew the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, whom he succeeded as President in 1970.

25d   T|OUCH - T (time) + OUCH (that hurts; or, more likely, 'that hurts!!')

Signing off for today - Falcon