Saturday, August 6, 2011 - What's the Theme?

Introduction

I was not able to discern a theme in today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon, so I leave it to my sharp-eyed readers - who hopefully may be more perceptive than I - to identify one.









Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   WAS|H|TUB< - WAS + H (hit; baseball term) + reversal (the wrong way) of BUT

5a   S(TOO)PED - TOO (also) contained in (and ... outside) SPED (hurried)

9a   CHARLES( LAUGH)TON - LAUGH (chuckle) contained in (interrupting) CHARLESTON (dance)

10a   {INCONSISTENCIES}* - anagram (radical) of SITS IN ON SCIENCE

11a   A(DAM)'S ALE - DAM (mother) contained in (involved in) {A + SALE (deal)}

13a   GI|BB|ON - GI (soldier) + BB (shot) + ON (at)

Note: on might be a synonym for at in a couple of senses: [1] "the house on the corner" means the same as the "house at the corner" and [2] "she was welcomed on arrival" means the same as "she was welcomed at arrival".

16a   CAT|HAY - CAT (dude) + HAY (grass)

17a   MENSWEAR* - anagram (about) of ANSWER ME

20a   STATE( DEPART*)MENT - STATEMENT (declaration) containing (about) an anagram (snafu) of {RED TAP_ (endless red tape; i.e., RED TAPE with the final letter deleted}

23a   S(PEAKING) TRUM|PET - {PEAKING (reaching a zenith) contained in (in) STRUM (play on a guitar)} + PET (favourite)

24a   POTENCY* - anagram (changes) of COPY TEN

25a   DEBARKS - double definition; "goes on shore" & "silences a dog" (cryptic)

Note: just as debark can mean 'remove the bark from a tree', the setters imagine that it could equally well mean 'remove the bark from a dog'.

Down

1d   WICHITA* - anagram (mixed up) of WITH CIA

2d   STAR CH|ART - STARCH (get stiff) + ART (drawing)

3d   T(A|L)ON - TON (pounds and pounds) containing (holding) {A + L (large)}

4d   BAS(TILL)E - BASE (foundation) containing (obtaining) TILL (box for cash)

5d   {SPART|A}< - reversal (set back) of {A + TRAPS (snare's)}

6d   ORG(AND)IES - AND contained in (in) ORGIES (wild parties)

7d   PETRI* - anagram (prepared) of TRIPE

8d   DINE|SEN - DINE (have supper) + (and) SEN (senator)

Isak Dinesen - pen name of Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke (1885 – 1962), née Karen Christenze Dinesen, a Danish author best known for Out of Africa, her account of living in Kenya, and one of her stories, Babette's Feast, both of which have been adapted into highly acclaimed, Academy Award-winning motion pictures.

12d   S(N)AKES|KIN - {SAKES (benefits) + KIN (relative)} containing (going around) N (north)

14d   B(EEK)EEPER - BEEPER (pager) containing (capturing) EEK (cry of alarm)

15d   TEN(AN)TED - TENTED (camped) containing (outside of) AN

16d   CA(S)TS UP - CATSUP (tomato sauce) containing (found in clue) S (salt)

18d   ROTATES* - anagram (off) of TOASTER

19d   M(E)ANLY - MANLY (macho) containing (about) E (error; baseball term)

21d   AVER|T - AVER (claim) + T (time)

22d   _THUMB_ - hidden in (through) NorTHUMBerland

Signing off for today - Falcon