Saturday, June 4, 2011 - Hey Guys!

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon, we meet a couple of Guys - one who was a Royal Canadian and the other who was once a Montreal Canadien - each of whom were considered among the best in their respective fields of endeavour.

On a housekeeping note, you will see a new notation in the Solution to Today's Puzzle section where I have marked entries appearing in Today's Glossary with a double dagger (^‡).

By the way, the cropping of the right border in the image is a carry over from the paper (as was the case last week).

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

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.

Chico [Marx] - (1887 – 1961) American comedian and film star and one of the Marx Brothers. His persona in the act was that of a dim-witted con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes, and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat.

left field - noun 1 Baseball the part of the outfield to the left of the batter when facing the pitcher: a high fly to left field [abbreviation LF (frequently seen in tables on sports pages, for example)]

Appearing in Solutions:

aught¹ (also ought) - archaic anything at all: know you aught of this fellow, young sir?

Usage: The verb ought is a modal verb, which means that it does not behave grammatically like ordinary verbs. In particular, the negative is formed with the word not alone and not with auxiliary verbs such as do or have. Therefore the standard construction for the negative is he ought not to have gone. The alternative forms he didn‘t ought to have gone and he hadn’t ought to have gone, formed as though ought were an ordinary verb rather than a modal verb, are found in dialect from the 19th century but are not acceptable in standard modern English.

[John] Dos Passos - (1896 – 1970), American novelist and artist.

draught (US draft) - noun 2 [3^rd entry] literary or archaic a quantity of a liquid with medicinal properties: a sleeping draught

flytrap - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun 2. An insectivorous plant, such as the Venus flytrap.

Guy Lapointe - retired Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League. He currently serves as Coordinator of Amateur Scouting with the NHL's Minnesota Wild. Along with defencemen Larry Robinson and Serge Savard, Lapointe was a member of the "Big Three" and played a key role in the Canadiens' winning the Stanley Cup six times in 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979. Lapointe was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993. In 884 NHL games, Lapointe recorded 171 goals and 451 assists for 622 points. He still holds the Montreal Canadiens' record for most goals in a season for a defenceman (28), and most goals for a rookie defenceman (15).

Guy Lombardo - (1902 – 1977), Canadian-American bandleader and violinist. He and his band, The Royal Canadians, known for creating "The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven", were a staple of New Year's Eve celebrations across North America for several decades in the 20^th century. Their recording of Auld Lang Syne still plays as the first song of the new year in New York City's Times Square.

Harpo [Marx] - (1888 – 1964) was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate). Marx frequently used props such as a walking stick with a built-in bulb horn, and he played the harp in most of his films.

Hyde Park - the largest British royal park, in west central London. It contains the Serpentine, Marble Arch, the Albert Memorial, and Speakers' Corner.

Igor (or sometimes Ygor) - traditional stock character or cliché hunch-backed assistant or butler to many types of villain, such as Count Dracula or a mad scientist, familiar from many horror movies and horror movie parodies, the Frankenstein series and Van Helsing films in particular.

marabou - noun 1 (also marabou stork) a large African stork with a massive bill and large neck pouch, which feeds mainly by scavenging (Leptoptilos crumeniferus, family Ciconiidae).

om - noun a mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. It appears at the beginning and end of most Sanskrit recitations, prayers, and texts.

Oprah [Winfrey] - American television host, actress, producer, and philanthropist, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted
	"‡" see entry in Today's Glossary

Across

1a   BORED|OM - BORED (drilled) + OM^‡ (mantra)

5a   BE(MUSE)D - MUSE (Greek goddess) contained in (in) BED

9a   {DO|S PAS|SOS}^‡ - DO + SPAS (health resorts) + SOS (help)

10a   _R|OUTS - R (last of fouR) + OUTS (excuses)

11a   {GUY LOMBARDO}*^‡ - anagram (mixed) of GOOD ALBUM RY

14a   IN|APT - IN (popular) + APT (apartment)

15a   IM|POUNDED - IM (I am; i.e., I'm) + POUNDED (beaten)

17a   HYD(RANG)E|A - RANG (buzzed; as called on the telephone) contained in HYDE^‡ (London park) + (with) A

19a   BRA|IN - BRA (underwear) + IN

20a   {GUY LAPOINTE}*^‡ - anagram (confused) of AN UGLY POET I

24a   W|OVEN - W (with) + OVEN (roasting place)

25a   R(AINT)IGHT - RIGHT (proper) containing (clothing) AINT (isn't commonly; i.e., ain't - an expression commonly heard in place of isn't)

26a   _SC|RAT|CH_ - hidden in (in) videodiSC RAT CHewed

27a   {FL|YTRAP}<^‡ - reversal (in recession) of {PARTY (gathering) + LF (left field^‡)}

Down

1d   BO(D)Y - BOY (kid) containing (possessing) D (low-grade; for cryptic reading, interpret as 'low grade')

2d   RUSH - double definition; "marsh plant" & "step on it" (i.e., hurry)

3d   {DR|AUGHT}^‡ - DR (Doctor) + AUGHT^‡ (anything whatever)

4d   MISTY|PING - MISTY (indistinct) + PING (sonar sound)

5d   BASS|O - BASS (fish) + O (doughnut)

6d   MAR|ABOU_^‡ - MAR (blemish) + ABOU {mostly on; i.e., most (all but the final letter) of ABOUt (on)}

7d   SQU(A|RE D)EAL - SQUEAL (inform) containing (about) {A + RED (radical)}

Note: in the cryptic reading, the 's is interpreted as a contraction for is.

8d   DISCORDANT* - anagram (awfully) of CANDID SORT

12d   NIGH|T(G)OWNS - {NIGH (near) + TOWNS (cities)} containing (around) G ($1000)

13d   HARD|L(Y) EVER - Y (fork; as a fork in a road) contained in (wedged in) {HARD (tough) + LEVER (fulcrum tool)}

16d   PLAIN|TIFF - PLAIN (obvious) + TIFF (argument)

18d   A|GAIN|ST - ST (saint) following (after) {A + GAIN (benefit)}

19d   BREATHY* - anagram (oddly) of THE BRAY

21d   OPRAH<^‡ - reversal (sent back) of HARPO^‡ (Chico's^‡ brother)

22d   {IG|OR}^‡ - IG (Inspector General) + OR

23d   S|TOP - S (small) + TOP (lid)

Signing off for today - Falcon