Saturday, September 24, 2011 - On Occasion

Introduction

Is there a theme to today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon? I did find the words 'now' and 'then' as well as 'off' and 'on' hidden in the solutions. However, that may merely be a coincidence - or, perhaps, serendipity.

Vacation

As I will be away for a couple of weeks, postings may be somewhat delayed until I return in mid-October. I will post links to Big Dave's site for the weekday Daily Telegraph puzzles that I expect to appear during my absence. However, postings for the Cox and Rathvon puzzles will be delayed.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

27a   Female at big pop party (7)

The definition is "party" (more on that later) with the wordplay being SHE (female) + (at) BANG (big pop), or SHEBANG. Does shebang really mean party? I suppose it could - in the same way that event or thing could mean party. Shebang means 'a situation, organization, contrivance, or set of facts or things' (American Heritage Dictionary), 'an affair or matter; a situation' (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary), 'a situation, matter, or affair' (Collins English Dictionary), 'a matter, operation, or set of circumstances' (Oxford Dictionary of English) and is most frequently encountered in the phrase "the whole shebang". Shebang was originally a North American term meaning 'a rough hut or shelter'. I have to wonder whether the compilers may have confused this word with shindig.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   A|TROPHY - A (explicit in the clue) + TROPHY (prize)

5a   KNOWHOW~ - sounds like (pronounced) NOHOW (not in any way)

9a   SCARLATTI* - anagram (oddly) of TRIAL ACTS

Alessandro Scarlatti - (1660 – 1725), Italian Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. He was the father of two other composers, Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757) and Pietro Filippo Scarlatti (1679–1750) as well as being the brother of composer Francesco Scarlatti (1666 – c. 1741) and either the uncle or grandfather of composer Giuseppe Scarlatti (1718 or 1723 – 1777).

10a   TORME_ - [the first] half [of] TORME(nting)

Mel Tormé - (1925 – 1999), nicknamed The Velvet Fog, an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books. He composed the music for the classic holiday song "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells.

11a   SA(L)UTE - SAUTE (cook) containing (receives) L (large)

12a   S(KIN|HE)AD - {KIN (relative) + HE (that guy)} contained in (in) SAD (blue)

14a   SEREN(DIP)ITY - SERENITY (pacific state) containing (has) DIP (downturn)

18a   AUTHENTICAL* - anagram (strange) of ATLANTIC HUE

21a   {CHECK OFF}~ - sounds like (for audition) CHEKHOV (Russian dramatist)

Anton Chekhov - (1860–1904), Russian dramatist and short-story writer; full name Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Chekhov’s work , portraying upper-class life in pre-revolutionary Russia with a blend of naturalism and symbolism, had a considerable influence on 20th -century drama. Notable plays: The Seagull (1895), Uncle Vanya (1900), The Three Sisters (1901), and The Cherry Orchard (1904).

23a   IMP|AIR - IMP (little rascal) + AIR (tune)

Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films (produced from 1922 to 1944) about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together.

25a   D|RAIN - D (low grade; e.g., such as a poorly performing student might receive on a school assignment) + RAIN (shower)

26a   IN|CUBA|TED - IN (explicit in the clue) + CUBA (Caribbean land) + TED (Theodore)

27a   SHE|BANG - SHE (female) + BANG (big pop)

See Commentary on Today's Puzzle above.

28a   MAD|IS|ON - MAD (humour magazine) + IS (explicit in the clue) + ON (explicit in the clue)

Mad - an American humo[u]r magazine founded in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.

Madison Avenue - a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, that runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. It is named after and arises from Madison Square, which is itself named after James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. Since the 1920s, the street's name has been synonymous with the American advertising industry.

Down
1d   _ASSIST - (b)ASSIST (band member) with the first letter deleted (with no leader)

2d   RE-ALLY - REALLY (truly)

3d   POLITESSE* - anagram (reshaped) of ELSIE POST

Perhaps Elsie Post is Crosswordland's counterpart to Emily Post (1872 – 1960), an American author famous for writing on etiquette.

4d   YET|I - YET (still) + I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid. The term "sasquatch" is an anglicized derivative of the word "sésquac" which means "wild man" in a Salish Native American language.

5d   KNICKKNACK - If split (5,5), the result (knick knack) would mean KNACK (skill) of a KNICK (NBA player).

The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

6d   OF|TEN - OF (associated with) + TEN (a decade)

7d   HER(M)ETIC - HERETIC (religious miscreant) containing (holds) M (mass; a unit encountered in the field of Physics)

8d   WEEKDAYS~ - sounds like WEAK (feeble) + DAZE (stupor)

13d   G|RATIFYING - G (good; a mark that the student 25a might attain with more study) + RATIFYING (act of confirmation)

15d   I|SLAM|A|BAD - I (explicit in the clue) + SLAM (harshly criticize) + A (explicit in the clue) + BAD (rotten)

16d   CAS(CAD)ES - CAD (no-goodnik) contained in (surrounded by) CASES (boxes)

Note: The setters have inverted the normal order of the clue.

17d   STEERAGE* - an anagram (new) of SEE GREAT

19d   PAST|AS - PAST (done) + AS (like)

20d   DRY|DEN - DRY (alcohol-free) + DEN (room)

John Dryden - (1631–1700), English poet, critic, and dramatist of the Augustan Age. He is best known for Marriage à la mode (comedy, 1673), All for Love (a tragedy based on Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, 1678), and Absalom and Achitophel (verse satire in heroic couplets, 1681).

22d   K|ENYA - K (king; in card games or chess) + ENYA (Irish singer)

Enya (born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, anglicized as Enya Brennan) is an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter.

24d   _S|CAM_ - hidden in (employed by) thiS CAMerman

Signing off for today - Falcon