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.]
[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 Solutions:
Bowser the Hound - a fictional dog appearing in a series of children's books by American author Thornton W. Burgess
The setters seem to use the word bowser as though it were an informal term for a dog (a synonym for pooch). However, I failed to find this meaning in any dictionary. Nevertheless, I am quite familiar with Bowser the Hound, as I had the complete set of Burgess Bedtime Story Books as a child.putter3 - verb North American term for potter, occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant way.
emersion - noun 2 Astronomy the reappearance of a celestial body after its eclipse or occultation.
slam-bang - informal, chiefly North American adjective [a] exciting and energetic: a slam-bang action cartoon [b] with no niceties, subtleties, or restraints; direct and forceful: the slam-bang world of daily journalism adverb suddenly and forcefully or violently: I walked slam-bang into this character
slap-bang - [Collins English Dictionary] adverb Informal, chiefly British 1. in a violent, sudden, or noisy manner; US equivalent slam-bang 2. directly or immediately slap-bang in the middleWeldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden - (1905 – 1964), an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".
Solution to Today's Puzzle
| Legend: | "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed |
| "( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted |
Across
1a S(LAM-B)ANG - LAMB (innocent) contained in (put inside) SANG (confessed)
5a S(POT)-ON - SON (boy) containing (grasping) POT (weed)
9a _AL|A|MO_< - reversed (back) and hidden in (in) frOM A LAndmark
10a FIR|ST-(R)ATE - {FIR (evergreen) + STATE (say)} containing (about) R (right)
12a SP(LASH)Y - SPY (agent) containing (carrying) LASH (whip)
13a TOENAIL* - anagram (in another form) of TALON IE
Note: this is an & lit. (all-in-one) clue, a type of clue in which the entire clue (when read one way) serves as the definition, and (when read a different way) comprises the wordplay.14a {REMARK|ABLE}< - reversal (observed from the east) of {ELBA (Italian island) + KRAMER (Seinfeld's friend)}
17a _IDES - [the portion of] RIDES (goes on board) following (after) the first [letter]
19a (SO_S)O - SOS (help) + O {the first (premier) letter of Ontario}
20a P(HEN|OMEN)AL - PAL (friend) containing (eating) {HEN (chicken) + (next to) OMEN (sign)}
23a AP|HAS|I|A - AP (Associated Press) + HAS + A (article) containing (about) I (one)
24a {PERFEC}*T - anagram (repaired) of FREE PC + (by) T {chief [first letter] of T(echs)}
26a FAN|T(A|ST)IC - {FAN (great admirer) + TIC (jerk)} containing (on either side of) {A + ST (street)}
27a IRATE - I {piece of iron; i.e., first letter of I(ron)} + RATE (evaluate)
28a DREAMY* - anagram (convertible) of MY DEAR
29a ST(AND)OUT - AND (too) contained in (in) STOUT (dark beer)
Down
1d SPARS|ER - SPARS (fights) + ER (well; expressing hesitation)
"The court is free now. Would you like to try your hand at tennis?" "Well, I suppose I have no choice."2d A|V|AIL - A + V (victory) + AIL (hurt)
3d B(R)OWSERS - R (run) contained in (into) BOWSERS (pooches)
4d N(IF|T)Y - {IF (supposing) + T (central [letter of] staTion)} contained in (in) NY (New York)
6d PUTTER - double definition; 'iron' (golf club) & 'fiddle' (occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant way)
7d TEAGARDEN - anagram (snarled) of GREAT DANE
8d NEEDLES_ - NEEDLESS (gratuitous) with the last letter deleted (mostly)
11d RITALIN - anagram (failing) of IN TRIAL
15d MI(SCHA*)NCE - MINCE (dice) containing (having) {an anagram (lost) of CASH}
16d A|T (HE)ART - {A + TART (pie)} containing (split by) HE (that guy)
18d EMERS(I)ON_ - I contained in (involved in) EMERSON ([American essayist, lecturer, and poet] Ralph Waldo [Emerson])
19d SCARFED - double definition; 'sporting neckwear' and 'ate greedily'
21d LI(THE)ST - LIST (catalogue) containing THE
22d AS|WARM - AS (so) + WARM (friendly)
24d PI(CO)T - CO (company) contained in (acquired by) PIT (mine)
25d ERA|TO - ERA (period) + TO (intended for)
Signing off for today - Falcon
Hello Falcon,
ReplyDeleteAccording to the urban/slang dictionary, a bowser is someone who looks like a dog. The term is, unfortunately, often used in a derogatory way to describe the appearance of a woman.
I was not aware of the fictional dog character you referenced. Always good to learn something new!
Cheers,
MG
Hi MG,
ReplyDeleteYes I also found this definition for bowser at Dictionary.com which cites as its source the Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears, Fourth Edition (Copyright 2007, Published by McGraw Hill).
bowser - noun a person with a dog face or ugly face. (Typically applied to females.) : Fred went out with a real bowser but said he had a good time anyway.
This was about the only dog-related reference to bowser that I found in any of the on-line dictionaries, although a Google search turned up references to a great number of dogs named Bowser (perhaps namesakes of the dog in the Thornton W. Burgess stories).
Falcon
Maybe your next post could define more slang tennis glossary terms.
ReplyDelete