Saturday, December 17, 2011 - Miscellanea

Introduction

Today we have a puzzle from Cox and Rathvon without any clear theme - as far a I can discern. If a sharp-eyed reader happens to have detected something that I have overlooked, please leave a comment. [Note: Henry has accepted the challenge and spotted the winter theme in the clues - see comments section below.]

Also today, the National Post published an amended solution for the December 3^rd puzzle, correcting two errors that were present in the solution published on December 10. I presume that, at some point in the production process, the clues were revised without updating the solution. The correct solution for Clue 21a is INCH (rather than TACT) and for 21d is SIESTA (rather than MTOSSA [Mt. Ossa]). I hadn't noticed that the solution published last week was not correct as I rarely look at the solution to the previous week's puzzle.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across

1a   SCHILLING - SING (carol [deceptively capitalized]) containing (catching) CHILL (case of the shivers)

I was expecting "case of" to indicate 'the first and last letters of' - I guess I've been doing too many Jay puzzles from the Daily Telegraph! Curt Schilling is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who over the course of his career played for the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox.

6a   _MO|TO|R_ - hidden in (from) KokoMO TO Regina

Driving from Kokomo to Regina would be a rather difficult feat if the setters had in mind the Caribbean location from the Beach Boys' song - or even the spot with that name in Hawaii. Leaving from the city in Indiana or the tiny hamlet in Mississippi would be more feasible. The setters could have upped the Canadian content by choosing a route from Nanaimo to Regina.

9a   DENIM< - reversal (the wrong way) of MINED (picked out)

10a   CO(ALFIE)LD - ALFIE (Jude Law movie) contained in COLD (frigid)

11a   WIN(E TAS<)TER - {reversal of (back) SATE (glut)} contained in (in) WINTER (freezing season)

12a   O(ME)N - ON (†) containing (including) ME (†)

14a   LO|CATE - LO (behold) + CATE (Ms. Blanchett; Australian actress Cate Blanchett)

16a   RUMP|US - RUMP (behind) + US (†)

19a   ROOMER~ - sounds like (heard) RUMOUR (gossip)

20a   P(REST)O - REST (break from work) contained in (in) PO (Post Office)

23a   OOHS~ - sounds like (audited) OOZE (blob)

24a   ENCUMBERED* - anagram (shifted) of DECEMBER UN

27a   {FIRST DOWN}* - anagram (ruined) of SNOWDRIFT

Note to overseas readers: In Canadian and American football, the offensive team is allowed several attempts (called downs - presumably because the ball is downed on the field to start each play) to advance the ball a minimum of ten yards. If they fail to do so within this allotted number of downs, they must turn the ball over to the other team. On the other hand, if they are successful, they maintain possession of the ball and are given another set of downs to advance the ball. The first attempt to advance the ball is called a first down, the second attempt is a second down, etc. A team which advances the ball the minimum of ten yards within the allotted number of downs is said to have gained (or made) a first down - so a first down may also be defined as the act of advancing the ball a minimum of ten yards within the allotted number of downs. In American football, players are given four downs to move the ball ten yards, while Canadian football players are expected to do it in three downs.

28a   IN|GOT - IN (pair of Inuit; i.e., first two letters of INuit) + GOT (acquired)

29a   SEEDY~ - sounds like (given a listen) CD (†)

30a   PE(RIME)TER - RIME (frosty stuff) contained in (swallowed by) PETER (saint at a gate)

In the cryptic reading, the 's must be interpreted as is (a link word between the wordplay (Frosty stuff swallowed by saint at a gate) and the definition (boundary).

Down

1d   SI(DEWA)LK - SILK (†) containing (stocking; in the sense of a shop stocking merchandise) {reversal (back) of AWED (was shocking)}

For British readers, sidewalk is the American term for pavement (and, for North American readers, pavement is the British term for a sidewalk). In North America, pavement refers to the paved surface of the street, so British visitors to North America would be well-advised to avoid walking on the pavement over here!

2d   HUN|AN - HUN (barbarian) + (with) AN (†)

3d   L|IMITATION - L (Liberal) + IMITATION (forgery)

4d   IN CAS|E - INCAS (old Peruvians) + E (energy)

5d   GRATEFUL* - anagram (nuts) of AFTER LUG

6d   MUFF - double definition; "mishandle" & "article of warm clothing"

7d   THE|R|MOSES - THE (†) + R (right) + MOSES (prophet)

8d   RO(DEN)T - DEN (room) contained in (in) ROT (garbage)

13d   OPPROBRIUM* - anagram (awfully) of POOR BURP IM

15d   CAR(T HORS)E - CARE (worry) containing (about) THORS (Norse god's [Thor's])

17d   {BEAN SOUP}* - anagram (misplaced) of SUBPOENA

18d   RO(AD)STER - ROSTER (list) contains (includes) AD (†)

21d   DO|OF|US - DO (hairstyle) + OF (belonging to) + US (our group)

22d   TURNER - R (red) contained in TUNER (piano fixer)

Ike Turner (1931 – 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1960s work with his then wife Tina Turner in the Ike & Tina Turner revue. If from nowhere else, I suppose R as an abbreviation for "red" might come from RGB (red, green, blue), a term used with respect to video interfaces.

25d   _RIGHT - [F]RIGHT (spook) with the first letter deleted (headless)

According to Collins English Dictionary, fright is a poetic word for frighten.

26d   ST(A)Y - A (article) contained in (in) STY (pen)

Signing off for today - Falcon